Get ready for the spooky season by searching community bulletin boards for trunk-or-treat events! These events often happen in school or church parking lots and are a great way to avoid the trek between houses on Halloween! The parking lot provides plenty of room to set up games for children—who can also collect candy as they play! This is a fun and safe alternative to trick-or-treating. If you’re interested in giving it a try with your kids, get reading to discover 53 unique activities for inspiration for your own event!
1. Shoot for Loot
This Robin Hood-inspired Trunk-or-Treat idea will keep kids coming back all night! Not for the candy, but to shoot arrows at the target. Be sure to use a suction cup bow and arrow to avoid injuries. Also works for a Carnival-themed trunk.
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2. Bean Bag Toss
Get your boo bags ready for this fun game idea! You can choose to let kids toss bags into your actual trunk or set up the game next to the cars on display. For every toss they make, kids get extra candy or a big candy bar!
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3. Pumpkin Bowling
See how well pumpkins roll with this fun event idea. Use hay bales to mark out bowling lanes. Then, place bowling pins, cans, or decorated bottles at the end. Grab the roundest pumpkins you can find and host a contest among students to find the best bowler!
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4. Candy Corn Toss
Whether or not you like it, candy corn makes a great gameboard! Place your candy corn board on a table and have kids bounce ping pong balls into the cups to collect points. More points equal bigger candy bars. Bonus points for fun trick shots!
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5. Ring Toss
For this fun game, you can substitute witches’ hats for candy corn if you prefer. Parents can join in the fun to pass the time while the kids are going trunk to trunk collecting candy!
Learn More: Pinterest
6. Pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe
Pass the time until the costume contest with a classic game of tic-tac-toe! Set up a small board on a table or in your trunk and substitute pumpkins for candy buttons. Or make a giant board and use huge pumpkins for tons of Halloween-themed fun!
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7. Pumpkin Sweep
Work off those sugar highs with a fun game of pumpkin sweep! This relay race requires teams equipped with stiff brooms. The goal is to sweep the pumpkin down the field, around a cone, and back to the next player before the other team.
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8. Walk The Plank
This fun trunk theme has kids cross shark-infested waters to claim their booty! Place treasure chests filled with goodies in your trunk. Then lay out your water and planks for kids to conquer. Use ramps and extra-wide planks for a handicap-accessible option.
Learn More: Pinterest
9. Candyland
A Candy-Land-themed scene is perfect for a holiday all about candy! Decorate your car with characters from the game and set out squares for kids to follow. You can have them roll a giant die to advance spaces until they reach your trunk!
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10. S’more The Merrier
If it’s a bit chilly (and you can safely light a fire), why not have the option to make tasty s’mores? If the fire is out of the question, create s’more kits for kids to make at home. You’re sure to have the most festive trunk of the night!
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11. Space Race
Three, two, one…. blast off! Reach for the stars with an out-of-this-world trunk design. The perfect compliment to alien-themed costumes, you can add battery-operated LED lights to bring the stars down to Earth and illuminate your rocket ship.
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12. Hungry Hungry Hippos
Ensure you have the funniest trunk this year with a Hungry Hungry Hippo theme! Fill your trunk with balloons or ball pit balls. Then, have kids shuffle through the balls to find the candy of their choice!
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13. Pumpkin Golf
Bring the putting range with you to create an active trunk theme! Carefully carve a variety of faces into pumpkins. Be sure to have wide-open mouths and clean out all the pumpkin guts. You could also use plastic pumpkins for an easier setup.
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14. Twister Treat
Put a twist on the Twister game. Attach plastic pockets to each Twister circle and fill them with different kinds of candy. When kids arrive at your trunk, have them spin the spinner to discover their tasty treat! Make sure to have allergy-friendly substitutes on hand.
Learn More: Pinterest
15. Pop A Pumpkin
This interactive treat game is perfect for social distancing! Wrap some tissue paper over a cup filled with a treat or toy and use a rubber band to secure it. Kids punch the cup to retrieve their prize. Replace the paper for the next round.
