Fall Party Games for Kids, With a Set for Adults

Three harvest games at a time, played with pumpkins, apples, leaves and hay.

Fall Party Games for Kids, With a Set for Adults

  1. Paper Plate ScarecrowEveryone holds a paper plate on top of their head and draws on it with a marker as the host calls the steps: a hat, a face, a patched shirt, two stick arms, a crow on the shoulder. Swap plates and score a point for each part that landed roughly in the right place. Players: 3 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: a paper plate and a marker each.
  2. Fall Bingo WalkGive each player a bingo card of fall sights: a red leaf, a squirrel, an acorn, a pumpkin on a porch, geese overhead. Walk the block or the park together and cross off what you spot. The first full row gets a cheer, and the walk goes on to a full card. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 20 min. Props: a fall bingo card and a crayon each.
  3. Guess the SpicePut cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice in numbered jars with the labels hidden. Players smell each one and write a guess, and nobody tastes. Those five make up the usual pumpkin pie spice blend, which contains no pumpkin at all. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: 5 numbered spice jars, slips and pens.
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Fall Party Games for Kids, With a Set for Adults: how it works

These fall party games for kids run on what the season hands out for free: pumpkins, apples, leaves, hay and acorns. Costumes and spooky games belong to Halloween, so nothing here is scary or needs a carving knife. Press New games to deal three, or tap Kids' set (ages 4 to 10) first.

Plan a harvest party from what is on the porch

Pumpkin games and Apple games use the porch display and the fruit bowl, and Works indoors holds 47 games for a classroom or a wet Saturday. Each result explains the game, then lists players, time and props. Lock the ones you want, press New games to redeal the others, then Print the plan or send it to the other parents with Copy all.

Fall party games for adults and mixed ages

Tap Teens and adults' set for 46 games that suit a party with no kids, such as Longest Apple Peel, Guess the Spice and Conkers With Horse Chestnuts. Forty of them sit in the kids' set too, so a family party can run one relay twice: kids first, then adults in their own heat. Anything sharp or hot is a grown-up job: the peelers, the conker drill, the corn pot.

Tips

  • Every food game ends with the food eaten: shucked corn goes in the pot, peeled apples in the pie, pumpkin seeds in the oven. Buy for dinner and play with it first.
  • Check each leaf pile for sticks and stones before anyone jumps, and swap hay for shredded paper if a guest has hay fever.
  • Keep a rain plan: 5 minutes or less holds 12 quick games, and 10 of them work indoors, such as Leaf Blow Race.

Questions and answers

How many games do I need for a two-hour fall party?

Plan four or five. Set out one game that runs itself as guests arrive, such as Guess the Pumpkin's Weight, then two active games outdoors, one seated game while the food comes out, and a spare. For ages 4 to 6, allow about ten minutes a game.

Which fall games work for a classroom party?

Tap Works indoors. Pick games the whole class plays at once, such as Pumpkin Walk, Scarecrow Freeze Dance and Farmer Says, or run three stations: Leaf Blow Race, Mystery Harvest Box and Pin the Nose on the Scarecrow. Check the school's food rules before a tasting game.

Is apple bobbing clean enough for a kids' party?

The shared tub is the problem, so this version gives every player their own bowl, water and apple, and the apple is the prize. An adult stays beside small kids. Anyone who dislikes a wet face can play Snap Apple on a String instead.

