Category: Halloween

Halloween Countdown Day 14: Tour the Neighborhood

Leave a comment

Halloween 14 Tour the Neighborhood (3)

What do you do when the afternoon is too rainy to get outside and play? Hop in the car and tour the town in search of the best Halloween decorations!

The kids loved the excitement as we loaded up in the rain and set out in search of maximum spookiness.

Halloween 14 Tour the Neighborhood (1)

I had a few target neighborhoods in mind, and luckily they didn’t disappoint. Soon we saw everything from giant spiders to ghosts popping out of windows (!).

Halloween 14 Tour the Neighborhood (2)

I couldn’t always get great pictures for safety reasons, but some made us laugh, like skeletons lounging on lawn chairs or little ghosts around a campfire.

Halloween 14 Tour the Neighborhood (5)

Others were downright scary, like ghouls popping up from fake graveyards!

Halloween 14 Tour the Neighborhood (4)

Needless to say, this was the perfect way to fill a rainy October afternoon.

Spider’s Web Discovery Basket

Leave a comment

Spider Web Discovery (8)

This activity for toddlers isn’t technically Halloween-themed, but certainly there’s a connection between spiders and the spooky holiday so it felt like the right time of year to play! Of course you could also do this activity any time of year.

To set up, I wound long strands of white yarn in and out of the holes of the laundry basket until they made a messy crisscross web shape.

Spider Web Discovery (2)

I originally considered adding only bug stuffed animals, but decided this might hit too close to home (Veronika is sometimes scared of webs). Instead, I added lots of small stuffed animals of every variety, including forest creatures like foxes and chipmunks, as well as a puppy and kitty.

Spider Web Discovery (5)

She discovered the web first thing in the morning!

Spider Web Discovery (4)

Could she figure out how to reach in and free the stuffed animals? After a little demonstration and some trial and error, she soon had a knack for it.

Spider Web Discovery (6)

She also loved putting animals back in the web!

Spider Web Discovery (10)

I’m not sure she entirely understood that the yarn was meant to look like a spider’s web, but either way, she enjoyed the challenge and the play.

Spider Web Discovery (12)

Halloween Countdown Day 13: Monster Sensory Tub

Leave a comment

Monster Sensory Tub (1)

This activity doubled as the day’s sensory play and a way to tick off a box on our countdown to Halloween. And it couldn’t have been easier!

I filled a tub with purple water beads and water so the beads could grow to full size. The kids were so impatient to play, though, that I handed over the bin when the beads were only half as big as they could eventually get. To add spooky monsters, all we needed were large wiggle eyes.

Monster Sensory Tub (2)

At first the eyes were floating on the surface. But Travis loved burying them as deep under the water beads as he could, and then unearthing the “monsters”.

Monster Sensory Tub (4)

They were so eerie swimming to the surface. Veronika jumped right in to copy him!

Monster Sensory Tub (5)

She also loved scooping up handfuls of the water beads and then letting them trickle back down.

Monster Sensory Tub (6)

Before I knew it, the game changed slightly. Star Wars Stormtroopers needed to escape from the monsters!

Monster Sensory Tub (9)

This kept the kids so busy and happy the entire time I was prepping dinner. A definite spooky win.

Monster Sensory Tub (8)

Slimy Spaghetti Sensory Activity

Leave a comment

Spaghetti Potion (6)

Veronika enjoyed a recent craft with spaghetti so much that I thought we’d do a repeat today, this time with more of a Halloween theme!

Spaghetti Potion (1)

I cooked a package of spaghetti and divided it in half. My intention was to tint one half orange and one half black with food coloring. Because I had to mix colors to achieve black, it was more of a deep bluish purple, but that was just as eerie and witchy in its own way!

Spaghetti Potion (2)

That was it! I set the two big bowls (er, cauldrons) of spaghetti “slime” in front of Veronika, along with a few other kitchen tools like colanders and sieves.

Spaghetti Potion (3)

She immediately was busy ladling, scooping, and transferring.