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16. Where’s Waldo
Turn a kids’ classic into your trunk theme! Fill your trunk with stuffed animals, dolls, and other toys. Hide a Waldo and see how quickly your trunk-o’-treaters can find him! Dress in striped socks and a shirt to match the theme.
17. Hocus Pocus
Everyone’s favorite Halloween movie makes an awesome trunk theme! You can choose to turn your trunk into a bubbling cauldron or the interior of the Sanderson sisters’ house. Break-out microphones for sing-a-longs and dance parties.
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18. Monster Boogers
See who’s brave enough to dig around Frankenstein’s nose! This entertaining trunk theme will have kids shrieking and giggling all night long. Add some homemade slime for extra-gross sensory play. Keep your candy in plastic bags to avoid cross-slime contamination.
Learn More: Pinterest
19. Mummy Races
A classic Halloween game is perfect for any Trunk-or-Treat night! Grab rolls of toilet paper, paper towels, or streamers and form teams. The first group to fully wrap their mummy wins! Give out extra points for the most decorative, creative, or worst-wrapped mummy.
Learn More: Delia Creates
20. Cookie Monster Cookie Toss
Make your Halloween monster friendly for the littlest of trunk-o’-treaters! A Cookie Monster-themed Trunk-or-Treat display is adorable and easy to make. Set up a bean bag throw with cookie-shaped bags, and hand out individual packs of cookies to the kids who stop by.
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21. Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin
Welcome the Great Pumpkin with this adorable trunk display. Use a variety of pumpkins to set up a pumpkin patch in your trunk. Be sure to decorate your ghosts to look like Charlie Brown and the gang. Hide a Snoopy in the pumpkin patch for kids to find!
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22. I Spy
I spy with my little eye…..a trunk full of awesome things! Use a small table or two to build tiers inside your trunk. Fill the tiers with toys, pumpkins, and ghouls. You can choose to hide the candy in the scene or have kids find an object to get their prize.
Learn More: Pinterest
23. Ice Cream Trunks
If your Halloweens are on the warm side, create your very own ice cream shop trunk and pass out a refreshing treat for kids and adults! You can choose between pre-packaged treats or a DIY ice cream sundae bar.
Learn More: Pinterest
24. Frozen Trunk
Bring the kingdom of Arendelle to your parking lot with a Frozen-themed trunk! Decorate with some fake snow, glittery streamers, and lots of snowflakes. Don’t forget to bring Olaf and Sven!
Learn More: The Learning Experience
25. Ghost Town Trunks
Who doesn’t love a ghost town? A cardboard jail and graveyard make great backgrounds for photoshoots! Hay bales and a boneyard add to the Western theme. Place the candy loot next to a skeleton bandit or two.
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26. Skeleton Toss
Why not educate participants while they trunk-or-treat? With this Day of the Dead-themed trunk-or-treat, your kiddos can take turns tossing rings onto skeleton hands while also learning the meaning behind the Day of the Dead! We bet that everyone will be drawn to the beautiful colors of the sugar skulls and will be more inclined to want to listen to the history behind the Day of the Dead.
Learn More: Craft and Sparkle
27. Game Show Trunk or Treat
Why not turn your trunk into a base for a game show? Visitors can take turns spinning the wheel and guessing letters to figure out a mystery word. To make it extra fun, include Halloween-themed words for everyone to guess! Include special prizes for winners—such as big candy bars and toys.
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28. Concession Snack Stand
Turn your trunk into a sweet concession stand for children to come and visit. Be sure to include jars with different amounts of candy and treats inside. Then, have visitors guess how many pieces are in each jar. The winner can get a bigger prize, such as a large candy bar—or even the whole jar of treats!
Learn More: Michelle’s Party Plan It
29. McDonald’s Drive Thru
Kids participating in the trunk-or-treat festivities will be sure to recognize the McDonald’s logo. Have trunk-or-treaters go through your “drive-thru” to pick up their order (their candy).
