Holidays

Fall can only mean one thing—it’s time for Halloween! Spooky season means a lot of things: zombies, ghouls, Halloween costumes, and lots of candy for the kids. Finding new things to do each year can be challenging. Exciting Halloween party ideas can make your job easier!

We’ve hand-picked the most awesome game and snack ideas for your little ones. Whether you’re hosting an after-party for neighborhood trick-or-treaters or a pumpkin decorating night for the nieces and nephews, these tricks and treats will leave the kids ­howling­ for more!

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Spooky Hunts from ScavengerHunt.com

Halloween just wouldn’t be Halloween without some friendly ghosts! Search scavenger hunts for ghost hunts and spooky tours across the globe. We’ve already covered 400 cities and we’re still counting! Gather the family and grab your friends; download our app, and explore real haunted locations. If you’ve got little ones, consider an in-home family scavenger hunt this October. There’s something for everyone to enjoy!

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1. Marshmallow Toss

This game is easy to set up. Arrange 6 cups in the shape of a triangle on a table, and ask the kids to stand on the other side. Fill a bowl with mini marshmallows (large ones are perfect for older kids). The objective of the game is to aim and toss the marshmallows into the cups. The more marshmallows the kids land, the more the points!

2. Paper Ghosts

This DIY Halloween craft is an easy decorating hack that will turn your party from drab to fab. It’s so easy that even pre-K kids can make it. For this fun Halloween party craft, you’ll need paper napkins, tape, and glue, and googly eyes. Hold your index finger and thumb in a circle, and stuff the hole with a napkin so that it forms the shape of a blanket ghost. Then, turn it around and glue googly eyes to it. To hang it as Halloween decorations, tape some thread to the top of the ghost and suspend it from the ceiling.

3. Scarecrow Craft

The scarecrow ghost craft is perfect for older kids. To make this, you’ll need some twine, hay, and popsicle sticks. Stack some hay and bend it in half to make the scarecrow’s head. Wrap some twine under the head to make the neck. Then, glue a popsicle stick to the bottom so that the scarecrow can stand. Paint the eyes, nose, and mouth on. Use tissues to make clothes and a hat for the scarecrow, to finish the Halloween décor. To make things funnier, you can hide the scarecrows inside candy bowls so unsuspecting kids get tricked!

4. Pumpkin Pretzels

This is a great idea for smaller parties. Who doesn’t love candy during Halloween? Make some epic treats for the family (and guests that come a-knocking) with your kids. Melt orange candy melts in the microwave. Dip mini-pretzels evenly in the melted chocolate and leave it out to dry on parchment paper. Before the candy dries, stick a green stalk to the top with celery or spring onions. Your pumpkin Halloween candy is ready! Set them out on a tray or make individual treat bags for guests.

5. Glow-in-the-Dark Ring Toss

Add a fun Halloween twist to the classic glow-in-the-dark game. Place six wine bottles in the shape of a triangle on the floor or table. Then, take 6 glowsticks, break them, and bend them to form a circle. Then, ask the kids to aim for the bottles and toss them. Close the curtains or turn the lights off for some glow-in-the-dark fun.

If you have some glow-sticks left, tape them to your kids’ arms and legs, and turn the lights off. Take a video of them moving and dancing. You’ll have a hilarious skeleton dance-ready for social media!

6. Eyeball Slime

Every kid loves playing with slime. There’s an easy way to elevate slime this Halloween. First, use our fool-proof recipe to make slime at home. Use green food coloring to make it pop. Add googly eyes to the slime and mix away. This spooky slime is great for younger children.

7. Mummy Bowling

We can’t get enough of this simple game. Such Halloween party ideas will be the talk of every party. Wrap wine bottles or tin cans with toilet paper to make them look like mummies (don’t forget the googly eyes). Then, place them on the ground in the shape of a triangle. Use a ball to knock them over from a distance, just like bowling. You can also use old toilet paper rolls and roll them towards the tin. The kid that knocks over the most bottles wins the game. Strike!

