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The short answer The best Halloween party games for kids are charades, bingo, a mummy wrap race, monster freeze dance and a pumpkin ring toss. They’re silly rather than scary, need only paper and a few props, and work from about age 4 up. Below are 25 Halloween games sorted into printables, active games, crafty games and outdoor games, with ages and setup times, plus free printables for the ones marked.
Halloween Charades for Kids
How to play: Cut the cards apart and drop them in a candy bucket. One child draws a card and acts it out with no talking. Spooky sound effects are allowed for kids under 7. Everyone else guesses. For older kids, split into two teams and set a 60-second timer.
- Carving a pumpkin
- Flying on a broom
- A bat hanging upside down
- A black cat stretching
- Trick-or-treating
- A ghost floating down the hall
- A mummy walking
- A friendly monster dancing
- Jumping in a leaf pile
- Raking leaves
- Picking the biggest pumpkin
- Putting on a costume that's too small
+ 38 more in the printable.
Charades is the one Halloween game that works for almost any age. The kids’ deck has 50 cards, from “a bat hanging upside down” to “a zombie doing ballet,” with nothing gory in the pile. Print it as a PDF on US Letter or A4, or play it on a phone and pass the phone to each actor. For kids who can’t read yet, a grown-up whispers the card.
How to plan the games
For a two-hour party, plan four or five games and keep two in your back pocket. Kids under 6 usually lose interest in any single game after about 10 minutes, so keep rounds short and move on while they’re still having fun.
Alternate loud and calm: an active game, then a sitting game, then snacks, then something silly. And plan for costumes. A long cape or a mask that covers the eyes is fine for bingo but a problem for relay races, so ask kids to take off masks for the running games.
Keep it fun, not frightening. Little kids can be scared by things older kids find funny, so save the spooky stories and jump-scare games for ages 9 and up, and check with parents if you’re unsure.
- A printer and paper for bingo cards, charades and the word scramble
- Toilet paper (two rolls per team for the mummy wrap)
- Small pumpkins, pool rings or paper-plate rings
- A speaker for music
- Painter’s tape for start lines and spider webs
- Paper plates, markers, glue sticks and orange and black paper
- Stickers or small non-food prizes for every child
Printable Halloween games
These three are free on our site. Print them the night before and you have three games ready with no other setup.
1. Halloween charades (free printable)
The deck at the top of the page. For kids 4 to 6, let everyone shout guesses and allow spooky sound effects. For 7 and up, split into two teams and give each actor 60 seconds. Plan 15 to 30 minutes.
2. Halloween bingo for kids (free printable)
Every card is different, with 24 words like Pumpkin, Black Cat, Leaf Pile and Friendly Monster. The words are short and easy to sound out, so kids 6 and up can play on their own, and younger kids can play with a reading buddy. Add your party’s name to the top of the cards before you print. Use stickers or paper squares as markers; skip candy corn if any guests are under 4, since hard candy is a choking risk.
Halloween Bingo for Kids
How to play: Give each child a different card and a handful of markers (paper squares, stickers or dry cereal for older kids). The caller reads one word at a time from the calling sheet, or uses Play mode on a screen. Kids mark the word if it's on their card. The center square is free.
- Pumpkin
- Ghost
- Bat
- Black Cat
- Owl
- Spider
- Spiderweb
- Moon
- Star
- Candy
- Costume
- Mask
+ 33 more in the printable.
3. Halloween word scramble (free printable)
Twenty-two Halloween and fall words, from short ones like BROOM and MUMMY to longer ones like SCARECROW and MOONLIGHT. Best for ages 8 and up, or pair a younger child with an older one. The answer key prints on its own page, and it makes a good quiet game while pizza arrives.
Halloween Word Scramble
How to play: Hand each student or pair a sheet and a pencil. Unscramble each jumble of letters into a Halloween or fall word. Set a timer for 10 minutes, or play until the first pair finishes.
- PUMPKIN
- GHOST
- WITCH
- SPIDER
- COSTUME
- CANDY
- LANTERN
- SKELETON
- SCARECROW
- OCTOBER
- AUTUMN
- HARVEST
+ 10 more in the printable.
