Tag Archives: halloween party

Game Ideas

Harvest Festival Games

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These are just couple of simple ideas of activities you can play at your next harvest festival or Halloween Alternative event.

1. Guess the weight of a pumpkin
Have the party guests guess the weight of a carved pumpkin jack-o-lantern. The person closest to the correct weight wins a prize!

2. Guess the Candy
Have the party guests guess the number of pieces of candy in a jar. The person who guesses closest to the correct number gets the whole jar of candy!

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Game Ideas

Candy Toss

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Game Description
Toss the candy into a Halloween Jack-o-lantern pumpkin and if it lands inside, you get to keep it!

Game Materials

  • At least two large pumpkins – one to hold the candy and one for participants to toss the candy into.
  • Individually wrapped candy, mini candy bars

 

Game Preparation

    1. Cut a hole in the top of the largest pumpkin, remove the contents and clean it.
    2. Combine all the candy and place it into the large pumpkin with the top removed.
    3. Do the same with the smaller pumpkins. These are to be placed across the room for participants to toss the candy into them. You might have pumpkins at various distances and with different sized holes cut into the top. If you get into one of the special pumpkins, you not only get to keep the candy, but you also get a bonus prize.

 

Game Play

    1. Line up the participants in a single line, behind the big pumpkin containing the candy.
    2. Youth will to take turns trying to toss the candy into the pumpkins placed across the room. (Depending on the amount of candy you have, you can allow them 3 or more tries each)
    3. They can keep the candy that they get in the pumpkin. If they get the candy into one of the special pumpkins they may also get a bonus prize.
    4. Allow the kids to keep playing until all the candy and prizes have been given away.

 

Variations
Vary the size of the candy and the size of the whole pumpkins. You can also use tokens, plastic spiders, and other tokens instead of candy.

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Creative Teaching Ideas

Pumpkin Patch Relay

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Game Description
In this relay, participants will try to replace the missing pieces that have been removed from their team’s pumpkin. It can be used as party game for your October 31st Halloween alternative, for a harvest festival, or a Halloween carnival.

Game Materials

  • One carved pumpkin for each team. (Keep the pieces that are cut out)
  • Sharp knife for preparing the pumpkins.

 

Game Preparation

  1. Cut off the top of the pumpkins and remove the seeds and pulp so that they have been cleaned out. Cut a different face in each pumpkin, but save the pieces that you remove and set them aside.
  2. Collect all the pieces you removed from the pumpkin and mix them up and place them on a table at one end of the room.
  3. At the other end of the room set up a small table for each team and place each team’s pumpkin on the table.

 

Game Play

  1. The objective of this game is to have team members run across the room… grab one piece that looks like it might fit the holes in that team’s pumpkin and return to his team with the piece.
  2. If the piece fits in the pumpkin, the next person can run to get a new piece. If the piece doesn’t fit, the next person on the team must return it to the table at the end of the room and collect another piece to try.
  3. First team to complete it’s pumpkin wins the relay!

 

Game Variation
Play the game blindfolded. (Be sure to remove any furniture or other things in the room that might injure the participants. You can also place helpers at strategic locations to protect the players.)

Spiritual Applications
Use it with one of these ideas for a meaningful lesson:

  • Use the pumpkin as a metaphor for a Christian – The Pumpkin
  • Object Lesson / Children’s sermon using a Pumpkin – Like A Halloween Pumpkin
  • A specially carved pumpkin and poem to share the plan of Salvation – Jack-O-Lantern
  • A Children’s sermon on being the person God created you to be – Perky the orange Pumpkin
  • A children’s sermon or Object Lesson on being the light of the World – Peter Pumpkin
  • An object lesson or Children’s sermon on prayer – Pumpkin prayer
  • Use this puzzle game to teach about the destructiveness of sin and Christ’s payment for sin on the cross- Pumpkin Puzzles
  • Talk about how we all have holes in our our lives (an emptiness) we are trying to fill. Some people may try to fill it with money, with relationships, with various types of pleasures, etc. But the only thing that can fill the emptiness we have in our lives is a relationship with God. Blaise Pascal says we were all created with a God-shaped vacuum that only he can fill.
  • Just as you had to align the pieces with the various holes in the pumpkin, we have to align the various areas of our lives with the will of God. Only those things of God which are aligned with his plan for our individual lives, will fit correctly and make us whole.