8. Bobbing for Donuts

Kids of all ages are bound to love this game. Setting up this game is easy. Tie some donuts on some string and hang it from a ledge or frame. Make sure the donuts are hung from the perfect height. You don’t want them to hang too high that kids can’t reach them, but they must be hung high enough to get a few laughs when kids jump up to bite them. Make sure to ask the children to keep their hands behind their backs as they jump up for the donuts.

9. Pin the Spider

A fun twist on “Pin the Tail on the donkey,” this game has a cute Halloween twist. First, sketch out a spider web on cardboard or paper, and stick it on the wall. Cut a spider silhouette from cardboard (you can use foam for the wiggly legs). You can also buy a plastic spider from Amazon. Then, blindfold each child, spin them around a few times, and ask them to find the spider’s web. This evergreen party game is an easy way to keep kids engaged!

10. Monster Punch

Every party needs some punch. Monster drinks are easy to make. Experiment with boba to make drinks with eyeballs. You can also use basil seeds for some added texture. Kiwi smoothies and orangeade add to the Halloween color palette. You can serve this punch in a hollowed-out pumpkin for added brownie points. If you want to go all-out, use a pinch of activated carbon in your smoothies to turn them black and spooktacular.

11. Digging for Eyeballs

For this giggle-worthy game, fill a large bowl or bucket with cooked spaghetti. Hide a few marbles inside. The kids must look for the marbles inside the spaghetti bucket purely by feeling for them—no peeking allowed. If the party has many kids, you can place many buckets and ask the kids to search for eyeballs at the same time. The child that finds the most marbles in a minute wins!

12. Pumpkin Balloons

This adorable game is perfect for younger children. Get orange balloons and inflate them three-quarters of the way. This is to make sure the balloons don’t pop later during the game. Depending on their age, give the children sharpies or paints so they can draw pumpkin faces on their balloons. You can use green and brown sheets of paper to make leaves and a stalk too. If you don’t want to try pumpkin carving, these balloons make great centerpieces. Such Halloween party ideas are clear winners!

If you’re throwing a teen or adult Halloween party, you can turn this activity into a pumpkin balloon pop! Tape orange balloons to a wall or fence. Arrange them in the shape of a pumpkin. Write scores on pieces of paper and stuff each piece into a balloon (before you tape them to the wall). Then, ask the kids to pop the balloons with darts. Each participant gets points, and the player with the most points after all the balloons have been popped wins the game.

13. Mummy Relay

All you need for this game is toilet paper! Group the kids into teams of two. Then, give each group one roll of toilet paper. One child must stand still as the other wraps TP around them. The objective of the game is to unroll the TP and wrap it around the other person as fast as possible. The team that does this first and makes a TP mummy wins!

14. Trick-or-Treat Mystery Box

This is one of our favorite Halloween party games (after a haunted house, of course!) For this rib-tickling game, keep tactile things like cooked spaghetti, peeled grapes, cut tomatoes, boiled eggs, marbles, and slime in separate bowls. Blindfold the kids and ask them to put their hands inside the bowl. They will have to guess what’s inside. To mix things up, put candy in a bowl so the kids get some sweet Halloween treats!

15. Spooky Cupcakes

A Halloween party is incomplete without themed party appetizers, snacks, and treats. If you’re looking to give the kids some hands-on food time, try decorating cupcakes together. Make cupcakes, fondant, and icing, or opt for store-bought variants.

When it’s time to decorate, use these ideas:

• Use the tip of an ice cream cone to make a witch’s hat, to go on top of the cupcake. Melt black candy melts in the microwave and dip the cone to cover it in chocolate. Use black and green sprinkles for an extra spook factor.
• Use a star-tip and orange-colored frosting to pipe a pumpkin on the cupcake. For this, start from the center and pipe stars in concentric circles. The frosting will resemble a pumpkin once you reach the tip. Use chocolate chips or other edible accoutrements to turn your pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern!
• Make a fondant ghost by rolling out white fondant into thin sheets. Then, cut the circle with a cookie cutter, and shape them into ghosts. Use a food marker to draw eyes and a mouth.
• Accentuate icing with candy corn, gummy black cats, and spun sugar cobwebs. You can usually find Halloween shaped treats and ingredients at the dollar store, so fancy cupcakes don’t have to cost a fortune!