Spaghetti Potion (5)

Spaghetti bubbling up from the steamer basket looked like little worms!

Spaghetti Potion (7)

She kept the colors together for a while, but soon was mixing and matching.

Spaghetti Potion (8)

I knew Veronika would love this, but I hadn’t counted on big brother Travis wanting to get involved! He immediately wanted his own ladle and whisk and began making batches of witch’s brew.

Spaghetti Potion (4)

I had put newspaper on the floor, so believe it or not, clean-up was a breeze.

Spaghetti Potion (9)

Luckily our all-natural food coloring washes off hands easily, too, so a quick wash and the fun was done.

Halloween Countdown Day 12: Scavenger Hunt

Leave a comment

Halloween 12 Scavenger Hunt (1)

Part of the reason we started our countdown to Halloween this year is that some traditions just can’t happen safely while social distancing (we’re looking at you, trunk-or-treating).

Instead, I pitched the idea of a town window scavenger hunt to a local family group. Within a week it was organized and ready to go!

The goal was for kids to spot 8 Halloween images in the windows of 8 stores along our town’s main street. No need to go in the stores (although patronizing local businesses safely is also an excellent goal right now).

The scavenger hunt was set up with various degrees of difficulty for different ages. Young toddlers like Veronika could circle each image.

Halloween 12 Scavenger Hunt (4)

Elementary school kids could draw a line from each shop name to the proper image, or write the name of the store in a provided space. The kids loved spotting silly spiders and ghosts!

Halloween 12 Scavenger Hunt (3)

At the end, they turned in their score cards for a free scoop of sorbet at a local shop.

Scavenger Hunt alt

A rather sweet treat, no tricks!

Halloween 12 Scavenger Hunt (2)

How is your town organizing Halloween for kids this year? Please share in the comments !

Halloween Countdown Day 11: Orange Playdough Pumpkins

Leave a comment

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (2)

Playdough is always fun, but even more so if you connect it to the season or a holiday for your kids. Today, we specifically decided to have Halloween playdough fun.

First I pulled out only orange and green playdough, and showed Veronika how to roll little balls of the orange into pumpkins.

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (5)

Green made cute stems! We then used craft sticks as our “carving knives” to make features in the pumpkins. Veronika thought this was great fun, even though she was mostly just mashing at them while I carved more deliberate triangles and toothy smiles.

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (1)

We could also roll out long ropes of green playdough to be the pumpkin patch vines.

Next, I pulled out a few Halloween-themed cookie cutters. Now we could make flatter versions of pumpkins and ghosts.

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (6)

Soon we had little ghosts flying through the air.

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (8)

Big brother Travis wanted in on the action!

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (11)

He came over to make lots of pumpkin and ghost shapes, and then used the craft sticks to carve into them.

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (9)

Pretty soon, the kids were just having wild playdough fun. They were so busy with this step in our countdown to Halloween that I could declare it a mission accomplished.

Halloween 11 Playdough Pumpkins (12)

 

Drawing on Pumpkins with Markers

Leave a comment

Super Simple Pumpkin (2)

Veronika has loved decorating our pumpkins in the run-up to the big carving day, so I needed another version to keep her happy. This one has the added bonus because kids can draw, wipe clean, and then repeat the process as many times as they like!

I set out two of our medium-sized pumpkins, along with lots of washable markers. The naturally waxy surface of a pumpkin is perfect for markers, so your little one can draw as easily as if it’s paper.

Super Simple Pumpkin (1)

Veronika just scribbled of course, but I made a few jack o’ lantern features on the pumpkin next to her.

Super Simple Pumpkin (3)

Then I showed her the secret: one swipe of a wet wipe and her drawings were magically erased!

Super Simple Pumpkin (7)

She loved giving her pumpkins a ‘bath’ in this way. “He’s all clean,” she told me proudly. And then she could start the process again.

