Halloween Games & Ideas for Preschoolers

"Spider" Hats

• This is a great one for getting spooky while teaching the youngsters how to count and recognize certain shapes. You'll need an elastic headband, construction paper, those googly eyes you see at the craft stores, scissors and glue.

  Start by having them cut out a circle and glue two googly eyes in the center. Glue or tape this to the headband -- the body of the spider. From there, have them count and cut out eight legs. Once cut out, have your preschoolers fold the legs like an accordion and glue them around the headband! This is a fun idea that lets the kids get messy, have a blast and learn while they're at it. Toss in some candy to up the ante.

"The Pumpkin Walk"

• This is a simple game based on the "musical chairs" format. Place several differently colored pumpkins in a circle and have the kiddies walk around the circle while you play spooky music (or any music). When you stop the music, call out a color. The child standing next to that colored pumpkin wins a piece of candy or a Halloween surprise. It's such an easy game to set up, plus they're learning about the colors of the rainbow and getting lots of goodies, so it's a win-win game!

"The Hokey Pokey" -- Halloween Edition

• Just like the song "The Hokey Pokey," you stand in a circle with your kids and begin to sing the song - or as it's called for Halloween, the "Hookey Spookey"! As you sing it, simply swap the standard lyrics for Halloweeny things. For example, instead of saying "put your right hand in" you'll sing "put your pumpkin in." Instead of "put your left hand in" you'll say something like "put your ghost in" and so on until you finish the song! If your kids feel up to it, have them make up their own words and have a blast! Finally, no Halloween song would be complete without saying "Boo!", so at the end of the song, have the kids scream, "and that's what it's all about... boo!"

"Bowling For Ghosts"

• This game will be right up your alley if you have lots of room and a set of bowling pins. Have the kids cut out ghosts on construction paper and tape them to each bowling pin. Then have your kids bowl for strikes using real pumpkins! There's not much learning going on here, but they'll have a blast -- especially if there's candy at stake. To make it even more fun, let them grab a piece of candy for every pin they knock over.