Oftentimes a lot of effort goes into coming up with an idea and creating a Halloween costume. If you save it’s use exclusively for trick or treating on Halloween night you might be disappointed. Halloween nights are dark and cold and our kids are often forced to bundle up in coats on top of their costumes. All that thought and effort and they are trick or treating in a coat! That’s just how it is sometimes. Maybe there is a better way to show off that costume.

Consider having a really great Halloween party for your child and his good friends. This will give your child and all his buddies a great chance to really go all out with their costume choice as well as have an opportunity to really show it off to their friends. Of course this isn’t the only reason to celebrate Halloween with a party. Food, games and fun complete the event and make it very memorable and special. It’s also a safe way to celebrate that will be enjoyed by all.

I’ve compiled a list of tips for you so that your child’s Halloween party can be as successful and fun as possible!

Send invitations. You have to be a little bit careful about when you have your party when it comes to Halloween. There are many kids out there who will not want to substitute trick or treating for any party, so if you plan your party during prime trick or treating time (Halloween night) you make lose some of your attendee’s. Sometimes it’s better to plan your party for the weekend prior to Halloween or perhaps even in the late afternoon the day of Halloween as a prelude to trick or treating so that there is still time to go house to house for candy afterward.

Once you have the perfect time in mind for you party, it’s time to compose your guest list. Obviously a lot of factors go into deciding how many kids to invite. Consider first of all the age of the kids. If you are inviting very young children, you may want to keep your party to a small group. The other factor you want to consider is what type of activities you are planning and how many kids will fit in to your game plan. Obviously you will want to think about the amount of space you have available for kids, as well as costumes along with all of their props. You will want to plenty of room for any games that you will be playing during the party.

Keep your invitations simple, but do something appropriate for Halloween. You can obtain Halloween-themed paper that is simple to put in your computer printer for an easy invitation. If your kids are old enough, you may want to enlist their services and have them make and address the invitations themselves. In any case, make this one more fun Halloween activity that will build their excitement and enthusiasm! Make sure your invites include all the basic information needed for the party. Date, time, and location of the party should be included. Make sure you include the fact that this is a costume party and the kids should come dressed up. Don’t forget this information-especially if your party isn’t on Halloween. If a child inadvertently didn’t dress up they would feel very excluded and you don’t want that to happen. Mention in the invitation that there will be prizes awarded for various costumes. This will get the kids motivated to put some extra effort into the experience.

Decorate! Simple decorations are often the best. A bag of fake “cobweb” can go very far to create a scary ambience. Add small plastic spiders, of course. Obvious other decorations would include lit Jack-o-lanterns and spooky lighting. You can swap out some of your normal light bulbs for colored bulbs for a creepy effect. Put Halloween themed tablecloths on the tables where your kids will eating/playing games. Simple crepe paper streamers in black, orange and a little purple will make your party look more festive. These same streamers can be used to enhance your table settings as well and cost very little money. Your decorations do not have to be expensive or elaborate to be really fun and create a great Halloween atmosphere.

Have simple but great Halloween food. This is going to take a little bit of organization, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. One of my favorite ideas for Halloween kid food is to have “make-it-yourself” Jack-O-Lantern style pizza. Kids love pizza, and if you have appropriate toppings (Cut-up pepperoni, olives, green pepper’s, mushrooms, etc.) they can easily be assembled by the children as one of the party activities. Use ready-made pre baked pizza crusts, or you can even use English muffins to make smaller pizzas. Even fairly young children can do this with adult assistance. Of course you or another adult will want to be in charge of all cooking and making sure that the pizzas cool a bit before eating.

Another favorite Halloween party treat is the “Cup of Dirt.” These can also be made by the kids if you don’t mind a little mess, as they are easy to assemble and kids love to do this. You will need to have a bowl of pre-made chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo sandwich cookies and gummy worms. Have each child spoon pudding into a clear plastic cup, about 2/3 full. Add the crushed Oreo cookies on top. Garnish the pudding cup with gummy worms. These can be refrigerated for later, or the kids can just go ahead and eat them. It’s that simple! This is Halloween treat is both yummy as well as fun.

