15 Fun Halloween Games for Kids
Halloween is one of those holidays where the kids are already excited before the party even starts, so having a few games planned definitely helps. I like having a mix of games where they can run around and be silly, along with a few they can sit down and play when everyone needs a break.
These Halloween games for kids are mostly geared toward elementary aged kids, but quite a few of them can work for older kids too. Use them for a Halloween party at home, a classroom party, or just a fun Halloween night with the family.
1. Halloween Charades
Charades is always an easy one because you really don’t need much to play. Write some Halloween words and actions on little pieces of paper, fold them up, and toss them in a bowl.
Each person grabs one and has to act it out without saying anything. You can split everyone into teams and keep score, or forget the points completely and just let everyone take turns guessing.
If you need some ideas, start with these:
- Carving a pumpkin
- Walking like a zombie
- Flying like a bat
- Riding a broomstick
- Trick or treating
- Howling like a werewolf
- Seeing a ghost
- Crawling like a spider
- Making a witch’s potion
- Walking like a mummy
- Eating Halloween candy
- Putting on a costume
- Dancing like a skeleton
- Sneaking through a haunted house
- Bobbing for apples
Younger kids usually do better with things they can actually act out, so I’d save harder Halloween characters and movie titles for the older kids.
2. Pumpkin Bowling
If you have some empty plastic bottles around, save them for this one. Draw ghost faces on them with a black marker, line them up like bowling pins, and grab a small pumpkin.
Let each child roll the pumpkin and see how many ghosts they can knock over. The pumpkin isn’t going to roll nearly as straight as a bowling ball, which is part of what makes this one funny.
3. Halloween Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is easy to change depending on where you’re playing. You can do one around the house, outside, in the classroom, or even around the neighborhood.
Give the kids a list and see how many Halloween things they can find.
A few things to put on the list:
- A pumpkin
- Something orange
- A black cat
- A spider
- A witch hat
- Halloween lights
- A ghost
- A skeleton
- A jack o lantern
- A bat
- Halloween candy
- A spooky decoration
If the kids are old enough to have phones or tablets, make it a photo hunt instead. They have to get a picture of each item rather than bringing anything back.
Printable Halloween Games for Kids
If you’d rather not make all of the game sheets yourself, I also put together a Halloween Printable Games Bundle. This is especially nice to have when you want a few games that don’t involve kids running through the house.
The bundle has Halloween Scattergories, an A to Z word game, another Halloween word game, Find the Guest Bingo, Halloween Trivia, What’s Your Spooky Name, a Candy Dice Game, Spooky Hunt, Halloween Riddles, This or That, and Emoji Pictionary.
You can print the whole bundle or just choose a few games for your party.
4. Halloween Freeze Dance
This is probably one of the easiest Halloween party games on the list. Put on a Halloween playlist and let everybody dance.
Pause the music randomly and as soon as it stops, everyone has to freeze.
You can have anyone who moves sit out until there’s one person left, but with younger kids I’d probably skip that part. Just start the music again and keep playing. They usually have more fun that way anyway.
5. Mummy Wrap Race
Grab a few rolls of toilet paper and divide everyone into small teams. Each team chooses one person to be the mummy.
When you say go, everyone starts wrapping their mummy in toilet paper. First team to finish wins.
You definitely don’t need a perfectly wrapped mummy here. Half the fun is watching the toilet paper rip and fall off while everyone is trying to hurry.
Just keep the wrapping below their face so they can see and breathe easily.
6. Halloween This or That
This is a good game to pull out after the kids have been running around for a while.
Give them two Halloween choices and make them pick one. You can have them raise their hands, yell out their answer, or make it more active by assigning one side of the room to each answer.
Try:
- Candy corn or chocolate?
- Trick or treat?
- Ghost or witch?
- Pumpkin patch or haunted house?
- Cute costume or scary costume?
- Carve pumpkins or paint pumpkins?
- Spiders or bats?
- Apple cider or hot chocolate?
- Zombies or vampires?
- Black cat or owl?
- Candy apples or donuts?
- Scary movies or ghost stories?
- Skeleton or mummy?
This is also one of those games where the kids usually start coming up with their own questions once you get going.
7. Donut on a String
You’ll need donuts, string, and somewhere to hang them for this one.
Tie a piece of string around each donut and hang them around face level. Everyone puts their hands behind their back and tries to eat their donut without touching it.
It’s messy, the donuts swing everywhere, and that’s pretty much the whole point.
The first person to finish their donut wins.