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All 69 games

Pumpkin games 13

  • Broom and Pumpkin Roll Race Racers push a pumpkin down the lawn and back using only a broom. Pumpkins are not round, so they veer, and the steady sweepers beat the fast ones. Run it in heats of three or four. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a pumpkin and a broom for each lane.
  • Guess the Pumpkin Seeds Before the party, an adult scoops out one pumpkin and counts the seeds into a clear jar. Guests write a guess during the day and the closest wins. Rinse and roast the seeds afterwards so they get eaten. Players: any number. Time: 5 min. Props: a jar of counted pumpkin seeds, slips and a pen.
  • Guess the Pumpkin's Weight Put your biggest pumpkin on a table with slips of paper and a jar. Guests lift it, write a guess in pounds and drop the slip in. Weigh it on a bathroom scale before dessert, and the closest guess takes the pumpkin home. Players: any number. Time: 5 min. Props: a large pumpkin, a bathroom scale, slips and a pen.
  • Hot Pumpkin Sit in a circle and pass a mini pumpkin while the music plays. Whoever holds it when the music stops is out, and the last player left wins. With kids under six nobody goes out: the holder names one thing they like about fall. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a mini pumpkin and music.
  • Mini Pumpkin Hunt With a Gold Star Hide 30 mini pumpkins or orange painted stones around the yard before guests arrive, with a gold star stuck under one. Set a limit of five each so the smallest kids find some too. The gold star earns first pick of the prizes. Players: 4 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: 30 mini pumpkins or painted stones and a star sticker.
  • No-Carve Pumpkin Decorating Contest Everyone gets a small pumpkin, paint pens, stickers, yarn and glue dots, and 15 minutes. There are no knives, so four-year-olds work beside the adults. Give every pumpkin a ribbon: funniest, fanciest, most like its maker. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 20 min. Props: a small pumpkin each, paint pens, stickers, yarn and glue dots.
  • Over-Under Pumpkin Pass Teams stand in lines. The front player passes a small pumpkin back over their head, the next passes it between their knees, and so on down the line. The last player runs to the front and starts again, until the first leader is back in place. Players: 8 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: one small pumpkin for each team.
  • Pumpkin Bowling Stand ten empty plastic bottles in a triangle with a little sand in each, and bowl a small round pumpkin with a short stem from ten paces. Two rolls a turn, count the pins, reset. Pumpkins wobble off line, which evens out the ages. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: a small round pumpkin and 10 plastic bottles.
  • Pumpkin Patch Mini Golf Lay out three holes on the lawn. Each hole is a gate of two pumpkins followed by a bucket tipped on its side. Players putt through the gate and into the bucket, and the fewest strokes over three holes wins. Small kids can push the ball with a broom. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: 6 pumpkins, 3 buckets, a putter and a golf ball.
  • Pumpkin Stem Ring Toss Line up five pumpkins with long stems and chalk a point value on each, the farthest worth the most. Each player throws three rings from behind a rope. Glow bracelets, rope loops and embroidery hoops all work as rings. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: 5 pumpkins with stems and 3 rings.
  • Pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe Tape a three-by-three grid on the floor or the lawn. Two players or two teams take turns placing mini pumpkins, orange against white, and three in a row wins. Play best of five, then the winner stays on. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 5 min. Props: masking tape, 5 orange and 5 white mini pumpkins.
  • Pumpkin Walk Chalk or tape a circle of numbered squares, one for each player. Everyone walks while the music plays and stops on a square when it cuts. Draw a number from a bowl, and whoever stands on it wins a mini pumpkin or a baked treat. Nobody goes out, so play six rounds. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: numbered squares, number slips, music and small prizes.
  • Pumpkin Weigh-In Line-Up Set out six pumpkins of different sizes. Each team lifts them one by one and arranges them from lightest to heaviest by feel alone. Check the order on a bathroom scale and give one point for every pumpkin in the right place. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: 6 pumpkins and a bathroom scale.

