Halloween ideas for toddlers painting pumpkins

Fun Halloween Ideas for Toddlers

It’s almost that spooky time of year again, which is no doubt a great excuse to have some holiday crafting fun at home with your little one. Halloween is such a fun holiday for toddlers, and it doesn’t have to be too scary either!

From easy halloween crafts tailored for toddlers to fun games and activities you can do at home, we’ve got your spooky 2021 Halloween covered.

 

Our Fun Halloween Ideas for Toddlers

  • Halloween Sensory Box

Sensory play is beneficial for language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills and plenty more. So, why not turn sensory play into a fun halloween-inspired activity?

For this one, you’ll only really need things that are lying around in the kitchen cupboards, meaning that it’s easy to throw together at the last minute and won’t break the bank. 

Simply cook some rice, allow it to cool and dye it orange with some orange food colouring. Then, add some dry black beans or dry pasta that has been dyed black. You could even dye some cooked spaghetti red for a little extra gore!

Then, add your desired mixture to a box. You’ll want to make it extra halloween themed with some spiders, eyeballs, gummy worms or mini bats. 

Allow your child to use a spoon or salad tongs to pick up things inside the box! They’ll love sticking their fingers in too to feel all the different textures.

 

  • Pumpkin Painting

Pumpkins are a Halloween staple. Although pumpkin carving might be off the table for your little one, who says you can’t still enjoy pumpkins on Halloween?

You can either choose to carve the pumpkins yourself and hand them over to your child to paint, or let them do their own thing and paint on an uncarved pumpkin. You might want to use a felt pen or sharpie to draw on a fun design for them to fill in beforehand.

You’ll also want to use acrylic paints for this because they’ll dry more quickly, minimising any mess! 

 

  • Glittery Glue Spider Webs

Another messy Halloween craft, but that’s what Halloween is all about! For this, you’ll need a paper plate, some PVA glue and any glitter, sequins and Halloween decorations of your choice.

First, use your glue to draw a spider web on the paper plate. You can do this yourself or let your little one have a go themselves.

Then, go wild with glitter and sequins! You can pour the glitter over the plate and when you dust off the excess, you’ll be left with a beautiful sparkly spider web.

 

  • Eyeball Slime

This one is a great way to gross out your little one on Halloween – they’ll love playing with their new slime!

You’ll need PVA glue, bicarbonate of soda, contact lens solution, red food colouring and fake Halloween eyeballs.

Squeeze 200ml of PVA glue into a bowl, and add 1 tsp of bicarbonate soda. Mix well. Then add a couple of drops of red food colouring and mix until you have a vibrant colour.

Add 1 tsp of contact lens solution and mix until it goes stringy. At this point, you can knead it with your hands until smooth. Then, add your eyeballs or other Halloween decorations and you’re done! 

 

  • Spider Web Walking Game

This one is great to work on those fine and gross motor skills, all whilst getting active! All you’ll need to do is use some (preferably coloured) tape, and create a big spider web on the floor.

Then, leave some plastic spiders along the web.

Your child’s goal is to walk along the spider web and pick up all the spiders without them falling off. You can even make it into a race to boost their competitive spirit!

 

Maryam’s Nursery

At Maryam’s we love getting creative while having fun with the different seasons and themes of the year. Find out more about how we combine sensory playtime with learning and it’s many benefits for toddler development here.