Active Halloween games (indoors)
Clear a space, move anything breakable, and keep toddlers out of the path of bigger kids.
4. Mummy wrap race
Teams of two or three race to wrap one teammate in toilet paper from shoulders to ankles. Keep the paper off faces. First team to use up a roll wins, or let the grown-ups vote on the best mummy. Five minutes, ages 5 and up.
5. Monster freeze dance
Play music and everyone dances like a monster. When the music stops, everyone freezes. Nobody’s out for kids under 6; the grown-up just calls out the best frozen monster. For older kids, anyone who wobbles helps judge the next round.
6. Pumpkin ring toss
Line up three or four small pumpkins with stems and toss pool rings or paper-plate rings (cut out the middle of a plate) over the stems. Move the throwing line closer for little kids. Ages 3 and up, 10 minutes.
7. Ghost bowling
Draw ghost faces on 10 empty toilet paper rolls or white plastic cups and set them up as pins. Kids roll a small pumpkin or a soft ball to knock them down. It’s easy to set up and works in a hallway.
8. Spider web walk
Make a big spider web on the floor with painter’s tape: a few long lines crossing in the middle and rings connecting them. Kids walk the lines heel to toe from the edge to the center without stepping off. For older kids, add a plastic spider they have to carry on a spoon.
9. Pin the smile on the jack-o’-lantern
Draw a big orange pumpkin on poster board and cut out black paper smiles with tape on the back. Blindfold each player, spin them gently once, and let them stick on the smile. Write names on the smiles so you can see who got closest. Toddlers can play without a blindfold.
10. Witch’s hat relay
Teams line up, and the first player on each team wears a big witch’s hat (or a paper cone). They walk to a turnaround point and back, then pass the hat to the next player. If the hat falls off, they stop and put it back on. Walking only, because hats slip over eyes.
11. Monster says
A grown-up or the party host’s child plays the “monster” leader: “Monster says stomp your feet.” “Monster says howl at the moon.” Anyone who moves without hearing “monster says” just laughs and keeps playing. Good for settling a group before snacks.
12. Bat, ghost, pumpkin
A Halloween twist on rock, paper, scissors, played in pairs. Bats flap, ghosts float with arms up, pumpkins crouch in a ball. Bat beats ghost, ghost beats pumpkin, pumpkin beats bat. Winners find a new partner and losers cheer for them until two champions are left.
Crafty and quiet Halloween games
These fit into the gaps: while the pizza’s late, when it’s raining, or during the last 20 minutes before pickup.
13. Fold-over monsters
Fold a sheet of paper into three sections. One kid draws a monster’s head in the top section, folds it over so nobody can see it, and passes it on. The next kid draws the body, and the third draws the legs. Unfold the paper to see the monster. Ages 5 and up.
14. Paper plate masks
Cut eye holes in paper plates ahead of time. Set out markers, glue sticks, paper scraps and stickers, and let kids make a monster, a cat or a pumpkin face. Hold a quick parade at the end, then tape a craft stick to the bottom so the mask can be held up instead of worn.
15. Pumpkin decorating contest
Give each child a mini pumpkin and a table of stickers, markers and paint pens. No carving needed. Hand out a ribbon to every pumpkin in a made-up category: silliest, sparkliest, most likely to be a superhero.
16. Mystery boxes
Cut a hand-sized hole in the side of three or four shoeboxes. Put something with a funny texture in each: a wet sponge, cold cooked noodles, a pine cone, a bowl of gelatin. Kids reach in without looking and guess what it is. Keep it silly, not gross, and let nervous kids watch first.
17. Halloween story circle
One person starts a story: “On Halloween night, a very small ghost lost its shoe.” Everyone adds one sentence in turn. It’s a good one for the last minutes of a party, and you can decide in advance that every story has a happy ending.
18. Candy jar guess
Fill a clear jar with wrapped candy or glow sticks and count them first. Kids write a guess on a slip when they arrive, and the closest guess takes the jar home. It runs in the background with no host needed.
