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Archive for the ‘Halloween Games’ Category

So, it is true that Halloween unfortunately is associated with words such as: dark, scary, evil, spooky, etc. (we probably should throw the word ‘cavity’ in there also)! However, as strange as the holiday certainly is, Halloween must be viewed as more than just eating an excessive amount of sugar, visiting haunted houses, or attending costume parties. Halloween should also be an opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and neighbors participating in fun and wholesome entertainment. I realize that the word ‘wholesome’ and ‘Halloween’ are not exactly synonymous with each other, but the culture, traditions, and activities of the masses should not also dictate our actions! Halloween is thus the perfect opportunity to have good clean fun, create wonderful memories, help serve others, and most importantly – allow us the opportunity to spend time with family.

Below I have listed just 7 of the many fun Halloween games that are good, uplifting, wholesome … and extremely FUN!

1) Halloween Scavenger Hunt: Divide everyone playing into teams of 2-3 players each. Each team will need a car, camera, and copy of the tasks to be completed. The goal is to either be the first to complete all the tasks and get back to the house first, or be the one who completes the most after an hour. (For smaller children, adapt the tasks to things to do/find around the house). Examples of random items to get and tasks to do may include: trick or treat 5 houses, buy a pumpkin and carve a face, give a candy to 3 random kids, go to the video store and find the date a Halloween movie was made, go to the grocery store and find out how much a pumpkin costs, go to a grave yard and write the name of one of the tomb stones, knock on a random door and ask for a roll of toilet paper and then wrap another teammate like a mummy, etc. They can be anything … but to prove you did it, take a photo for each task.

2) Halloween Charades: Each guest at the Halloween party will take 3 slips of paper and write down random acts (ideally related to Halloween) that can be acted out. Examples might include: trick or treating, carving pumpkins, eating candy and feeling sick, flying on a broomstick, visiting a scary graveyard, walking like a mummy, crossing paths of a black cat, attending a dress up party, etc. Place all the slips into a bowl and then divide everyone into two teams. Team 1 will start and send one person to the front, who will have one minute to act out as many scenes as possible. The team will guess, and the teammate acting can’t move on to the next word until it is correctly guessed. After a minute, that team gets one point for every correctly guessed acted scene. Then, team 2 will take a turn. The first team to 20 points wins!

3) Pumpkin Quarter Toss: In preparation, carve the middle out of 5 pumpkins. Then, place them at varying distances (each a few feet away from each other). Then designate a throwing line that player will toss from, and divide everyone into two teams. For each turn, every person on the team will get one toss. If the quarter lands in the closest pumpkin, it is worth 1 point; if it lands in the next farthest pumpkin it is worth 2 points; etc. up to 5 points. The first team to score 50 points is the winner!

4) Scary Story Succession: After the trick or treating is done and the party has died down, sit around the family room and turn the lights off. One person will start and take about 30 seconds telling a scary story. At the 30 second mark, they will leave the story hanging and call someone else’s name, who will then continue the story making up new twists.

Halloween board games can be used at home or school and they provide a great way to occupy kids in the lead up to Halloween. These games can be used to settle down excited kids and are also ideal as a reward for kids who finish their work early in the classroom or for kids who deserve a reward at home. But this is not their only use. Halloween board games also make a wonderful way for the family to spend time together.

There are commercial games available but it is much more fun and also much cheaper to make your own. Once you have made these Halloween games, you then have something that can be used year after year.

To create your own Halloween board games, you just need some stock card and some markers. Stickers and glitter can also be used to dress up the game. You might like to choose a theme for the game like vampires or ghosts or you might like to make it about Halloween in general.

The most common board game is the track board game and this is the easiest type to make. Just draw a track around the board or from the top to the bottom of the board. The track might go from a Haunted House – the start – to your house – the end. Along the track you can have reward spaces and hazard spaces.

The reward spaces might have something like, ‘Have another turn.’ The hazard spaces might say something like, ‘Go back 3 spaces.’ There can also be Trick or Treat spaces on the board. When someone lands on a Treat space, they can be rewarded by being given a small treat like a candy. When they land on the Trick space, they can pick up a card which will have a trick on it that they have to do. It might be something like, ‘Howl like a werewolf.’

Your Halloween board game can be decorated with pictures, sticks, glitter, puff paint and anything else that you like. Once is it ready, you just take turns to throw the dice and move around the board.

A different way to create a Halloween board game is to make a ‘Snakes and Ladders’ style game. Instead of using snakes and ladders though, you could use witch’s brooms as ladders and black cats with long tails as the snakes. The game can played the same way as the traditional ‘Snakes and Ladders’ game.

Halloween board games are an ideal game for family fun or classroom fun. If you choose to make your own board this makes it even more fun. Let the kids use their imaginations and see what they come up with. They’ll have fun making the game and they’ll be so proud of what they have made that they won’t want to stop playing it.

What’s a game without a winner, and around the holidays, what’s a winner without a prize? If you’re going to plan Halloween games for your children, having some great prizes for the winner (and for all participants) can make them even more fun. Here are some ideas for awards:

Small Halloween Pumpkins Filled with Candy: Many children like to carry large plastic Halloween pumpkins when they go trick-or-treating. You can also find very small versions of these, which can be awesome for prizes to Halloween games. Fill them with candy or other Halloween items.
Stickers: Kids – both boys and girls – love Halloween stickers. These can be used to personalized school items like folders and notebooks, and you’ll probably find them on your child’s faces and hands as well. You can find Halloween stickers in many designs, and most are fairly inexpensive.
Candy Corn Filled Gloves: Find clear, plastic gloves and fill them with candy corn or, for a healthier option, popcorn. These have the “creepy” look you need for Halloween but kids absolutely love them!
Candied Applies: If you want to make sure that everyone gets a prize for participating, try starting a production line for candied apples. Allow the winner of the game to go first and have the kids line up to roll their applies in caramel and peanuts, small chocolate chips, or color coated candies. Everyone can make their own just they way they like it!
Plastic Bugs: Halloween is all about crawly, slimy things, so plastic bugs make great options. You can find these for relatively little money in just about any toy store, and most dollar stores also carry them in packs. Hide the bugs like you would hide Easter eggs and let the kids keep whichever ones they find. Just be prepared in case you find the lost ones under your pillow or between the seat cushions.
Coupon prizes: If you’re playing Halloween games with just your children, you can give out coupons as prizes. Make them for things one day without having to make your bed or one free toy the next time you’re at the mall. Kids love not having to do their chores, and these are prizes you can make pretty easily without much planning.
Hours of TV or Computer Time: If your kids fight over what to what on television or who gets to use the computer first, let them play a game with the winner being allowed to choose the program or use the computer first. And what games can you play? There are tons from which to choose! If you want a more traditional game, choose bobbing for apples, but you can also pin the nose on the Jack-o-Lantern, race to “mummify” one another with toilet paper, and use magnets and paper clips to “fish” for prizes. The bottom line? Have fun with it! Join in some of the fun by getting involved yourself. Halloween games – especially if there are some prizes involved – can be great for the whole family.