Halloween Games for Kids' Parties

Maybe your child has a birthday on October 30 or 31, and you want to have a party. Or you are having a traditional celebration in party form and are looking for ways to keep the kids entertained safely. There are lots of Halloween games for kids, both active and quiet, that will keep them occupied and having fun. Here are some ideas.

Monster Freeze

Put on some Halloween music. It can be funny and upbeat, or slow and scary. Tell kids to move the way the music feels. When the music stops, they have to freeze. Kids love Monster Mash and Michael Jackson's Thriller songs.

Pin the Nose on the Witch

This is a variation on Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Use a large picture of a witch, and paste it up on a wall. Give each kid a nose made from construction paper, with a loop of masking or painter's tape on the back.

Blindfold each child in turn, spin them around three times (kids love the spinning best of all), and then point them in the direction of the witch poster. They stick the nose on when they think they have it in the correct position.

Pass the Jack-O-Lantern

Divide the kids into two teams, and line each team up. Give the first person in each line a jack-o-lantern. You can use an orange with a face drawn on with black marking pen. Or use orange balloons with or without faces.

The first child puts the fake pumpkin under their chin and keeps it there, without using their hands. They have to pass it along, from one child to the next in line, from chin to chin, without using any hands. The first team to finish wins.

Spooky Telephone

Again, using teams in two lines, say the same spooky message to the first child in each line. They need to whisper the message to the next kid, and so on, down the line. At the end, the last kid has to tell you what the sentence was. Kids love to hear the funny things they end up saying.

Cookie Decorating

You can make or buy sugar cookies and decorate them with icing, sprinkles, and small candies, such as M and Ms. If you spread round cookies with orange icing, then give kids black or brown, they can decorate them to look like jack-o-lanterns.

If you use black or brown frosting, then give kids white icing, they can make spider webs. You can top those with gummy worms or bugs, to make them super gross.

Remember, if you have very young children at the party, keep the toys and favors large, to prevent choking. And in general, the grosser, the better. Kids love yucky! Using these simple Halloween party games, you can keep the kids amused and safe this year.