Of course there are many more ideas for Halloween food that you can find. Talk to your kids and see what they come up with and be resourceful. Whatever you do keep it kid-friendly and simple-when it comes to food, sometimes less is more.

Play Fun Halloween Games. The most important game of the evening is going to center around the Halloween costumes and having the opportunity for the kids to show them off and win prizes. Have a costume parade if you like. Award prizes for many different categories, but I recommend having each child get a prize. You can invent new categories as you see what costumes have arrived in order to make this happen, but it’s a nice touch for each kid to be rewarded for their costume efforts. Prizes can be simple, but make them Halloween-themed. A novelty store is a perfect place to go for these items.

Another games that is both traditional and fun is bobbing for apples, which involves trying to retrieve an apple out of a large bucket of water using your mouth only. Have a few towels handy to dry off wet faces! Another Halloween game that is hilarious for kids is the Mummy wrap game. Divide the kids up into partnerships or small groups. Each group will need to select which child will be the mummy. Using toilet paper and having a set time interval, each group will wrap the designated child into a toilet paper mummy. Give prizes at the end for the most creative mummy, etc. Make it fun and be sure to take pictures of this event afterward, the kids will love this!

As you can see, having a kids Halloween party needed be daunting or difficult. With a little planning and forethought you will not only be successful with your party but your kids will be thrilled that you did this for them as well. Halloween can and should be a very fun and memorable time for children as well as adults. Having a party is just one more way to ensure that the fun happens and also makes memories you will have for a lifetime! Xo J.

We recommend using the web to find a large selection of Halloween costumes for kids. There are a lot of options.

There are a variety of exciting Halloween costumes and accessories for kids. With such costumes it is possible for you to make kids look good in a Halloween party without spending much money. The kid’s Halloween costumes are designed in such a manner to make kids look best, confident and attractive. Halloween costumes for kids can be quick and easy costumes, fun-filled costumes, scary costumes, mimic costumes, etc. Some of the ready-made Children’s Halloween Costumes are Girl Halloween Costumes, Boy Halloween Costumes, Infant & Toddler Costumes, Baby Bunting, Child Halloween Capes, Child Ghostbusters, Child Freddy and Jason, Child Scooby-Doo Deluxe Disguise, Child Mona The Vampire, Child Addams Family, Child Hellboy, etc.

Many kids prefer to dress as a clown when the Halloween season rolls around. Colorful sweat pants or other baggy clothing will always work. When it comes to the hair, you may have a wig that you can use, adorning it with sparkly tinsel or even random colorful bits. A little bit of clown makeup can go a long way. Decide on an expression that you want and then proceed. Add some goofy shoes and some other great accessories and you will have a great clown costume on a budget. Never be afraid to try something silly with your clown costume. You may just find that the silliest items will work the best.

The idea of some Halloween costumes can seem not only exciting but sometimes pretty scary for little kids. So adults must help make these parties more enjoyable and let the kids cherish. Visit Costume Company websites to select and purchase your desired Halloween kids costume. In fact, certain websites provide clear ideas for making these costumes yourself. Creativity is always a hit at Halloween costume parties. You can design your own Halloween children costumes. You can create unique Halloween children costumes using your imagination and a few unique props you can put together.

Some of the tips to remain cool and stress-free before attending a Halloween costume are as follows: Try to plan a Halloween costume for your child and yourself well before the Halloween day. Gather all the information about the costume planned for the party. Estimate an expected budget. Make your reservation and preparations prior to the party day.

Halloween is probably the most looked forward and exciting time of year for children. Halloween parties are always cherishing and exciting with the fun-filled great Halloween costumes and candies. It will be a fun activity and help show your pleasure and creativity of unusual costumes. These parties can be the most enjoyable party under adult supervision. Consider these ideas and create memorable Halloween holidays and Halloween parties for your children to cherish.

Steve Berman is an expert author, who is presently working on the site Halloween Costumes. He has written many articles in various topics. For more information about Michael Jackson Halloween costumes. Contact him at steveberman24@gmail.com

If you want to have a really fun party for kids around Halloween, you may want to consider having Halloween crafts parties for kids. These types of parties are great ways to keep kids busy and let them go home with some treasures that they can use to decorate their homes for the Halloween season. Halloween crafts parties for kids are easy to plan, and whether you have five kids or fifteen kids, you will find that the kids will stay busy and interested throughout the whole party.

