There are countless ways to have fun at a Halloween party. Over the years, Halloween has grown into a sophisticated, adult celebration, but you can return to the fun kids had years ago with these basic-but-fun Halloween party ideas for kids.

Apple Bobbing

This is a Halloween party classic! It's a wet, messy (but fun) activity that literally dates back hundreds of years.

Make sure you have lots of towels on hand, and if indoors, protect the floor against spillage.

Fill a large bucket or tub with water and float in it apples that have had their stems and leaves removed. 

Let kids take turns bobbing for apples by grabbing the floating apples with their teeth, holding their hands behind their backs.

You may choose to set time limits or rules as to how many bites players get before they lose their turn, or you can just allow players to keep trying until they succeed.

Let everyone who manages to get an apple win a prize.

Variations:

Hanging Apples:  Suspend a row of apples hanging from a line, such as a clothesline. Each person has to catch a moving apple with their mouth, hands held behind their back. This game suits people who don’t want wet faces or when it is too cold to risk wet clothes.

Hanging Doughnuts:  Instead of hanging apples, this is a row of doughnuts hanging up to be caught with the mouth, hand-free.
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Hold a pumpkin carving contest. See who can carve the funniest or silliest face into a pumpkin. You can also add as more categories to your list so more contestants can win smaller prizes (and so no "little ones" feel left out) and hand out a grand prize to the best carved Jack 'O Lantern.

Variation:  Provide acryllic or craft paints that will adhere to the pumpkin shells for drawing silly or scarey faces on the pumpkins, rather than dealing with the mess involved with cleaning out and carving them! Perhaps even provide safe glue that will also adhere to pumkin shells along with glitter, feathers, sequins, etc.