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Halloween Activities For Children

20 Oct 2022
Blog

Halloween Activities For Children

Need some easy Halloween activities for your little ones? Keep reading for some exciting and fun activity ideas and how to do them. You can also view our tutorial videos by heading over to our social media channels. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see how we created them or read on for written instructions. We’ve got activities suitable for babies, toddlers and preschoolers:

  1. Pumpkin Sensory Activities
  2. Toilet Roll Spider and Stamp
  3. Toilet Roll Projector

1. Pumpkin Sensory Activities

What you’ll need:

  • Pumpkin
  • Carving tools / knife / spoon
  • Tray / bowl
  • Re-sealable bag
  • Nail varnish remover and pads (any type of rubbing alcohol)
  • Pen
  • Tea light

There are multiple activities you can get stuck into with one pumpkin!

Preparing your pumpkin

Cut the top of the pumpkin to create a lid. Save to one side. Neaten up the inside lid area if you wish, and start removing the pulp. Place the pulp into a tray or bowl. Once the bulk has been removed use a spoon to scrape the inside to make smooth. Once the pumpkin is empty and neat, set aside.

Sensory Activities

You can create a sensory experience just from the pulp by using the tray or bowl to let your child play with it and explore the different textures, smells, colours, and sounds. To eliminate any mess, you can also do this by using a re-sealable bag. Fill the bag with the pumpkin pulp and let your little one push and squeeze the bag for a whole new sensory experience. You can also use sellotape to stick the bag to a window or a light source for another way of experimenting. There are endless possibilities – using a pen, draw a pumpkin face onto the re-sealable bag (if there is a label on the bag, you can use nail varnish remover to wipe away for a clear bag). Fill the bag with seeds but less pulp so that your little one can get busy pushing the seeds into the mouth of the face! This can also test numeracy skills, if you wish.

Pumpkin Carving and Decorating

Why waste the opportunity of carving your perfectly empty pumpkin? With the lid from earlier, cut the excess pulp from the bottom to form a smooth lid. You can use a pen to draw a design, or you can freehand. Use your carving tools or knives to cut out the pieces. Place a tea light in the centre and pop the lid back on. Watch your pumpkin light up and look at the amazing colours it creates! Place it in a dark room for a more effective experience.

2. Toilet Roll Spider and Stamp

What you need:

  • Toilet roll
  • Scissors
  • Paper / card
  • Paint (colour of your choice)
  • Googly eyes (if wanted)
  • Glue
  • Paintbrush
  • Pen (if wanted)

What you need to do:

  • Cut the toilet roll from the bottom about 1/4 of the way up into strips – make sure they are of equal amount.
  • Bend these back to form 8 “legs” and cut the excess strip.
  • Use a paper plate or similar so you can pour paint onto it to use for dipping.
  • Dip the toilet roll and coat the strips well to use as a stamp.
  • Grab your paper or card that you will be using to print onto and press the stamp down in the position you like.
  • Remove and you will see a spider shape with 8 legs and a circle body.
  • Print as many times as you like and wait to dry.
  • Then stick googly eyes inside the circles if you wish to bring the spiders to life.
  • You can also use a pen to draw decorations to create scenery for your craft – we drew a spider web!
  • After printing, you can also turn your stamp into a spider itself!
  • Use the toilet roll stamp and coat with paint using a paintbrush – over the legs and half way up the roll to act as the body.
  • Cut the top half of the roll to where you have painted up to.
  • Use googly eyes to bring it to life!

3. Toilet Roll Projector

What you’ll need:

  • Toilet roll
  • Scissors
  • Sellotape
  • Pen
  • Torchlight
  • A dark room / space to project (a blank wall or table)

How to:

  • Cut some sellotape to stick over the open end of the toilet roll.
  • Use a pen to draw a design onto the sellotape (ensure this is dark so it shows up through the light).
  • You’re now ready to project!
  • Use a torch to shine through the open end onto a blank wall/table in a darkened room so that it shows up.
  • You can now see your projected design!

We would love to see your wonderful creations, so if you get involved, please send us some photos to [email protected] or tag us on social media. You can also check out our other Halloween themed activities for children from last year here.

Happy creating!

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