Your party guests will appreciate all the time you put into making these special. You might even want to hold off until the end of the evening and offer them as take-home party favors.

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Closing Thoughts

We hope you can use some of these kid-friendly activities, food ideas, and tutorials when throwing your next Halloween bash! Enhance the atmosphere with the perfect playlist or some scary movies playing on a big screen, and it’s sure to be your best Halloween ever.

Which of these party ideas did you enjoy the most? Shout them out in the comments section!

Remember that scavenger hunts can be customized for any holiday, birthday party, or other special occasion. Add family and friends who live far away with a multi-home party pack. Everyone gets a role to play and, whether you’re exploring a nearby city or having an adventure at home, you’ll have an epic experience.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year. The weather is cooler, we get our fix of warm hot chocolate, and nights can be spent snuggling by the fireplace. But the weather isn’t the highlight of wintertime. The holiday season always means it’s time for some family and friendly fun! How would you like to bond with your favorite people while solving challenges on a special Christmas scavenger hunt? We’ve made the entire process easy for you. With our guide, you’ll be able to plan an entire holiday scavenger hunt, from clues to rewards. Who knows? You might even make this a new family tradition!

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Plan a Scavenger Hunt this Holiday Season

If you’re on the lookout for an effortless holiday outing, look no further than our epic scavenger hunts. These hunts are sure to be loved by everyone—younger, older, and in-between. You’ll be able to explore the best wintery landmarks in your city or a nearby town as you take part in photo and video challenges and compete for bragging rights. And you won’t even need to sweat the details! We have a connection or two at the North Pole and we’ve got it covered.

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Tips for Hosting a Christmas Scavenger Hunt

Choose a convenient day and time.

The most important step of organizing a Christmas scavenger hunt is to get the timing right. Pick a date and time that is suitable for everyone attending. Be sure to work it around travel schedules. Host it before the holidays get really crazy, or make it part of your Christmas Eve festivities. If you’re planning the activity for your immediate family, you might even want to make it a part of Christmas morning, after opening gifts from Santa, of course! Have the kiddos hunt for some special surprises.

While it’s perfectly fine to keep the finer details of your hunt a secret, you might benefit from informing your family and friends that you plan on holding a Christmas season hunt. This will help them plan their holiday around the event. Your hunt might range from a couple of hours to an entire day, depending on how big you want to go. It is essential to be mindful of your family’s time, and keep them posted beforehand.

Be winter-ready.

If you’re in an area with major seasonal fluctuations, ‘tis the season to be cold!

A Christmas scavenger hunt almost guarantees chilly weather, be it a breezy evening in Florida or a snowy day in New York. Make sure your participants are prepared to face any inclement weather. If you want to head outdoors for the hunt, pack a jacket, earmuffs, and gloves so that you can stay warm.

In fact, you can give each participant hunt-themed gloves or hats. If you’re competing in teams, each team can have its own color! Or make a reindeer team, a snowman team, a team of elves, etc. This will add an extra element, and your family will have something to take home after a memorable hunt.

You can also get your family complimentary hot chocolate coupons so you’ll have something warm to gush over. The options are endless!

Choose a theme.

This is the ideal time of year for a themed scavenger hunt. Themes can help turn your treasure hunt into a full-fledged fun Christmas game! Here are 8 of our top hunt ideas to make your event truly festive and memorable!

