Old-Fashioned Games

Here are some great old-fashioned game ideas for your neighborhood/family Halloween party that we used last year:

Bobbing for apples. If you haven’t done this in a while, pull out a bucket and some apples and watch your kids and their friends go at it. Make sure you have your camera because it’s pretty funny to watch. The youngest player in our family licked all the apples instead of biting at them. Another nephew nearly drowned himself trying to get an apple. Watching everyone play was so much fun and it will be an activity the kids remember for a long time.

We also played the toilet paper mummy game. You divide your group up into small teams of 3 or 4 people, and each group gets a roll of toilet paper. All the groups begin at the same time and use their roll of toilet paper to mummify one of the group members. This game has two winners – one for the fastest mummy and another for the best looking mummy.

My group won the fast award – I volunteered to be mummified and grabbed the end of the toilet paper and started turning myself in circles as fast as possible. I got sooo dizzy and was afraid I was going to hurt everyone, but I stayed on my feet. My son thought something bad was happening to me and ripped the toilet paper off, so I didn’t have a costume to show in the end, but we won the speed contest! Just a tip for the competitive spirits out there…

The last game, harvesting corn and beans, was my favorite. On a large white sheet in the middle of the floor, dump out a bag of popcorn kernels and a bag of raw beans (or two similar small objects/food items) and mix them together. Assign popcorn kernels to the boys and beans to the girls. Everyone has one minute to gather as many of their respective items as possible. The person with the most wins, but 5 points are deducted for each wrong kernel or bean.

The kids and adults both enjoyed this game. After that first time playing I figured out a pretty good strategy, so when I play again…watch out!

All these games are lots of fun for kids and adults alike. Your family will love an evening of old fashioned games, so set a date and do it! Happy Halloween!

{photos from jupiterimages.com}