5 Free or cheap Halloween party games for kids

Why spend all kinds of money on Halloween party games for kids? Play old fashioned party games instead. We do it a lot at Grandma's House. The games we play are mostly free and a lot more fun than you think. Do it yourself games can be changed to a Halloween theme for your kids Halloween party. Once you get going on this, you might come up with all kinds of new twists on party games for Halloween. Here's 5 fun ideas to get you started.

1. Halloween mad-lib's

Got an old mad-lib's book hanging around the house? This is the game where they leave out words in the story. Party guests fill them in as you call out, verb, noun, etc. without showing them the story. Give it a twist by using Halloween words to fill in the blanks. For instance when a noun is required, someone might say witch or skeleton. When they ask for a verb, they might use creeping or stalking. This free Halloween party game is a laugh riot when read back to party guests.

2. Build a scary story by candlelight

All the Halloween party guests sit in a circle for this spooky game. Turn out the lights. Start a scary Halloween story by reciting the first sentence, with an electric candle in hand. Pass the candle to the first person on your left. The candle is passed around the circle. As each guest gets the candle, they add a word or sentence to the story. Sometimes these stories end with kids running from the room in fright. Some will cause a laugh riot. Either way, it's a great Halloween game.

*Variation: Give each player a (frightening or funny) dollar tree mask to wear, so when their face lights up from the candle, it adds a surprise factor.

3. Who am I?

Each player picks a scary Halloween character name and a small party favor type prize from a hat. Party guests roam the room trying to win the prizes by guessing the “identities” of the other guests by asking them 5 questions. Do you only come out at night? What color is your face? You get the idea. You give the prize to the person who guess your identity in 5 questions or less. If nobody in the room can guess your identity after 5 questions, you keep the prize.

Note: Play as long as you like with everyone exchanging prizes over and over if you like.

4. Halloween scramble

Write down a Halloween word or phrase. The beginning of a fictional Halloween story works well. Such as, "Dracula climbed the creaking stairs". Give each guest a piece of paper and a pencil. Use a three minute egg timer. See who can find the most other words using only the letters in that word or phrase in three minutes time.

5. Spider fling

You'll need a bag of Halloween spider web, plastic spoons and fake party favor spiders for this one. Guests line up at a predetermined distance from the stretched out web. Each guest gets a spoon and ten spiders. First one to get all their spiders into the web by flicking them from the spoon, wins. It's a good idea to give players different colored spiders to avoid arguments and spider hiding.