Easy At-Home Party Games and Snacks for Halloween
Halloween is a very big deal on the kid calendar, right up there with Christmas and birthdays, so if you’re going to stay home and have a little family celebration, here’s a guide to the simple games and snacks that will make you a hero (even if your cape has been at the dry-cleaner’s since last year).
Party Games You Can Buy:
Halloween Bingo – Numbers and letters are so 2019. Halloween bingo trades the boring for the festive with squares featuring black cats, skulls, skeletons and the like. Pick one up in-store or create your own!
Piñata – If you have space and the willingness to let the kids loose in your house with blindfolds and sticks, piñatas are tops for fun and entertainment. Grab one at your local Walmart of Party City and fill it with inexpensive treats and candies from the Dollar Store, Party City or Bulk Barn.
Scary Face Painting – Grab some face paint, find ideas, tutorials and inspiration online and get creating!
Treasure Hunt – Hide a handful of small Halloween-themed items around the house or yard and give the kids a list of items (or clues). Whoever finds the most stuff wins!
Party Games That Are Easy to DIY:
Brains and Eyeballs – In a big bowl of jam or Jell-O, hide items like olives and spaghetti and have the kids pull out as many “brains and eyeballs” as they dare.
Candy Count – Need a little quiet time in the middle of the chaos? Fill a glass jar with candies and have the kids guess how many are inside. The winner takes the jar home. Or not.
Mummy Bowling – That’s mummy, not mommy. Grab some plastic pins from the Dollar Store, wrap them in toilet paper or gauze (use a glue gun to secure the ends), adorn them with googly eyes and line them up at the end of a long hall.
Popping Pumpkins – Fill orange balloons with small candies or spooky messages, tie a green ribbon around the bottom and let the littles have at it.
Pumpkin Golf – Hollow out a few pumpkins, making sure the mouth is flush with the floor. Then grab some kid-friendly putters and golf balls and see who’s destined for the PGA tour. The first hole in one gets a prize!
Scarecrow Relay Race – Divide everyone into two teams giving each a pile of old clothes and some straw. The players have to dress up in all the gear, run the length of your yard and return. The first team to get through all its players (and sit down quietly!) wins. This one also works great as a Mummy Wrap race if you have a LOT of toilet paper on hand for wrapping.
Zombie Wink – One child (the designated zombie hunter) leaves the room while the others sit in a circle, eyes closed. The host secretly chooses a child to be the zombie and when the zombie hunter returns the zombie starts winking and the game begins. The players all wander around in an undead state while the hunter tries to figure out who the original zombie is. When she does, the game begins again.
Snacks:
Apple Peanut Butter Teeth – If you’ve got kids with no food allergies, apples, mini marshmallows, and peanut butter are all you need for this super cute and healthy(ish) snack from Mom Foodie.
Candy Kebabs – Easy to put together with gummy treats, all you need is a variety of spooky-themed candies from the Dollar Store or Bulk Barn and some skewers. Display them in a glass jar for easy access or wrap them in plastic with ribbon as a take-home treat. Click here for some inspiration.
Clementine Jack-O-Lanterns – The easiest snack on the list only requires a non-toxic black marker and some clementines or oranges. Draw your best spooky faces on the peel and let the kids choose their favourite healthy snack.
Graveyard Chocolate Dip – The only thing buried in this graveyard is deliciousness! Click here to get the recipe from Well Plated or simply cut your tortillas into tombstone-shapes and add them to the top of any savoury dip, like cheese or spinach.
Mummy Meatballs – Everyone loves finger foods and this recipe couldn’t be simpler. Serve them warm and with your favourite sauce or dip.
Rice Krispie Monsters – Nothing’s easier than Rice Krispie treats! Just add a little bit of orange or green food colouring, and shape your treats into little monsters before applying some edible googly eyes.
Severed Toes – Wrap some cut up hot dogs or cocktail wieners in pastry and bake. Add sliced almonds for the toenails (again for kids with no nut allergies) and serve with a big bowl of blood, I mean ketchup, for dipping. Get the full recipe here.
