Gruesomely Good Games

Monster Parts Mystery

Gather 5 assorted boxes with lids (deep enough to put a small or medium bowl inside). Cut a hole in the lid of each box so that a child’s hand will fit through. Get the kids to help decorate each box with pictures of ghosts, bats, witches hats or haunted houses.
Gather your "monster parts"! Intestines = Cold cooked spaghetti
Eyeballs = Large peeled grapes
Teeth = Candy Corn
Hearts = Any Jell-O Jigglers recipe can be adapted using heart-shaped molds or cookie-cutters.
Ears = Dried apricots, prunes or bell pepper halves
Put the "Monster Parts" in the bowls, and place each bowl inside a box; cover with lids.
Line up boxes on a table, dim the lights, and have the children reach inside and try to guess the "monster parts".

Make sure you have damp paper towels or wet wipe-ups for cleaning any sticky hands or fingers.

Guess the Pumpkin Seeds in a Jar

Pour as many dried pumpkin seeds into a large jar as you can. Then, pour the seeds into a large bowl and measure one cup of the seeds. Count the number of seeds in the measuring cup. Use the measuring cup to continue filling the jar, counting each cup as you go. Now all you have to do is multiply the number of cups by the number of seeds counted in the first cup. To get the kids started, place a piece of paper next to the jar and have each child write down their guess of how many seeds are in the jar. The closest guess wins! Have your kids decorate the jar with coloured paper or ribbon. For a more colourful twist, use candy corn instead of pumpkin seeds.

Web Weave

For this game, you'll need a small ball of string (approx. 30 to 40 feet) for each child. Pair the players into teams of 2 and place them into a circle (3 to 4 teams work best). Team members should be opposite one another. Give each child a ball of string and have them tie the loose end around their waist. When you say go, have each child throw the ball of string to their teammate. The teammate wraps the string once around themselves, and then throws the string back. The first team to use up their two balls of string wins! This game is lots of fun and be sure to take pictures before they remove the web — the best part is seeing everyone all tied up. To add a spooky element, after the last ball of string is tossed, turn out the lights for a minute or two!

Pumpkin Bowling

For bowling pins, all you need are 6 empty, 2-litre soda bottles. (You can have the kids cut out Halloween shapes from construction paper to decorate your pins.) Purchase several small or miniature pumpkins and remove the stems. Now you're ready to start bowling! Assign a little helper to assist you with re-setting the pins.

Freaky Fashion Parade

Before the sun goes down, have the kids line up and parade around the neighborhood. It's a good idea to have a few helpers keep everyone together, and it's best to plan a route that doesn't require too many street crossings. Enlist a neighbour to judge from their front lawn and award prizes on the spot for different costume categories (spookiest, funniest or most original). For younger children, it's a good idea to have "honourable mention" ribbons or prizes on hand so that everyone gets a prize.

Mummy Wrap

Divide kids into teams of 3 (1 mummy, 1 wrapper, 1 un-wrapper). Each team gets 1 extra-large roll of toilet paper. This is a timed event, so instruct the kids that on your signal, one team member must wrap the "mummy" in toilet paper. When the roll is complete (and the mummy is mostly covered) the 2nd team member unwraps the mummy (no tearing the toilet paper, it has to be unrolled). The first team to finish, wins. This is a great activity, especially when you play it to fast-paced Halloween music.

Classic Spooktacular Movies