Apple games 11

  • Apple and Wooden Spoon Relay Runners carry a small apple on a wooden spoon to a basket at the far end, then run back and hand over the spoon. A dropped apple goes back on the spoon where it fell before the runner moves on. Wash the apples afterwards and they still go in the pie. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: a wooden spoon for each team, small apples and a basket.
  • Apple Bobbing, One Bowl Each Float an apple with the stem pulled off in a bowl of water for each player. Hands go behind backs, and the first to lift the apple clear with their teeth wins the heat. A fresh bowl and apple for every player keeps it clean, and the apple is the prize. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: a bowl of water and an apple each, plus towels.
  • Apple Donut on a String Tie a plain or apple donut on a ribbon for each player and hang the ribbons from a line at mouth height. Hands behind backs, and the first to finish the donut without it hitting the ground wins. Lay a clean sheet underneath for the pieces that drop. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: a donut on a ribbon for each player and a line to hang them from.
  • Apple Orchard Color Relay Scatter red, green and yellow ball-pit balls under a tree or across a room as fallen apples. Each team gets a color and a basket. One runner at a time picks up one apple of the team color and runs it home. The first team to gather its whole crop wins. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: ball-pit balls in three colors and a basket for each team.
  • Blind Apple Taste Test Slice four or five varieties onto numbered plates, such as Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp and Golden Delicious. Tasters match the numbers to the names on a slip and vote for a favorite. The most correct matches wins, and the plates empty themselves. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: sliced apples on numbered plates, slips and pens.
  • Elbows-Only Apple Pass Teams stand in a line and pass an apple from one end to the other using only their elbows. A dropped apple goes back to the start of the line. The first team to lower it into the basket at the far end wins. Players: 8 to 24. Time: 5 min. Props: an apple and a basket for each team.
  • Longest Apple Peel Each player gets an apple and a swivel peeler and tries to take the peel off in one unbroken ribbon. Measure the ribbons against a tape measure. The peeled apples go straight into the pie dish or the sauce pot. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: an apple and a peeler each, and a tape measure.
  • One-Minute Apple Stack Players have one minute to stack apples into the tallest single column that stands for a count of three. Pick apples with flat tops, because round ones roll. Let small kids stack with two hands and older players with one. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: 6 apples for each player and a timer.
  • Snap Apple on a String Hang apples on strings from a branch or from a broom handle held by two adults, each at mouth height for its player. Hands behind backs, and the first clean bite wins. Keep the strings still, because a swinging apple hits faces. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: an apple on a string for each player.
  • Who Has the Worm Players sit in a circle with their hands behind their backs. One picker stands in the middle with eyes closed while a gummy worm or a green pipe cleaner travels from hand to hand. At "Open", the picker gets three guesses to say who is holding the worm. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a gummy worm or a green pipe cleaner.
  • Worm Through the Apple Lacing Race Each player gets a paper plate apple with six punched holes and a green shoelace for a worm. On "Go", thread the worm through every hole in order. The first to pull it tight and hold the apple up wins the heat. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: a punched paper plate and a shoelace each.

