Halloween Games: Ghost Catcher

We throw a neighborhood Halloween party every year, and it's been going strong for 13 years now. Though every year has its highlights, this game has been a long-standing favorite.

Ghost Catcher (credit to FamilyFun Magazine)

This game works best with a group of 4-8 people, and grown-ups will have just as much fun as the kids. If you have more people at your party, break up into smaller groups (we had three groups of 5 to 8 playing at once).

For the game you'll need:

• Large funnel (check the auto maintenance section at the store; a pan lid will work in a pinch, too.)
• Dice
• Ghosts (you need one fewer than the number of people playing)
• Candy corn

To make the ghosts, wrap an 8-10" square of thin white fabric around a small rubber bouncy ball. The ball is the ghost's head; tie one end of a 36" piece of curling ribbon to secure the fabric around the ghost's "neck." You need the long end of the ribbon to grab the ghost.

Place all the ghosts in the center of the table. Each player gets 5 pieces of candy corn to use as "points" during the game. One player begins as the Goblin -- he or she is in charge of the dice and the funnel. All other players hold on to the long ribbon attached to their ghost. Now the fun starts.

The Goblin rolls the dice so that everyone can see. If the Goblin rolls a 6, the other players yank their ghosts from the center of the table before the Goblin can trap them by slamming down the funnel on the ghosts.

• If the Goblin captures a ghost under the funnel, that ghost player gives the Goblin a candy

Here's where it gets tricky. The Goblin can try to trick the other players by faking a slam.

• If a player yanks his or her ghost away and the number is NOT a 6, that player gives the Goblin a candy
• If the Goblin captures a ghost, but the number rolled was NOT a 6, the Goblin gives a piece of candy to every player

The Goblin gets 10 rolls of the dice, then trades the dice and funnel with the next player for a turn as a ghost. If a player runs out of points, they're out of the game.

This is a great game for school parties. Try playing it as one of many activity "stations" the kids rotate through during the party. Play for a set number of minutes (5-10 minutes is good) and the player with the most points wins.

Tip: The kids love playing with candy corn as points, but with the swine flu season in full swing, we opted to use pennies this year instead. (The thought of germ swapping is scary enough.)

Happy ghosting!