 

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Creative Teaching Ideas

The Mummy

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Description
Use this game about a mummy as part of Halloween Alternative or as an introduction to the story of Lazarus.

Game Materials
Several Rolls of Toilet Paper (One or more for each team)

Game Preparation

  1. Divide the youth into teams.
  2. Each team selects one person on their team to be the mummy. you could also randomly appoint a member as the mummy by drawing straws or some other unbiased method.
  3. The objective is to wrap the team member up like a mummy using the rolls of toilet paper.
  4. You can choose the winner as (1) the team that uses up their rolls of toilet paper the quickest, (2) the best wrapped mummy, (3) the best covered mummy, (4) the neatest (5) the scariest, (6) most creative, etc

 

Game Rules
You may want to make game rules such as:

  1. Do NOT wrap the head or face
  2. Do not throw the rolls of toilet paper.
  3. Everyone on the team must be involved.
  4. ETC

 

Game Variations

  • Have the teams wrap up youth leaders instead of one of their own team members.
  • Instead of teams, split the group into pairs. You can also make the partners wrap each other before they can win so EVERYONE ends up as a mummy.
  • Set a timer and award the group that has the best mummy at the end of the time.

 

Application
When many people think about mummies, they think about Halloween costumes, scary movies, and Egypt. But the Bible also has a story about someone who was wrapped up like a mummy. His name was Lazarus and his story can be found in John 11: 1-46. When Lazarus died, Jesus brought him back to life. But his sisters were not SCARED, they were very happy. Jesus had brought their brother back and he was the same person he was as before. Jesus did it so that he could show how powerful God is and also so we could know for sure that he will also bring us back to life in heaven if we believe in him and trust him.

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Evangelism Ideas

Skeleton Race

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Description
Even if you don’t want to be involved with Halloween, you’ll want to grab at least one of those plastic or paper Halloween skeletons for this object lesson / game.

Game Materials
Purchase one or more plastic skeletons commonly found during the Halloween holiday season. You can also use a paper skeleton that is already cut into parts or make your own.
(Optional) “Dem Bones” song to play in the background

Game Preparation
Separate the plastic skeleton parts into pieces or cut them out if they are on paper.

Game Play

Option 1:

  1. Obtain one skeleton for each team.
  2. Place all the parts for each skeleton in its own sack and give one sack to each team.
  3. When you say ‘Go’, each team must take out the skeleton parts and correctly reconstruct the skeletons.
  4. Award prizes for the fastest times. You can also give additional prizes for weirdest skeleton, etc.
  5. Play some crazy music while the game is going on like “Dem Bones”

 

Option 2:

  1. Hide the skeleton bones before the lesson starts.
  2. Let the participants search for them and then reassemble the skeleton.
  3. For older youth, you can hide the bones and then write out clues for them to follow to find them.
  4. You can also get a few skeletons and break the kids into teams. You can have it as a free for all (i.e. hide all parts and award the first team to find one of each part and put the skeleton together), or you can add a spot of color or a colored ribbon to identify which skeletons belong to which team.
  5. Team members must first find a complete set of parts… then they must assemble it correctly.

 

Application
One of the scary things about Halloween is the skeletons. A lot of people are afraid of death. When they see bones it reminds them of death and they become afraid. But they are just bones and there is nothing to be scared about. They can’t come to life right? or can they?

The prophet Ezekiel might have had the first Halloween scare! We don’t know what day it took place, but it probably wasn’t October 31st.

Let’s look at Ezekiel 37 to find out more!

Read the key verses from this vision.

God’s question to Ezekiel, “Can these dry bones live?” (v3) might be a question a lot of people ask on 31st of October.

But God was talking about more than a skeleton in a closet. He was giving Ezekiel a glimpse into the future when Jesus would conquer death and bring life to us. Jesus did conquer death on a cross. He also resurrected Lazarus from the dead.

Yet God was giving Ezekiel a picture of something more.

The bones represented the house of Israel and their dryness and loss of hope. (v11) The spirit of God would enter their bodies and they would experience restoration and life.

There may be a situation in your own life when you feel like a pile of dry bones. A new life may seem impossible. But like Ezekiel’s response to God when asked “Can these bones live?”, we can answer “You alone know.” God knows and with God all things are possible.

