Immediately after Halloween, stores are stuck with hundreds of unsold pumpkins that they are dying to get rid of.  Fortunately, we have a great resident event for some post-Halloween pumpkin fun!  So drop by the local farmer's market or pumpkin patch and purchase a load of pumpkins of various sizes for dirt cheap.

Pumpkin Bowling

Bowling with nice round bowling balls is much too easy, right?  Pumpkin Bowling is a fun spin-off that your residents will love.  All you have to do is find some kids’ toy bowling game with plastic pins, and set up several “lanes” of bowling either in the clubhouse or outside if the weather permits or there is enough room.  Make it fun by having various sizes of pumpkins (sometimes the “ugly” ones too) that the residents can choose from to bowl with and also make sure you have a board of some sort to keep track of score. You can choose to follow the traditional bowling rules, or simplify it with a “best out of 3” type scoring system. Whatever method you choose should be determined based on how many people are in attendance and whether it is mostly adults or children who are bowling. A member of the staff should be a referee/score-keeper.

Pumpkin Cook-Off/Bake-Off

For the non-bowlers, have some tables set up for participants in a Pumpkin Cook-Off/Bake-Off!  Have your residents prepare their best recipe which includes pumpkin (doesn’t necessarily have to be baked goods, so Pumpkin Chili could be accepted) and have them bring their goods to the event already in individual bites. Have all attendees taste-test the goods and then have a box or bag nearby and slips of paper for them to vote on their favorite. You could assign each competitor a number by folding an index card and writing a number on it with a marker to make it easy to vote. The prize for the winner could be something corny like a plastic crown decorated with pumpkins, a fake trophy with a pumpkin, or a medal that looks like a pumpkin (all things you can find fairly inexpensive at a dollar store, party store, or craft store). Or, depending on your demographic and participants, maybe a gift card to a local restaurant or movie passes. 

Poke-a-Pumpkin

An extra game that could be set up for kids could be a Poke-a-Pumpkin game. Take a black cardboard piece and hot glue orange SOLO cups in the shape of a pumpkin. Use orange napkins and rubberbands to cover each cup. Inside, hide a trick (rubber bugs, spider rings, eyeball toys) or a treat (candy/chocolate). Each child can take a turn poking their hand through the napkin to see if they found a trick or treat!

The staff should also get in the spirit by dressing in orange, maybe some fun face-paint, etc. Since there will be food provided by the competition, the property could just provide other light refreshments such as mini bottles of water, apple cider, and maybe juice boxes for the kids.

Ok, that might not be the best outfit, but I'm sure you can find something else great to wear in the theme!