Halloween games for little ones

Looking for a way to keep preschoolers and toddlers occupied this October? Here are some fun Halloween games, suitable for all ages

Halloween might be a time for older children to enjoy scary stories and spooky costumes, but what about the little ones? Read on for some inspiration on Halloween games that all the family can enjoy – including toddlers and preschool children.

Don’t forget to stock up on some kid-friendly Halloween chocolate, too. Perfect for prizes, our chocolate for children will add an extra touch of fun to your Halloween games. The best bit? They won’t overload the little ones with too much sugar!

Family-friendly Halloween games

Entertaining younger children at Halloween isn’t as simple as putting on a scary movie and setting out some snacks. Whether you’re letting several little monsters loose for a Halloween party or it’s just you and yours this October 31st, opt for fun over fear-factor this year with some of our favourite Halloween games. These activities are ideal for those whose bedtime is long before the witching hour. *

*Please note, we recommend parental supervision throughout all of these Halloween games.

Ghoul Bowling (age 2+)

Preparation

• Using paint or felt tips and upturned buckets or plastic cups, design your own bowling pins in the style of white ghosts with black eyes and smiles.
• Then decorate a ball that’s heavier than the skittles. Why not paint it orange and add a black grin to make a cute or creepy pumpkin?

How to play

Arrange your skittles bowling alley-style or stack them on top of each other. The kids can then roll or kick the pumpkin ball – depending on what they’re best at – to knock over as many as they can.

Hand out prizes (see below for our delicious Halloween chocolate suggestions) for a strike, or for the most strikes in a given number of turns.

Monster Ring Toss (age 3+)

Preparation

• Cut between one and four rings for each player out of coloured cardboard, depending on how you’d like to score the game.
• Take toilet roll tubes or create cylinders of coloured cardboard, snip them around the bottom at 1cm intervals so that they can be pressed down flat, then secure them to heavier, sturdy cardboard bases.
• Decorate each one to look like a monster – think horns, fangs and extra eyes – with coloured paper, felt or paints. If they’re old enough, why not get the kids to help out?
• Once dry, arrange the monster ring toss stands at one end of a room or out in the garden.

How to play

The aim is to land as many rings on the monster stand as possible.

You may want to experiment with the size of your rings and the distance between your monsters. For older players, mark a starting line that they can’t step over with a strip of paper or fabric.

Prizes go to whoever’s ring traps a monster, or to the person with the most rings on monsters at the end of your chosen time limit.

Ghost Hunters (3+)

Preparation

This spectral take on a scavenger hunt sees your child seeking out friendly ghosts hidden around the house, each of which is hoarding a Halloween treat.

Preparation

• Create your ghosts by taking white cloths or scraps of fabric and drawing simple eyes and mouths in black fabric pen.
• Next, twist a hairband around the neck area, leaving the rest of the fabric to spread over the top of their prize.
• Alternatively, tuck smaller treats inside the ghosts themselves so that when they lift them up, it looks as though there’s nothing underneath. Where could their prize be?
• Playing in teams? For greater numbers of players, colour-code your ghosts by their hairbands and allocate a shade to each child or team.

How to play

Set the kids loose to find their ghosts and nibbles!

Want to check nobody’s snaffling anybody else’s spooks? Have them bring their prizes to you to put in their own plastic cauldrons. Declare that the quickest team to bring back all their own ghosts wins the big prize!

Hook-a-Cauldron (age 2+)

If your little ones are too small to trick-or-treat, create a witchy version of the fairground classic, Hook-a-Duck, using light plastic cauldrons.

Preparation

• Mark several plastic cauldrons with a number using waterproof stickers or pens, then float them in a paddling pool.
• Attach a hook to the end of a short pole (such as a stick of garden cane, used for supporting growing plants).
• Alternatively, skip the hook altogether by using magnets – just make sure all the cauldron magnets are attracted to the one on the pole, and that they’re securely attached so little ones can’t swallow them.

How to play

Supervise or help the little ones as they use the stick to hoot out a cauldron. You might want to get very young children to point or pick out their cauldron, then fetch it for them.

Each number will correspond to a treat wrapped in tissue paper so there’s a prize for everyone.

