Halloween Party Goodies and Games

This Halloween, make it trick and treat. These spooky Halloween goodies and games are perfect for a family night in. Here are some ideas to get you in the spirit.

Halloween Goodies

Dirt Cups: Never before has something so gross-looking tasted so good! Everyone gets a small plastic cup with a base of chocolate pudding, then goes down an assembly line of toppings to create the ultimate dirt cup. Toppings can include crushed chocolate cookies (dirt), gummy worms (worms), and green frosting (haunted grass).

Marshmallow Spiders: Give everyone a couple of jumbo marshmallows and some pretzel sticks. They’ll insert eight pretzel sticks into the marshmallow, four on each side, to create a spider. If you want, you can use thin lines of chocolate frosting to create eyes and a mouth, giving each spider its own unique personality.

Halloween S’mores: For this simple variation on a well-loved classic, all you’ll need are graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, and some orange food coloring. Dye your marshmallows by soaking them for five minutes in a bowl of water with food coloring. You’ll need to put something heavy, like a plate, on top of your marshmallows to keep them from floating to the surface. Rotate the marshmallows a few times to ensure they are evenly colored.

Halloween Games

Pin the Tail on the Ghost: Make a large poster of a ghost. Fashion a tail out of cotton balls or a washcloth and put adhesive on it so kids can “pin” it on without needing any sharp objects. One at a time, blindfold kids and have them try. Whoever gets the tail closest to the ghost wins!

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Whodunnit: Write your own Halloween murder mystery, complete with elaborate costumes and inside jokes. Or, to keep it simple, you can find great ready-made murder mystery scripts for free online. The layered storylines can get complex, so play with adults or a mature group of kids.

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Spooky Mystery Boxes: Cut circular openings in shoebox lids and fill the boxes with gummy bears, spaghetti, and rocks to signify brains, ghost teeth, and whatever else you can think of — your imagination’s the limit. Kids reach into each box and circle on an answer card what they think is really inside. Whoever gets the most right is the winner!

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I’ve Created a Monster! Sit players in a circle and give the first player a blank sheet of paper and a marker. They’ll pick a card from a pile of “body parts” and draw whatever they picked. Pass around so everyone adds a body part. The last player gets to name the group’s weird, wacky Frankenstein creation.

Find more Halloween goodies and Halloween games here.