Halloween Games to Play With the School-Aged

Paper Games

• Make a list of scrambled Halloween words and give each child one page. Use words like "pumpkin," "trick-or-treat," "ghost," "gourd," "masks," "bats" and "Halloween." Award a prize to the player who can unscramble the words the fastest. If you have several players, award a prize to the first two or three players to finish the word scramble. For another paper game, tell the players they have two minutes to write down as many words as they can using only the letters from the word "Halloween." The player who writes down the most correct words in two minutes wins the game.

Pumpkin Games

• Hide several miniature pumpkins around the play area and have the children hunt for pumpkins. The player who finds the most pumpkins wins the game and a prize. For a variation, write point values on each pumpkin. The player with the highest amount of points wins the game. Give each player a large paper sack to collect the miniature pumpkins.

Mummy Games

• Divide the children into teams of three or four. Have each team select one player to be the "team mummy." Give each team a roll of toilet paper. When you say "Wrap that mummy," the players must wrap their team mummy using all of the toilet paper. Avoid wrapping the mouth and nose to avoid any potential breathing hazards. The first team to use all their toilet paper and have the mummy completely covered wins the game. For another variation, give the players white crepe paper streamer instead of toilet paper.

Trick-or-Treat Games

• Cut pumpkin shapes out of orange construction paper, one for each player. Write "trick" on half of the pumpkins and "treat" on the other half. On the ones that say "trick," write a trick, such as "walk like Frankenstein" or "cackle like a witch." Place the pumpkins face down on the ground so players cannot see the words. Play Halloween music and have the players dance around the pumpkins. When the music stops, each player must stand on a pumpkin. One at time, the players must pick up their pumpkin and read it. If it is a trick, they must do the trick. If it is a treat, they earn a small prize. For a variation, simply fold the pumpkins in half and place them all in a bowl. The players can draw a pumpkin one at a time to find out if they win a treat or have to do a trick.