Halloween Party Games for 10-Year-Olds

Halloween parties typically include costumes, candy and games. If you're hosting a kids' Halloween party, you can tailor games and activities to the ages of your guests. Games for 10-year-olds should provide fun and entertainment and can even incorporate an element of surprise without being scary or gory, as that might be too much for the children. You want to create an enjoyable party for the kids, not give them nightmares.

Let the Halloween party games begin! Set up a small obstacle course or path for pumpkin races. Separate the kids into two teams and give each team a broom and a pumpkin. Place the pumpkin on its side so that it will roll when the kids push it with the broom. Create a relay in which each child pushes the pumpkin to a designated spot and back, and then hands off the broom and pumpkin to the next teammate in line. The first team to have all of its members complete the relay wins.

Give each child a small pumpkin, as round as possible, to use as a bowling ball, and set up ten empty plastic soda bottles as the pins for informal pumpkin bowling. When the kids are done playing with the pumpkins, they can draw faces on them for adults to carve for them and take home as party favors.

Split the kids into teams of three or four kids each, and provide each team with a few rolls of toilet paper. Each team assigns one person to be the mummy. Set a timer for five minutes, in which time the kids have to wrap their mummy teammates.

Take one roll of toilet paper and unroll it. Tape a small gift inside every feet inside the paper and roll it back up. The number of gifts should be the same as the number of guests. Have the kids sit in a circle, and give the toilet-paper roll to one child. He will wrap the toilet paper around himself in mummy fashion, such as around a leg or arm, until he finds a prize. He then rips off the paper and hands the roll to the next child, who does the same, and so on around the circle. And of course the best part of Halloween party games is the awarding of prizes! These might include plastic spider rings, vampire teeth or Halloween temporary tattoos.

Purchase a flat plastic skeleton that has moving parts. Trace the outline of the skeleton onto a large piece of butcher paper, then disassemble the skeleton. Hide the pieces around the party room and ask the kids to find the pieces and put the skeleton back together again. Place a roll of scotch tape near the butcher paper for reassembly.

Turn off the lights and have the kids sit in a circle. Give them each a flashlight, either to shine on their faces during their turn or so they have the light if they get scared. Begin making up a story, or ask one of the more outgoing children to start. Each child should add a line to the story until you've gone around the circle. Depending on the number of guests, you may want to go around the circle several times. Record the story to play back for them when they're done.

Fill a basket with a hat, old clothes and any embellishments you have around the house. Give the kids a time limit to dress a scarecrow with the items you provide. If you have a large stuffed animal, let them dress that up, or you can provide a couple of adult or teen volunteers to serve as models. For a larger group of kids, you can split them into teams, each with their own basket of items and model.

Make a mystery box and ask the guests to guess what's in the box. Create holes so that they can reach in and feel, but not see, the contents of the box. Let them feel inside the box for 60 seconds and write down everything they think is in the box. Include small plastic spiders, a fake mouse, gummy worms, vampire teeth, a fake gooey eyeball, cooked spaghetti noodles and other items that are either Halloween-related or have a surprising texture.