halloween class party: 10 quickie activities for that extra 10 minutes

Planning class parties can be a real struggle, especially when you’re rolling solo as the Room Parent.

But for years now, I’ve made it my goal to share as much as was humanly possible so that no one’s stuck trying to figure out what to do with 30 kids eager for a good Halloween par-tay.

If you need a full-fledged Halloween class party, you can check out:

for the whole deal.

But if you just need a quickie 10-minute activity for the beginning or end of the party, then you’re in the right place.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Halloween Class Party Activities–Quickie Ideas for That Extra 10 Minutes:

In no particular order, and for a general elementary school aged classroom. Definitely adjust as necessary depending on the needs of the student body.

1. What is it?

Place an object inside a box or a bag and allow each student to place his or her hand in to feel the item but not actually see the item. Encourage students to use all senses to make a guess about what object is hidden in the box.

This is an activity best done with a smaller group, but it can be played with a larger group, too. Have 2-4 parent volunteers walk around the class allowing students to feel objects.

Some items to consider:

a piece of fruit—banana, apple, orange, lemon
a sock or glove
a utensil—fork or spoon
craft items—feather, pipe cleaner, craft stick, cotton ball, etc
writing utensil—crayon, chalk, pencil, pen
a small toy—slinky, jacks, dice, domino, wii remote

In order to make this run smoothly, have kids write down numbers 1-5 on their paper and number each bag or box 1-5. That way, as they feel or touch each item, they write down what they think on their paper.

2. Memory Tray

Place 5-10 items on a tray in the front of the room. Make sure all students can see the items. Give them 30-60 seconds to study the items, and then cover the items with a sheet. Have the students write down all the items they remember. The goal is to remember all of the items!

3. Telephone

Also known as “Whisper Down the Alley” this game involves passing a message between an entire group of people. The first person whispers a phrase to the person next to him or her, then that message is passed from person to person until the last one to hear the message shares it out loud. The goal is to have the message pass through the entire group without error, but very seldom does that happen!

Some messages to consider:

Today I ate spaghetti for dinner.
Her grandma does the fox trot.
Three strikes and you’re out.
His seashells cracked in the storefront.
The delivery person just brought me six big boxes.

4. Crossword or Word Search

You can’t go wrong with some Halloween crosswords or word searches, so I always love to have a few of these printed out and ready to go for class parties.

Need a few? Got ’em right here for you: Halloween Crossword Puzzle | Halloween Word Search

5. Hangman . . . or. . . PumpkinMan

Man, I wish this game went by another name, but really, most kids know it as ‘Hangman’.

For Halloween, play it as PumpkinMan and see what the kids think.

Put spaces for each letter of the ‘mystery’ word on the board and give each child a chance to guess the letters. If they choose a letter that’s actually in the word, place it on the line.

If they guess a letter that’s not in the word, then one by one, draw in a part of PumpkinMan’s body: pumpkin head, eyes, nose, mouth, stem, body, arms, hands, legs, and feet.

Here are some words to use for the Halloween game:

wicked witch
spooky
Trick or Treat
costume
full moon
ghost
black cat
candy corn

6. 2 Truths and a Lie

You can play this a number of ways, but a quick way is this: three children sit in front of the class. Before they sit down, a parent volunteer decides that two children will say something true about themselves and the third will say something false about himself or herself.

The class then must guess which children are telling the truth and which child is telling a fib.

7. Hot Potato . . . or Hot Pumpkin

All you need for this one is music and a small pumpkin. Or if you’re not brave enough to use a pumpkin, a small stuffed ghost or bat or cat will work!

Children sit in a circle on the floor. The music starts, and when it stops, the person holding the object is out! Because some children feel awful when called out like this, it can also be played with 2-3 objects being passed around while the music plays. This way, the game moves more quickly and 2-3 children are out at a time. No hard feelings!

8. Guess the Word

It’s always fun when the teachers plays this game. Essentially, the teacher holds one card above his or her head, and on the card one word is written.

Children take turns giving the teacher a one-word clue to help him or her guess the word on the card.

This is a super game to play while students eat snacks because it gets their brains moving and keeps them engaged while they down some sweet treats!

You can download our Halloween Guess the Word Cards here: Halloween Guess the Word just by signing up in the box above! Really–it’s that easy!

9. Guess Who?

Each child writes down five facts about himself or herself. While the kids are eating or finishing snacks, the parent volunteer reads the five facts to the class.

The students do their best to guess who is being described, and the person who guesses correctly wins!

10. Freeze Dance

Kids. Love. Freeze dance. They really, really do.

For the last 10 minutes of the party, let the kids burn that last bit of steam, costumes and all!

Turn on Wee Sing Halloween Songs (believe me, all kids love these silly Halloween tunes!).

Or, if you don’t have time and need the tunes now, check out these YouTube videos:

Halloween fun songs and videos (teachmama playlist!)

**Need some more? Got a whole other party planned for you here:**

(No joke. . . you can thank me later! Just click the picture!)

Want a few more fun halloween party ideas?

fyi: Affiliate links are used in this post, which means that every time you purchase something using one of our links, we get at teeny, tiny percentage of the sale. so. . . thank you for using them, friends!