1. Holiday Photo Hunt: Print out your favorite photos and hide them around the house, with clues written on the back. This will be a charming trip down memory lane as participants hunt for new clues and makes new memories.
2. Search for Lights: If your neighborhood is twinkling with Christmas lights, incorporate the displays into your hunt or use them as clues along the way from stop to stop!
3. Cookie Hunt: Make each challenge cookie-related, like decorating sugar cookies with holiday motifs or cutting shapes of elves, gifts, reindeer, and candy canes! The grand finale can involve gingerbread!
4. Elf Hunt: We love this hunt—Each participant must find specific elf decorations around the neighborhood and city. At the end of the hour, the team that finds the most elves wins!
5. Ornament Hunt: This indoor DIY hunt is a great way to decorate the Christmas tree together. Write a clue for each ornament and put the printable Christmas scavenger hunt clues in a box. Take each clue out and guess which ornament it denotes!
6. Caroling Hunt: Write clues based on popular Christmas carols and Christmas songs. Solve and answer each clue by singing the carol. For example, the first clue could be a riddle about bells and hunters will have to sing “Jingle Bells” to move on. You’ll be in the holiday spirit in no time!
7. Stocking Stuffer Hunt: This hunt is easy to pull off. Hide clues inside stockings around the house. Make sure you leave some blank cards in stockings as decoys. When a participant finds the right clue, they move on to the next round! If you hide some small Christmas gifts in with the clues—finders keepers! 

Keep extra supplies handy.

Whatever the type of hunt, it’s wise to keep some extra supplies ready. This can range from extra copies of clues, stationery, or a few extra winter garments to keep guests warm. You never know when you might need an extra blanket or a pair of scissors.

If your hunt is outdoors, make sure to carry these supplies in a designated car. This way, the participants will be able to call the designated driver in case of any emergencies. For an indoor hunt, keep a stash of paper, glue, an extra deck of clues, and other craft supplies.

Consider using a scavenger hunt app.

Still with us? If this is sounding like a lot, it’s because it is! Planning an entire scavenger hunt by yourself can be quite the task, especially with the holiday season keeping you preoccupied. You could try to find a free printable Christmas scavenger hunt, but a search like that can be time-consuming. If time’s getting away from you or event organizing is not your thing, you can opt to use a specialized service (like ScavengerHunt.com!) or a scavenger hunt app. It will make things much easier.

With Let’s Roam’s scavenger hunt app, you’ll be able to host a smooth, hassle-free event at the touch of a button. Since our hunts are in more than 400 cities across the globe, you’ll be able to organize and coordinate a seamless event. Each team needs only one mobile device with a voucher to log in and access the clues and challenges.

Since the hunt is completely app-led, participants will be able to pause and resume and hunt at will. You can stop the activity at any time for a hot cocoa break! In addition, the live leaderboard lets you monitor scores in real-time, so you can keep track of points for bragging rights.

If you want something a little more specific, like incorporating a special holiday tradition or Christmas trivia that pertains to your group, contact our expert guides. We’ll hook you up!

Make a detailed list of rules and guidelines.

Before you embark on your family Christmas scavenger hunt, jot down what’s allowed and what isn’t. You don’t have to be a Grinch, but rules make scavenger hunts run smoothly. For instance, are participants allowed to Google answers on their cell phones, or should they rely on the ole’ noodle? Is skipping a clue allowed? How many hints does each team get?

Distribute copies to your attendees so that they’ll be able to reference them at any time during the event. Depending on how critical the rules are, you might want to add a point penalty when someone breaks a rule.

Decide how teams will “win.”

What type of scavenger hunt do you want to have? In case you opt for a time-bound hunt, the winner will be decided by who reaches the final destination first. If your hunt is outdoors, make sure it is safe for the participants to run and race against time, especially if it is cold and slippery outside.

You might also opt to have a task-based hunt. For instance, if you have five hidden clues in each location, the team that finds the most clues wins. You can also crown the winner based on the most creative team of the lot. In case you have many photo and video challenges, the most creative video wins the prize!

Make a list of things your teams will look for.

Before you write down the clues for each round, decide what the prize will be. Here, you can go crazy and opt for holiday-themed goodies, or go old school. The choice is yours!

For outdoor hunts, look for popular landmarks and city-based trivia. If you want a pre-made city-based hunt, Let’s Roam’s outdoor Christmas scavenger hunts will take you around the most popular landmarks of the city, with photo ops and trivia at every turn.