Leaf, hay and scarecrow games 15

  • Biggest Leaf, Smallest Leaf Give pairs five minutes to bring back four leaves: the biggest, the smallest, the reddest and the one with the most points. Lay the entries side by side and let the whole group judge each category by pointing. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Catch a Falling Leaf Stand under a tree on a breezy day, or have an adult drop leaves from a deck or a porch. Players try to catch leaves with one hand before they touch the ground. The most caught in two minutes wins. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 5 min. Props: a tree that is dropping leaves, or a bag of dry leaves.
  • Crows and Scarecrows Tag Mark a field with cones and scatter beanbags in the middle as the corn. Two scarecrows guard it while the crows run in to steal one beanbag at a time. A tagged crow freezes with arms out until another crow tags them free. Swap scarecrows every two minutes. Players: 8 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: cones and 20 beanbags.
  • Dress the Scarecrow Race One player on each team stands still as the scarecrow. Teammates run one at a time to a pile of oversized clothes, such as a flannel shirt, a hat, gloves and a scarf, and put one item on the scarecrow. The first fully dressed scarecrow to strike the pose wins. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a pile of oversized clothes for each team.
  • Find It in the Haystack Hide 30 large, soft things in a pile of loose hay or straw: tennis balls, wrapped candy, plastic rings, nothing sharp. Send kids in by age, smallest first, with a bag each. For allergies or a rainy day, a paddling pool of shredded paper works the same way. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a pile of hay or shredded paper and 30 soft items.
  • Harvest Obstacle Course Lay out a loop: weave between pumpkins, hop over a broom handle laid flat, crawl under a blanket stretched between two hay bales, and carry a gourd on a spoon to the finish. Time each runner, then let them try to beat their own time. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 20 min. Props: pumpkins, a broom, a blanket, hay bales, a gourd, a spoon and a timer.
  • Leaf Bag Stuffing Race Pairs get a paper yard bag and race to fill it to the top with leaves, one holding and one stuffing. The first full bag that stands up on its own wins. The host ends the game with the lawn bagged up. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a paper yard bag for each pair and plenty of leaves.
  • Leaf Blow Race Each player gets a drinking straw and a dry leaf at one end of a table. Blow the leaf to the far end without touching it, and a leaf that falls off the side starts again. Run it as a knockout, two players at a time. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: a straw and a dry leaf each.
  • Leaf Match-Up Before the party, collect two leaves each from six to eight trees and tape one of each pair to a card with its name: maple, oak, birch, ginkgo. Teams match the loose leaves to the cards. Score one point for each match and a bonus for naming a leaf with the card covered. Players: 2 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: pairs of leaves, name cards and tape.
  • Leaf Pile Jump With Score Cards Rake a deep pile and check it for sticks and stones. Jumpers take a run-up one at a time while three judges hold up cards from 1 to 10 for style. Rake the pile back up between jumps, and the raker becomes the next judge. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 15 min. Props: a rake, a deep leaf pile and score cards.
  • Leaf Rake Relay Scatter leaves over two lanes. Each runner rakes a load onto the team's tarp, hands over the rake with its teeth pointing down, and the next runner goes. At three minutes the bigger pile wins, and half your lawn is done. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a rake and a tarp for each team.
  • Musical Hay Bales Set hay bales or cushions in a circle, one fewer than the number of players. Walk around while the music plays and sit when it stops. The player left standing takes one bale away and runs the music for the next round. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: hay bales or cushions and music.
  • Pin the Nose on the Scarecrow Draw a scarecrow on poster board. Each player gets a paper triangle nose with tape on the back, closes their eyes or wears a blindfold, takes one gentle turn and sticks the nose on. Write names on the noses, and the closest one wins. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a scarecrow poster, paper noses, tape and a blindfold.
  • Scarecrow Freeze Dance Dance while the music plays. When it stops, freeze with your arms out like a scarecrow on a pole. Anyone who wobbles becomes a crow and flaps around the scarecrows, trying to make them laugh without touching them. Players: 5 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: music.
  • Stuff the Scarecrow Relay Each team gets an old shirt and old pants with the cuffs tied shut, and a pile of leaves or crumpled newspaper. Runners carry one armful at a time and stuff the clothes. After five minutes, sit the scarecrows up side by side, and the fullest one wins. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: old clothes with tied cuffs and leaves or newspaper.

