Category: Halloween

Halloween Countdown Day 20: Spot Ghosts at Sunset

Leave a comment

Halloween 20 ghosts are sunset (1)

As long as it won’t spook your child too much, here’s a fun way to build the suspense as we approach All Hallow’s Eve: Head outside as the sun is setting and look for ghosts and goblins in the clouds!

The clouds make beautiful shapes against a sunset, so chances are you’ll spot something spooky as soon as you have your imagination caps on.

Halloween 20 ghosts are sunset (2)

Travis was determined to find a witch, too, and very importantly told me it was witches we would see in the sky, not ghosts.

Halloween 20 ghosts are sunset (4)

Tonight we had a thumbnail moon. After he failed to spot a witch, Travis decided we’ll need to try again on the full moon, which just happens to be on Halloween! And aren’t those treetops starting to look like… witch’s brooms?

Halloween 20 ghosts are sunset (3)

This was a fun spooky spin on looking for shapes in the clouds.

Spider Sticky Wall

Leave a comment

Spider Sticky Wall (8)

We had our roll of contact paper out this morning, so I thought it would be fun to make a sticky wall for Veronika. And what better theme for an October sticky wall than spiders of course!

For this activity, tape a large piece of contact paper to the wall, sticky side out.

I cut circles from brightly colored construction paper for the spider bodies and then trimmed pipe cleaners into smaller pieces for legs. I wanted each spider to have multi-colored legs so they were silly, not scary.

Spider Sticky Wall (1)

Veronika loved playing with the pipe cleaners while I prepped all our materials! Then we starting hanging up bodies. She immediately latched on to what we were doing, and loved giving each spider its legs.

Spider Sticky Wall (4)

Although I briefly mentioned that real spiders have eight legs, we weren’t really concerned about scientific accuracy today. As a two-year-old, she simply began adding legs wherever she wanted. Also, our pipe cleaners kept falling down (they don’t stick well to the contact paper unless you press really hard on them), which made for lots of spiders who were constantly losing limbs.

Spider Sticky Wall (5)

But that was half the fun! Veronika thought it was so funny when the legs fell, and she narrated her play to herself as she worked. “Let’s give this guy yellow legs. Pink fell down! He needs a green leg!” and on and on for about 20 minutes.

Spider Sticky Wall (9)

Between their bright fuzzy legs and their happy smiles, it’s safe to say we had the cutest spiders in town.

Spider Sticky Wall (7)

Halloween Countdown Day 19: No Mess Pumpkin Art

Leave a comment

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (8)

Here’s a quick seasonal spin for a toddler to paint in a zip-top bag. This time, instead of plain paper inside the bag, I inserted a template of a pumpkin.

You can squirt in orange paint, but where’s the fun in that? Add a little blob of red and a little blob of yellow and it will become a lesson on color mixing, too! Now simply seal tightly and hand across.

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (2)

Veronika was so surprised when she touched the red paint and realized her hand wasn’t messy.

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (3)

Same thing with the yellow!

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (4)

Now she was doubly intrigued. She either used the flat of her palm for squishing the paint, or sometimes scratched at it, too.

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (6)

As soon as our red and yellow started to mix, I pointed out that she was making orange. In retrospect, I should have added more yellow, as the red was definitely dominant. But we achieved a neat tri-color effect on the pumpkin.

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (7)

Note: Your piece of paper will be so saturated with paint that likely it will tear if you try and remove it from the bag. So this project isn’t a keeper, but it is fun in the moment!

No-Mess Pumpkin Art (5)

Melted Crayon Pumpkins

Leave a comment

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (6)

After melting crayons to make planets, Travis wanted more melt-y fun this morning. So we thought we could decorate pumpkins this way!

Our pack of crayons had multiple hues in the red, orange, and yellow family, so I took all those from the box and soaked them briefly in water. This will help the wrappers slip right off. Snap each crayon in half.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (7)

At first we tried arranging them around the stem of our medium-sized pumpkins, but realized they were going to slide off, as they was not enough surface area to rest on.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (1)

So then we thought to do the project on our biggest pumpkin, even though the original intent was to save this one for carving. Now, although the crayons could balance, they flew off as soon as we turned the hair dryer on!