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30. I Scream You Scream
For this cool idea, dress up a few skeletons or spooky characters to work as your ice cream servers. Use your imagination to bring your trunk to life as there are so many different variations you can do on this trunk or treat to help engage those passing by! One such idea is to allow participants to “order” their ice cream toppings (candy); another is to play a game like “who can complete the short obstacle course while holding onto an ice cream cone.”
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31. Fish for Treats
Turn your trunk into an under-the-sea wonderland. As kids come by, have them take turns “fishing” for their treats. To make it extra fun, include a few “trick” catches as well! Use balloons to fill the space between the treats and enlist the help of a friend who can make sure the treats are getting on the hooks.
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32. Mad Scientist
Picture this: kids are walking around exploring different trunks at the trunk-or-treat activity. Suddenly, they stop at your car—and see all of your creepy ingredients stored inside a mad scientist trunk! To make the experience extra eerie, include a large cauldron and dry ice and invite passers-by to reach into your “experiment” to gather their treats.
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33. Witch’s Bakery Trunk-or-Treat
Looking for a way to get trunk-or-treaters more excited about visiting your trunk? Try turning your trunk into a witch’s bakery! Include silly, Halloween-themed titles for treats. You can even allow kids to create their own witch “potion” by mixing their treats together or decorating yummy baked goods.
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34. Batty For Books
Never miss an opportunity to encourage more reading! Turn your trunk into a sweet library of popular books or even books about Halloween. Then, set up bean bags or camping chairs around your trunk so that visitors can come by and pick up a book to read. Instead of handing out candy, you could even consider handing out books or bookmarks!
Learn More: Miss Tiff Reads
35. Spider Web of Treats
Kids will surely get “stuck” at your trunk during trunk-or-treating with this fun idea. Create a spooky and sticky spider web out of duct tape. When everyone comes up to the web, invite them to pull off a treat to keep! You could even consider adding smaller webs around your trunk (either in boxes or on chairs).
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36. Quidditch Trunk
No matter where you go, you’re sure to stumble upon some Harry Potter fans—especially kids during Halloween! For this trunk-or-treat game, set up different quidditch goals. Then, challenge the kids to throw balls—or even candy—through the goals to score. You could also switch this game up and throw candy through the goals for the participants to catch.
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37. Alice in Wonderland
Invite trunk-or-treaters to join your crazy tea party. Be sure to set out tables and chairs so that everyone who is keen can join the party. While you’re in character, give trunk-or-treaters silly riddles to solve. What a zany way to give the kids a little glimpse of what life in Wonderland is really like!
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38. Score Your Treat
For this trunk-or-treat game, all you’ll need are hockey sticks, tennis balls, a goal, and cardboard to make a ramp. First, assemble your net in your trunk. Then, using chalk or tape, mark different places on the ground for participants to stand in and shoot at the net. You can give different treats depending on where the players make their goals from.
Learn More: Laurie’s Little Monkeys
39. Super Mario
Turn a classic carnival game into a classic trunk-or-treat activity. Set up your station by stacking Goomba cups on top of each other. Then, when kids come to your trunk, hand out small bean bags or balls and challenge them to knock down as many cups as they can! You can reward the kids with gold coins to trade in for treats, or simply give them their treats as rewards for knocking the cups down.
Learn More: Laurie’s Little Monkeys
40. Clue Crime Scene
This creative idea will get trunk-or-treaters really thinking! Start by coming up with a fake crime or riddle for kids to solve. Then, decorate your trunk so that it resembles a crime scene. Be sure to include noticeable clues that everyone can use to help them determine what happened in the crime. Simplify things by including different components of the game Clue, such as who did it, where they did it, why they did it, and what they used to complete the crime.
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41. Feed the Trunk
While this game may seem simple, it’ll be extremely popular during your trunk-or-treat evening. All you have to do is create a head- either cut out of posterboard or made with a container. Next, decorate your head so that it resembles a skeleton, Frankenstein, or a witch; depending on your theme. When trunk-or-treaters come past, give them spooky “food” such as toy spiders or toy eyeballs to toss into the character’s mouth.
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42. Masters Golf Game
Set up a one-hole golf game for trunk-or-treaters! Using a small strip of green, challenge participants to try to get a hole-in-one—you can even offer a grand prize to the first person to succeed. Golf fans will be so excited to put their hobby into practice off the green!
