Last year
I helped my 2 friends and my Youth group organize a Halloween carnival for my
church, and this year I ended up planning another one and I took charge of
the one for my son's scout troop also. My kids were bouncing off the
walls because they had so much fun. After searching the
internet using past ideas and scanning Pinterest for any other good ideas,
these were the games that we have used over the last 2 years. We had
about 10 games or so running and it seemed to work really well around the gym:
Cupcake walk: This one is a classic and
always a favorite. Have numbered squares or even colored Halloween coloring
pages placed in a circle on the floor. Make smaller versions cut up and
placed in a bowl to draw the winning square each round. Find fun music to play,
we used Halloween Kidz Bop. Play the music and the kids walk around the
squares when the music stops whoever is on the winning square is the winner.
Can choose to hand out prizes/candy instead of cupcakes.
Fish for prizes: Another classic. Make
2 fishing rods (stick) with string and clothes pins attached at the end of the
string. Decorate something to hide the prize givers in the back we had
access to white boards on wheels, this worked perfectly. Then the kids
cast their string back behind the "pond" where you attach the prize
to the clothes pins.
Bean Bag
toss: Decorate and
Cut a few holes in a big cardboard box and kids have to throw ping pong
balls/bean bags into the holes. Or you can make a cornhole type game.
We have done both ways and both were successful
Ducky Match: have pairs of numbers/shape/colors on
the bottom of a dozen small rubber ducks (or even Hershey kisses)
when a child picks a match and they get a prize
Pick a boo: Static lollipop board (This year we used a peg board,
last year we made a cardboard tree) with tootsie pop's decorated as ghosts.
A few of the "ghosts" sticks were marked on the bottom with a
color, if you picked a color you get a special prize, if not you just get to
keep the Tootsie Pop.
Donuts on
a string: Use
a stick or even a broom handle and tie a few strings from it.
2 volunteers will hold the stick parallel to the ground where
donuts are tied to the strings. The children have to eat the small
miniature donuts off of the string without using their hands
TP Toss: The kiddos line up behind a set
line and have to throw a roll of TP (3 tries) into a new clean
Toilet seat attached over a box, prizes are tootsie rolls
Life size tick tack toe: My kids really liked
this one. Use painters tape to make a large gameboard on the floor, we
actually had 2. You can use Witch hats and paper pumpkins or really
whatever you can think of as game pieces
Can Prize Toss: prizes are placed in
10 decorated tin cans glued to a piece of cardboard covered in
fabric, there are 3 small beanbags so the children get 3 tries, whichever can
the bag lands in is the prize that they will get (when we didn't attach the
cans they fell down and moved all over but attaching them to cardboard is
completely optional)
Carnival Can knock down game: Stack 6 cans in a pyramid
pattern and give the kiddos a few tries to knock them over with tennis balls
Candy Guessing Game: Fill a jar with candy and
know how much is in the jar. Have the children write their guess of how
many candy pieces are in the jar, whomever is the closest gets to keep the
candy!
Cup Game: Use 3 cups you cannot see
through and have a prize or ball under one of the cups with the cups all around
and then the kiddos have to guess which cup the prize is under
Pumpkin
Carving/Decorating Contest: Have the children coming decorate a pumpkin
and assign each a number. The kids can all vote on their favorites and
count the votes and award prizes at the end. We did prizes for the top 3.
You could have winners for different categories if you wanted.
Drop a coin into a bottle: we used pennies and
gave each participant 3 tries. The bottle we used was a 2 liter bottle
cut off on the neck right before it opens up to the full width of the bottle
Push an
apple with your nose: We
set up 2 lines about 20 feet apart and had up to 2 children go at the same
time. They push the apple from one line across the other using
only their nose.
Ghost
Waiter: The
children carry a balloon on a paper plate to a designated place you can mark it
with tape on the floor. If they drop their balloon they have to go
back and start over
Box Maze: The Young Men put
together this one and my kids are still talking about it. They collected
large appliance sized cardboard boxes and using duct tape made a maze out of
them. They had the lights down and a smoke machine going and it was an
absolute hit!
We had
all the children come wearing costumes but we did not have a costume contest.
I ordered a selection of prizes in from Oriental Trading and we held a
Trunk or Treat outside in the parking lot after the carnival was over.
This is
one of those activities that my kids look forward to every year and it's nice
to have a good selection of games listed in one place! I hope your kids
enjoy them as much as mine do.