Corn, acorn and harvest games 17

  • Acorn Toss Set three buckets or flower pots at three, five and seven steps, worth 1, 2 and 3 points. Each player throws ten acorns underarm and adds up the score. Use walnuts in the shell or pebbles if your trees drop no acorns. Players: 2 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: 3 buckets and 10 acorns.
  • Burlap Sack Race by Age Both legs go in a burlap sack or an old pillowcase, hands hold the top edge, and you hop to the line. Run it on grass only, in heats by age, and finish with a final for the heat winners. Adults get their own heat. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a burlap sack or pillowcase for each racer.
  • Candy Corn Chopstick Relay Each team has a bowl of candy corn at one end of the room and an empty cup at the other. Runners carry one piece at a time with chopsticks, or with a clothespin for small kids. The first team to move 15 pieces wins, and each team eats its own cup. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: candy corn, a bowl, a cup and chopsticks for each team.
  • Candy Corn Guess Jar Count candy corn into a clear jar and leave it by the door with slips and a pencil. The closest guess without going over takes the jar home. A fact for the label: the candy dates from the 1880s and was first sold as Chicken Feed. Players: any number. Time: 5 min. Props: a jar of counted candy corn, slips and a pencil.
  • Conkers With Horse Chestnuts An adult bores a hole through each horse chestnut and threads it on a knotted string. Players take turns: one lets their conker hang still while the other swings at it, until one conker breaks. The first recorded game with horse chestnuts was on the Isle of Wight in 1848. Watchers stand well back. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a horse chestnut on a knotted string for each player.
  • Corn Bag Toss on a Short Court Set two slanted boards with a hole in each about 15 feet apart for kids; a standard court uses 27 or 33 feet. Sides take turns throwing four corn-filled bags. A bag on the board scores 1 and a bag in the hole scores 3, the lower score is taken off the higher each round, and the first side to 21 wins. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 20 min. Props: two bag toss boards and 8 bags.
  • Corn Shucking Race Each player gets three ears of sweet corn in the husk. On "Go", strip off the husks and every strand of silk. A judge checks for stray silk before calling a winner. The corn goes straight into the pot for dinner. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: 3 ears of sweet corn each and a bag for the husks.
  • Farmer Says The caller is the farmer and gives harvest orders: pick apples, rake leaves, dig potatoes, flap like a crow. Obey only when the order starts with "Farmer says". Anyone who moves on a bare order sits out one round, then rejoins. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Guess the Spice Put cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice in numbered jars with the labels hidden. Players smell each one and write a guess, and nobody tastes. Those five make up the usual pumpkin pie spice blend, which contains no pumpkin at all. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: 5 numbered spice jars, slips and pens.
  • Harvest Basket Relay Each team has a basket at the start and a heap of gourds, pine cones or play vegetables at the far end. Runners fetch one item at a time. The last runner carries the full basket around the far marker and home without spilling. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: a basket for each team and 10 harvest items each.
  • Harvest Moon Flashlight Tag At dusk, one player is the moon and carries the only flashlight. Everyone else hides. Catch a player in the beam and call their name, and they walk to base. The harvest moon is the full moon nearest the September equinox, so look up for the real one. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: one flashlight.
  • Mystery Harvest Box Cut a hand-sized hole in a box and put one harvest item inside at a time: a gourd, an ear of dried corn, a pine cone, a walnut, a pear. Players reach in, feel, and whisper a guess to the host. The most right out of eight wins. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: a box with a hand hole and 8 harvest items.
  • Pie and Chili Cook-Off, Blind Judged Entrants bring a pie or a pot of chili labeled with a number only. Every guest tastes and scores each entry from 1 to 5 for taste and for looks. Add up the sheets, announce third, second and first, and then reveal the cooks. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 30 min. Props: numbered entries, tasting spoons and a score sheet each.
  • Potato Dig Bury 20 washed potatoes in a sandbox or a tub of clean play sand. Diggers work with their hands only for two minutes and count their haul. Rinse the potatoes again and bake them for supper. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: 20 potatoes and a sandbox or a tub of play sand.
  • Squirrel's Hidden Acorns Each squirrel gets five marked acorns or walnuts and two minutes to hide them around the yard, one in each spot. Play something else, then send the squirrels back to find their own. Real gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time like this and rely on memory to find them. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 15 min. Props: 5 marked acorns or walnuts each.
  • Three-Legged Race Around the Pumpkin Pairs stand side by side and tie one partner's left ankle to the other's right with a scarf. Race to a pumpkin, circle it and come back. Pairs who chant "inside, outside" in step beat the pairs who sprint. Players: 6 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a scarf for each pair and a pumpkin as the turning post.
  • Wheelbarrow Pumpkin Haul Adult pairs load three pumpkins into a garden wheelbarrow, push it around a cone course and unload at the finish. Drop a pumpkin and you stop to reload it. Kids run the stopwatch and post the times on a board. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 15 min. Props: a wheelbarrow, 3 pumpkins, cones and a stopwatch.