Thinking quickly, we backtracked to our medium pumpkins (phew, the big guy can safely await carving day), but this time I used a dab of hot glue to secure each crayon near the stem.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (8)

Success! Now we could turn the hair dryer to high heat without the crayons flying off. It’ll take a few moments of patience, but sure enough, they’ll begin to ooze and melt.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (9)

This was fantastic fun, all the more so because the goriness of melting crayons just feels downright Halloween-y. It takes longer than I would have thought, but Travis insisted on watching every dripping, melting moment.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (10)

He loved when rivulets of wax would drip down but cool almost instantly (in much the same way that icicles form), leaving neat strings of wax behind.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (4)

These were fun to snap off, too!

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (2)

Keep going until all your crayons are completely melted.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (5)

One note of caution: the melted wax will fly further than you think, due to the force of air coming out of the hair dryer. So be sure to cover your surface area completely with wax paper or newspaper.

Melted Crayon Pumpkins (11)

The end result is a beautiful way to decorate your pumpkins with no carving knife!

Halloween Countdown Day 18: Have a Devilish Breakfast

Leave a comment

Pumpkin Waffles (3)

Today’s activity in our countdown to Halloween was simple as could be. Serve up a devilish breakfast and you’ll have notched off another day on the calendar before the kids even get dressed!

What counts as a devilish breakfast? Anything pumpkin-flavored would fit the bill. To wit, we dined on homemade Pumpkin Waffles.

The kids even wanted to eat in costume! Just make sure your brood is careful of sticky syrup if you do the same. To make breakfast even spookier, kids can create faces on the waffles with pieces of fruit.

Pumpkin Waffles (4)

What other spooky breakfasts can you think of? Please share in the comments!

Halloween Countdown Day 17: Books By Flashlight

Leave a comment

Halloween 17 Flashlight Stories (1)

Sometimes power outages can be a pain, but if October gives you a power outage… read spooky books by flashlight!

Of course, there’s no need for a real power outage to do this activity on your countdown to Halloween list. Just dim the lights, pull out all your battery-operated tea candles, and make it a spooky story hour!

Halloween 17 Flashlight Stories (6)

The kids loved the little flickering candles, and moved them all around as we read at our “campfire.”

Halloween 17 Flashlight Stories (4)

Travis was my expert helper to shine a light on the words as I read. The game is also perfect for hidden picture books (Try Bear’s Spooky Book of Hidden Things by Gergely Dudas), to shine the light on just the right spot of each page.

Halloween 17 Flashlight Stories (7)

Lift-the-flap books are also tailor-made for flashlights, shinign brightly as each flap is lifted for a big reveal.

Halloween 17 Flashlight Stories (5)

Some of the just-scary-enough books we read included:

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween by Alice Schertle

Laugh-Out-Loud Halloween Jokes by Rob Elliott

Llamas in Pajamas by Russell Punter

Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin

and

Pete the Cat Trick or Pete by James Dean

And no problem if you don’t have any Halloween books in the house. Simply make up your own ghost stories!

What’s your family’s favorite Halloween book? Please share in the comments!

Bubbling Cauldron

Leave a comment

Bubbling Cauldron (10)

Halloween-themed crates from Kiwi Co have been a huge hit in the past, and this year’s did not disappoint!

This year we opted for a witch’s Bubbling Cauldron, which relies on that old trick of baking soda plus an acid (in this case citric acid) to make a bubbly explosion.

The first step was to Make the Witch of course. Travis helped fold the provided felt pieces into her cape and hat, which he decorated with spooky stickers (bats!), and which then slide onto the wooden peg body.

Bubbling Cauldron (1)

A pipe cleaner forms her warty nose and we added spooky features with black marker.

Bubbling Cauldron (2)

Next he needed to Build the Witch’s Lair. Decorate the provided backdrop with more stickers, then attach to the base with sticky foam dots.

Bubbling Cauldron (3)

The witch and her cauldron are then attached to the base with additional sticky foam.

Bubbling Cauldron (5)

An air pump is then threaded through the back of the scenery. One hose dangles down into the base, and the other dangles into the cauldron (these are helpfully color-coded red and black so your child can be sure the pump is going to flow in the right direction).

