"Spooky season" is always a magical time for kids, jam-packed with costume dress-up, parades and class parties as autumn leaves swirl to the ground. Looking for a great way to wrap some learning into all the festivities? Plan a Halloween scavenger hunt at your local Rite Aid!

Not only will kids have a blast by completing challenges and deciphering clues, but they'll also have the chance to practice key skills like critical thinking, logical reasoning, teamwork and collaboration. "Not only can scavenger hunts be done just about anywhere, [but] they also boost observation skills and help children develop early learning skills in a fun, relaxed and natural way," notes Scholastic.com.

Check out these Halloween scavenger hunt ideas to keep your kiddos busy and challenged this season.

1. The Five Senses

Children naturally learn best when their senses are activated and engaged. Have your child work with a sibling or a friend and find items that represent each sense: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. Think of fun Halloween scavenger hunt clues for each sense, and watch their little brains light up!

For sight, you might say: "I blink in the night, but I'm never a fright," and kids can find a light-up, friendly decoration like a ghost or pumpkin. For taste, you may write, "I'm sour and sweet, an undead treat," leading kids to these Sour Patch Kid Zombies. Using the five senses as a guide, this Halloween scavenger hunt is sure to thrill.

2. Color Me Spooky

Hunting by color is also a fun option and can be made even more festive by sticking to seasonal, Halloween-ish colors: orange, black, purple and green. Recycled egg cartons work well for color scavenger hunts. Simply color the bottom of each egg cup a different shade with a marker. (For an extra challenge, double up on the colors so they have to find two items of each shade.) Kids might find an orange pumpkin eraser, a black toy spider, a purple-colored candy or green slime. They'll be exercising their visual discrimination muscles and you'll have entertained kiddos — a win-win!

3. Wordplay

Make reading skills into a game by compiling a list of Halloween-themed words. Type or write them out and have kids check them off as they wander the aisles. For younger children, you might stick to simpler, monosyllabic words like bat, cat, boo, mask or ghost. Challenge older kids to find more complex words, such as jack-o-lantern, trick-or-treat, cauldron, tombstone or haunted house. Remind them to not only look in the Halloween section, but in the greeting cards, snack aisle, and near the pharmacy and cash registers, where seasonal items are sometimes stocked.

4. Shape Seekers

Searching by shape is another angle to try for your Halloween scavenger hunt. Wrap in clues to point children in the right direction. For example, "I'm a circle! My body is orange, and I wear a green hat" (answer: a pumpkin!) Or, "I'm a triangle! I'm black and pointy, and my owner rides a broom" (answer: a witch hat!) For things without a definitive shape (like these cookie cutters), provide a unique clue along the lines of "I'm not a circle, triangle, oval, square or diamond... but use me to cut out a sweet, spooky shape."

A Thrilling Season

Planning a Halloween scavenger hunt doesn't have to be time-consuming or complex to be a success. Pick a simple theme like the five senses, color hunting, wordplay or shape games and watch their little faces light up. This way, you can transform a routine shopping trip into a thrilling game — all while honing your kids' problem-solving and teamwork skills and treating parents to a delightful beverage. Happy hunting!

Please drink responsibly.

Written by: Jaime Budzienski