[mesmark]

I know it's way early but I halloween hard and I'm already getting my party program ready. The intro for my schools website is on the way. The first effect is finished. check it out.

I'm looking for group party games. I throw a party for about 60 elementary and lower students every year. Every year I like to have different events, game and activities.

Can anybody share any good ideas? or memories from Halloween parties when you were a kid?

Here's one of mine:

I came up with this game because I was sitting around thinking of something to do with a big bag of Tootsie Rolls.

Tootsie Toss: a two person (team) game

One person wears a plastic pumpkin-bucket necklace. It's a Jack o' Lantern bucket suspended with a rope of some sort. This person stands in some small designated area.

The second person is, from some distance, going to toss tootsie rolls to the first person.

The first person can manuver within the given area to catch the tootsie. The only rules are they can't leave the area or touch the bucket with their hands or arms.

It's freakin' hilarious! and good fun.

Eventually you get someone who could care less about winning and just starts peggin' their friend. It takes a couple tootsie before s/he realizes they don't have to just stand there and take it. (Don't let it go on too long or it will get out of hand.)

You can have several groups compete using time or a certain number of candy pieces. Obviously, the group that gets the most wins!

[mesmark]

Jack o' Fishing:
I printed out some jack o' lantern pictures and cut them out. Then I ran them through the laminator and cut them out again.

I took a suction cup ball (a ball that has little suction cups all the way around - you can find them at most toy stores) and tied one end of a long string to it. I made a finger loop on the other end.

I placed all of the jack o' lanterns on the floor and from some distance away, the students would throw the ball and try to catch a Jack o' Lantern. They would then real it in and get a prize.

Small children will need to be closer. Older children should be pretty far away or it's too easy.


big picture

The ball will usually stick to the laminated picture. This is good for anything really. I've used it for phonics and vocabulary as well.

[Eric]

a few years ago we set up a bobbing for apples game. it was great fun for the first and second group. but we forgot to change the water and by the second day and 10th group it was soooo disgusting! oops!

[mesmark]

I have 'bobbing for apples' every year and yes the water is pretty gross even after just one round of kids.

Mummy Wrap:

Set kids up in teams of two. Give one of the team members a roll of toilet paper. When you say go, they have to wrap the other member. The first team to finsh their roll wins!

[mesmark]

I made some Nightmare Before Halloween window hangings today.



I'm going to put those and two more in the windows for my Halloween Party. I have the party during the day and this will be a good way to block out some of the light and give the place an eary effect.

[Eric]

Quote mesmark

I made some Nightmare Before Halloween window hangings today.

those are really cool! what kind of material did you use for those?

[mesmark]

Thanks! They turned out better than I thought.

I used black felt and then put some rather see through orange fabric behind it to make the light a little orangey.

You can use plain construction paper and back them with tissue paper, but I plan on using them year after year so I went with something I could fold up and put away.

[mesmark]

Another decorating idea: Tombstones!

I made some tombstones for my party this year.

I got a 2mx2m sheet of hard thick styrofoam from the local home improvement center (about $9.) I cut that into 2 tombstone shapes.



I took some thin styrofoam ($3 per sheet) and cut out two designs for the engraving. Some people actually engrave with a wood burner or dremel but that's just too much work for me. I glued the engravings on with regular wood glue.





Then I bought some gray water based house paint and coated the tombstones. While the paint was wet, I took some black paint from a kid's paint set and made some streak marks for an aged effect. DONT USE SPRAY PAINT! The aresol will melt the styrofoam.





I'll add in pictures of them in the graveyard scene after my party.

[vanchisel]

Halloween makes me laugh. Can you imagine if these were real: goblins, ghosts, cyclops, axe murderers (scratch that), vampires, werewolves, and all those siniters? Life would be much more exciting. Here come the real "Ghost Busters!" Sign me up! Trick or Treat!

[gaarwine]

Thanks for the game... Quite Super....