Halloween fun and games

If you are having a halloween party its always great to have some games to play.

We have been trying out a few games and here are some of our favourites for you to try out.

But remember to ask your mum and dad or carer before trying out any of these.

Nab A Spider

What you need:
Homemade paper spiders or some bought plastic spiders
Metal paper clips
A piece of string
A stick
A magnet
A dish or tray
A clock, watch or kitchen timer

For young Halloween party goers, it’s a twist on the traditional fishing game. You need to make some paper spiders or buy a pack of plastic spiders. Attach a paper clip to each spider so they can easily be picked up by a magnet attached by string to a long stick, this makes the fishing rod.

Put the spiders on a tray or in a big dish. Everyone has a turn, count up how many spiders each person has caught in one minute and the person with the most is the winner.

Pin The Smile On The Pumpkin

What you need:
2 large piece of paper or card
Colouring pencils or felt-tip pens
A pin board or thick piece of cardboard
Blutac or other similar temporary adhesive
A scarf or something similar to use as a blindfold

Like ‘Pin The Tail On The Donkey’. Make your pumpkin by drawing and then colouring it onto one of your pieces of paper – remember not to give it a mouth. Stick this onto the pin board or stiff cardboard. On the second piece of paper draw some pumpkin mouths, you will need one for each person playing the game. Put a small piece of blutac on the back of each smile.

Ask each player to write their name on the back of their smile. One at a time, blindfold each player and guide them to the board. Ask them to stick the mouth where they think it should go on the pumpkin. The player who gets their mouth in the best position is the winner.

Mummy Pass

What you need:
A small toy as a prize
A roll of toilet paper
Some sellotape
music to play and stop (a radio or CD player is fine)

For a Halloween party idea and a fun twist on the traditional ‘Pass the parcel’ game try the ‘Mummy Pass’. Wrap a small toy with different lengths of toilet paper. Secure each length with a couple of pieces of tape.

To play this game the players sit in a circle. The mummy-wrapped prize is then passed from player to player while the music plays. When the music stops the player holding the gift takes off a layer of toilet paper. When the music begins again, the gift is passed to the next player in line and so on, until the music finally stops and the last layer is unwrapped. The player who removes the last layer wins the prize.

Nature’s Brew

What you need:
Some pieces of card or blank postcards
Sellotape or glue
A selection of acorns, twigs, leaves, stones, pinecones, conkers or other things found in the garden or park to make the ingredients for the brew
Some bags or buckets to collect things in

This fun game is for playing in the garden or park. Ahead of time you need to make a recipe list of things for each player to find. To do this, take one piece of card for each player and stick
ingredients onto it, so the players can see what they need to find. Make each card slightly different – you make have a yellow leaf, an acorn, a twig, a flat stone and pine needle on one and a brown leaf, a conker, a piece of grass, a black stone and a daisy on another.

Next, give each player a bag or bucket and a card. They then have to search outside for the ingredients in their recipe. The first one to return with everything on their list is the winner.

If you are going to play this game in the park – make sure you tell an adult where you are going and when you will be back.

Yuck!

What you need:
A cardboard box with a lid
A black bin bag
Some cooked spaghetti, peeled grapes, frozen peas, or anything else that feels nasty to the touch (only use food type things because other things might not be safe).

First you need to line your box with the black bag this will stop your ingredients leaking out. You then need to put your spaghetti, peas and anything else into the box and seal the lid with sellotape. Next you need to cut a hole – about hand size – in the side of the box and through the plastic bag – you can ask an adult to help with this. It is a good idea to seal the edge of the hole in the box and the bag together using sellotape.

This game has got to be my favourite Halloween party idea ever! Can they do it without saying “yuck”? Put your party goers to the test by having them insert one hand into a box and taking a guess at what’s inside. Not saying “yuck” may be trickier than it sounds. No peeking allowed. Don’t trust them, use a blindfold.

Apple Bobbing With A Twist

What you need:
Some ring doughnuts – enough for one for each player
Some string
Two chairs
A broomstick

It isn’t a true Halloween party without a little apple bobbing. But if you want to keep your guests dry you can use ring doughnuts instead. Tie the doughnuts to one end of some string and tie the other end to a broomstick suspended between two chairs.

The player has to get the doughnut off the string without using his or her hands.