Fall can only mean one thing—it’s time for Halloween! Spooky season means a lot of things: zombies, ghouls, Halloween costumes, and lots of candy for the kids. Finding new things to do each year can be challenging. Exciting Halloween party ideas can make your job easier!
We’ve hand-picked the most awesome game and snack ideas for your little ones. Whether you’re hosting an after-party for neighborhood trick-or-treaters or a pumpkin decorating night for the nieces and nephews, these tricks and treats will leave the kids howling for more!
Spooky Hunts from ScavengerHunt.com
Halloween just wouldn’t be Halloween without some friendly ghosts! Search scavenger hunts for ghost hunts and spooky tours across the globe. We’ve already covered 400 cities and we’re still counting! Gather the family and grab your friends; download our app, and explore real haunted locations. If you’ve got little ones, consider an in-home family scavenger hunt this October. There’s something for everyone to enjoy!
1. Marshmallow Toss
This game is easy to set up. Arrange 6 cups in the shape of a triangle on a table, and ask the kids to stand on the other side. Fill a bowl with mini marshmallows (large ones are perfect for older kids). The objective of the game is to aim and toss the marshmallows into the cups. The more marshmallows the kids land, the more the points!
2. Paper Ghosts
This DIY Halloween craft is an easy decorating hack that will turn your party from drab to fab. It’s so easy that even pre-K kids can make it. For this fun Halloween party craft, you’ll need paper napkins, tape, and glue, and googly eyes. Hold your index finger and thumb in a circle, and stuff the hole with a napkin so that it forms the shape of a blanket ghost. Then, turn it around and glue googly eyes to it. To hang it as Halloween decorations, tape some thread to the top of the ghost and suspend it from the ceiling.
3. Scarecrow Craft
The scarecrow ghost craft is perfect for older kids. To make this, you’ll need some twine, hay, and popsicle sticks. Stack some hay and bend it in half to make the scarecrow’s head. Wrap some twine under the head to make the neck. Then, glue a popsicle stick to the bottom so that the scarecrow can stand. Paint the eyes, nose, and mouth on. Use tissues to make clothes and a hat for the scarecrow, to finish the Halloween décor. To make things funnier, you can hide the scarecrows inside candy bowls so unsuspecting kids get tricked!
4. Pumpkin Pretzels
This is a great idea for smaller parties. Who doesn’t love candy during Halloween? Make some epic treats for the family (and guests that come a-knocking) with your kids. Melt orange candy melts in the microwave. Dip mini-pretzels evenly in the melted chocolate and leave it out to dry on parchment paper. Before the candy dries, stick a green stalk to the top with celery or spring onions. Your pumpkin Halloween candy is ready! Set them out on a tray or make individual treat bags for guests.
5. Glow-in-the-Dark Ring Toss
Add a fun Halloween twist to the classic glow-in-the-dark game. Place six wine bottles in the shape of a triangle on the floor or table. Then, take 6 glowsticks, break them, and bend them to form a circle. Then, ask the kids to aim for the bottles and toss them. Close the curtains or turn the lights off for some glow-in-the-dark fun.
If you have some glow-sticks left, tape them to your kids’ arms and legs, and turn the lights off. Take a video of them moving and dancing. You’ll have a hilarious skeleton dance-ready for social media!
6. Eyeball Slime
Every kid loves playing with slime. There’s an easy way to elevate slime this Halloween. First, use our fool-proof recipe to make slime at home. Use green food coloring to make it pop. Add googly eyes to the slime and mix away. This spooky slime is great for younger children.
7. Mummy Bowling
We can’t get enough of this simple game. Such Halloween party ideas will be the talk of every party. Wrap wine bottles or tin cans with toilet paper to make them look like mummies (don’t forget the googly eyes). Then, place them on the ground in the shape of a triangle. Use a ball to knock them over from a distance, just like bowling. You can also use old toilet paper rolls and roll them towards the tin. The kid that knocks over the most bottles wins the game. Strike!
8. Bobbing for Donuts
Kids of all ages are bound to love this game. Setting up this game is easy. Tie some donuts on some string and hang it from a ledge or frame. Make sure the donuts are hung from the perfect height. You don’t want them to hang too high that kids can’t reach them, but they must be hung high enough to get a few laughs when kids jump up to bite them. Make sure to ask the children to keep their hands behind their backs as they jump up for the donuts.
9. Pin the Spider
A fun twist on “Pin the Tail on the donkey,” this game has a cute Halloween twist. First, sketch out a spider web on cardboard or paper, and stick it on the wall. Cut a spider silhouette from cardboard (you can use foam for the wiggly legs). You can also buy a plastic spider from Amazon. Then, blindfold each child, spin them around a few times, and ask them to find the spider’s web. This evergreen party game is an easy way to keep kids engaged!
