Kids' Halloween Party Ideas

There’s nothing like cool crisp air, pumpkin patches, and changing leaves to get your family in the mood for Halloween. Create your own fall tradition by hosting a Halloween party for your child and their friends! Although planning a party may seem overwhelming, all you need are a few fun activities to keep everyone busy. (And don't forget the snacks and tunes!) With a few simple ideas, you’ll be well on your way to having a fun monster mash that people will become a core memory long after trick or treating is over.

1. Halloween Touch and Feel Game

Kids will squirm with disgust when you play this fun guessing game. Blindfold kids one at a time and have them stick their hands into bowls or boxes filled with "brains," "intestines," and other body organs. (Which are actually textured foods or household items!) Some fun ideas include peeled grapes for eyeballs, cooked spaghetti or cooked cauliflower for brains, a peeled tomato for a heart, and carrots for fingers. Have them try to guess what the items really are as their imaginations run wild. Whoever guesses the most correct answers wins this ooey-gooey game of Halloween touch and feel!

Halloween Touch and Feel Supplies

While the star of the show here are the gooey, weird things in the bowls, don't forget about your overall presentation! Find a Halloween table runner or plastic tablecloth to protect your table from any potential messes. If you plan to use bowls, find fairly sizable bowls like these salad bowls to help keep the chaos contained. (Don't forget to cover them with some Halloween fabric—no peeking!) While you'll likely be using a lot of food items, some bulk Halloween decorations like rubbery bugs or fuzzy spiders will add some variety to your texture buffet.

2. Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Tic-tac-toe is a fairly simple game in which players place tokens on a nine-square grid one at a time, trying to get three in a row. It's simple to teach and learn and easy for kids to play. You can easily create your own custom game of tic-tac-toe by drawing or making a grid to fit your playing pieces as you see here with these pumpkins and ghosts! Whether you cut paper pieces by hand or choose to buy them, it's an easy and fun way to make your own Halloween game for kids.

3. Musical Costumes

This fun activity involves the classic musical chairs game, but with an added twist. Set out a box or two of dress-up clothes and accessories. Some ideas include a witch hat, superhero cape, pirate eye patch, or cat ears. These items can be picked up at a Halloween store or reused from past costumes. You can even use clothing items from around the house like dad’s old suit jacket, some outdated high heels, or a winter scarf. Then, put on some spooky music like the "Monster Mash" or a Halloween playlist, and have the kids put on as many costume pieces as they can by the time the music stops. Kids will laugh at how silly they look with all those clothes on at once!

Musical Costumes Supplies

Admittedly, most of the items you use for the game will likely be items you find around the house or gather from family and friends. However, adding some inexpensive costume accessories like animal headbands, witch hats, costume jewelry, and clown noses will make this feel more like a Halloween game. Who knows? Maybe you'll get some funny ideas for next year's Halloween costume after playing this game!

4. Candy Cornhole Game

Cornhole is a game where you toss bean bags onto a board with the hope of getting it through the hole. Points are awarded differently depending on your house rules, but cornhole easily lends itself to being turned into a Halloween-themed game of candy cornhole! You can play with orange and black bags or even paint or tape candy corn designs to the boards. You may want to test the distance you place your boards so kids don't get too frustrated, depending on their ages.

5. Decorate Pumpkins

Get the kids’ artistic juices flowing with this fun craft! Painting is much safer than carving pumpkins with knives, especially with younger children. (However, pumpkin carving may be just what your older kids need!) Gather up some paint, small paintbrushes, glue, glitter, jewels, stickers, and feathers. Provide enough pumpkins (big or small) for each child, or have them bring their own. Set up an area with newspaper or disposable tablecloths and let the kids decorate and paint their pumpkins. Kids will love getting creative and showing off their works of art!

Pumpkin Decorating Supplies

Depending on the age of your pumpkin decorating participants, it may be fun to provide pumpkin decorating accessories like stickers, silly teeth, and more! Some products may need a carved pumpkin such as the pumpkin teeth, but stickers and push-in accessories don't require cutting into a pumpkin at all! It's a little bit like turning your pumpkin into a potato head toy but with a fun Halloween twist.

6. Watch a Halloween Movie

Who wants to watch a scary movie? Halloween movies can be tons of fun for kids, although make sure you're sharing something age-appropriate for the children you're hosting. Popular Halloween movies for kids include Hocus Pocus, Monster House, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hotel Transylvania, and others. You'll likely only have time to share one movie, so you can always share a few options and put it up for a vote.

7. Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Send kids on a spine-tingling adventure with a Halloween scavenger hunt! You can find inexpensive bulk Halloween decorations to hide, or print and cut out pictures of bats, black cats, and other Halloween icons. If you want to turn this activity into a team game, split the kids into two teams and give each of them an opportunity to hide items for the other team to find. (You may want to limit teams to a short period of time so there's less waiting for impatient little ones.) After the first round, have the teams switch for an opportunity to stump their friends!