At Halloween crafts parties for kids, basically, you gather the children together and they make various crafts that celebrate the holiday of Halloween. You are, of course, expected to supply the craft supplies, and it is a good idea for you to have examples of the crafts that the children will be making so they have a point of reference to copy. You will be responsible for showing them how to make the crafts, but we think you will find that their attention span will be very focused as you direct them along the way.

Get some great craft ideas from the Internet as you are planning your Halloween crafts parties for kids. There are many, many great websites dedicated to kids crafts. They provide step by step instructions and even pictures of the finished product so that you can have a reference point when you are making your own craft for a guideline. One of our favorite websites for kid’s crafts is www.enchantedlearning.com. This site is chock full of craft ideas for all seasons and Halloween is definitely one of them. Their crafts are easy and able to be put together by children of all ages.

Have a lot of different crafts ready so that you have plenty for the kids to do to fill the time frame of the party. There is nothing worse than having a party that last from, say 2 to 4, and you run out of crafts at 2:30. Halloween crafts parties for kids should have a variety of crafts available for the children to complete. You may want to present them with a variety of different crafts and then let them choose which ones they want to make. That way, you keep their interest throughout the party and they can create what interests them the most.

A wonderful way to end up your Halloween crafts parties for kids is to let them create an edible craft. After all, what’s a party without refreshments? Just use some imagination and some creativity and make some great Halloween crafts parties for kids and then have a whole lot of fun!

Oftentimes a lot of effort goes into coming up with an idea and creating a Halloween costume. If you save it’s use exclusively for trick or treating on Halloween night you might be disappointed. Halloween nights are dark and cold and our kids are often forced to bundle up in coats on top of their costumes. All that thought and effort and they are trick or treating in a coat! That’s just how it is sometimes. Maybe there is a better way to show off that costume.

Consider having a really great Halloween party for your child and his good friends. This will give your child and all his buddies a great chance to really go all out with their costume choice as well as have an opportunity to really show it off to their friends. Of course this isn’t the only reason to celebrate Halloween with a party. Food, games and fun complete the event and make it very memorable and special. It’s also a safe way to celebrate that will be enjoyed by all.

I’ve compiled a list of tips for you so that your child’s Halloween party can be as successful and fun as possible!

Send invitations. You have to be a little bit careful about when you have your party when it comes to Halloween. There are many kids out there who will not want to substitute trick or treating for any party, so if you plan your party during prime trick or treating time (Halloween night) you make lose some of your attendee’s. Sometimes it’s better to plan your party for the weekend prior to Halloween or perhaps even in the late afternoon the day of Halloween as a prelude to trick or treating so that there is still time to go house to house for candy afterward.

Once you have the perfect time in mind for you party, it’s time to compose your guest list. Obviously a lot of factors go into deciding how many kids to invite. Consider first of all the age of the kids. If you are inviting very young children, you may want to keep your party to a small group. The other factor you want to consider is what type of activities you are planning and how many kids will fit in to your game plan. Obviously you will want to think about the amount of space you have available for kids, as well as costumes along with all of their props. You will want to plenty of room for any games that you will be playing during the party.

Keep your invitations simple, but do something appropriate for Halloween. You can obtain Halloween-themed paper that is simple to put in your computer printer for an easy invitation. If your kids are old enough, you may want to enlist their services and have them make and address the invitations themselves. In any case, make this one more fun Halloween activity that will build their excitement and enthusiasm! Make sure your invites include all the basic information needed for the party. Date, time, and location of the party should be included. Make sure you include the fact that this is a costume party and the kids should come dressed up. Don’t forget this information-especially if your party isn’t on Halloween. If a child inadvertently didn’t dress up they would feel very excluded and you don’t want that to happen. Mention in the invitation that there will be prizes awarded for various costumes. This will get the kids motivated to put some extra effort into the experience.

Decorate! Simple decorations are often the best. A bag of fake “cobweb” can go very far to create a scary ambience. Add small plastic spiders, of course. Obvious other decorations would include lit Jack-o-lanterns and spooky lighting. You can swap out some of your normal light bulbs for colored bulbs for a creepy effect. Put Halloween themed tablecloths on the tables where your kids will eating/playing games. Simple crepe paper streamers in black, orange and a little purple will make your party look more festive. These same streamers can be used to enhance your table settings as well and cost very little money. Your decorations do not have to be expensive or elaborate to be really fun and create a great Halloween atmosphere.

