The ideas and suggestions written below are provided for general educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or care. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider before beginning any physical fitness or health- and nutrition-related activity.
The fall season ushers in cooler temperatures, crunchy leaves, and an abundance of fun festivities! It’s a time of year that fills adults with nostalgia and kids with massive amounts of excitement. At CLIF Kid, we believe imagination, adventure, and creativity are important year-round, but Halloween offers a special opportunity to inspire these values.
Whether your social calendar includes classroom parties, a community gathering, or a family party at your home, dishing up super-fun party games is a great way to activate kids’ brains and bodies throughout this festive season. There’s no need to go on an internet ghost hunt, though, because we have an awesome list of CLIF Kid–approved Halloween party games. These silly and eerie ideas will certainly get kiddos in motion and put everyone in the Halloween mood.
Pick one or try them all for a spook-tacular Halloween!
1. Mummy Wrap
Set up teams of 3-4 kids and have each team designate a mummy. Provide kids with streamers or toilet paper and instruct them to wrap up their mummy as quickly as possible. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes (less time for more fast-paced excitement), say “go” and watch kids wrap up their mummy. Whichever mummy is the most covered by the end of the time, wins. To be eco-friendly, instead of tossing the toilet paper in the garbage, opt for the compost bin.
2. Pin the Tail
This classic party game can be spun many ways for a Halloween party. You can pin the tail on the cat, the bones on the skeleton, or the eye on the monster and watch kids wander around blindfolded trying to find their target. Search “Halloween pin the tail printable” for a lot of great options or DIY it and get the kids involved.
3. Ghost in the Graveyard
This classic game is a combo of hide-and-seek and tag. Choose one person to be the ghost and a spot to be the home base (if you have a fake gravestone as part of your outdoor Halloween decor, that makes a great base). Players stand at home base and close their eyes while the ghost hides. Players count: “One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock…” until they get to 12 o’clock, when they shout, “Midnight!” They then scatter, searching for the ghost. Whoever finds the ghost calls out, “Ghost in the graveyard!” That’s the cue for all players to race back to the base with the ghost in pursuit. The first person the ghost tags, or the last one to reach the base, is the next ghost.
4. Costume Relay
Collect a bunch of dress-up accessories that can work with costumes kids are already wearing — things like capes, big shoes, scarves, hats, and glasses. Divide them into two piles, one for each team of relay racers. To play, kids must run to the pile, grab one item, put it on, and run back to their team. Then they must hand off their item to the next player, who has to put it on, run to the pile, add another item, and run back. Keep going until the last player is wearing every item from the pile.
5. Frightening Freeze Dance
Cue up some monstrous tunes and get the kids dancing. Have your DJ stop the music unexpectedly and yell, “FREEZE!” All the dancers have to freeze in position immediately — and hold that pose until the music starts again. If a player doesn’t freeze immediately, they have to do 10 jumping jacks (really spooky ones, of course) before they can start dancing again.
6. Boooo Bottles
This one is a take on the old carnival ring toss game. Wrap some empty bottles in glow-in-the-dark duct tape and arm the kids with glow stick bracelets for a fun take of the game in the dark. Everyone can compete to see who can toss the most bracelets onto the bottlenecks.
7. Pumpkin Decorating
Pumpkin carving can take a long time, but painting pumpkins is a really easy way to still enjoy the timeless tradition. Start with mini pumpkins and provide paint, stickers, googly eyes, sequins, and more. If kids need a little guidance to get their creative juices flowing, have a theme like “what I want to be when I grow up,” “something from outer space,” or “ghosts.” A bonus of this Halloween party game is that the pumpkins become great decorations for a front door or classroom.
8. Costume Designer for Mom/Dad/Teacher/Grownup
Task kids with designing a costume for the adults in the group with items from around the house or classroom in under 15 minutes (or however much time you have). Set a few guidelines like no glue or food, but otherwise go to town. The adults then wear that costume for trick-or-treating or for in the classroom all day. Kids will be laughing all night at the silly outfit they put together for their beloved adult.
9. Halloween Parade
Start the Halloween night with a neighborhood parade. Kids and families decorate their bikes, scooters, golf carts, or whatever and parade around the neighborhood to kick off a fun night of trick-or-treating. This is a special way to let kids show off their costumes and see everyone before it gets dark.
10. Ghost Hunters
Pick up a ghost figurine or picture in any fall decoration section for this Halloween game. Tell kids they are going on a ghost hunt and should dress accordingly. While they put on headlamps or detective hats, hide the ghost somewhere in your house. Have a fun prize waiting with the ghost or reward the first successful ghost hunter with a prize. Replay as many times as you like. In fact, this is a great game to pass the time before trick-or-treating.
11. Halloween Corn Hole
Bewitch your average cornhole game by adding rope lights around the edge of each base in festive colors and using lighted bags or balls. You can even find LED light sets specifically for this purpose easily online. Set this out on the driveway and encourage trick-or-treaters to play a quick game before continuing on.
12. Monster Mash Limbo
Introduce kids to the fun of limbo! All you need is a witch’s (😉) broom stick and a Halloween playlist.
13. Monster Musical Chairs
Give this classic game a spooky twist by requiring kiddos to walk around the circle of chairs with their arms extended in a Frankenstein walk. You can also play this game outside using light-up Hula-Hoops in place of chairs. Little monsters have to make it inside a Hula-Hoop (laid on the ground) when the music stops playing.
14. Ghostly Sack Race
Turn pillowcases into ghosts and use them for an old-fashioned sack race. Kids must jump while their feet are in the pillowcase from one side to another. This works great as a relay with a lot of kids.
15. Trick-or-Treat Bingo
Kids never get tired of bingo, and it’s perfect for Halloween fun. Look for fall-themed boards online or create your own. When someone gets bingo, instruct them to jump up and yell “trick-or-treat” instead of bingo.
For non-candy treats and prize ideas, check out 30 Non-Candy Goodies to Hand Out on Halloween.
Halloween Party Food
No Halloween party is complete without festive food. Since the big night can feel like a candy fest, start on the right foot with some delicious and wholesome food options.
- CLIF Kid Zbar® and CLIF Kid Zbar® Protein: Kids need energy for their big night, so if you’re tight on time or someone gets hungry out on the trail, CLIF Kid Zbar and CLIF Kid Zbar Protein are the perfect choice. These snack bars deliver great taste and wholesome ingredients to keep your trick-or-treaters happy and energized.
- Zippity Dip: Serve a black-bean dip with some orange veggies: carrots, bell-pepper strips, baked sweet-potato chips. You can even carve out a small pumpkin (or another autumn gourd) to use as a bowl for your dip.
- Jack-o’-Lantern Pizza: A round pizza crust makes the perfect “canvas” for a jack-o’-lantern face—veggies of all shapes and colors are perfect for eyes, noses, garish grins and more. To make your pizzas healthier, start with a whole-wheat crust and go easy on the cheese. Top-your-own pizza is a fun party activity, too.
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds: Save those seeds when you carve pumpkins! Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and then roast in the oven. You can also experiment with flavorings like cinnamon, chili powder, or curry. The result is a yummy snack that includes protein, magnesium, and zinc.
- Bowl of Eyeballs: A big bowl of chilled grapes does the trick every time when you tell kids to close their eyes and pick an eyeball. Making up a spooky story about how all these eyeballs ended up in a bowl will have everyone shrieking—and eating more fruit—in no time flat.
For more fun Halloween-themed snack ideas, checkout Quick & Easy Halloween Snacks for Kids. With these Halloween games for kids and a couple of fun snacks, you are sure to be the ghost-ess with the mostess this magical season.