Fun Games to Play With High School Kids for Halloween
- Gather all of the teens in a circle, and pick one to sit in the middle. Shuffle a pack of cards, and hand each of the teens a card. Whoever gets the joker card becomes the murderer. When ready, the murderer has to attempt to wink at players in the circle as subtly as possible so the guesser in the middle does not see. Anyone who receives a "death wink" from the murderer feigns his death. Once the guesser guesses correctly, the murderer becomes the new guesser, and the game continues with a new, mysterious murderer.
- Write down an assortment of short sentences or phrases you might find in a scary story. Examples include "the wind moaned through the trees" or "a loud cry sounded from the dark of the woods." Put each phrase on a separate index card. Mix up the index cards in a bowl, and pass the bowl around the circle so every player can take one out. Start a timer, and pick one person to read his phrase aloud and then continue with a story of his own creation. Once a minute ends, the player to the person's left continues the story with his phrase. The game continues for as long as you have cards.
- Before the party, hide two sets of scarecrow building materials -- including old clothing, a straw hat and sheets -- around an outdoor area. Create two lists of these items, and divide the teens into two teams. Hand each team a list, and have the teens start searching for the scarecrow materials. The first team to find the items and make its scarecrow wins the game.
- If the teens want to play a unique game of hide-and-seek, play this nighttime game. Pick one player to hide outside while the rest of the teens count to 100. The teens should then spread out in search of the hiding player. As soon as a player finds the hider, he stays with him and quietly waits for others to join. The last player to find the spot where everyone else has hid loses the game and becomes the new hider.