Have simple but great Halloween food. This is going to take a little bit of organization, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. One of my favorite ideas for Halloween kid food is to have “make-it-yourself” Jack-O-Lantern style pizza. Kids love pizza, and if you have appropriate toppings (Cut-up pepperoni, olives, green pepper’s, mushrooms, etc.) they can easily be assembled by the children as one of the party activities. Use ready-made pre baked pizza crusts, or you can even use English muffins to make smaller pizzas. Even fairly young children can do this with adult assistance. Of course you or another adult will want to be in charge of all cooking and making sure that the pizzas cool a bit before eating.

Another favorite Halloween party treat is the “Cup of Dirt.” These can also be made by the kids if you don’t mind a little mess, as they are easy to assemble and kids love to do this. You will need to have a bowl of pre-made chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo sandwich cookies and gummy worms. Have each child spoon pudding into a clear plastic cup, about 2/3 full. Add the crushed Oreo cookies on top. Garnish the pudding cup with gummy worms. These can be refrigerated for later, or the kids can just go ahead and eat them. It’s that simple! This is Halloween treat is both yummy as well as fun.

Of course there are many more ideas for Halloween food that you can find. Talk to your kids and see what they come up with and be resourceful. Whatever you do keep it kid-friendly and simple-when it comes to food, sometimes less is more.

Play Fun Halloween Games. The most important game of the evening is going to center around the Halloween costumes and having the opportunity for the kids to show them off and win prizes. Have a costume parade if you like. Award prizes for many different categories, but I recommend having each child get a prize. You can invent new categories as you see what costumes have arrived in order to make this happen, but it’s a nice touch for each kid to be rewarded for their costume efforts. Prizes can be simple, but make them Halloween-themed. A novelty store is a perfect place to go for these items.

Another games that is both traditional and fun is bobbing for apples, which involves trying to retrieve an apple out of a large bucket of water using your mouth only. Have a few towels handy to dry off wet faces! Another Halloween game that is hilarious for kids is the Mummy wrap game. Divide the kids up into partnerships or small groups. Each group will need to select which child will be the mummy. Using toilet paper and having a set time interval, each group will wrap the designated child into a toilet paper mummy. Give prizes at the end for the most creative mummy, etc. Make it fun and be sure to take pictures of this event afterward, the kids will love this!

As you can see, having a kids Halloween party needed be daunting or difficult. With a little planning and forethought you will not only be successful with your party but your kids will be thrilled that you did this for them as well. Halloween can and should be a very fun and memorable time for children as well as adults. Having a party is just one more way to ensure that the fun happens and also makes memories you will have for a lifetime! Xo J.

We recommend using the web to find a large selection of Halloween costumes for kids. There are a lot of options.

(ARA) – What better way to celebrate the night of fright than to throw a Halloween party? Whether you’re expecting mini-goblins and ghosts or thinking of hosting adult Elvira’s and Frankenstein’s, decorations, frightful food and ghoulish activities will set the right tone for a Spook-Fest fit for even the most menacing vampires.

The first step in planning your Halloween bash is to determine the theme. The theme will set the mood, determine the dress attire and influence the food you serve. Planning a movie-themed party is the most versatile and gives your guests the flexibility to dress as their favorite fright flick character. You can even incorporate your movie theme into your decorating. Borrow your friends’ DVD players and have different Halloween movies playing from the timeless Hollywood horror classics of Alfred Hitchcock to the more modern scares like Scream. James Rocchi, film critic of online DVD rental service Netflix (http://www.netflix.com), suggests his five favorites to show.

* Frankenstein (1931) — the Karloff classic

* Halloween (1978) — retro-flavored slasher that launched a thousand imitators

* Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) — a popular horror film classic

* Them! (1954) — a giant insect monster movie with ‘50s camp and timeless scares

* Rosemary’s Baby (1968) — the urban-Satanism nightmare that still chills

For additional decorations, head to your local party store and pick up all your Halloween supplies including cobwebs, jack-o-lanterns, and skeletons and serving supplies like plates, napkins and cups. While you’re at the store, pick-up a couple of CDs that you can play while you greet your guests the night of your party. Opt to skip the lights and illuminate your house with slow burning or long lasting candles.