Eye and Spoon Race (age 2+)

This one is as simple as the traditional Sports Day event. Hand everyone a coloured plastic or rubber spoon and balance an eyeball on the end – this can be chocolate, confectionery or a simple ping-pong ball with felt-tip detailing.

The winner is the first person to cross the finish line without dropping their peeper. Extra rules for older children include going back to the start when you drop your eye, or even setting up an obstacle course for each player to work their way through, over and under.

Spooky Snap (age 3+)

Ideal for winding down on Halloween evening, this game adds a seasonal element to a classic children’s card game.

Preparation

• Draw or print your own deck of creepy cards, with pairs of pumpkins, skeletons, witches and more in cute cartoon styles.
• If you like, add a learning element by writing the name of each character underneath the drawing, like flash cards.

How to play

Take it in turns picking a card from the deck and putting it straight onto the discard pile. The first to shout ‘snap’ when they see a pair keeps it, and the person with the most at the end is the winner.

For younger children, play the ‘memory’ version, with six (two rows of three), eight (two rows of four) or more sets of pairs laid out face down. Have them reveal two at a time until they have matched all the pairs to win their prize.

Graveyard Charades (age 5+)

This Halloween game can use your spooky snap cards from the previous game.

Older children pick from a pile of Halloween-themed flashcards you created earlier, while younger ones come to you so you can whisper their charade in their ear.

Will they be staggering around like zombies, flapping their arms and gnashing their teeth like a vampire transforming into a bat, licking their paws like a witch’s cat or howling like a werewolf. It’s up to you whether you allow sounds to make it easier.

Split the children into teams if there are enough of them. Alternatively, give a Halloween treat to the performer and the quickest guesser for each correctly called charade.

Stick the Fangs on the Vampire (age 2+)

Give ‘Pin the tail on the donkey’ an eerie makeover!

Preparation

Draw or print a poster of a cartoon vampire and separately cut out a set of fangs for each player.

How to play

What happens next depends on the age of the child(ren) playing. Either way, sticky-tape or Blu-tack the back of their fangs and ask them to close their eyes or cover them with a blindfold.

Spin older children around, then ask them to stick their fangs as close to the smiling mouth of the vampire poster as they can.

Write each child’s name under their set of teeth and leave them up until everyone’s had a turn. The closest teeth win the prize!

Toilet Paper Mummy (age 4+)

This is a great game if one or two children haven’t won any of the others despite trying their hardest, since the winner is really up to you.

Put your players into pairs, hand round toilet rolls and tell them the team who creates the best mummy by wrapping their friend in toilet paper is the winner.

Keep things friendly by instigating rules including not covering eyes or nose and not tying too tightly – anyone who breaks them can be disqualified at any time. Judging can be based on the ‘best’ mummy – the subjective option.

Alternatively, decide a winner based on who wraps their friend up the quickest or who has left the least of their friend visible (besides their nose and eyes).

Delicious chocolate prizes for your Halloween games

Halloween isn’t complete without delicious treats. Add a bit of temptation to your Halloween games with some irresistible chocolate prizes.

Our Halloween chocolates are high in cacao, meaning less sugar – and fewer sugar crashes.

If you’re looking for individually-wrapped chocolates to add to your Ghost Hunters scavenger trail, we have milk, caramel, and dark chocolate options. Cryptopher the Vampire, Carvin the Pumpkin, and Wingston the Bat each feature 16 delicious solid chocolates that are perfect for handing out to trick-or-treaters as well as being included in your game.

Alternatively, if you’d like to hand out a larger gift at the end of one of your Halloween games, take a look at our Yumpkin. This cacao-rich character features solid milk chocolate with white chocolate detailing for a delightfully creamy-tasting experience.

Of course, it’s not fair for the little ones to have all the fun. So why not pick up a few Halloween chocolates for the grown-ups, too? From our Choose Your Poison collection of vibrant flavours to autumn-inspired Apple Strudel and Pumpkin Pie Selectors, you can bring a sophisticated flair to your Halloween celebrations this year. Wash it all down with a comforting hot chocolate, and you’ll be having just as much fun as the children!