Empty the Trick-or-Treat Bag
This game is a little like musical chairs but a lot more fun especially for preschoolers. All kids think about that great candy and how full their trick-or-treat bag will be on Halloween night. That’s even more important than their costumes if you ask them. This game will give them a little food for thought as they venture out to trick-or-treat. Here’s how it is played.
Place chairs in a circle facing in. Have all the children set down and then go around and tell each child a different type of Halloween candy. This will be the piece of candy they become for the game. Be sure it’s candy they know so they can easily remember which piece they are in the trick-or-treat bag.
Now to pick the first piece of candy in the trick-or-treat bag you think of a piece of candy and have the children guess what you are. The one who guesses right gets to be the first piece of candy. They move to the middle of the circle and you remove their chair. Start with one of the children in the chairs and go around the ring with each child trying to guess what piece of candy the child in the middle (trick-or-treat bag) is. The first child to guess it right then become another piece of candy in the trick-or-treat bag and their chair is removed.
The really fun side of this game is when you holler, “Empty the trick-or-treat bag!” All the kids have to move to a different chair anytime you say it. Anyone left without a chair is out of the game. Play continues until everyone has been a piece of candy in the trick-or-treat bag.
Tape the Face on the Halloween Pumpkin
This game is a little like Pin the Tail On the Donkey. In this game the children get to place either an eye, a nose or a mouth on the pumpkin. If they like they can put the whole face on their pumpkin. That choice will be left to you. Here’s how to play.
The first step can be done ahead of time or as a class craft project. You will need orange, green and black construction paper, double sided tape and a blindfold. Start by making as many pumpkins as you have children in your class. Do this by cutting rather large circles out of the orange construction paper. Then add a stem to each pumpkin using the green construction paper. Make eyes, noses and mouths for the pumpkins out of the black construction paper. Remember each pumpkin will need a whole face so make as many parts as needed for the pumpkins.
When you have the pumpkins ready, place them on a wall low enough that each of your preschoolers can reach them with ease. Also place a piece of double sided tape on the back of each facial piece. This way the children can place their pieces on the pumpkin with ease.
Instead of using a blindfold, which smaller children might be a little leery of, you can place your hands over their eyes once they are standing in front of their pumpkin. With their eyes closed, covered or while blindfolded have the children take one facial piece at a time and place it on their pumpkin. Once they have placed the last feature, have them look at how crazy their pumpkin face is. They will get a kick out of not only their own, but everybody’s funny looking pumpkins.