Halloween Scavenger Hunt Supplies

Here are a few bulk Halloween items that would be tons of fun to hide and find! Skulls and bats are especially eerie for Halloween, but we also love the simplicity of these crow stickers and rubber mice. (Although, you may want to stick any stickers to a piece of paper so they don't end up stuck around your home!) These Halloween products will save your hands from having to cut out a dozen or so images, and you can always add them to your Halloween decorations next year!

8. Halloween Bonfire

If the weather cooperates for Halloween, you might consider hosting a bonfire. We'd recommend this more for people hosting parties for older kids, as bonfires are better after dark. You can toast marshmallows and even find a few seasonal options for Halloween. Don't forget to tell your favorite campfire ghost stories! It's a spooky way to enjoy the great outdoors.

9. Witch Hat Ring Toss

Do you have a leftover witch hat or two from Halloween parties past? Why not turn them into a fun Halloween activity? Make a cone with poster board and stuff it inside your witch hats so they stand up easily for your ting toss game. Then, take a few paper plates and cut out the middles, turning them into lightweight rings for kids to toss. If you can, find plates in Halloween colors such as black, orange, purple, and green. Using multiple colors for your rings is also a great way to designate teams for your witch hat ring toss game!

Witch Hat Ring Toss Supplies

When you're playing a game about tossing rings around witch hats, obviously, you need witch hats! For some extra fun, you can mix and match adult and child sizes and give them different point values. Also, to keep the witch theme rolling, find a cheap witch broom prop to use as the tossing line. The kids are going to love this one!

10. Halloween Photo Booth

Say cheese! (Or should we say pumpkins?) Taking picture memories is a fun party pastime, especially when everyone's wearing Halloween costumes. Designate a corner of your house or yard to be the picture-taking area, and hunt down some fun photo booth props. This is a great time to reuse pieces of last year's Halloween costumes! Also, we have another blog featuring Halloween photo booth printables if you're more interested in making your own.

Halloween Photo Booth Supplies

If you want to buy a few photo booth supplies, stick with budget-friendly costume accessories like headbands, hats, glasses, and small held items. If you supply items that can be work on the face, around the neck, on the head and held in the hands, they're more likely to be seen in photos than tails or shoes. (Plus, how else are you supposed to be a magician-hippie-pirate-princess? The more variety, the more fun the photos will be!

11. Waterless Bobbing for Apples

Let's face it—while bobbing for apples is a classic Halloween party game, procuring a large barrel and filling it with water isn't always accessible for everyone. Plus, you have hygiene issues with everyone's saliva mixing in a water-filled pit with apples. (Ew.) This water-free twist on bobbing for apples is still one of the funniest games to play at your Halloween party! Give each child an apple and hang one apple at a time from the ceiling or a tree outside. When it's their turn, have each child put their hands behind their back and attempt to take a bite out of their hanging apple. To turn it into a contest, you can time each child to see who can take a bite the fastest. Everyone will be rolling with laughter at how funny the kids look as they try to bite their apple. Be sure to take pictures so you can laugh later, too!

12. Printable Halloween Costume Awards

Printable Costume Awards

What's a Halloween party without a Halloween costume contest? And, what's a contest without awards? We made a series of fun, printable costume award certificates that are free to print and use at your next Halloween costume contest. (Granted, for a kids' Halloween party, you may want to skip awards for couples' costumes, sexiest costumes, and pet costumes.) Just use your best judgement, and have a blast!

13. Mummy Wrap Game

You'll want to have a lot of toilet paper on hand for this one! Break the kids up into groups of 3 or more, with one child elected as the mummy. (You can also work with groups of two with one wrapper and one mummy if you have a smaller party.) Pick a time for the kids to complete their mummy—we recommend 30 seconds for a silly speed run or a minute to get a little more done. Once everyone's wrapped and ready, vote on the best toilet paper mummy costume! This is such a silly Halloween game for kids that it's bound to be remembered. If you're feeling extra, you can turn the end result into a race with the mummies competing once they're wrapped from head to toe!

14. Halloween Piñatas

If there's one thing kids love about Halloween, it's the candy. Make them work for it with some fun Halloween piñatas! Simply fill them up with your favorite Halloween treats, and find a safe and secure place to hang your piñata with plenty of space for swinging. (We recommend doing this outside unless you have no other choice!) This is one time that the kids get to make a mess and are more than eager to also help clean it up!

15. Halloween Treat Table

Find your favorite sweet treats and Halloween recipes, and create a table full of goodies for the kids to eat. If your party is a few hours long, you can probably stick to snacks and appetizers, or provide more satiating food options if you want the kids to enjoy a meal. Halloween cookies and cupcakes are great, but for less sugary options, you can make foods like mummy pigs in a blanket, eyeball deviled eggs, or Halloween macaroni and cheese. There are so many amazing Halloween recipes for kids to enjoy!

These are just a few ideas you can use to create a fabulous Halloween party. Take photos of the kids during the party and follow up later by mailing (or emailing) them out. You'll be able to send the kids home with not only their party creations but also a bunch of fun memories!