Things to Do With Preteens for Halloween
- Send the preteens on a scavenger hunt. Divide them into groups, each with an adult chaperone. Give each group a list of items to find, and write a point value next to each item indicating how many points the objects are worth when found. Some examples of items could include candy wrappers, fliers advertising Halloween parties and pieces of candy. Another option is to give the adults in each group a digital camera with a list of photographs to collect, with each having a point value. Some examples could be photographs of a pumpkin, witch and ghost. Give each team 90 minutes to complete the list and return. The team with the most points wins, and in the case of a tie the team which returned first wins.
- Set up tents in your backyard for Halloween night. After the children go trick-or-treating, they spend the night in the tents in the back yard. During the night before going to sleep the preteens take turns telling scary stories. At the end of the night the children all vote on who told the scariest story. That person wins a prize such as several full sized candy bars.
- Place bowls of food in your kitchen that are supposed to resemble Halloween-themed items. Examples of this could include cold spaghetti with a little sauce to represent brains and gumballs inside of a bowl of jello to represent eyeballs. Each preteen enters the room while the others wait outside. He is blindfolded, then puts his hands into each food, and must guess what Halloween item the food represents.
- Invite the preteens to compete in a series of games that have Halloween themes. Some can challenge their physical abilities, such as throwing bags of candy corn into the top of a jack-o-lantern from 20 feet away. Others can challenge their dexterity, such as bobbing for apples. Trivia games can be played seeing who can answer the most questions correctly about either scary movies or Halloween cartoon specials. Give out prizes for first, second and third place to each event's winners. Award a grand prize to the contestant that wins the most events.