Bubbling Cauldron (6)

It’s time for some bubbly science! Pour the provided packets of citric acid and baking soda (colored green!) into the provided cup and mix well.

Bubbling Cauldron (7)

Add 4 scoops to the cauldron; Travis loved being in charge of his own “potion” here. Pour 1 and 1/2 cups water into the holes of the base, and then start squeezing the air pump…

Bubbling Cauldron (8)

…and marvel at the bubbling cauldron that results!

Bubbling Cauldron (9)

This was so cool and eerie and scientific and magical all at once. And needless to say, pretty soon there were poor Lego fellows drowning in the witch’s pot.

Bubbling Cauldron (11)

A definite win for a Halloween project.

Halloween Countdown Day 16: Mix-and-Match Costume Party

Leave a comment

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (5)

Whether your kids need to try on their costumes to ensure a perfect fit before the big day, or you’re pulling out last year’s costumes for fun, or heck if they’re just too impatient to wait until the 31st, declare the day a Try-On Party and let the costume mixing and matching begin!

Things around here are very clearly Star Wars themed. Travis sported Boba Fett…

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (4)

…followed by Darth Maul.

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (7)

Veronika could be Baby Yoda…

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (3)

…or Queen Amidala!

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (12)

For extra fun, we decided to break out the face paint. Veronika loved testing it on herself. “I’m very green!” she said when I showed her in the mirror.

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (6)

We also got silly and mixed-and-match the Halloween costumes with other items from the dress-up bin. Darth Maul needed black gloves of course.

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (14)

And we soon had a little magician prancing around.

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (1)

And no Star Wars costume party is complete with a light saber for an accessory.

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (8)

We had a blast with this! Here’s wishing your family an equally joyful costume and accessory party.

Halloween 16 Try on Costumes (11)

Paper Bag Pumpkins

Leave a comment

Pape Bag Pumpkins (9)

Here’s a classic toddler Halloween activity that never disappoints: easy pumpkins made from brown paper lunch bags!

Use sandwich-size brown bags for this project, not larger ones. First up is stuffing them with tissue paper (or any similar material like old newspapers). “Can I make a ball?” Veronika asked after watching me do the first one, and she was a big helper wading up pieces and stuffing them into the bags.

Paper Bag Pumpkins (3)

Once they were about two-thirds of the way filled, I secured each top with a rubber band and twisted tightly so they resembled pumpkin stems.

Time to paint! Veronika couldn’t wait to get her hands on orange paint and paintbrushes, and helped smear all over the bags.

Paper Bag Pumpkins (2)

I wish we’d had more orange paint (or a thicker acrylic) for a better coat to hide the writing on our paper bags, but at least we achieved a mostly orange look!

Paper Bag Pumpkins (4)

You can also paint the stems a deep brown, but since the bags were already brown, we skipped that part.

Once the paint dries (which takes a while!), add pumpkin faces with black marker.

Paper Bag Pumpkins (6)

I made a traditional jack o’ lantern face, and Veronika added her own toddler interpretation.

Paper Bag Pumpkins (7)

These make a fun addition to your Halloween decor!

Paper Bag Pumpkins (5)

Monster Stew

Leave a comment

Monster Stew (1)

There were no real monsters in this watery sensory tub for Veronika, just a chance to splash and play in a seasonable way.

To make the broth for our “stew”, I filled a basin with water and tinted it orange with food coloring.

Now we needed to add a few monstrous ingredients! In went lots of items from the dollar store, including skeleton hands, plastic bats, and monster eye rings.

Monster Stew (2)

I had originally hoped to use mini plastic jack o’ lanterns as scoops for her to fill and pour with, but the store was sold out. Instead, I added orange plastic eggs, broken in half, which worked perfectly as little cups.

That was a good thing, because this was definitely her favorite part of the sensory game. She loved to scoop and pour over the rest of the eerie ingredients.

Monster Stew (3)

The skeleton hands were perfect for stirring with.

Monster Stew (5)

It was also fun to reach down to the bottom of the stew and dig out handfuls of bats or eyes.

Monster Stew (4)

In sum, this was simple and spooky sensory play, just right for October. It was a nice way to introduce some of Halloween’s monsters without them seeming too scary.

Monster Stew (6)