What are the best Halloween Carnival games?
We love hosting Halloween parties and Carnivals! Each year we try and keep our parties simple and fun.
Today we are sharing 15 of our favorite games and activities to try at a Halloween Carnival!
These Halloween games are great for kids of all ages!
My neighbors and I put on a Neighborhood Halloween Carnival every year. I have been collecting carnival ideas on a pinboard for awhile... and our big event was today. I survived and we even managed to get a family picture. Hurray! One of these days we might all look at the camera. 😉
My goals for our carnival were:
- keep it fun
- keep it simple
- keep it age appropriate
- keep me happy and not overly stressed 🙂
Today was a complete success when I look back at these goals. I thought today I'd share some of the awesome ideas that inspired us, some of the games we played, and some of the ones that we didn't get to do that we are saving for next year... since it is never possible to do everything that we want to do.
Here are some amazing Halloween Carnival Games for kids!
Click on the name of each activity to find a tutorial or more information on it.
1. Water Gun Ping Pong Ball spray via Martha Stewart
This would be perfect with orange ping pong balls that have pumpkin faces drawn on them. It was in the high 70s/low 80s here today and HOT, so I kinda wish we would've done this!
2. Halloween Twister via Better Homes and Gardes
This would be fun for a backyard carnival or indoor party.
3. Witch Hat Ring Toss via Better Homes and Gardens
This activity needs some witch hats and hula hoops! So easy.
4. Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin
My phenomenal neighbor made her own version of "Pin the hat on the witch" today which turned out great (especially her hand-drawn witch). Pumpkins would be much easier to make though!
Two of my favorite homemade games that I put together this year were Knockin Down Pumpkins and Monster Golf. I loved my witch golf game last year... but it took a longer time to create. My monster was much easier... and my cute husband was helpful with cutting the foam board... but he wasn't up all night doing it 🙂
5. Monster Golf
For this game all you need to do is a few simple things.
- Use a dot marker to draw a monster face on a foam board.
- Next, cut out the monster's mouth.
- Finally, use golf clubs or hockey sticks and try and hit the ball into the monster's mouth.
6. Knockin Down Pumpkins
To make these you need to...
- Draw pumpkin faces on empty water bottles with Sharpie
- Fill up water bottles with water and orange food coloring
- Stack them and you're ready!
Kids then come over and throw balls or beanbags at the pumpkin towers to try and knock them down.
7. Gone Fishing
Kids use a dowel rod with a clip on it to "fish" over the big shower curtain. The person on the other side gives a candy or prize and clips it to the fishing rod for the child to pull back over.
This activity requires no skill, and you get a lot of prizes/treats, so it is always popular.
10. Tattoo booth
11. 2 bounce houses (always a hit)
12. Halloween picture frame making station
13. Coloring station
14. Photo booth
15. Candy walk
Here's how to play the candy walk...
- Tape colored Halloween picture cards to the ground. You can grab our printable Halloween cards when you purchase our Halloween Party Guide here.
- Turn on music
- Kids walk around on the signs until the music stops
- When the music stops, the caller says the name or color of one of the Halloween picture cards.
- Anyone standing on that picture or color can come and get a treat.
- Repeat until all children have gotten a treat!
The games that were the biggest hits with the little kids were the ones that involved very little coordination and a high percentage chance to win (gone fishing and candy walk)!
We also bought a few pre-made games from Target.
If you have some other favorite carnival games... send them my way! I am already starting to collect ideas for next year!
Read more about some of our popular DIY Halloween Carnival Games here.
Need more simple Halloween activities for toddlers and preschoolers? Check out these other simple holiday activities below.
- Ghost Bottle Bowling from No Time For Flashcards
- Spider Toss by Toddler Approved
- Halloween Gross Motor Games by Simple Play Ideas
If you enjoyed these activities, you may like our Toddler Halloween Party Guide!
For bowling game we used Perrier plastic bottles and drew a Frankenstein fun face on with marker. Worked great, can put a little sand in bottom to weigh down if outside and windy
Great ideas.
Awesome Ideas! You were a lifesaver as I planned our preschool fall festival carnival this year! Simple, cute, and inexpensive!
Pumpkin bowling. Found it on pinterest. Toilet paper rolls that look like ghosts for the pins. I used a marker for circle eyes and mouth. And a pumpkin as the bowling ball. The stem was taken off and there were three holes in it for fingers. I didn't add holes in mine.