By Brenda Hyde
We once attended a Halloween party where the doughnuts were strung on lines from which you had to nibble them. The apples were hung by their stems and were eaten on the fly...The coffee was labeled "witches brew" and ladled out of a big iron kettle. In expensive decorations may be made from cornstalks, pumpkins, old clothes and false faces. ~Rural Progress-1937
Play these friendly Halloween games during classroom celebrations, parties or family get togethers. Involve both the kids and the adults for a howling good time!
Guess How Many
Fill a jar with candy corn and have guests guess how many are in the
jar. (Don't forget to count as you put them in the jar!) Place the
jar near the door and hand each guest a 3x5 card to put their name,
their guess and their favorite Halloween candy. Halfway through the
party read them all off and announce the winner.
Halloween Memory Game
Place a few themed items such as a candy corn, apple, mini pumpkin
etc. on a tray. Show the tray to the guests for a few seconds, then
have them write down (or call out) as many items as they remember.
How Many Words
Hand each person a sheet of paper printed out with a Halloween word
or phrase such as Haunted House, Trick or Treat, or Scarecrow. Do
these on the computer so you can include some small Halloween Graphics.
Ask each person to make as many words as they can out of the letters
in the phrase or word you've given them!
Mummy May I
One child, or an adult, is "mummy". The other children stand
in a straight line, with the mummy standing in front of them with
enough distance for them to move forward towards him or her. (It's
really neat if you can rip up an old pillow case or sheet and stain
them with leftover coffee or tea to wrap around the "mummy's"
head.)
The children move toward mummy by asking permission to take steps. For example, a child could ask, "Mummy May I take ten steps forward?" The mummy can be creative as to the type of steps they ask to take, such as giant monster steps, pixie steps, as well as ogre, howling dog etc.
Mummy answers, "Yes, you may" or "No, you may not," and the child must follow her instructions. If the child moves when he or she has not been given permission, they must go back to the starting line. The first child to touch mummy becomes mummy in the next game.
Who's Got the Pumpkin
Place everyone is a circle. Start a song (Halloween themed songs like
Monster Mash are neat to use!) and toss a mini pumpkin to one person,
they throw it to the next, and so on until the music stops. The person
who is caught holding the pumpkin has to leave the circle. The last
one left is the winner and keeps the pumpkin!
Halloween Hunt
Using the same idea as an Easter Egg Hunt hide little bags of candy
corn, or other fun candy around the back yard. Set the kids loose
and let them find the candy. Be sure to keep back several extra in
case someone does poorly. You can give them a few more!
Brenda Hyde is a wife and Mom of three, a freelance writer, and editor of three family newsleters at OldFashionedLiving.com.
