Old-fashioned Halloween Games help to
take the focus off treats and are great fun

Bobbing for Apples

Float apples in a large basin filled with water. The object of this game is to grab one of the apples and remove it from the water using only your mouth. Hands must be kept behind player’s backs.

Be prepared with towels as the players generally get quite wet.

Pass the Apple

Line up the children in two rows, the same number of children in each line.

They have to pass the apple to the person behind them only using their chin, without using hands or dropping the apple. If the apple drops a team must start from the beginning again.

Snap Apple

Tie strings around apples and suspend them from the ceiling, a tree branch, or even use the washing line. You may need to adjust the length once your players arrive so they are at mouth height or lower.

Each player must attempt to eat the entire apple without touching it with their hands. Another prize can be given to the person who gets the first bite out of their apple.

Apple Paring

Each child gets an apple, fruit knife and a plate with all being as close as possible in size and quality.

The children each have to peel their apple, with the winner being the one who produces the longest and narrowest peeling. In times past the person then threw the apple peel over their left shoulder and the letter which the peel resembled was the first initial of the person’s future husband or wife.

Ghost Stories

Setting the scene for a scary story is what is needed for maximum effect. Your story could be a real life haunting, a classic ghost story, or an urban legend. Candles, strange noises and even a hidden prankster (to jump out at the right moment, or squeak some floorboards) will all provide suitable ‘fright’.

Post Mortem/Autopsy

This Halloween game is well known and can be made much creepier by blindfolding the guests and passing around the contents of the ‘corpse’ (something gooey) while all of your guests cringe at the feel of their gooey hands!

Ghost in the Graveyard

One player, the ghost, hides. Meanwhile, the other players stay together at a spot designated “base” or “safety” (such as a lighted porch), and count loudly in unison, “One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock,” and so on, all the way up to “midnight,” at which point they all head off in search of the hiding ghost.

When a seeker spots the ghost, he yells, “Ghost in the graveyard!” and, along with everyone else, runs back toward base. The ghost lets loose a ghostly scream and chases after the seekers, trying to tag as many as he can before they all reach base.

Who gets to play the part of the ghost next depends on which version of the game your group prefers, but usually it’s the first player tagged.

Bairín Breac

Various things are baked into the loaf, including of course a ring. It is seen as a form of divination for the year ahead. This is a traditional game and the hidden objects signify different things:

Ring – Marriage

Coin – Wealth

Rag – Poverty

Thimble – Old Maid