8. Halloween Pictionary
Write Halloween words on scraps of paper and put them in a bowl. One person picks a word and has to draw it while everyone else tries to figure out what it is.
No letters, numbers, or giving hints.
Some easy words to use are pumpkin, ghost, witch, spider, candy corn, haunted house, broomstick, skeleton, bat, cauldron, black cat, and vampire.
For younger kids, stick with things that are pretty easy to draw. If you’re playing with older kids, throw in harder words or Halloween movies to make it more challenging.
9. Halloween Candy Dice Game
If you already have Halloween candy in the house, put some of it to work before trick or treating starts.
Give everyone four pieces of candy and put some extras in the middle of the table. Then take turns rolling one die.
You can make up your own rules or use these:
1: Take one piece of candy.
2: Take two pieces.
3: Skip your turn.
4: Give one piece of your candy to someone else.
5: Put one piece back in the middle.
6: Take one piece from another player.
Set a timer or pick a number to reach before you start. Otherwise this one could go on forever, especially once candy is involved.
10. Pin the Spider on the Web
Think Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but make it Halloween.
Put a big spiderweb on the wall and give each child a paper spider with their name written on it. Blindfold them one at a time, turn them around a couple of times, and let them try to stick their spider in the middle of the web.
Whoever gets closest wins.
For little kids, I’d skip the spinning part. The blindfold makes it hard enough.
11. Halloween Trivia
Trivia is another easy one when you need everyone to sit down for a few minutes.
You can ask the questions out loud and let everyone answer, or divide the kids into teams and keep score.
Here are a few easy questions to get started:
What day is Halloween?
October 31.
What do you say when you knock on a door for candy?
Trick or treat.
What animal is often shown flying around on Halloween?
A bat.
What do you call a carved pumpkin with a light inside?
A jack o lantern.
What do witches fly on?
A broomstick.
What candy has orange, yellow, and white layers?
Candy corn.
If you’re playing with a mix of ages, add some super easy questions so the younger kids have a chance too.
12. Eyeball Spoon Race
You can use plastic eyeballs for this, or just draw eyeballs on ping pong balls.
Give everyone a spoon and an eyeball. The goal is to make it from the starting line to the finish line without dropping it.
If it falls, they stop, put it back on the spoon, and keep going.
For a bigger group, I’d turn this into a relay instead of having everyone race at once. You’ll need a lot less room.
13. What’s Your Spooky Name?
This one is just silly, which is exactly why kids like it.
Make two A to Z lists filled with Halloween words. The first letter of their first name gives them the first half of their spooky name, and the first letter of their last name gives them the second half.
You end up with names like Creepy Vampire, Spooky Ghost, Pumpkin Witch, or Shadow Zombie.
Have everyone figure out their name and then go around the room sharing them. You could even use their spooky names for the rest of the party.
This game is also included in my printable Halloween game bundle if you don’t want to make the A to Z lists yourself.
14. Halloween Riddles
I like riddles because you can squeeze them in anywhere. Use them while everyone is eating, between other games, or while you’re waiting for the next activity to start.
Try a few of these:
I’m carved and bright and glow at night. What am I?
A jack o lantern.
I flap and fly when the moon is bright. What am I?
A bat.
I spin my web both big and small. What am I?
A spider.
I float around and whisper boo. What am I?
A ghost.
I’m wrapped up tight from head to toe. What am I?
A mummy.
You can just let everyone shout out the answers or give a point to whoever gets each one first.
15. Halloween Mystery Touch and Feel Game
This is one I remember being grossed out by as a kid, which obviously made it even more fun.
Put different foods or objects into bowls or boxes where the kids can’t see what’s inside. Then give everything a gross Halloween name before they stick their hands in and try to guess what they’re touching.
You could use:
- Cooked spaghetti for witch hair
- Peeled grapes for monster eyeballs
- Cold rice for maggots
- Pumpkin seeds for monster teeth
- Corn kernels for witch teeth
- Slime for monster goo
Don’t tell them what anything actually is until everyone has had a turn guessing.
More Halloween Games to Try
You definitely don’t need to set up all 15 of these for one Halloween party. I’d pick two or three games that get everyone moving and then have a couple of the quieter games ready for later.
Something like Pumpkin Bowling, Mummy Wrap Race, and Freeze Dance gives the kids a chance to burn off some energy. Then you can pull out Halloween Trivia, This or That, Charades, or one of the printable games once everyone is ready to sit down.
And if you want several games ready without having to make them all yourself, you can grab my Halloween Printable Games Bundle and print whichever ones you want to use.