10. Monster Punch
Every party needs some punch. Monster drinks are easy to make. Experiment with boba to make drinks with eyeballs. You can also use basil seeds for some added texture. Kiwi smoothies and orangeade add to the Halloween color palette. You can serve this punch in a hollowed-out pumpkin for added brownie points. If you want to go all-out, use a pinch of activated carbon in your smoothies to turn them black and spooktacular.
11. Digging for Eyeballs
For this giggle-worthy game, fill a large bowl or bucket with cooked spaghetti. Hide a few marbles inside. The kids must look for the marbles inside the spaghetti bucket purely by feeling for them—no peeking allowed. If the party has many kids, you can place many buckets and ask the kids to search for eyeballs at the same time. The child that finds the most marbles in a minute wins!
12. Pumpkin Balloons
This adorable game is perfect for younger children. Get orange balloons and inflate them three-quarters of the way. This is to make sure the balloons don’t pop later during the game. Depending on their age, give the children sharpies or paints so they can draw pumpkin faces on their balloons. You can use green and brown sheets of paper to make leaves and a stalk too. If you don’t want to try pumpkin carving, these balloons make great centerpieces. Such Halloween party ideas are clear winners!
If you’re throwing a teen or adult Halloween party, you can turn this activity into a pumpkin balloon pop! Tape orange balloons to a wall or fence. Arrange them in the shape of a pumpkin. Write scores on pieces of paper and stuff each piece into a balloon (before you tape them to the wall). Then, ask the kids to pop the balloons with darts. Each participant gets points, and the player with the most points after all the balloons have been popped wins the game.
13. Mummy Relay
All you need for this game is toilet paper! Group the kids into teams of two. Then, give each group one roll of toilet paper. One child must stand still as the other wraps TP around them. The objective of the game is to unroll the TP and wrap it around the other person as fast as possible. The team that does this first and makes a TP mummy wins!
14. Trick-or-Treat Mystery Box
This is one of our favorite Halloween party games (after a haunted house, of course!) For this rib-tickling game, keep tactile things like cooked spaghetti, peeled grapes, cut tomatoes, boiled eggs, marbles, and slime in separate bowls. Blindfold the kids and ask them to put their hands inside the bowl. They will have to guess what’s inside. To mix things up, put candy in a bowl so the kids get some sweet Halloween treats!
15. Spooky Cupcakes
A Halloween party is incomplete without themed party appetizers, snacks, and treats. If you’re looking to give the kids some hands-on food time, try decorating cupcakes together. Make cupcakes, fondant, and icing, or opt for store-bought variants.
When it’s time to decorate, use these ideas:
- Use the tip of an ice cream cone to make a witch’s hat, to go on top of the cupcake. Melt black candy melts in the microwave and dip the cone to cover it in chocolate. Use black and green sprinkles for an extra spook factor.
- Use a star-tip and orange-colored frosting to pipe a pumpkin on the cupcake. For this, start from the center and pipe stars in concentric circles. The frosting will resemble a pumpkin once you reach the tip. Use chocolate chips or other edible accoutrements to turn your pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern!
- Make a fondant ghost by rolling out white fondant into thin sheets. Then, cut the circle with a cookie cutter, and shape them into ghosts. Use a food marker to draw eyes and a mouth.
- Accentuate icing with candy corn, gummy black cats, and spun sugar cobwebs. You can usually find Halloween shaped treats and ingredients at the dollar store, so fancy cupcakes don’t have to cost a fortune!
Your party guests will appreciate all the time you put into making these special. You might even want to hold off until the end of the evening and offer them as take-home party favors.
Closing Thoughts
We hope you can use some of these kid-friendly activities, food ideas, and tutorials when throwing your next Halloween bash! Enhance the atmosphere with the perfect playlist or some scary movies playing on a big screen, and it’s sure to be your best Halloween ever.
Which of these party ideas did you enjoy the most? Shout them out in the comments section!
Remember that scavenger hunts can be customized for any holiday, birthday party, or other special occasion. Add family and friends who live far away with a multi-home party pack. Everyone gets a role to play and, whether you’re exploring a nearby city or having an adventure at home, you’ll have an epic experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Inexpensive Halloween party ideas include paper ghost making and a pumpkin balloon pop. Or make a mystery box with common items that feel gross. Let kids reach inside and guess what things are. Eww!
An in-home scavenger hunt is a great way to keep kids engaged and occupied after a night of trick-or-treating! It’ll help them use up the extra energy from all that candy!
Activities like digging for “eyeballs,” mummy relays, and glow-in-the-dark ring toss are always a hit at a scary soiree! Find more Halloween party ideas at ScavengerHunt.com.