Boys dressed as pirates and girls posing as princesses closed their eyes, spun in a circle and tried to find a painted jack-o’-lantern in Gamma Phi Beta sorority’s “Pin the nose on the pumpkin” game. The group’s greek letters emblazoned just one of the many booths offered at Project Pumpkin on Thursday night.

“Since at school I’m not used to seeing kids,” said Susie Arshonsky, a McCormick junior. “It’s nice to come here and see children from the community.”

Hundreds of costume-clad children converged on Norris University Center to join in Project Pumpkin, Northwestern Community Development Corps’ annual Halloween fair. The event gave children from Evanston and Chicago the chance to laugh, scream and play games for candy prizes.

Volunteers from more than 50 campus groups led visitors in painting faces, and creating spider hats and other art projects.

“We bring kids from all over Evanston and Chicago because it’s not always safe to trick-or-treat where they live,” said Communication sophomore Arturo Menchaca, an executive board member for Project Pumpkin.

Weinberg junior Katy Schumaker, one of the event’s co-chairwomen, said NCDC expected more than 600 children from 12 of the group’s local volunteer sites to attend.

“Having kids come to campus is a great opportunity for busy students to be involved with the community,” Schumaker said.

This year NCDC put special emphasis on encouraging NU faculty members to bring their children to Project Pumpkin.

“We sent e-mails to all the departments and we’ve gotten a really positive response,” said Weinberg sophomore Madeleine Alkire, the event’s other co-chairwoman.

More than 180 volunteers helped guide children through Norris, Schumaker said.

Weinberg junior Leah Hamburg, dressed as a fairy with wings and a silver crown, guided a group through the Louis Room. She encouraged the kids to play games and told them to share when they began grabbing for her magic wand.

One member of her group, 8-year-old Emma Gailey of Evanston, said she plans to emulate Hamburg by dressing as Tinkerbell for Halloween. Gailey said Project Pumpkin’s haunted house, run by OASIS, was her favorite attraction.

“It was really fun and creepy,” Gailey said, smiling. “There were lots of witches!”

Parents waited patiently while their children got caught up in the excitement. Raquel Murphy said her son and daughter had been looking forward to the fair for days.

“They found out about this a week ago and of course they were excited about dressing up and getting candy,” Murphy said.

Around the corner, Education sophomore Erin Fitzgerald stood at the Willard Residential College booth, shouting encouragement to children tossing bean bags at nearby targets.

“Definitely the most rewarding part is seeing kids’ eyes light up when they make a shot,” she said. “They feel so good about themselves.”