Simple Halloween Activities for Toddlers.

 

There is something about Halloween activities for toddlers that captures their imaginations. Perhaps it is all the crafts, sensory activities and dressing up? When I was a child, my siblings and I never experienced the Halloween. It was not a big holiday in Australia but, over time it is becoming increasingly popular.

Although Halloween is not a big holiday in our family, it is still fun to get involved in Halloween-themed play. Halloween does not have to be scary but rather a fun experience where you can dress up as your favourite cartoon character or superhero. It can be very satisfying to step into another character for a while.

 

Halloween Activities for Toddlers.

Wrap the Mummy!

Firstly, this is a simple but sweet Halloween toddler activity. It does not require a lot of resources and your little one can decorate it independently.

Materials: brown paper, cookie cutter, marker, paper towel and glue.

Step-by-step:

1. Use a gingerbread man cookie cutter to make the ‘mummy shape’ on brown paper.
2. Cut a small amount of paper towel into strips.
3. Glue on the paper towel.

Note: it’s a good idea to have an extra mummy so you can model what to do. Many little ones aren’t familiar with what a mummy looks like.

 

Haunted House Craft!

Grab some recyclables for this upcycled Halloween craft. It is a lot of fun to make and does not require a lot of resources or time.

Materials: 2x 1L juice cartons, black paint, hot glue, and stickers.

 Step-by-step:

1. Paint the juice cartons black.
2. Once dry, use a hot glue gun to stick them together.
3. Stick stickers on to form doors, windows and perhaps add some eyes.
4. Use a marker to make those stickers appear more like windows and or doors.

 

Halloween Sensory Tray / Invitation to Play.

Sensory trays are super engaging for children. They are an open-ended experience that allows children to explore and experiment. For this tray, I used coloured rice as the base. Then, I added creepy crawlies, funnels, spoons, tweezers, and bowls. You can add whatever items you have for this type of play.

Coloured Rice Recipe:

1. 1 cup of white rice, few drops of food colouring and shake in a zip lock bag.
2. Add one teaspoon of vinegar and shake it again.
3. Repeat the process for each colour you want.
4. Let it dry overnight.

 

Sensory Halloween Den.

This is one of my favourite Halloween activities for toddlers. Glow sticks brighten up play and spark a child´s imagination. Use whatever resources you already have, to create this spooky Halloween Den. For example, you may have fairy lights or battery operated candles instead of glow sticks. Or you use chairs or a tepee as the foundation to create the den. Inside the den I set up a scoop and pour activity from our previous Halloween sensory tray (see above activity).

 

Skeleton Toddler Activity!

This makes for a great keepsake or gift for family and friends. It is a fun toddler activity to learn about the human body and incorporate a little Halloween craft and counting.

Materials:  black paper, scissors, portrait photo, q-tips, and hot glue. If you have a picture of a human skeleton, it can be a great visual aid.

Step-by-step:

1. Glue the photo at the top pf the black paper.
2. Talk about how bones are inside our body and don’t move.
3. Feel your joints (keen, elbow etc) to explain how our body can move.
4. Get them to feel some of their bones like their ribs.
5. Your child can lay out the q-tips for the spine, ribs, arms, and legs.
   Note: you can cut them to size as they go through the body parts. Later use the hot glue to stick the q-tips in place.
6. Count how many fingers and toes their skeleton will need. Cut the q-tips to size and hot glue them in place when your toddler is a safe distance away.

 

Rescue the Creepy Crawlies from Edible Slime!

To begin, I would not recommend eating this taste-safe slime. I am labelling it ´edible or taste-safe´ because it does not contain chemicals that many slime kits or recipes have in them. I want to recommend ingredients that are not generally dangerous for little ones.

Materials: 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch, saucepan, creepy crawlies, and food colouring.

Step-by-step:

1. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and reduce heat to low.
3. Simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened.
4. Remove mixture from the heat and add the food colouring until desired colour is obtained.
5. Once slime has cooled, it is ready for play.
6. Add some creepy crawlies to be rescued.

 

 

Halloween Craft Activity for Toddlers.

Materials: black paint, paper, white pom poms, contact paper, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and a marker.

Step-by-step:

1. On a piece of paper draw some spider webs.
2. Paint your child’s hand black and press onto paper.
3. Once dry, glue on some googly eyes and pipe cleaner for the webs.
4. Draw a ghost outline on contact paper and glue it down (sticky side up).
5. Cover the contact `paper in white pom poms and add googly eyes.

 

 

Playdough Creatures / Monsters.

This is a simple toddler activity that makes use of old playdough. So, before you throw out drying and crumbling playdough use it for this activity. Choose craft supplies that are age-appropriate for your little one so they can decorate it independently.

Materials: Old playdough and a bunch of craft supplies. Items like popsicle sticks, googly eyes, pipe cleaners and feathers are ideal.

Step-by-step:

1. Model an idea if this concept is new to your toddler.
2. Your child gets creative with the materials available to them.

 

Final word on Halloween Activities for Toddlers.

Claim your free Halloween printables here! Let your friends know about them too.

I hope you love these simple and fun Halloween activities for toddlers. Let me know on Instagram or Facebook if you try any of them.