This simple Halloween board game for kids from 5 years upwards is an excellent way to practice some rhythm and note recognition. Not to mention some useful counting and reading practice while also getting into the spooky Halloween mood!

Board games are a wonderful part of childhood. They’re such a great way to bring people together of all ages – passing many a happy hour with lots of constructive fun. But they also have the added bonus of numerous educational benefits which are usually overshadowed by the desire to win!

How to Play the Halloween Board Game

Object of the game

To travel from the start to finish, collecting as many treats as you can and to finish first. The game ends when the first person reaches the Witch’s cauldron of treats, but everyone can then also ‘cash-in’ their treat tokens.

You will need

- Download the Halloween Game Board and trick or treat game cards
- Once printed, mount or laminate the game board and cards.
- Cut out and fold the cards and glue into the folded position so each card has a picture on one side and a question on the reverse.
- Use buttons for the counters.
- Small prizes – could be biscuits/fruit & nuts/sweets/or a small toy or token of some kind
- Before you start, organise the trick and treat cards into two piles face down. The person who throws the highest number on the dice starts first.

The players take turns to throw the dice to move along the path. Along the way they might land on a spider’s stepping stone and in order to escape they must do a trick by taking one of the trick cards and performing the task required. If they land on a pumpkin they tap the spooky rhythm, and then they save the card as a treat token to be counted up at the end. However, if they land on a ghost, they must run away and go back the prescribed number of spaces indicated by the different numbers on each ghost.

The tricks and treats are printable cards of varying difficulty, with halloween rhythms to tap and musical note values to identify. As the children progress you can add to the questions to make them more challenging.

If necessary, either give some help (for instance tap the rhythm to demonstrate first and ask them to repeat it like an echo) or choose another question. At the end of the game the treat tokens can be ‘cashed in’ for real treats or small prizes.