Ghost Libs

This participatory ghost story party game is a real howl.

What You Need

Instructions

Ahead of time, brainstorm and write down the framework for a freaky story, leaving blanks for many of the nouns. Then cut out twenty 1- by 3-inch cue cards from poster board. On each, write a noun, anything from tombstones to tennis balls (consider, of course, your kids' reading levels) and put the cards into a hat. Next, gather a bunch of noisemakers, such as whistles, birdcalls, pitch pipes, kazoos and triangles, and place in a basket.
Have the kids sit in a circle. Hand a noisemaker to each child and let him or her reach in and pick two cue cards from the hat.
Instruct the children to make a racket with their instruments every time you say noise and to shout out one of their words each time you point to them. For example, when you say "and then the old woman heard a frightful noise," the kids should blast away.
When you reach an appropriate and suspenseful moment, such as, "The monster reached deep into his backpack and pulled out a huge, ugly..." you should turn to the first child in the circle and let him or her belt out a word.
Continue, a la Mad Libs, improvising your story until you can draw it to a scary, silly, or most likely nonsensical, noisy end.