For indoor hunts, you can hide clues in decorated envelopes. Show off some origami and crafting skills as you fold the handcrafted paper into shapes like wreaths and mistletoe. The more unique and colorful your clues, the more entertaining the event will be.

Create tricky but age-appropriate clues.

This is one of the most important steps of planning your hunt. Who is your hunt supposed to cater to—little children? Tweens? Adult friends? Your clues and questions must be age-appropriate. If kids are involved, family-friendly is the way to go. With adults, you can use more complex clues and include some libations!

If your scavenger hunters are of mixed ages, you can mark clues specifically designed for younger children. Label them “For Kids Only” or place those clues in different colored envelopes. That will appeal to little ones, who will be even more excited to spot specials clues just for them. It will give the adults some time to catch their breath too!

Personalize your questions.

The best way to make your hunt memorable is to personalize and customize your clues and questions. Load up your clues with inside jokes, references, family trivia, and other customized clues. You can include birthdays, anniversaries, graduation stories, prom date trivia, and many more.

The more personalized the questions, the more your family will love the clues. This is a great way to keep the entire group engaged. If you can, try to keep this a surprise. Spotting familiar names and clues will be a holiday treat for the fam!

Prepare holiday food!

The best way to your family’s heart is through their tummies!

Keep everyone’s energy by providing holiday treats. In fact, you can make this a part of the hunt too. This works well for indoor hunts. For instance, one of the tasks for the hunt can be decorating sugar cookies or completing a gingerbread house kit.

This is a Christmas activity that both kids and adults will enjoy alike. For an adults-only game, you can try an eggnog chugging contest or a pie-eating competition. The more, the merrier!

Place your clues.

Hide clues in strategic spots—in and around Christmas decorations, for starters. For example, you can hide your clues inside Christmas stockings, near the fireplace, inside Christmas ornaments, or even under pies.

For some more holiday fun, wrap your clues with Christmas-themed wrapping paper. Your family (especially the kids) will love unwrapping clues and finding new clues inside.

Make use of Christmas landmarks.

If you’re leaning towards an outdoor hunt, make the best of Christmas landmarks. Use your neighbors’ Christmas lights and decorations as landmarks. You can also head over to your nearest mall to gape at their Christmas trees and find a clue nearby.

Make the most of the outdoors by incorporating snow and other winter staples in your games. One of the tasks can be building snowmen or making snow angels. The entire family is certain to have an amazing time!

Decorate a tree.

What’s Christmas without a spectacular Christmas tree? Incorporate this into your scavenger hunt by making this one of your tasks. Here are a couple of ways you can do this.

One of the tasks of the scavenger hunt must be making an ornament for the tree using craft supplies. Participants can use paper to fold it into different shapes, or glue a string to a ball and hang it on the tree. They get their next clue only after hanging the ornament on the tree.

Another way to go about it is by hiding an ornament inside the house. Your family must hunt for the ornament and race against time to hang it on the tree. The first team to hang the ornament gets a bonus clue in addition to the usual clue.

Make the end goal worth it!

The holidays are a time of family and giving. To get your family all excited and amped up for the Christmas scavenger hunt game and holiday party, make sure the final prize is worth it. You don’t have to shell a lot of money for this (unless you want to, of course!).  

Make sure the winner of your hunt gets something special. This can be as simple as bragging rights or a prime spot in the holiday photo with the whole family. They can also get special holiday PJs or a handmade crown!

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Closing Thoughts on Christmas Scavenger Hunts

Hopefully, with those Christmas scavenger hunt ideas in mind, you’ll be able to delight your loved ones with a fantastic event. Many of these suggestions can easily be incorporated into an online hunt for a virtual Christmas party for family and friends.

If you prefer, invite your gang to a hunt created by us! Each event—indoor or out—is packed with excitement! If you opt for a virtual scavenger hunt, you can purchase a multi-home party pack to share your indoor hunt with friends and family around the world. They’ll be able to compete with you online! You don’t have to let distance get in the way of holiday fun this year.

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Frequently Asked Questions