God can breath life into any situation you are in. Not only can he bring you a new life, but he can also give you a new heart: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

  • We are all dead in our sin, like a pile of dry bones (Ephesians 2:1)
  • But God, because of his great love for us, makes us alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5)
  • We experience new life through faith in Christ! Doing good things doesn’t get us eternal life, but we are made alive in Christ that we might do good things for Him. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Lyrics to Dem Bones

E-ze-kiel cried, “Dem dry bones!”
E-ze-kiel cried, “Dem dry bones!”
E-ze-kiel cried, “Dem dry bones!”
Oh hear the word of the Lord.

(tune descends in half steps)

The foot bone con-nected to the (pause) leg-bone,
The leg bone connected to the (‘) knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the (‘) thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the (‘) back bone,
The back bone connected to the (‘) neck bone
The neck bone connected to the (‘) head bone
Oh hear the word of the Lord!

Dem bones, dem bones gon-na walk a-roun’
Dem bones, dem bones gon-na walk a-roun’
Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun’
Oh hear the word of the Lord

(tune descends in half steps and we retrace the body)

The head-bone connected to the neck-bone,
the neck-bone connected to the back-bone
The backbone connected to the thigh-bone
the thighbone connected to the kee-bone
the kneebone connected to the leg bone
the leg bone connected to the foot bone
Oh hear the word of the Lord

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Evangelism Ideas

Jack-O-Lantern

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Tradition says the Halloween “Jack-o-Lantern” gets it’s name from an old Irish story about a drunkard called “Stingy Jack.”

According to one version of the story, which has many variations, on October 31st, Stingy Jack was being chased by some villagers for stealing. It was his time to die and because of his wicked life he was going to hell. But he offered the devil an opportunity to create chaos and distrust in the whole village if the devil would free him for a year. The devil, gleeful at any opportunity to cause conflict and destroy relationships, agreed to hear Stingy Jack’s plan.

You want to know what his plan was?

Since the devil could turn into any shape, the devil would turn himself into a coin and Stingy Jack would use the coin to pay for the things he had stolen. Later the devil could change back to his original shape and the villagers would accuse each other and fight over who had stolen the coin.

The devil agreed to the plan, but when he changed into the coin, Stingy Jack dropped the coin into his pocket next to a cross he had stolen from the village. The devil was powerless next to the cross and couldn’t change back into his original form. Stingy jack eventually freed the devil, but only after the devil agreed not to bother him for a whole year.

The next year, the Devil met Stingy Jack walking on a country road and told him that he was there to collect his soul. Jack, pretended he was ready to go, but asked the Devil if he would grant him one last wish. Would he climb an apple tree and get him an apple? The Devil, thinking it was a small request in exchange for Stingy Jack’s soul agreed.

Jack pointed to an apple at the top of the tree and the devil began to climb. But just as he reached for the apple, Stingy Jack pulled out his knife and quickly carved the sign of the cross in the tree’s trunk. Again, powerless before the cross, the Devil was unable to come back down from the tree. Stingy Jack, very proud of himself made the Devil promise to never again ask him for his soul. Seeing no other choice the Devil reluctantly agreed.

Later, Stingy Jack died. But when he knocked on the heavenly gates he was not allowed inside because of his wicked life. But the devil, because of his promise not to take his soul, also refused to let Stingy Jack enter hell.

Being unable to go to heaven or hell Jack asked the Devil where he should go. The Devil only replied, “Back where you came from!” The way back was very dark so Jack begged the Devil to at least give him a light to find his way. So the Devil tossed Jack a hot burning coal from the fires of hell to light his way.

Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the earth ever since.

The Irish referred to him as “Jack of the Lantern,” and later, just “Jack O’ Lantern.” After a while, the Irish began to carve scary faces into potatoes and turnips and place them in windows and doorways to frighten away Stingy Jack and other roaming spirits. When they came to the United States, they discovered pumpkins were much more suitable for jack-O-lanterns since they were softer and easier to carve than the turnips and potatoes of their Irish homeland.

You don’t need a pumpkin to scare away evil spirits. And you don’t need the light of a jack-o-lantern to light your way. Jesus the light of the world has come to you!

Your name might not be Stingy Jack, but the Bible tells us that no one is worthy to get into heaven. (Romans 3:23)

And while you can’t make a deal with the devil, Jesus has already made a deal on your behalf. He exchanged his life for yours that you might receive eternal life. (Romans 6:23) And the devil is still powerless next to the cross where Jesus gave his life for yours!

