HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
- For this activity, you will need:
1. 10 or more small pumpkins/gourds - to allow you 5 clues per team (You can get them at a local grocery store, and sometimes, if you buy enough of them, they give you a discount).
**You can also think of your own clever "props" to hide, for example, last year we did a "Murder Circus" theme for our party and we used clown noses as the object they had to find.
2. Sharpie markers (Orange and Black, or any color combo you have/want)
3. Index cards
4. Flashlights, at least one for each team
5. Braaaains!!! (Your own, you know, for thinking up clues!)
Remember, the most difficult part of this game is actually getting it set up. If you take the time to really think of good clues and you put in a little effort, this game is fun for anyone, young and old!
- Mark half of your pumpkins with one color sharpie, and the other half with the other color. This way, no teams will "cheat" and if they find another team's pumpkin, they won't "steal" them.
- Figure out hiding spaces for your little pumpkins. This really doesn't need to be a huge elaborate affair, I've planned this out before in one room. It will work! You just need to think it out. You can do it! I know you can!
- Figure out the "flow" of the game for each team. You want to arrange your clues so that the teams will not be on top of each other reading clues, it could get messy! If you are going to have the first clue downstairs for one team, keep the other team upstairs for their first clue.
- This step is probably the most difficult for the planner. You need to think of clues! Don't be afraid to get creative here! Use movie references, jokes, spoOoOoOky sayings, whatever! This is YOUR game! Example: Last year, we hid a pumpkin in an outside grill and the clue was "Your next pumpkin is in a very dark place. The clown that put it there told me he was pro-pain". Hints: Try to make your clues flow in such a way that the final clues for each team will either lead them back to where they started, or to somewhere that you will be standing so that you can clearly see the winning team.
- Got all of your clues and your pumpkins hidden? Give your teams their flashlights, and give them each their very first clue...get your camera ready for some frighteningly funny moments and watch them go!
- Before the party, purchase:
- mini pumpkins (one for each child)
- paint and brushes
- glitter
- and any other trinkets kids will use to dress their pumpkin. (When we did this last year for my nephew, he used Mr. Potato head parts and stuck them in his pumpkin.)
- set up a large table and place the paint, glitter, etc. on it
- When you're ready to play, hand out a mini pumpkin to each child.
- On the count of three have them race to the decorating table.
- Give them 5 minutes to decorate their pumpkin in whatever way they want. After the 5 minutes are up have them line their pumpkins along the edge of the table.
- While the pumpkins dry, have the kids clean themselves up. When they are finished, sit in a circle and have each child present their design.
- Vote on the prettiest pumpkin, most creative, scary, etc. and whoever wins gets a prize.
- Set up two drawing boards in a large room that will accomodate all your guests. I reccomend using dry erase boards to eliminate paper waste.
Purchase a pack of index cards and fill them up with Halloween themed hints. Here's a list to help you get started:
Dracula - Count of the Vampires
Werewolf - Man Wolf
Jack-o-Lantern - Carved Face
Haunted House - Spooky Abode
Monster Mash - Ghoulish Dance
Graveyard - Final Resting Place
Tombstone - Final Marker
Vampire - Fanged Bat Man
Broomstick - Witch Transport
- Divide all the guests playing into two teams. (At our party we paired sons and dads against moms and daughters.)
- Take turns drawing clues from the card pile and guessing the answer. The team with the most points wins!
Write names on name tags such as Witch and Wizard, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. You can also use other couple names like Minnie and Mickey, Fiona and Shrek etc. Hand out the girl characters to girls and boy characters to boys. After all the name tags have been passed out, everyone has to find their correct match. For teens they can dance together. We played this with the youth at church and they really enjoyed the game.
Our daughter's birthday is just a couple days away from Halloween, so we have a Halloween/Birthday party every year to celebrate. Last year, we came up with a game we called Pumpkins in the Graveyard, and it was a hit!
First, we had some scary activities beforehand. We had the buckets of 'body parts', where the kids stuck in their hands and felt around and guessed what each part was--like the peeled grapes for eyeballs, etc. We did the fun stuff first, and then came the freaky, scary fun. We played a cd of creepy music and sounds, and set up a fog machine in our backyard graveyard. We had all these little pumpkins set up all thoughout the tombstones, and light up zombies. So, we told the kids that they each could have a pumpkin to decorate, but they had to go 'pick it' first in the graveyard. They had so much fun running throughout it-trying not to be too scared. It's optional whether or not you'd like to have someone jump out and scare them. The kids took the pumpkins inside after that to a table to decorate, but I noticed them looking outside to the graveyard often!
That's all they could talk about after the party was over--about how scary it was--but something they would never forget!
- Set up your graveyard.
Put the little pumpkins throughout--hiding a lot the best you can so it takes them a little while in there to find.
Put in a fog machine.
Turn on some scary music or sounds.
Let them go pick their pumpkins!
Have a table set up to decorate the pumpkins afterwards.
- Set up whatever you have to make a scary graveyard! Tombstones, body parts, bats, cobwebs, fog machine, etc. The kids love to help with this!
- Buy little pumpkins, one for each child at your party, and scatter throughout the graveyard.
- Turn on the fog machine and whatever scary music or sound effects you may have. It's best to do this when it's somewhat dark. That way, the effects are better and it takes the kids a few minutes in there to grab their pumpkins.
- buy or create holloween themed cups.(enough for each kid)
- buy prizes.(e.g. pumpkin stickers, candy corn...)
- create a certifacate for each prize and place them in the cup
- hide each off the cups in a room or as more of a challenge throughout the house
- tell the kids to look for the cups, once they find one cup they bring to you and you give them there prize.
- start the music, let them search, and have fun!