Outdoor Halloween games
19. Pumpkin hunt
Hide mini pumpkins or orange plastic eggs around the yard, like an egg hunt. Give each child a bag or a candy bucket. For mixed ages, hide some low for little kids and some higher for the older ones. Our scavenger hunt clues for kids around the house turn it into a riddle hunt if you’d rather.
20. Pumpkin roll relay
Teams roll a small pumpkin across the grass with a broom or a pool noodle to a turnaround point and back. Pumpkins roll in odd directions, which is the whole joke. Ages 5 and up.
21. Flashlight tag
After dark, whoever is “it” tags players by catching them in a flashlight beam. Set tight boundaries away from steps, pools and the street, and swap the “it” player every few minutes. Ages 8 and up.
22. Broom sweep race
Each child gets a broom and a balloon or a pile of paper leaves. They sweep it to the finish line and back. Grown-ups blow up the balloons, and pick up any that pop right away.
23. Apples on a string
A dry, less messy take on bobbing for apples. Hang apples or donuts on strings from a clothesline or a low branch at about face height. Kids keep their hands behind their backs and try to take a bite. Cut apples into big pieces for little kids, and check for allergies first.
24. Costume parade
Kids walk a “runway” one at a time while everyone cheers. Give out made-up awards so everyone wins something: best cape swish, loudest roar, best homemade costume. Five minutes, and parents will want photos.
25. Trick-or-treat doors
Great for a party at home before real trick-or-treating, or for a party where kids aren’t going out. Put a grown-up behind three or four closed doors in the house with a bowl of treats. Kids knock, say “trick or treat,” and get a treat or a small toy at each door.
Pick up any broken balloon pieces right away, since balloons are a choking risk for kids under 8. Also check for food allergies before any food game, use battery lights instead of candles in jack-o’-lanterns where kids are moving, and take off masks that block vision for active games.
Treats and prizes without the sugar rush
Kids with food allergies can miss out on food-based games and treats. The Teal Pumpkin Project, which the food allergy group FARE took national in 2014, encourages non-food treats, and they work just as well as game prizes: glow sticks, stickers, pencils, bouncy balls for kids over 3, temporary tattoos and mini notepads.
Give every child a prize, not just the winners. Let the winners pick first from a basket where everything is roughly equal. For more prize ideas and games by age, our birthday party games for kids list covers all of it, and much of it works at a Halloween party too.
If some guests’ families don’t celebrate Halloween, call it a fall party. Swap the ghosts for leaves and pumpkins in the games, and use our Game Maker to change the words on the bingo cards before you print.
Games by age at a glance
- Ages 3 to 5: monster freeze dance, pumpkin ring toss, ghost bowling, pumpkin hunt, monster says, trick-or-treat doors.
- Ages 6 to 8: charades, bingo, mummy wrap, spider web walk, fold-over monsters, mystery boxes.
- Ages 9 to 12: word scramble, flashlight tag, bat ghost pumpkin tournament, story circle, and would you rather questions for the lulls.
For more Halloween printables and games for other crowds, visit our Halloween games page.
Questions hosts ask
What games can you play at a kids' Halloween party?
Charades, bingo, a mummy wrap race, monster freeze dance, pumpkin ring toss, ghost bowling and a pumpkin hunt all work with simple props.
How many games should you plan for a kids' Halloween party?
Four or five games for a two-hour party, plus two spares. Alternate active and quiet games, and keep rounds short for kids under 6.
What are good Halloween games for toddlers and preschoolers?
Monster freeze dance, pumpkin ring toss, ghost bowling, a pumpkin hunt and trick-or-treat doors. Keep hard candy away from kids under 4.
What can I use as Halloween prizes instead of candy?
Glow sticks, stickers, pencils, temporary tattoos, mini notepads and, for kids over 3, bouncy balls. Give every child a prize.
By the Party Game Book editors. Every game here is free to print for personal, classroom and non-commercial use. How we make and check our games.
