Here you will find a selection of Halloween games for young and old that will ensure a great party. No-one wants their guests sitting around getting bored because they are unoccupied.

BOBBING FOR APPLES

Object of the Game

Truly a classic Halloween game, this holiday amusement dates at least as far back as ancient Rome, when it was believed to be performed during the Roman harvest festival that honored the Goddess Pamona.

All you need for this fun filled Halloween game is a large plastic, metal or wooden tub filled most of the way to the top with water and some fresh apples. Plastic Halloween tubs are ideal for this game and can be found at most department stores during the Halloween season. Just be sure that you clean out the tub completely before using it for the game.

First, you will want to remove all of the stems from the apples and wash them thoroughly. Use smaller apples, as they tend to be easier to bite into. Next, fill the tub with an apple for each player and then fill it to within a few inches of the top with water. Its also a good idea to have some towels available for players to dry their faces off with.

The players now take turns trying to retrieve an apple with only their mouth by placing their heads in the tub. This is actually more difficult than it might seem, since the apples bob around as you try to bite into them.

Players who are able to retrieve an apple are rewarded with a prize. In the old days, a player who successfully retrieved an apple won a kiss from the player of his or her choice.

Hanging Apples Version

Another version of this game is to hang apples with string by there stems from the ceiling or if outdoors, from tree limbs at head level. Just like in the water version above, the object is to retrieve an apple using only your mouth. Just make sure to attach them securely or they will be pulled down as the players try to bite them.

The same applies in this version for the apples, with smaller one's being easier for players to bite into. This is great for an outdoor Halloween party as you can hang several apples from tree limbs for multiple players to try to bite.

MONSTER TAG

Object of the Game

Something like the game of Tag, but with a twist. A scary monster races around trying to catch some victims!

What You Do

Pick an area of your house or yard that is large enough to mark off a circle.  You'll need to use some masking tape or rope to close in the circle as this will be the playing ground for your "monster". It goes without saying that you'll need to make the inside of the circle free of any objects that they might trip over or run into.

Toss a coin to pick the first "Monster". The monster wears a monster mask  and monster hands. They also have a blindfold placed over their eyes, they aren't supposed to see. This is a hearing and touching game.

All players have to stay within the circle while the monster wanders around with their arms reaching out to catch the players. When the "monster" moans or growls, all the players must moan or growl back and extend their arms. This is how the "monster" finds his/her victims. When a player gets tagged, they becomes the next "monster" and gets to wear the mask.

What You Need

An ugly monster mask, monster hands, and a blindfold.

FIND THE PUMPKINS

Object of the Game

Find all the hidden pumpkins, the person who gets the highest amount of points wins.

What To Do
Buy ten white miniature pumpkins, ten orange miniature pumpkins, and ten miniature gourds. You can also use construction paper and cut out the same making ten orange, ten yellow and ten white pumpkins. Using a black marker, draw  funny faces on each pumpkin and gourd.

Write the number 1 on the backs of the white pumpkins. Write the number 5 on the backs of the orange pumpkins. Write the number 10 on the backs of the gourds (or yellow paper pumpkins). Hide them in your yard or house, wherever the party is being held. Then instruct the guests to find as many of the pumpkins and gourds before you say "Stop!"  When they are done, everyone adds up the numbers on the backs and the one with the most points wins.

What You Need
10 miniature white pumpkins
10 miniature orange pumpkins
10 miniature gourds

or: yellow, white and orange construction paper & scissors
Black felt tip marker

HALLOWEEN PICTIONARY

Object of the Game
Collect points for your team by guessing what scary words drawn pictures stand for.

What You Do
If you are familiar with the game of Pictionary, then you'll know what to do. If not, a short explanation: Pictionary is a game played by two teams of people. One team sends a person up to aboard to draw a word in picture, they have to guess what it is. This is a Halloween version of that game.

Before the party, make slips of paper with Halloween words such as Mummy, Tombstone, Bats, Vampires, Jack-O-Lantern, Spider, Witch, Black Cat, Candy Corn, etc. Place them in a bowl of some kind, (a plastic child's pumpkin for trick or treating works great). Divide  the party goers into two teams.

One player from the first team starts by picking a slip of paper from the bowl. Use a chalkboard, erasable marker board, or large pad of drawing paper  and pen to draw items related to the word, players can not write the word or draw the exact picture of the word. Their team tries to guess what the word is. Set a 2 minute time limit.

The other team goes next. Keep rotating until everyone has a chance to draw. You can keep score and have one team win, or just play for the fun of it. This is also a fun game to play using titles of horror films. Do it the same way but use movies like Halloween, Dracula, The Wolfman or any horror film.

What You Need
Plastic Pumpkin (or other container), chalk board or drawing board, something to write with, slips of paper.

PIN THE NOSE ON THE PUMPKIN

Object of the Game

Like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey", this game has you pinning a nose on a Jack-O-Lantern.

