Children's Halloween Activities at a Halloween Party

Mini-pumpkins can be used for multiple activities at the same party.

It is better to plan too many party activities than it is to run out of activities and have restless children on your hands. When choosing your activities, keep in mind the age of the children who will be at the party and the number of guests you will be having. Some activities are better suited to smaller groups.

Games

A game good for any age is Eyeball Toss. Paint some ping-pong balls to look like eyeballs and see who can toss the most into a carved-out pumpkin. Vary the distance from the player to the pumpkin based on the age of your guests.

Guess the Item can be a bit messy but fun. Blindfold the children and have them guess what item is in each container by feeling. Things to use are peeled grapes, spaghetti, cooked oatmeal, silly string and gummy worms. The person who correctly guesses the most items wins.

Divide the children into teams of two or three, give each team a roll of toilet paper and have them choose one member of the team to be the "mummy." The winner can either be the mummy wrapped the fastest or the best-looking mummy.

Crafts

Many craft ideas are not expensive and use everyday household products in their creation. Using paper plates and crayons, make pumpkin masks. Cut out holes for the eyes, nose and mouth and staple yarn or string around each side to tie behind their heads. Or buy some black construction paper and have them glue pastas, packing peanuts or white straws on the paper in the shape of a skeleton.

Make paper-towel ghosts. Crumple up a paper towel into a ball and lay it in the middle of another paper towel. Gather the first paper towel below the ball to make a "neck" and place a rubber band around it. Decorate with markers. Wiggly eyes can be a fun addition.

Food

Let the guests have a part in preparing the food. Make mini-pizzas with canned biscuits, spaghetti sauce and the toppings of your choice. Decorate the pizzas to look like pumpkins. If you have cookie cutters, spread the biscuits out and cut into cat, bat, moon and other Halloween shapes before decorating. Pre-bake cupcakes and have frosting and Halloween-colored toppings available for them to decorate their own or use them as toppings for a "Spooky Sundae Bar."

Small Pumpkins

Buy some small pumpkins and small plastic soda bottles and play "Pumpkin Bowling" by setting up the bottles and rolling the pumpkin to knock them down. You can also use the small pumpkins to play "musical pumpkin." Have the guests sit in a circle, pass the pumpkins around, with one less pumpkin than the number of guests, while scary music is playing, when the music is stopped, the player without a pumpkin is "out." Remove one more pumpkin and continue until only one person is left. When you are done playing games with the pumpkins, use brushes and acrylic paints to decorate them and allow the children to take them home as favors.

References

• Spookmaster: Halloween Party Games
• Enchanted Learning: Halloween Crafts and Activities
• All Free Crafts: 15 Halloween Games and Activities for Kids
• Party Game Ideas: Halloween Game Ideas