How to make a kids’ spooky Halloween game

Get prepped for spooky fun

Get everything ready before you start, so your Halloween craft-making doesn’t leave you with a mess to clean up! Follow our handy tips to keep things tidy:

• Cover the table first - Use plenty of old newspapers or magazines to cover the surface you’re working on
• Cover up with an apron – Kit out your little helpers with an apron to keep their clothes nice and clean, or change into old clothes that you don't mind getting messy
• Collect 6 tin cans – Or as many as you can get your hands on! Wash them out thoroughly and check for sharp edges. If you’ve got very young children or don’t have enough cans, try using loo rolls instead.

Next, you will need to get all your craft bits and pieces together to make the Halloween bowling game:

• Glue
• Scissors
• Coloured card
• Halloween arts & crafts - let your imagination go wild with stickers, googly eyes, and paint supplies to decorate your tins!

Now, onto the fun bit of making all the tin cans into the spookiest, scariest characters you can!

A spooky Halloween pumpkin

It’s traditional to have a pumpkin for Halloween, and the kids will love this one with googly eyes. If they want a spookier pumpkin, make creepy eyes from card and cut the teeth a bit longer and sharper!

• Cover a tin can in orange card
• Cut out a semi-circle from a piece of black card, then cut a curve into the semi-circle to form a half moon shape. Snip into the moon shape to make the teeth
• Glue this piece onto the can
• Cut out two triangles for eyes, or use googly eyes for a funny look
• Use a green pipe cleaner or green piece of card to add to the top of the pumpkin for the stalk

Top tip – glue dots are perfect for sticking things down without the mess!

A spooky witch’s black cat

Beware the witch and her spell-binding black cat! No chance of this one crossing your path, though.

• Cover a tin can in black card for a spooky black cat
• Cut a white pipe cleaner (or pieces of card) into 3 pieces and bend together to form the whiskers
• Attach this with a black dot on top to form the whiskers and nose
• Add googly eyes
• To make the ears, cut out black curved triangles and white ones slightly smaller. Simply attach together and glue on top of the tin can

An ancient Egyptian mummy

You might want to hide behind the sofa when the kids have made this ancient Egyptian mummy.

• Cut out long strips of white paper or card – or you could use some loo roll for the same effect
• Wrap around the tin can, leaving some can exposed
• Add googly eyes

Now, let the kids get creative with the rest of the tins. The options are endless, from ghosts and ghouls to bats and bandits, we’re sure they’ll create some frighteningly good Halloween characters.

Let the spine-chilling fun begin!

If you have used glue, it's best to leave it overnight to dry, but you can start playing straight away if you’ve used glue dots.

Set up the characters in an upwards triangle and get bowling! Use a tennis ball or something similar as the bowling ball - nothing too heavy, or you'll have a halloween horror of a dent in your wall!

Both kids and adults alike will love this game - why not keep score to add a bit of a competitive edge?

When you’ve finished playing, put the characters in the window for a spooky Halloween display.