Halloween Party Games

Costume Dance Party This is tons of fun for all ages! It gets the crowd up and partying. All you have to do is select some songs in advance. It may help if you put them all on one tape before the party. If you have a dancer in the house ask him/her if they would like to lead the group. Some suggestions are "The Electric slide", "The Time Warp", "The Hokey Pokey", "The Chicken dance", "The Macharena". You can also just have the guests dance to songs like "The Monster Mash", "Thriller", "Season of the witch", "Burning down the house","Physchotic Reaction", "Bad Moon Rising", "Werewolves of London" or any other scary song you can find.

Pick the BEST COSTUME A must do! Sometime after all the guests have arrived, announce the contest for the best costumes are about to begin. Hand out novelty prizes for The best, most original costume, prettiest costume, scariest costume, best homemade costume, funny costume, costume most likely to have been designed by aliens, costume that best matches the person's personality, costume that took the least amount of effort, etc. It's nice if you make sure you have enough categories so that everyone wins for something. The host reads out a category and the guest's shout out who should win that prize. Majority rules. You could also have a secret vote and have your guests put names in a hat or plastic pumpkin. Prizes can be as simple as a blue ribbon or perhaps a Halloween decoration. It's fun to have all the winners march around the room with their prize while you play a Halloween song.

Bobbing for Apples A traditional Halloween game! Put apples in a clean large wash tub or container filled with water. The object of this game is to grab one of the apples and remove it from the water without using your hands, you must use only your mouth. That's all you need and the fun begins. Trust me! It's a lot of fun to watch your friends do this. This is a very wet, and very fun game so you may want to consider doing this outside or keep a mop handy. It is even more challenging if the stems are removed from the apples. The indoor, dryer and more sanitary version of this game is to tie the apples to strings that are suspended from the ceiling. This way your guests will not get wet or have their makeup wash off. If you dislike getting your face wet try this version of apple dunking. We took a small bucket with water in it and floated full size marshmallow's in it. Then each person was given a straw. (Shorter straws are easier to use and hold the marshmallow) Then we have a contest to see who could get the marshmallow picked up in the shortest amount of time. We do this with 5 people at a time so we do not have crowding. You are allowed to eat the marshmallow when you capture it.

MUSICAL CHAIRS See if you can get everybody in on this. Play Musical chairs with your favorite Halloween songs. The game is to always have one less chair than the amount of players. Everyone walks around the chairs that have been placed in a circle. Have someone stop the music once in a while, and when it stops everyone has to find a chair. The person left standing is out of the game and has to remove a chair. You than restart the music.

Fortune Teller Have someone dress up as a fortuneteller, or you can hire a person to act as a fortuneteller. Wear a kerchief, colorful clothes, lots of jewelry and talk mysteriously. Have a table set up in a poorly lit room with a crystal ball if you have one. Have the guests come into the room one at a time and ask the fortune teller questions. You may want to tell the fortuneteller a little about each person before starting without them knowing it. Be sure that you don't scare the little ones.

MUMMY WRAP The group is divided into partners of 2. One person is the mummy, and the other is the wrapper. The wrapper is given a roll of toilet paper to wrap his/her mummy. The object of the game is to be the first person to wrap his/her mummy with all the toilet paper. On the word "go" each team then wraps the person with the toilet paper (adults be sure kid's do not cover their mouth, nose, or eyes!). Be sure the mummy sticks their hands out in front so their hands do not get wrapped to their bodies. Give them a time limit (5 minutes max) to do this. I then have the people carefully unwrap each other, and play again, using the same toilet paper. It's really fun.

Halloween Candy Dash This is a somewhat like the old "Easter egg" hunt except you hide Halloween candies all over your party area. You can also hide small pumpkins and ghosts you've cut out of cardboard. Each pumpkin or ghost has a number on it. Give a prize for the person who finds the most goodies and numbers, but then draw numbers from a "skull". Whoever has that number gets to come pick a prize from the treasure chest or other box that will hold the prizes.

Pumpkin Ring Toss Object of Game: To toss a ring around a pumpkin. 1. Decorate about five small pumpkins. 2. Buy or make three or four rings slightly bigger around than the pumpkins. 3. You can use coat hangers to make the rings and tape together with duct tape. Playing the Game: 1. Measure back about 10 feet, less-depending on age group. 2. Give three rings to each player when it his their turn. 3.A piece of candy is awarded for ringing the pumpkin.

Dart Toss This is an all time favorite party game but make sure your guests are old enough to play this safely. One person stands in front and throws 3 darts at a large piece of plywood that has balloons with surprises in them tacked to the plywood. Inside the balloons you can place real gifts, coins, gag gifts or nothing at all. You can stick in small gifts or candy, coins and even one grand prize written on a piece of paper in the balloon. Not all balloons should have something in side, some can just say "boo". After 3 shots whether you hit or miss, it's now the next persons turn.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins "PUMPKINS" Is an all time favorite party game. One person stands in front of the crowd and tries not to smile while the group takes turns asking questions. The catch is that the person must answer every question by saying "Pumpkin." It's a riot and very difficult to keep a straight face. We've had some great questions ranging everywhere from "What's that between your eyes and lips?" or "What do you think your boyfriends head looks like?" What's your favorite gift to find under a Christmas tree" "What's that under your hat?" Well, you get the idea?

Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin Regular party games can be given a Halloween twist by changing the name or the props. Younger kids (and oddly enough-older ones) enjoy playing Pin the Nose On The Pumpkin or whatever version of Pin The Tail On The Donkey that you decide on.

Pass the Pumpkin Pass The Pumpkin or Orange: Without using your hands is always popular. Start with the orange tucked under someone's chin. The player with the orange now has to pass it to another persons chin. This is a screammmmm to watch.

Keep The Pumpkin Moving A variation of "Keep The Balloons In The Air": Use an orange balloon with a pumpkin face on it. You can't use your hands only keep the balloon moving by blowing on it, and guests always like playing it. Have plenty of balloons on hand. You can even use some of your balloon decorations if you have them.

Pumpkin Bowling Object of Game: Roll a pumpkin just as you would a bowling ball and knock over the bowling pins. 1. Get a small or medium sized pumpkin. 2. Use empty plastic soda bottles with a cup of water in them for bowling pins. Playing the Game: 1. Place the soda bottles about 20 feet away. 2. Each player rolls (No tossing or throwing) their pumpkin and tries to knock over 10 soda bottles. 3. Play as many times as you want, or until you run out of prizes.

Broomstick Dance Party This is a fun way for pre-teens and teens to dance without being so self-conscious. Use dance music, have the kids pick it out ahead of time. This game is like musical chairs except that you pass around a broomstick. Everyone is divided into couples on the dance floor. One BOY has the broom. As the music plays and everyone dances the boy with the broom must get rid of it by giving it to another boy. The BOY giving the broom now becomes the new dance partner of the girl. We find that both the boys and girls like this! Everyone gets a chance to dance with each other. You can put a twist on this by having the girls be the ones exchanging brooms and partners, too. This is a great way for boys and girls to have a healthy social dance without staying in "couples" the whole time.