10 Halloween Games for Kids – Let's Dance the Spooky Boogie

These 10 Halloween games for kids provide pure excitement and maximum spooky fun at any Halloween children’s party!

Party games enhance any celebration and especially at a Halloween party they provide in addition to costumes and decorations for the right creepy atmosphere. However, it depends there quite decisively on the age, where the fun begins and where it ends. Accordingly, we have compiled 3 lists of Halloween games: Halloween games for adults, Halloween games for teenagers and here are the 10 best Halloween games for kids.

At Abenteuer Freundschaft, you’ll find even more ideas for your Halloween party for kids!

The Top 10 Halloween Games for Kids

1. Never Say Never

Known in the US as Jinx (meaning both jinx and witch’s curse), this is one of the most popular Halloween games for all ages. Each child is told one or more words at the beginning that must not be used again at the party. So at a Halloween party, for example, Halloween, ghost, ghostly, pumpkin, scary, etc..
Depending on the age of the children, the number of forbidden words should be kept limited. If the children can already read, you can also hang up a list of the words in one place (e.g. in the bathroom) for them to spit at. The game continues throughout the party. If a child says a forbidden word, he or she is eliminated. This can also be handled well by giving everyone a badge or sticker on their clothes at the beginning, which the (adult) game leader then takes off. The last person to not say any of the forbidden words (or be caught saying them) has won and gets a small prize.

2. Monster Petrifying Dance

Play age-appropriate Halloween music e.g. Bibi Blocksberg songs for kindergarteners, the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack for elementary school students, Thriller by Michael Jackson, etc. or a YouTube mix. Ask all the kids on the dance floor to really get down, meaning let the monster out 😉

At an unexpected moment you suddenly stop the music and all the little monsters have to petrify in the position they are in. The last one to freeze is eliminated. If you can’t tell, then the first child to wiggle. The game continues until there is one child left who can petrify the fastest and best.

3. The Spooky Boogie Woogie

Another Halloween dance game is the Spooky Boogie Woogie, a sort of crossover of Journey to Jerusalem and drawing lots. To prepare, cut out as many Halloween symbols from paper or cardboard (about 20 cm x 20 cm) as there will be children at the party, e.g. a pumpkin, witch, witch’s broom, raven, spider, bat, skull, ghost, devil’s grimace, etc. You can also vary some motifs, but it is important that the symbols are clearly distinguishable from each other. Also, draw each symbol on a small card.
At the party, you lay out all the symbols on the dance floor or stick them down beforehand. As in the petrification dance, the children now dance what the stuff holds to suitable creepy music and you stop at some point. When dancing, the children may not stand on the symbols, when the music stops they must quickly jump on one of the symbols. Then blindly draw one of the symbols from a large witch hat and it flies out of the game and the child standing on it is eliminated.

4. Mummy Wrap

A classic Halloween game for kids (but fun for adults too) is mummy wrapping! The kids form teams of two, each team gets a roll of toilet paper and…. On your marks! Get set! GO!

You can also play the mummy wrap game in different variations or give multiple prizes:

• Which team was the fastest to wrap a finished mummy?
• Which mummy did not tear the toilet paper once?
• The children vote on which mummy is the most beautiful.
• So that everyone can be mummy times, there are 2 rounds.

5. Which Ghost Has Hidden There?

All children sit in a circle, in the middle is spread a white bed sheet. The room should ideally be a bit darkened and spookily lit.

Now one child, the ghost hunter, is sent outside and then another child is chosen as the ghost, without the child outside noticing. This child lies huddled on the floor (it is best to put a blanket or pillow underneath) and is covered by the others with the sheet. All the other children change places with each other to confuse the ghost hunter.

Now the ghost hunter may enter and address the ghost with “Hello ghost” or “Which ghost is lying there?” The ghost now straightens up and says in a disguised voice: “Whoo-hoo, who woke me up there?” or something similar. The ghost hunter must now guess which child is under the cloth.
To make it a little harder, you can also give the other children cloths to cover up as a ghost. Then the ghost hunter can only guess who the ghost in the middle is by voice and height.

6. The Big Spider Web of Stories

In this game, the children also sit in a circle, preferably on chairs. One of the children (or the game leader) now begins and briefly tells something spooky that he or she has actually experienced. The first teller holds a ball of wool and keeps its end in his/her hand while tossing the ball to another player and asking “What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever experienced?”

