Halloween parties run from a classroom of seven-year-olds to adults in costumes, and the same game rarely suits both. The phone games below have separate lists for kids, teens and adults, and the classic games need little more than toilet paper and a bag of candy.
Each one is spooky in the fun sense and safe for kids unless the card says otherwise.
1. Bobbing for apples
Players: 3 or moreAges: 6 and upYou need: a wide tub of water, apples and a towel
- Fill the tub with cold water and float a few more apples than you have players.
- Players take turns kneeling at the tub with their hands behind their back.
- Each player gets 30 seconds to lift an apple out with their teeth.
- Anyone who catches one keeps it and plays the next round, which is 10 seconds shorter. The last player left wins.
If you would like to keep faces dry and skip the shared water, hang the apples from strings and have players bite them with no hands.
2. Mummy wrap
Players: 4 or more, in teams of 2 or 3Ages: 5 and upYou need: 2 rolls of toilet paper per team
- Each team picks one person to be the mummy.
- On "go", the teammates wrap the mummy from ankles to shoulders and leave the face clear.
- Stop the clock after three minutes.
- The host picks the best covered mummy.
Buy two-ply. Thin paper tears every few seconds and the wrappers spend the round patching holes.
3. Donut on a string
Players: 2 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: ring donuts, string and a broomstick
- Tie a donut to each string and hang the strings from a broomstick that two people hold at about mouth height.
- Each player stands under a donut with their hands behind their back.
- On "go", everyone eats. The first to finish without dropping the donut wins.
Cake donuts stay on the string longer than soft glazed ones. Lower the broomstick for a round of small kids.
4. Pin the nose on the pumpkin
Players: 3 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: a large paper pumpkin, a paper nose with tape for each player and a blindfold
- Tape the pumpkin to a wall at the players' eye level and write a name on each nose.
- Blindfold the first player, turn them around three times and point them toward the wall.
- They stick their nose on the first spot they touch.
- When everyone has had a turn, the nose closest to the middle of the face wins.
Draw the pumpkin with eyes and a mouth and mark a small X where the nose belongs, so there is a clear spot to measure from.
5. Pumpkin bowling
Players: 2 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: a small round pumpkin and 10 toilet paper rolls
- Stack the rolls in a pyramid at the end of a hallway. Draw ghost faces on them if you have a marker.
- Mark a line about 10 feet back.
- Each player rolls the pumpkin twice per turn and scores a point for every roll knocked down.
- The highest total after five turns wins.
Snap the stem off first so the pumpkin rolls straight, and keep a spare. They crack after a few rounds on a hard floor.
6. Witch hat ring toss
Players: 2 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: 3 pointed witch hats and 5 rings, such as glow necklaces
- Stand the hats in a row, each one a step farther from the throwing line.
- The near hat is worth 1 point, the middle hat 3 and the far hat 5.
- Each player throws all five rings per turn.
- Add up the points after three turns each.
Stuff the hats with newspaper so they stand up. After dark, glow necklaces are the easiest rings to see.
7. Mystery feel boxes
Players: 3 or moreAges: 5 and upYou need: shoeboxes with a hand-sized hole, and foods such as peeled grapes and cold spaghetti
- Put one food in each box and give it a spooky label. Peeled grapes are eyeballs and cold spaghetti is worms.
- Players reach into each box without looking.
- Each player writes down what they think the food really is.
- Open the boxes at the end. The most correct guesses wins.
Chill the food first, because cold and slightly wet gets a much bigger reaction. Ask about food allergies before anyone reaches in.
8. Guess the candy corn
Players: any numberAges: 5 and upYou need: a clear jar of candy corn, slips of paper and a pen
- Count the candy corn as you fill the jar and keep the number to yourself.
- Leave the jar where guests will pass it, with the paper slips beside it.
- Everyone writes down their name and a guess.
- Near the end of the party, read out the number. The closest guess takes the jar home.
Decide before the party whether a guess that goes over still counts, and write the rule on a card next to the jar.
9. Ghost in the graveyard
Players: 4 or moreAges: 7 and upYou need: a yard at dusk and a home base, such as a porch or a tree
- One player is the ghost and hides while the others wait at base and count out loud from one o'clock to midnight.
- Everyone spreads out to look for the ghost.
- The first player to spot the ghost yells "ghost in the graveyard!" and all the searchers run for base.
- The ghost chases them. Whoever gets tagged before reaching base is the next ghost.
Walk the yard first and agree on the edges. Glow bracelets on every player let the adults see where everyone is.
10. Monster freeze dance
Players: 4 or moreAges: 3 and upYou need: music and one person to work the pause button
- Play a song and have everyone dance like a monster of their choice.
- Pause the music without warning. Everyone freezes in place.
- Anyone who moves or laughs is out and helps watch for wobblers in the next round.
- Keep going until one dancer is left.
With very young kids, skip the eliminations and call out a new monster each round, such as a zombie and then a bat.
11. Pass the pumpkin
Players: 5 or moreAges: 4 and upYou need: a mini pumpkin and music
- Sit in a circle and start the music.
- Pass the pumpkin around the circle as fast as you can.
- When the music stops, whoever is holding the pumpkin is out.
- The last player left wins.
To keep everyone in the game, have the player caught with the pumpkin do a witch cackle and stay in the circle.
12. Eyeball and spoon race
Players: 4 or moreAges: 5 and upYou need: a spoon and a ping-pong ball with an eye drawn on it for each racer
- Mark a start line and a turning point about 20 feet away.
- Racers balance the eyeball on the spoon in one hand and keep the other hand behind their back.
- On "go", they race to the turning point and back.
- A racer who drops the eyeball goes back to the start line. The first one home wins.
With more than eight players, split into two teams and run it as a relay. Outdoors the wind blows ping-pong balls away, so use small bouncy balls.
13. Round-robin ghost story
Players: 3 or moreAges: 6 and upYou need: a flashlight and a dim room
- Sit in a circle and turn the lights down.
- The person holding the flashlight starts a ghost story with one sentence.
- They pass the flashlight to the left, and the next person adds one sentence.
- Go around the circle three times. Whoever speaks last has to end the story.
With young kids, start the story with a silly ghost, such as one who is afraid of the dark, so it stays funny.
14. Spider web game
Players: 3 to 8Ages: 5 and upYou need: a ball of yarn and a small prize for each player
- Before the party, tie each prize to the end of a long piece of yarn and hide the prize.
- Run each piece of yarn around the room, over chairs and under tables, crossing the other pieces to make a web.
- Hand each player a loose end.
- Players wind up their yarn, climbing over and under each other's lines, until they reach their prize.
Use a different color of yarn for each player. With one color, nobody can tell whose line is whose after the first tangle.
Open one, pick who's playing, and pass the phone around. Each has its own Halloween list.
Updated November 2026.