Super Simple Pumpkin (5)

Because you don’t have to worry about a mess, this craft is also a perfect toddler solo activity while you get other things done around the house.

Super Simple Pumpkin (9)

Halloween Sensory Bottle

Leave a comment

October Sensory Bottle (6)

Veronika recently enjoyed a few autumnal sensory bottles, so today I made another version, this one specifically with a Halloween theme. The items inside include both “tricks” and “treats”!

I first filled an empty bottle about three-quarters of the way with water. Next I added faux candy corn. (Note: In a pinch you can add real candy corn, just be aware that it will dissolve over time). These were the treats of course.

Then I added a few spider rings. These were the tricks!

October Sensory Bottle (2)

A little bit of orange-red glitter topped things off. Because Veronika had attempted to unscrew the caps from her fall sensory bottles, this time I judiciously used hot glue on the cap before handing it over.

Knowing she couldn’t open it, she was much more focused on what was inside. She loved shaking it!

October Sensory Bottle (4)

And rolling it. The candy corn and spiders would sort of float to the surface and then settle back to disappear again. Perfectly Halloween spooky!

October Sensory Bottle (5)

She also thought it was a delight to throw it on the floor, and although I wasn’t as big a fan of this version, she was having so much fun that I let it be.

October Sensory Bottle (8)

This sensory bottle is enjoyable for young toddlers or even for babies doing tummy time. Perfect for a first Halloween, in sum.

October Sensory Bottle (9)

Sparkly and Googly Eyed Pumpkins

Leave a comment

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (8)

We had three mini pumpkins that were just begging to be decorated. And this craft will cater perfectly to your toddler’s messy instincts!

I set out little cups of glue and a few filled with large sequins and wiggle eyes, and placed these all on a craft tray. The idea was that the tray would contain most of the mess.

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (1)

Well, Veronika had other ideas. Before we even started, she began transferring sequins from cup to cup and then dumped them all over the floor. (“Well, that’s a mess,” said big brother Travis!).

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (3)

This didn’t deter us one bit! I showed her how to spread glue on the pumpkins with a paintbrush. Once they were good and sticky, we could liberally apply the sequins.

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (6)

I thought she might want to dump them on, but Veronika loved carefully applying one at a time!

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (4)

The wiggle eyes added fun and slightly kooky character.

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (5)

Needless to say, we made a mess, but we had a blast.

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (7)

Note: Because the sequins could be a hazard for wildlife, I recommend displaying these particular no-carve pumpkins indoors.

Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (9)

Halloween Countdown Day 10: Haunted Snacks

1 Comment

Jack O Orange (5)

Halloween lends itself so easily to food play, transforming simple fruits and veggies into haunted treats with just a few tricks. To wit, today the kids enjoyed banana ghosts and jack o’ lantern clementines as part of our countdown to the big shindig.

For the “Casper Ghosts”, peel a banana and carefully cut in half lengthwise. Curvier bananas are better for this, because you’ll get that perfect curled ghost tail.

Halloween 10 Casper Banana

Add three chocolate chips: two for eyes, and one for the round O of a mouth.

Halloween 10 Casper Banana (2)

Now it was the kids’ job to make the ghosts “disappear”, a task they were happily up to. Starting with the eyes of course!

For a Jack-o’-Orange, first draw jack o’ lantern features on the skin of a clementine. Show your kids how to poke whole cloves in along the lines.

Jack O Orange (1)

This was tricky for Veronika, but I helped her poke cloves straight in, or she simply enjoyed sprinkling them on top as I worked.

Jack O Orange (2)

She was delighted by her end result!

Jack O Orange (4)

Travis, meanwhile, took the task so seriously and concentrated hard as he worked his way around the lines I’d drawn.

Jack O Orange (6)

He loved it so much he wanted to make another as a present for his great-grandmother!

Jack O Orange (8)

These oranges really are more potpourri decor than a snack (they’ll make your kitchen smell amazing!), so make sure there are extra clementines on hand to satisfy your little beasties.

Jack O Orange (3)