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43. Dunkin Donuts
Challenge your trunk or treaters to dunk for their treats at your Dunkin Donut-themed trunk. Just set up a small hoop and add some donut decorations. You can have different prizes for different distances that the ball is scored from, how many baskets a kid scores, or how fast they can score a goal.
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44. Fortune Teller
Turn your trunk into a mystical fortune-telling hub. Set up a table right by your trunk and invite trunk-or-treaters to come up and have their palms “read”. Take turns telling different fortunes—and be sure to include a treat for them to take on their way! They’ll love hearing their magic fortunes.
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45. Magic Hat
Continuing with the magical theme from the idea above, why not turn your car into a giant hat? Have one person dress up as a rabbit, and another dress up as a magician. When trunk-or-treaters come by, surprise them by pulling the giant “bunny” out of the hat! You can also include a small table to show the kids a few other simple magic tricks—such as making their treats appear!
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46. Bob for Apples
Bobbing for apples is a classic Halloween game. Continue the tradition by decorating your trunk to look like an apple orchard! As trunk-or-treaters arrive, invite them to try and get their own apple by bobbing for it in a big tub. If you’re concerned about germs, another variation of this activity is donut “bobbing” where donuts are tied to strings and kids have to try to eat them without using their hands!
Learn More: Hanscom
47. Bucket Toss
Another classic game you can include at your trunk for a trunk-or-treat is the ping pong bucket toss. Setup is easy—simply arrange a few buckets and give participants ping pong balls or bean bags to toss in! If you’re feeling extra crafty, replace the buckets with carved pumpkins and have the participants take turns trying to land their bean bags in the pumpkins to rack up as many points as possible. You can even include pretend candles in your carved pumpkins so that when it starts to get dark, your kiddos can still play.
Learn More: Pinterest
48. Pop the Balloons
Depending on the age of participants at your trunk-or-treat celebration, popping balloons with darts is a fun and classic game that most kids love! For something a little different, try arranging the balloons into a Halloween-themed pattern—either making a ghost, witch, bat, or another spooky creature. Then, have kids take turns throwing darts to pop the most balloons they can. Give treats out to reward the kids for how many balloons they manage to pop.
Learn More: Pinterest
49. Halloween Bingo Table
Who doesn’t love a game of bingo—especially one that’s got a spooky theme! Create a bingo card with different Halloween pictures, such as a spooky skeleton, a scary witch, or a cute jack-o-lantern. As kids arrive, give them small candies to mark off their bingo spaces! At the end of the game, they can keep the candy they used to mark their squares during play.
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50. Ghost Town Trunks
In this twist on a classic carnival game, trunk-or-treaters can take aim at stacked cups using soft-dart guns. Set a timer and challenge participants to knock down as many as they can—offering prizes depending on how many they were able to knock down or how fast they managed to complete the task.
Learn More: A Heart Full of Joy
51. Act It Out
Trunk-or-treaters will already be dressed up in costumes, so why not challenge them to play a special Halloween role? Fill up a cauldron or Halloween bag with different Halloween character action cards—such as “hiss like a snake” or “act like a clown”. Be sure to also include some cards that say “treat” so that every time a kid pulls out a “treat” card, they can pick out a special treat!
Learn More: So Festive
52. Wonka Factory
Who will find the golden ticket? Find out by setting up a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-themed trunk-or-treat! Decorate using large and colorful candies positioned around your car. Then, hide a special golden ticket for kids to find when they visit your trunk. Whoever finds the golden ticket can turn it in for an extra prize! You can also hide multiple golden tickets throughout the trunk-or-treat area for kids to find.
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53. Sweet as Honey Bee Trunk
Kids are bound to bee interested in your adorable and informative bee-themed trunk. With this trunk, you have so many different avenues to explore: either handing out seeds to grow flowers to help the bees, reading short books about bees to kids, or teaching your kiddos about the sweet treat that we get from bees—honey! Reinforce your theme by handing out honey-flavored candy.
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