The game goes on and on until everyone has told their story, with each player unwinding the ball of yarn a bit and holding it in one place, creating a large spider web of scary stories.

Then the game is played backwards and each child must say in one sentence what the child to whom he now throws the ball of wool had experienced

Variation: Instead of telling scary experiences, the children can also introduce themselves with a fantasy name before throwing the ball of wool further, e.g. “I am the ghost Ferdinand von Fürchterlich”, “I am Vanessa Vampirella” etc. As they throw it back, have each child call out the “correct” Halloween name of the catcher.

7. Monster Snap

Monster snapping is the Halloween variation of the popular pretzel snapping, sausage snapping, or apple snapping. To prepare, you tie candy to one or more strings in the shape of monsters and animals that can be bought almost anywhere at Halloween, i.e., chocolate spiders, licorice bats, white foam rats, wine gum frogs and sour threads as witches’ hair. Now you stretch the strings with the candy across the room or hang them from the ceiling, the door lintel, etc.

It is important that the candy is hung so that the children can just reach it with their mouths when they stand on their toes or jump up. All the children have their hands tied behind their backs, then they line up at a starting line about 3 meters in front of the monster course. On “Go!” all the children run and grab the little monsters for all they’re worth.
Tip: If the children are of different sizes, stretch at least 2 strings of different heights and divide the children by size into groups, so that each child has what.

Tip 2: Alternatively, have the kids grab floating apples in a bowl filled with water – a traditional Halloween custom in the US!

8. Pumpkin Skittles

Clearly, at least one of the top 10 Halloween games for kids would involve pumpkins, right? 😉

For this game, you’ll need at least one nice round pumpkin that rolls well. Better still a second pumpkin as a substitute, because pumpkins are not always as stable as bowling balls. In addition, a broom that looks as much like a witch’s broom as possible and 10 empty cans (e.g. from Ravioli), which you stick or paint with suitable Halloween motifs.

Now all you have to do is find a suitable bowling alley in the house or garden where the pumpkin can easily be made to roll with the broom. A slightly sloping track also works, as long as the pumpkin doesn’t roll on it by itself. This game is all about the fun, because precise aiming is hard even with nearly spherical pumpkins 😉

9. I Pack Into My Tomb…

That’s right, you guessed it! The game is the Halloween variant of I’m packing my suitcase…. Except that in I’m packing into my crypt…. only terms with Halloween or horror reference may be called.

In turn, the children say, for example:

1. I pack in my tomb…. a witch hat
2. I pack in my tomb a witch’s hat and…. blood preserves
3. I pack into my tomb a witch’s hat, blood preserves, and… Bat wings!

The game goes on until someone can’t get all the things in the crypt together.

10. Eyeball Race

Also from the classic children’s birthday game egg race there is a suitable variant to Halloween. You draw pupils on 2 ping pong balls with a waterproof felt-tip pen so that they look like big eyeballs. Then you think about a small obstacle course and set it up before the party. The obstacle course should end where it started so that there is a relay. Now you just need 2 tablespoons and you’re ready to go.
The children form two teams of equal size and line up in two rows at the beginning of the course. The first 2 children each hold a tablespoon with the eyeball on it and run through the course as fast as possible on command.

If an eyeball falls, the player has to go back to the beginning and start again. Once he has mastered the course, he hands over the spoon with the eyeball to the next player on his team. During the handover, however, the eyeball may never be taken in the hand, only the spoon! The team whose last player is back first is the winner.

Bonus: Even More Halloween Games for Kids!

These top 10 are by no means all the Halloween games for kids you’ll find at Abenteuer Freundschaft! Also read our instructions for a Halloween scavenger hunt for kids and a Halloween treasure hunt for kids and also check out our list of the 10 best Halloween games for teens. That’s because some of the games listed there, such as the game Griff of Horror (feel yucky things in a box) are also great for elementary school kids.

Also check out our recommendations for family games and ideas for fall activities! There’s plenty to explore on our Leisure Ideas portal, from creative ideas for gifts to activities with kids, the friends and for couples. Check it out!

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Image Source Cover Photo: Kids fishing for apples in a metal tub and a pumpkin pail by Personal Creations at (CC BY 2.0)