Pin the Wart on the Witch

Using black felt material (available from crafts and art supply stores) cut out a witch’s profile. It doesn’t have to be perfect as most kids won’t mind but don’t forget to make it fairly large and to include the pointy hat and nose!

Hang the cut out up on the wall or on a large peg board. Decorate the witch with plastic spiders and fake spider webs.

Then cut out large shaped warts  from green felt material and either stick a push pin onto the end of each one or some strong tape for younger children.  Colored push pins are nice to use if you have a variety of colors,  each child can pick his or her own color and keep score that way.

Use a plain dark colored piece of cloth as a blind fold and let the children take turns sticking the wart on the witch’s nose.

Pin the Nose on Jack ‘o Lantern

This is a spin-off version of the all-time favorite game among children. Make a huge Jack ‘o Lantern, leaving off his nose. Let kids take turns being blindfolded and pin (or tape) the nose on Jack.

This game is best played outdoors where there are a few bushes or other hiding places.  For this game, you'll need to have some water guns or super soakers.  Divide your party into two groups.  Each group can take turns being the ghost and the hunter.  You can fill the water soaker with water that's been colored with green or red food coloring if you desire, however, have the "ghosts" put on some protective clothes or sheets if you want to use colored water.

Each ghost must find a hiding place before the game starts.  When the hunters are ready to begin,  the ghosts should start popping in and out of their hiding places yelling
"Boo" and avoid being sprayed with water.   As each ghost gets wet, he or she leaves the game until the next hunter's turn. 

The team that catches the most ghosts wins.  To make this even more interesting, blindfold the hunters and get out of the way!

Pick Their Brains

Cook a large pot of different shaped pasta such as spirals or macaroni drain and cool completely. Place cooled pasta in a large plastic bowl and add a few olives. Then add some wrapped candies or treats like mini fun sized chocolate bars.

Cover the bowl with material that you’ve cut into a decorative shape like a pumpkin or monsters head. You can even use a scary cloth mask that will go over the bowl or a decorated plastic bag. You basically need to cover the bowl with something decorative and head shaped that has a slit in the back. The kids should not be able to see the contents of the bowl.

Have the kids gather around in a circle and let them take turns digging into the bowl to find the candies. They won’t be able to see into the bowl and the squiggly texture of the pasta along with the olives will feel like “brains”.

This can get messy, so make sure you protect your floor or table and have lots of paper towels on hand.

Hide prizes and treats amongst the plants and decorations and let the kids go on a graveyard treasure hunt. For older kids you can even have a disguised adult or two hiding around a spooky corner. A strong word of caution, please don’t do this with younger children as it can really traumatize them!

Guess how many seeds – Count out as many purchased pumpkin seeds as you want and place them in a large bowl or jar.  Write the number and the prize on a piece of paper, fold it up and tape it to the inside of the jar or bowl. Each party guest takes turns guessing how many pumpkin seeds there are. Whoever guesses closest to the correct number wins the prize.