Seated, sheet and table games 13

  • Fall Bingo Walk Give each player a bingo card of fall sights: a red leaf, a squirrel, an acorn, a pumpkin on a porch, geese overhead. Walk the block or the park together and cross off what you spot. The first full row gets a cheer, and the walk goes on to a full card. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 20 min. Props: a fall bingo card and a crayon each.
  • Fall Charades Write fall actions on slips: raking leaves, a squirrel burying a nut, zipping a coat that is too small, carrying a pumpkin that is too big. An actor draws a slip and mimes it with no words while the team guesses against a one-minute timer. Small kids can act in pairs. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: slips of paper, a bowl and a timer.
  • Fall Memory Tray Arrange 12 small fall things on a tray: an acorn, a cinnamon stick, a red leaf, a mini gourd, a pine cone. Give everyone one minute to look, cover the tray with a cloth, and have them write or whisper what they remember. Then take one thing away and ask what is missing. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: a tray, 12 small fall items and a cloth.
  • Fall Nature Scavenger Hunt Hand each pair a list and a paper bag: something red, something crunchy, a seed with wings, a stick shaped like a Y, three different leaves. Take only what has already fallen. Back at base, pairs lay out their finds and defend the odd choices. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 20 min. Props: a printed list and a paper bag for each pair.
  • Fall Trivia Table Quiz Teams of three or four answer ten questions about the season: why leaves change color, which full moon is the harvest moon, what goes into pumpkin pie spice. Swap papers to mark them. Break a tie by guessing the weight of the host's biggest pumpkin. Players: 6 to 40. Time: 20 min. Props: a question list, paper and pens.
  • Fall Would You Rather Run Mark a line down the middle of the room. Read a fall question, such as "Would you rather jump in a leaf pile or ride on a hay wagon?", and point each choice to a side. Players run to their answer, and one person on each side says why. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Going to the Pumpkin Patch The first player says, "I went to the pumpkin patch and I brought boots." The next repeats it and adds one thing, and so on around the circle. A player who forgets gets one clue from the group, then the chain restarts with them. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Harvest Alphabet Go around the circle naming something from fall for each letter in turn: apple, bonfire, corn, all the way to zucchini. A player who is stuck for five seconds gets a hint from the group, not a penalty. Skip Q and X with small kids. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Harvest Categories Pick a letter and give everyone two minutes to write one answer for each of six headings: a tree, a pie, a farm animal, a vegetable, something you rake and something warm to wear. Read the answers aloud. Matching answers cancel out and unique ones score a point. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, pens and a timer.
  • Hayride Story Chain Sit in a circle, on bales if you have them. The host starts: "The hay wagon turned down a road nobody had seen before." Each player adds one sentence. The rule at this party is silly, not scary, and the story ends when the wagon gets back to the barn. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: none.
  • Leaf Rubbing Gallery Slip a leaf under thin paper with its veins facing up, and rub over it with the side of a peeled crayon until the shape appears. Each artist makes three, signs the best and clips it to a string. Guests vote with a sticker. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: leaves, thin paper, peeled crayons, string and clothespins.
  • Paper Plate Scarecrow Everyone holds a paper plate on top of their head and draws on it with a marker as the host calls the steps: a hat, a face, a patched shirt, two stick arms, a crow on the shoulder. Swap plates and score a point for each part that landed roughly in the right place. Players: 3 to 25. Time: 10 min. Props: a paper plate and a marker each.
  • Thankful Tree Stand a few bare branches in a jar. Each guest writes one thing they are glad about this fall on a paper leaf and hangs it up unsigned. Before dessert, take turns reading a leaf aloud while the table guesses who wrote it. Players: 4 to 25. Time: 15 min. Props: bare branches in a jar, paper leaves, string and pens.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors in September 2026 for a fall or harvest party, with a kids' set for ages 4 to 10 and a set for teens and adults. Every description is our own wording of a traditional game or of a format hosts commonly run. The list was screened for a children's page: no carving knives, nothing scary, no alcohol, no costumes (those belong to the Halloween page), and every game that uses food ends with the food being eaten. Player ranges, ages and times are the editors' planning estimates, not measurements. Rules and facts were checked on 2026-09-18 against these Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_bobbing (catch a floating apple with the teeth, no hands; the snap apple variant hangs apples on strings), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conkers (a hole is bored and a string threaded, players take turns striking until one conker breaks, first recorded game with horse chestnuts on the Isle of Wight in 1848), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornhole (one point on the board, three in the hole, cancellation scoring, first to 21, boards 27 or 33 feet apart on a standard court and closer for younger players), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_corn (made since the 1880s, first sold as Chicken Feed), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin_pie_spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and sometimes allspice; no pumpkin), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_moon (the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarding_(animal_behavior) (gray squirrels scatter-hoard and rely on spatial memory), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_race, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-legged_race, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg-and-spoon_race (a dropped egg is put back before the runner moves on), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_(carnival_game) (numbered squares, music, a drawn number wins), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_potato, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_chairs (one seat fewer than players), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_(game), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin_the_tail_on_the_donkey (we use tape, not a pin) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarecrow (a figure in old clothes that keeps birds off a crop). House rules vary, so treat each line as one good way to run the game and not as the official one. Licence: own work