Despite being around for more than 100 years, Ouija boards (a wooden board covered with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0–9 and the words "yes," "no" and "goodbye") continue to be a popular activity—especially around Halloween. To work, all participants must place their hands on the wooden pointer (or planchette) and ask any present "spirits" to answer their questions by moving the planchette around the board to spell out their response.