Tips When Seeking Halloween Party Games

Halloween fun

For a novice event planner, nothing is more daunting than the question, "Mom, can I have a Halloween party?" There are Halloween decorations, costumes, recipes and activities to plan, which can be a big task. To throw the best party, try to keep the group small (10 is ideal) and organize Halloween fun games. Whether you're planning for a teenager, a pre-teen or a young child, there are a number of fun and affordable games to keep the entertainment rolling!

Halloween party games for younger kids can range from silly Halloween fun and getting-to-know-you games, to spooky ghost story telling and puzzle solving. An easy first game is "The Name Game," where index cards with monster or Halloween character names written on them are affixed to the back of each guest. Then the person asks another guest "yes or no" questions until the right answer is guessed. Some kids love "pumpkin golf," which is a homemade golf game made out of a cardboard ramp, a carved pumpkin with an extremely large smile and a mini-golf set.

"Ghost hunter" scavenger hunts always go over well for grade school children. First wrap lollipops up like ghosts using white tissue paper and a black magic marker. Then hide them around the house and write clues about where they could be. To make it more competitive, create teams, such as "the witches," "the goblins" or "the werewolves," and have each team race back to place their lollipops into a bin as they find them, awarding a special prize to the winning team.

Or you may want to put a letter on each ghost that will form ten different Halloween words and award prizes as the kids guess them. You can also turn on "The Monster Mash" and have kids dance like monsters, freezing when the music is stopped. This will definitely have them cackling at the Halloween fun! Check out www.partygamecentral.com for more do-it-yourself ideas.

Or perhaps you're looking for fun Halloween party games for teens. Don't feel daunted in your quest for "the cool factor" with this age group, as they're a lot easier to impress than you may think! One mother said she sent out a story starter with the party invitations and asked the kids to write a creepy ending to be judged at the event. She said the stories were so funny, gross and fascinating that they reread them each year! Given the popularity of YouTube and viral videos, and how tech savvy kids are these days, you may also want to have a "Blair Witch Project Style Film Festival," asking each kid to write and film a five-minute horror movie to be screened at the party. Or if you'd like, you can make this a party activity by assembling old costume accessories and writing down movie ideas, letting kids pick out of a hat. Give each team 20 minutes to film their own movie as the other kids do another activity, waiting for their turn. Halloween hide-h-go-seek can be terrifying when the seeker is dressed up like a horrifying monster, creepy music is playing in the background and those caught have to lay on the floor like vampires in their coffins. Board games are always a howling good time for teenagers as well.

If you're planning an adult Halloween party as an excuse to get together and drink, then fear not. There are plenty of wild Halloween fun drinking games to keep your party entertaining. "Trick or treat" is a classic: The player picks a slip of paper out of a pumpkin with an embarrassing action or question and reads it aloud. They can then choose to do the action or answer the question, or take a shot. The catch is that some of the shots are "tricks" made of disgusting things and some of the shots are identical looking (but delicious) "treats!" You can also try a bobbing for apples (with numbers carved into them to indicate how many shots should be taken) and use Jell-O shots for these games. (But be careful -- they'll sneak up on ya!) Movie games are always popular as well. There's one with the movie "Halloween," where 1 drink is taken whenever Michael kills someone with a butcher knife, a female exposes her breasts, when the Halloween theme song plays, when Halloween masks appear on screen, when Loomis says "evil," when the history of Halloween is discussed and when someone drinks or does drugs. Visit www.geocities.com/madnessmike/halloweendrinking_game.htm for the rest of the rules.