Quick & Easy Halloween Activities (no printer required!)

Ahhh! It’s Halloween! It’s Saturday! Kids are home all day and you might not have anything planned yet. No printer, No party, no plans? No problem!! I’ve got JUST the thing. Well, four things. They are simple, fun, and you could be having fun with your family in a matter of minutes, not hours. (Yes, and amen.)

I wouldn’t say I’m the *least* crafty or Pinterest-inclined soul, but the entire process of planning, preparing and implementing crafty things is no small deal, and it’s not exactly my strong suit. So if I can do these super cute activities, so can you.

Pin the Spider on the Web

This is just what you would think, a cute “spin” (see what I did there😉) on ‘Pin the Tail on the Donkey’.

You’ll need:

• A large piece of white paper (I used a large piece of white craft paper)
• Black marker, other paper, and scissors
• Tape
• *Optional: to make it sturdier, you can use a section of cardboard (from one of those delivery boxes we all have) to reinforce the white paper You can just as easily tape the paper directly onto the wall.

Draw a spider web onto the large paper. Draw and cut out spiders. (I made ours quarter sized and with a sharpie). Have your kids help if they want too. Everything is done by hand and nothing has to be perfect (for me at least), so the making of it doesn’t have to be fussy. My kind of project!

When it’s time to play, set up the spider web either by attaching it to the wall or propping it up on a safe place that’s height appropriate for your kids. Attach double sided tape to each spider. Blindfold the participant ( masks pulled up over their eyes will work well), spin them around a time or two, then point them at the web. See how well each spider lands on the web, or near the center. Repeat, and enjoy! When they’re done, it looks like a really cool decoration, too, so there’s that!

Halloween “Cake/Candy” Walk

If you’ve ever participated in a cake walk at a fundraiser, you might know the general idea. You place numbers on the floor, play music and have the partisans walk around the numbers. When the music stops, each person finds a number and stands on it. The “emcee” then pulls a number from a jar, and the person standing on that number wins the round.

You can jazz this up and play it elimination style (number pulled mens you’re out, and last person standing wins!), or give out candy or other prizes if you’re standing on the number that’s called. It’s fun any way you want to play it. It all depends on how you want to trick .. or treat the contestants!

You’ll need:

• Numbered papers (standard letter/construction/printer sized is best) *at least as many as participants, or more
• small squares of paper, matching the numbers on the floor, in a jar or basket
• music that can be easily turned off or on
• open floor space

You can either write, draw, color, etc the numbers by hand. Make them feisty and fancy, or simple. Whatever suits your style and available time. I actually started printing off a set when my printer ran out of ink, which is how I realized you might not even need the printer after all! But in case you DO have ink in you printer, and it’s easier, here’s the link for the cute ones I used. I also opted for card-stock to make them sturdier.

Mummy Bean Bag Toss

Lots of families have bean bags lying around. If you don’t, no worries, try using a stuffed animal. Trust me, it works just as well. We’ve enjoyed year long games of something called Birdsey Bucket with a dear friend, where we threw a stuffed animal bird into a basket. The very same basket, in fact, that transitioned to be a mummy this time 😃

You’ll need:

• A basket (or other sort of container you can set on the floor)
• set of bean bags, or stuffed animal (bonus points for Halloween theme)
• toilet paper (gasp, I know!)
• marker, card-stock paper, scissors and tape (optional for drawing and attaching arms, eyes, and eyebrows

Wrap the basket in toilet paper. I secured it with a little double sided tape at the base, but I’m not sure how necessary that even was. Draw freehand some eyes, arms, or even a mouth, to dress up your mummy as you wish. That’s it!

To play, on opposing teams, two people (or more!) take turns tossing the bean bags into the basket, counting baskets. The one with the most baskets wins! Easiest game ever. *Parent tip- it can even be played from the sitting position, should you ever be so lucky 😀

*Eye Spy Halloween Game

This one has an asterisk because it you may or may not want a printer.

It’s easiest to print off this set, cut out the pictures, and have a paper tally sheets for everyone. But you don’t have to do it that way.

You can easily do it by hand- drawing cute Halloween themed pictures or cutting them out of magazines or old books, then creating a tally sheet in the same manner.

If you’re doing pictures drawn by hand, you could make one master sheet for everyone to reference. Or skip a tally sheet all together.

Don’t feel like drawing or cutting out and taping all of those things, and want to know the super simplest way? Have the kids gather Halloween items (stuffed animal cats, plastic spiders, vampire teeth, whatever you’ve got. I mean, you could even hide candy if you’re not already maxed out on sweetness.). Hide the items or the pictures in a designated area. Then, let the kids find them. Sit back and enjoy your (maybe) hot coffee while they elatedly bring you their found treasures.

Easy-peasy! Simple or fancy, paper or no paper-whichever way you choose, kids always have so much fun hunting for things, so this game is always a winner.

So there’s my super list if super simple and cute Halloween games. Hope that keeps things most enjoyable for all of you. Enjoy today, however wacky or different it might be. Embrace the joy and the not-so-spooky fun!!