What To Do
You can use a real pumpkin, an artificial pumpkin, a large drawing or picture of a pumpkin on cork board. Pre cut and have ready a black construction paper nose. The pumpkin should have eyes and a mouth already cut out or glued on with an open spot for the nose.

Blindfold each player as they take a turn to play. Spin each player around three times and let them go. They must try to pin the nose on the pumpkin in the correct spot.

The other kids can yell "Hot" or "Cold" if they are missing the pumpkin completely. Use a push pin to attach the nose, it's easier on little thumbs and not as dangerous as regular thumbtacks for attaching a nose. For smaller children, use tape. The player that comes closest to the right spot is the winner.

What You Need
A pumpkin (real, artificial or made from cardboard). A pumpkin nose made from black construction paper. Pushpins or tape. A blindfold.

WEAVING A SCARY Tale
To create a scary tale, each person getting one minute and the next person take over!

Object of the Game
Get a pack of index cards and a pen. Write a phrase on each card that would be a scary line for story or that has to do with Halloween or both! (see below for ideas). Get a minute timer. Then, pass around the deck of cards, face down. Turn down the lights and light a candle to set the mood or give each person a flash light to hold under their face as they speak. Each player picks a card from the deck and begins to spin a tale for one minute.

When the minute is up, he/she hands the cards to the next person, who picks one and turns the story another direction.  They should repeat the last line spoken by the previous person so the story keeps going. The game ends when the last person has gone, when the cards run out or when everyone has had enough of it, it's an endless game! This game is better for children over the age of 6 to adults.

Ideas for cards:

It was a stormy night ...
The coffin creaked ...
A banshee screamed ...
A body lay in the corner! It looked like ...
The candlelight flickered in the wind ...
Inside the boiling pot, a hand bobbed ...
The claws belonged to a wolfman!
The door creaked open. It was a vampire!
The skeleton stood up and shook itself off ...
The goblet was filled with blood ...
As the light switched on, rats scattered ...
From the open grave rose a ...
Suddenly the severed head opend it's eyes! ...
I felt something moving on my shoulder, it was ...
The ghost moaned ...

What You Need
Index cards, a pen, a minute timer.

PASS THE PUMPKIN

Object of the Game
This game is played in teams that  race to be the first to pass the miniature pumpkins without using their hands.

What You Do
Pick teams of about six to eight people and have them stand in a line.  You can go boy-girl or random. For a teen party, boy/girl maybe a great ice breaker for the kids. Each team gets a mini pumpkin which the first person places under their chin.

The mini pumpkin is passed down the line, person to person by holding it under their chin and passing it this way, no hands allowed!! The person holding the mini pumpkin can stand in front of the next person for easier passing.

All teams start at the same time, first team to get their pumpkin to the end of the row and back again to the starting person is the winner.

What You Need
Miniature pumpkins or small plastic pumpkins. THE TELL-TALE TALE

Object of the Game
Send scary messages around the circle and listen to the funny way they change from person to person!

What You Do
The larger the group for this game, the better. Get everyone to sit in a large circle or so each person is about an arms length apart and can pas this along easily. Have one person pre-picked to start the game and start the original message going. Have the "originator" whisper a short scary message into the ear of the person sitting to the right of them. They are only allowed to whisper the message one time. That person then whispers it to the person on their right, on down the line.

When the message reaches the person sitting to the left of the "originator" or at the end of the line, the message is spoken aloud. The original message seldom arrives at the end in the same form that it started. Start the game again using the person to the right of the originating story teller. It's usually a very funny game, seeing how distorted the message became while it traveled around the circle or down the line.

Tip: Tongue twisters are great for this game.

Some messages to use:

"Jack-O-Lanterns used to be carved from turnips. They held a lump of coal instead of a candle."

"The ghastly, greedy, green ghost got on the gray grave and groaned greatly."

"Peter Pumpkin picked a peck of pretty pumpkins. If Peter Pumpkin picked a peck of pretty pumpkins, how many pretty pumpkins did Peter Pumpkin pick?"

"Scary Sherry sells scabby skeletons to squirmy, scaly snickering snakes."

What You Need
Nothing but people and a short message. Make it something scary for this game during Halloween.

HALLOWEEN "CANDY TOSS" GAME

Place a small plastic pumpkin pail or cauldron on the floor or suspended by a cord from the ceiling. Measure off a distance of six feet for children or eight feet for adults from the pumpkin pail or cauldron and mark with a piece of colored tape. This is were the player must stand when they try to toss the candy into the plastic pumpkin or cauldron.

Next, hand out six pieces of candy to each player. The candy should all be about the same size. We like to use those miniature candy bars that come in bags around Halloween.

In turn, each player places their toes on the distance line marked with the tape, and then tries to toss all of their pieces of candy into the pail or cauldron one at a time.

When every player has had a turn, the scores are compared and the player who tossed in the most candy wins all of the candy in the plastic pumpkin or cauldron.

What you will need:
Plastic Pumpkin Pail or Cauldron
Halloween Candy
Note Pad & Pencil for Keeping Score
Measuring stick or tape measure
Colored Tape