Ghostly Halloween Game for Kids Suite101.com

Susan Caplan - Susan Caplan McCarthy is a writer, crafter, and environmental educator.

Halloween Activities for Kids - Photo by Susan Caplan McCarthy

Play this game at a Halloween party or a monster-themed birthday party for kids ages eight and up. You’ll want at least eight players, although if you have the entire class, that works as well. This is a very active game, so plan for a space without the interference of tables and chairs. The game gets all players to participate in the game and also challenges players to work together to best solve the problem set up by this game’s scenario – capturing escaped ghosts.

Materials for this Kids’ Game For each player you will need a one-gallon plastic milk jug. Before the party, you should cut out the spout section, leaving the handle. If desired, turn this into a craft project by giving the kids permanent markers and stickers with which to decorate their ghost catchers.Two tennis balls in different colors or marked with different designs you draw onto the balls.Objects to create two boundaries; you can use masking tape on the floor. You want enough space that the kids can move around without bumping into the other players. However, too much space (such as an entire school gymnasium) can cause the kids to be too spread out. The number of players really determines how much space you will need. Play this game indoors or out.Stopwatch – Although it isn’t necessary to time the game, it does add a challenge to this activity. Sometimes you can even get a second or third round from the game by asking the kids if they think they can improve their time on completing the activity.Bowl to represent the ghosts’ final home.Set the Scenario for the Kids’ Activity

Explain to the children that a couple of ghosts have escaped into the city and that they, The Ghost Catchers, have been called. The only way to safely transport the ghosts is with the ghost-safes that the children have been given (the jugs). The ghosts must be brought from the city to the ghost house. To stay safe, no Ghost Catcher can touch a ghost. To make certain that the ghost stays trapped in the ghost house, each ghost must go inside each safe, binding it with ghost-trapping energy.

Cooperative Games Kids Play Together Set the two tennis balls, the ghostly orbs, behind one of the boundaries. Explain that this is the city. Beyond the other boundary is the ghost house.Kids cannot use any body part to move the ghosts (tennis balls) into the ghost safes (the jugs).Each ghost must touch the inside of each player’s ghost safe to insure that enough energy is build up to hold the ghost in the ghost house.Any ghost that drops to the ground is considered escaped and the game starts over. (Since it’s easier to start over than to have kids remember which ghost they have or haven’t captured in a round, you can explain that when a ghost escapes it crashes the energy built up in both ghost safes, requiring everyone to begin again.)Start the game with players using the ghost safe jugs to capture the ghosts. Players must figure out how to move the ghosts from jug to jug so both ghosts touch the inside of every ghost safe before they reach the other boundary and are set into the bowl, completing the game.

If you want, you can time this game with a stopwatch. Although it may be tempting to explain to the group how you think they should reach the goal of the game, avoid doing so. You can suggest that the kids do some problem solving before playing the game so they can figure out how to get the ghosts into each player’s ghost safe. Don’t discourage creative thinking; as long as the children stick to the rules (not body parts can touch the ghosts) allow them to reach an imaginative solution.

Game adapted from “Save the City” by William J Kreidler and Lisa Furlong’s Adventures in Peacemaking ; Educators for Social Responsibility and Work/Family Directions, 1995.