When planning your party menu, consider the costumes your guests might be wearing and what will be easy for the dressed-up to eat and whether you want to prepare the food, have your party catered or have your guests each bring a dish. You can feature frightful hors d’ oeuvres such as “deviled eyeballs” — deviled eggs topped with a slice of black or green olive and a main course of “guts and eyeballs” (your own famous spaghetti and meatballs). For dessert, serve orange and black themed cakes, cookies, and other sweets.

If you’ve invited the neighbors, top the night off with an outside werewolf howling or screaming contest. Award the winners with a gift subscription to Netflix so they can host next year’s Halloween party.

For the Kids

If you are hosting a party for kids or kids will be invited to the adult party, you may want to serve food that they will find fun and provide activities that are age appropriate. Since kids love to dress up, host a costume contest. Have plenty of prizes on hand so every child wins in a different costume category. If your party is on Halloween night, take the kids out to trick-or-treat before the adults settle in for their own party.

Kids love gross Halloween treats. You can turn chicken strips into witch’s fingers by adding dagger-like fingernails made of pimientos and for dessert, serve up mud cups: chocolate pudding topped with crushed Oreo cookies and gummy worms.

Provide additional entertainment with Halloween movies. For the kids, Rocchi recommends “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown;” “SpongeBob SquarePants: Halloween;” and “The Worst Witch: A Mean Halloween.” Netflix makes getting movies for your party simple. Forgo a last minute dash to the video store, only to find your Halloween favorites already rented. With more than 15,000 titles to choose from, you’re sure to find just the right ones to set the Halloween mood.

Courtesy of ARA Content

SIDEBAR:

Looking for more inspiration? Here are some other suggestions from film critic James Rocchi.

Top renting horror movies (of a supernatural bent)

The Others

The Ring

Ghost Ship

The Sixth Sense: Special Edition

What Lies Beneath: Special Edition

The Mummy Returns

Final Destination

Sleepy Hollow

13 Ghosts

The Exorcist, both the original and restored version

About the author:
Courtesy of ARA Content

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All you need for this fun game is a ball of black, white, or silver yarn or string and a few kids. Have everyone stand around in a circle. Ask one child to hold one end of the string and then toss the ball to another kid. Each child holds on the string and then tosses it to someone else. Before you know it you’ll have a great spider web.

Mummy Contest

Image via Wikipedia

Grab a few rolls of toilet paper and match the kids up in pairs. Of course you could also have them choose partners. Ask each pair to decide which one of them will be the mummy and who will do the wrapping. Then – you guessed it – have one of the children wrap the toilet paper around the other, creating a mummy.

You can either make it a contest of speed or one of creativity. For the first, the team that has a completely wrapped mummy first wins. For the second contest, the kids take as long as they need to and you get to play judge and pick the best looking mummy.

Eyeball Race

Start with a plain ping-pong ball for each child. Use a Sharpie marker and draw on it to turn it into an eyeball. You can simple draw the pupil, or for a scarier version, add some red wiggly lines to make the eyeball look bloodshot.

Give each child a spoon and drop one of the eyeballs in each spoon. Now it’s time to race. The child that reaches the finish line with the eyeball in the spoon first wins.

There you have it – three fun games you can play with your kids to pass the day until it is time to go trick-or-treating. These games are also a lot of fun at a Halloween party. Get your kids playing them and watch all the spooky fun.

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Traditionally, one would cut out two holes in a white sheet, for the eyes, color the outer circle of the eyes black, and just wear it as is. However, this Casper the Friendly Ghost type costume would be a bit of a problem if the sheet fell off and the child couldn’t see where he or she was going. So, here is a suggestion.

Take a white sheet and cut a large enough hole so it can fit over the child’s head. Ensure that the bottom of the sheet is short enough so the child doesn’t trip over it. Since October is a cool month, wearing white pants and a white turtleneck top would be recommended. Oh, don’t forget white shoes or sneakers. Now that the costume itself is ready to go, here comes the fun part.