You don’t need to wander the earth, fearful about whether or not you will get into heaven or afraid the devil will get your soul. You can know for certain you will go to heaven. (1 John 5:12-13, John 14:6)

All you need to do is confess your sin, believe in Jesus, and trust him with your life. (Romans 10:9)

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Evangelism Ideas

A Halloween Message

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October 31st is a very special day, not because of Halloween, but because of another important event that literally CHANGED the world!

On October 31st, almost five hundred years ago, in the year 1517, Martin Luther nailed a letter to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany.

His letter invited a debate on ninety-five different statements and initiated what is known today as the Protestant Reformation!

Martin Luther was a deeply religious man who was seeking salvation. To find answers, he became a monk and tried to earn his way into heaven by good works. But all his efforts never seemed enough! As he studied the Word of God he realized that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “For it is by grace we have been saved through faith, it is a gift of God and not from yourselves, not by works that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9.)

Martin Luther then began reading Romans in the Bible and came to verse 1:17 and discovered “The just shall live by faith.”

Luther realized that no amount of good works would achieve salvation for him. People are not saved by their works, but by their faith in Jesus Christ!

Have you been trying to earn your way into heaven?

Read Philippians 3:1-11.

Paul and Martin Luther both realized that anything they might do to earn eternal life was rubbish. Righteousness can only come through faith in Christ. Only though that faith can we enter into the presence of God!

October 31st was a new beginning for the church. It can also be a new beginning for you!
All you need to do is to believe in Christ.

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not only provides 52 of the most world’s popular group icebreaker activities, but also includes life changing lesson ideas and questions to smoothly transition into discussions about issues common to most groups.

 

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Food for Thought

Fall or Harvest Festival?

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There are a lot of arguments against celebrating Halloween.

While many people believe we should redeem the event for Christ, others wonder, is a Fall Festival or Harvest festival just a replacement for the pagan holiday? I’ll leave that judgment up to you but here’s some food for thought for those who DO have a Harvest Festival as a Halloween alternative. You might even use this for a Bible Study at your event!

In the Old Testament God’s people were COMMANDED to celebrate the Harvest. (Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22)

There are other references in Scripture too. Harvest-time was a time to show joy and thankfulness that God had provided for his people. But here’s the difference: We do not worship the harvest. We worship the God of the Harvest. Because of God’s Blessings you can have Hallelujah Night instead of Halloween!

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Announcements

Halloween Alternatives for Christians?

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With October comes Halloween. While there is often debate as to whether we as Christians should participate in a holiday with pagan roots, others use this as an opportunity to provide Christian alternatives like a fall festival, a harvest festival or a carnival. You can read more about the debate here:
A Christian Response to Halloween?

But rather than debate the issue, I am going to provide some things that could be done as part of a Christian alternative either as a family or as a church or youth group. (For the rest of you, many of the ideas involving pumpkins and other things could also be used at Thanksgiving or any time during the year for that matter.) And many of them are VERY evangelistic in nature!

Games where you can dress Up!

 

Pumpkins!

  • Using the pumpkin as a metaphor for a Christian – The Pumpkin
  • Games using Pumpkins – Pumpkin Bowling
  • Here’s an Object Lesson / Children’s sermon using a Pumpkin – Like A Halloween Pumpkin
  • One of those “gross” themed games using pumpkins with several possible Christian Applications – Pass the Brains
  • A game using pumpkin seeds that could be used to teach about Wholesome speech or Christian Goals – Pumpkin Seed Toss
  • A specially carved pumpkin and poem to share the plan of Salvation – Jack-O-Lantern
  • A Children’s sermon on being the person God created you to be – Perky the orange Pumpkin
  • A children’s sermon or Object Lesson on being the light of the World – Peter Pumpkin
  • An object lesson or Children’s sermon on prayer – Pumpkin prayer
  • Use this puzzle game to teach about the destructiveness of sin and Christ’s payment for sin on the cross- Pumpkin Puzzles

 

Games using Halloween Candy

  • Use different Colored Candy to share the plan of salvation – Candy Relay
  • Use this game of “Trick or Treat” to talk about the deceitfulness of Sin and Man’s fall in the garden – Trick or Treat Relay
  • A game that leads to a discussion on using your gifts for God and Sharing Salvation with others – Candy
  • An object lesson or Children’s sermon on appearances vs. having a right heart before God – Cupcake Faith

 

Halloween Related Humor

 

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Object Lessons

Cupcake Faith

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halloween_cupcake.jpgDescription
Use this creative object lesson as a surprising illustration to kids that God looks at our heart, not our appearances. It can be used on any occasion or as a children’s sermon, but with a reference to tombs, and masks it also serves as a fun lesson for an alternative to Halloween.

