Halloween Favorites

This timeless game is fun for kids of all ages.

• Timer
• Basket of small apples
• Clean dishpan of cool water

1. Float six apples in the dishpan.

2. Divide the guests into two teams, one on each side of the basin.

3. Bob for apples. Have two players, one from each team, remove as many apples as possible from the water in one minute without using their hands. (Hint: The game is even more challenging if you remove the stems from the apples!) Continue until everyone has a turn.

4. Give the winning team a treat or a prize.

Bewitch partygoers with your powerful fortune-telling skills.

• 30 dried pumpkin seeds
• Felt-tip pen
• Glass bowl

1. Number seeds. Take thirty dried pumpkin seeds and use a felt-tip pen to number the seeds 1 through 10, three times.

2. Place the numbered pumpkin seeds into a glass bowl.

3. Pick and "read" the seeds. Have your guest pick one seed, without looking, and then hand it to you to obtain their reading. You can follow our suggestions below, but be prepared to embellish!

4. Example party readings: 1 = You will be a famous rock star 2 = You will be President 3 = You will find great wealth 4 = You are funny and will be a famous comedian 5 = You will be a great actor 6 = You have a future in medicine 7 = You will be an important writer 8 = You will be a great explorer and find a treasure 9 = You will travel to the moon 10 = You will have an airplane

• Two oatmeal boxes
• Halloween decorations for the boxes (stickers, colored markers, construction paper, or anything else to dress up your cereal box)
• Large bowl of popcorn

1. Decorate boxes. Before the party, decorate two oatmeal boxes (or similar small containers) to look like jack o' lanterns.

2. Prepare a large bowl of popcorn.

3. Divide the guests into two teams. Put the pumpkins at one end of the room and the bowl of popcorn at the opposite end.

4. Give each team a large serving spoon.

5. Scoop, carry and deposit popcorn in pumpkin. On the count of three, one player from each team must scoop a spoonful of popcorn from the bowl, carry it across the room, and drop it into her or his team's pumpkin. If any of the kernels fall off, the carrier must stop to pick them up.

6. Pass the spoon. The player then returns to the start and passes along the spoon. The process is repeated until one team completely fills their pumpkin. (Score a victory if any part of a kernel is above the rim of the container.)