Use a non-chemical white powder makeup to paint the face. Use black make up and make a complete circle carefully around the eyes. The hair is next. There are two ways you can go with this. You can either purchase a white wig, or you can spray the hair with white spray. Voila! This ghost is a winner!

The second ghost costume can be made directly from the movie “A Christmas Carol.”
How about dressing up as Marley? Using the same items as the first costume, the only difference is you will need a ball and chain to wrap around the costume.

You make a chain one using different colored pieces of construction paper. Cut the paper into strips, then take each strip and staple the ends together. Take another strip and put one end through the first and staple. If you decided to make the ball to go with the chain, you can take lots of newspaper and scru

nch it up into a ball and spray paint it black. You can attach it to the chain with a piece of wire.

One more thing, instead of making the child’s hair completely white, you can use a shower cap with holes it in, and spray it white. This way, it will look a bit more authentic. Remember, Marley’s hair wasn’t all white. Also, Marley wasn’t too well kept, so you can make some holes in the white sheet and add a little black spray on the bottom as well.

Of course, there are loads of other ideas for homemade Halloween costumes, so allow your imagination to be your guide

Nature Scavenger Hunt

If you live in a rural area or have a park near by, you could have a nature scavenger hunt. Make a list of things readily available that are safe for the children to collect, such as a maple leaf (maybe of specific color), pine cones, different color rocks, acorns, etc. Give each child or team a list and a paper bag to collect their treasures. You could even hide some things in the area they will be searching such as mini pumpkins or pre-wrapped treats.

Decorations Scavenger Hunt

This will take a bit more planning; yet can be a lot of fun. Go around your neighborhood looking for interesting and unique decorations. Make note of the address, name of the family or possibly stores. Then give a list describing the decorations and the children have to find the location where the decorations reside and write it down. If they aren’t old enough to write, be sure your teams are split with older children or adults.

Costume Scavenger Hunt

Sometimes businesses, malls or plazas have a Trick or Treat time earlier in the day and have their employees dress in costumes. List several different costumes they might find and see who can find the most costumes on the list. They could have the person sign their paper when they find the different costumes.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

If you have enough adults with either Polaroid or digital cameras, you can have a photo scavenger hunt. This is a good alternative to having the children gather things, especially if you live in an urban area where there may not be many things the kids can collect legally. Once all the teams are back to the starting point, they can compare pictures to determine the winner. This also allows for people to find the same thing and have a more specific list of items. This can be done for more than one age group, by having more obvious clues for the younger children and more difficult ones for the older kids.

If the weather isn’t nice, you can have an indoor scavenger hunt and hide things around the house. Some rules will need to be given such as if a door is closed, that room doesn’t have any of the items in it. Give clues for the items they are looking for and a bag for collecting. Candy, apples, mini pumpkins, small toys and Halloween themed items are great for indoor scavenger hunts and lots of fun for the kids. There are of course heaps of Halloween party ideas, I hope you liked this one.

I can also recommend Halloween Child Treasure Hunt Game, which is an ebook available through Clickbank, (which means you could be reading and planning your treasure hunt within the next five minutes) and has lot of tips and ideas to design an exciting treasure hunt for your next Halloween party and create an unforgettable experience

Apple bob

Fill a large tub with water and apples. Let kids take turns bobbing for apples.

Costume contest

Once all your guests arrive at the party, take a vote on the best and scariest costumes. Add as many categories to your list as you want and hand out a grand prize to the best costume.

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.

Pumpkin painting contest

Hold a pumpkin painting contest. See who can paint the funniest or silliest face into a pumpkin.

Make a mask

Give younger kids at your Halloween party construction paper, round-ended scissors, markers and glue. Let them make their own face masks for the party. Punch a hole in both sides of the mask and tie string or tiny elastic on the mask.

Guess how many seeds

Place counted pumpkin seeds in a large bowl or jar. Each party guest takes turns guessing how many pumpkin seeds there are. Whoever guesses closest to the correct numbers wins a prize.

Pumpkin seed spitting contest

Cut the top off a large pumpkin and remove the inside meat and seeds. Give each kid five seeds and see how many seeds they can spit into the pumpkin from a distance.