Materials
Cupcake mix, cotton balls, cupcake cups, Cupcake Tin

Preparation

  1. Using a cake mix or any cupcake mix, prepare the batter according to instructions.
  2. Place the paper cupcake liners in the cupcake tin.
  3. For about 50% of the cupcakes, place several cotton balls in the middle of the cup to partially fill them.
  4. Pour the batter into the cups. For those with cotton balls, be sure it seeps into the sides of the cup and covers the cotton balls.
  5. Bake the cupcakes as per directions.
  6. Make enough untainted cupcakes for your entire group.
  7. Decorate the cupcakes containing cotton balls with icing and candly sprinkles etc so they look very enticing. Do not decorate the normal cupcakes in any way i.e. leave them plain.

WARNING: One person who tried this had the batter soak into the cotton balls so that the kids didn’t notice and swallowed one. While they are harmless and will simply pass through the digestive system, to prevent this make sure you fill the bottom of the paper liner full of cotton balls so that you don’t have this problem. An alternative to cotton balls is to slice off the top with a bread knife and then hollow out the center of the cupcake. Put the top back on and frost it for a hollow cupcake? Are some of our pursuits in life a little hollow when we finally get hold of them?

Demonstration

  1. Pass the cupcakes to the youth or children as a group. They must not eat them until everyone has one. Only allow one cupcake per person.
  2. Some will choose the fancy ones while others may choose the plain ones.
  3. When the youth or children begin to eat the cupcakes, some of them are in for a surprise. Beneath the shallow top layer of cupcake there is cotton!
  4. Wait for their responses.
  5. After the lesson have some cupcakes available for everyone who got the tainted ones with the cotton balls inside

Discussion
You can’t always tell how good something is by looking at the outside. Sometimes what seems attractive on the outside hides something far less attractive inside.

While people typically look at the outward appearance, God looks inside – at the heart. It’s difficult to tell what a person is really like simply from their appearance. Some people may be beautiful on the outside, but inside they hide a very mean, selfish, and hateful heart. Some people may seem a little plain or less attractive in appearance, but inside they are loving, gentle, and kind.

Most of us spend lots of time and attention on making ourselves look good. We pay careful attention to the clothes we wear (designer jeans etc), the shoes we wear, our complexion, our hairstyle, etc. Yet, how much time do we spend making sure our heart is right? When our heart is right with God, when our attitudes are Christlike, when we have a loving spirit, then when others get a taste of God in us, they will find Christianity attractive. Christ’s greatest criticism of the pharisees was that they focused on their appearance yet left ugliness in their hearts:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)

Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites. The Greek word for hypocrite actually refers to someone who is wearing a mask, who is an actor. Halloween isn’t the only time of the year when people dress up and wear masks. Throughout the year we often show a different personality on the outside than the person we are in reality. Jesus also called the pharisees “whitewashed tombstones.” “Rotting graves with whitewashed tombstones” vividly paints for us a picture of hypocrisy. Cemeteries are actually quite tranquil and beautiful on the surface. There are flowers, statues, and beautiful memorials to those that have died. But beneath the surface there are rotting bodies.

Does your icing match your cupcake?

  • How much time do you spend getting ready to leave the house in the morning?
  • Do you take time to shower, comb your hair, and spend a little time in front of the mirror to make sure you are presentable to the world?
  • Do you spend as much time daily nurturing your inner spirit through Bible Study and prayer as you do on your external appearances?
  • Do you sometimes find yourself putting on a facade, a mask, pretending to be more “spiritual” so people will be impressed with you?

It’s not that we should not care about our external appearances. In fact we should be concerned about both our internal and external life that we present to the world. Our lives need to reflect the goodness of God both inwardly and outwardly, in our heart attitudes, and in our actions that everyone sees.

Closing Application
Take a little more time preparing your heart each day to get right with God and reflect his heart. Make sure you spend some time with God so that you reflect the goodness of God inside and out before you ice it for all the world to see?

Scripture References

  • Matthew 23:27-28
  • Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3: 3-4)
  • Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16: 7)

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