Running out of ideas about what to do for the spooky month of October? Kids love showing their creative side, so we created 5 Halloween activities for preschoolers and kids.
Most of these activities require some equipment, but luckily everything you need is already in your household. We have included DIY crafts, spooky group games, nature walks, fun recipes, and scary decorations!
Carving pumpkins, sewing costumes, front-porch ornaments, and crafts are just some things you can do to make this October fun!
Contents
What are Halloween Traditions?
The most traditional thing to do on Halloween is:
- Carving pumpkins
- Wearing scary costumes
- Go trick-or-treating
However, Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic festival Samhain, a pagan religious celebration. This celebration aims to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, during which people wore costumes and lit bonfires to keep ghosts away.
Pope Gregory III proclaimed November 1 to be a day of honoring saints in the eighth century. Over time, All Saints Day incorporated the traditions of Samhain. Thus, the evening before All Saints Day was called All Hallows Eve, while later on, it was named Halloween.
How Do You Make Halloween Fun for Kids at Home?
There are numerous things to do and make it home. The list below includes in-house crafts and quick trips to nature. However, these are only a few different things that you can try. Numerous others can be found online where you can adapt each one to your kids’ abilities. Aside from the ones we mentioned, here are a few Halloween activities at home:
- Make Halloween Tick Tac Toe
- Weave a spider’s web
- Read spooky stories
- Make a pumpkin slime
- Bake Halloween cookies
- Do a family Halloween movie marathon
- Make a Q-tip skeleton
- Craft some vampire bets with leaves
- Make your own trick-or-treat bag
- Design a paper-plate vampire
What Activities Can We do for Halloween?
Halloween activities for preschoolers and kids are numerous, but we picked the most interesting ones!
Heads up! We didn’t include classic carving pumpkins or sewing costumes because that is something we will do anyway! We wanted to cherish creativity and its importance in kids.
All these things, including crafts, recipes, and visiting haunting places, are suitable for kids of all ages, including adults.
Particularly the ones we mention here are perfect as Halloween activities for preschoolers because they require steadier hands, precisions, and more significant concentration. However, most of them are also suitable for kids of younger age because all of them can be accommodated to their abilities! Let’s check the top 5 Halloween Activities for Preschoolers!
#1 Make a Mummy
Making a mummy can be a great idea for a Halloween costume, but you can also make it a Halloween decoration. Let’s see how we can make a mummy and even play a mummy game!
For a mummy doll, you will need the following:
- Either a paper or a piece of white cloth (sheet or a muslin)
- Tea bags
- A pot of boiled water
- An old doll
Boil water and place a tea bag inside. Take your cloth, preferably a muslin, and soak it in the tea for five minutes to make it look aged. Once the fabric is brown, take it out and let it dry for a few minutes. Cut into pieces at least an inch wide. Ensure the strips are long enough to go around the toy at least once A little extra material should be included in the strips to secure the doll nicely.
Start to wrap up the doll, starting from the bottom. When you are at the end of wrapping one strip, connect it to the next one and keep wrapping the cloth around the body. Continue doing this until the doll is completely covered, then tie the knot to fasten the final piece to the doll. Strips should have ragged edges and look like they are hanging off the mummy’s body. Once you are done, place the doll in the preferred place.
For extra fun, you can make a mummy game. Include at least 4 kids in it and get a lot of paper rolls. Split up into a team of two or more, where one will be a mummy. The other kids or the rest of the group will wrap “the mummy” with the paper. Those who mummify the fastest win!
#2 Donut Bobbing Game
For this activity, parents can either buy or make donuts; the more you have them, the better. Aside from that, you will need a ribbon or string to tie the donuts together. Avoid using a too-thin string since it could easily pull through the donuts. If you make them, ensure to decorate them as you wish. You can do whatever you want; for instance, color them in black and orange, draw on them, add some red food color to imitate blood, or simply get creative with your kid and do as they wish!
One end of the string tie to the donuts, and the other end to a tree branch or similar object that can support the donuts over the ground. You may even tape or tack them to the ceiling if you don’t want to do it in your backyard.
Accommodate the height of the donuts around kids’ mouth level. Otherwise, the kids won’t be able to get to them. When it’s time to play, tell the kids to hold their hands behind their backs since using them can be much easier.
With only their mouth, the goal is to eat a whole donut, while the winner will be the first to do it! If you place more little donuts, the winner will be the one who eats the most donuts.
#3 Pumpkin Fairy House
This is carving pumpkins but on a different level. Instead of making a classic scary pumpkin face, try to make a fairy house. A different yet fun fall craft for kids!
You will need the following:
- Medium-size Hubbard squash preferred blue
- Small acorn squash in brown or green
- Toothpicks
- Mini glass balls
- Two acorns
- Wood rounds
- Leaves
- Carving knife
- Hot-glue gun
Firstly, scoop the pulp and seeds from a medium-sized blue Hubbard squash. Then cut out the door, make a circular window in the door and insert toothpicks to create window grilles. Hold the door with toothpicks as you insert it into the opening. Make lines on the door and different shapes of flowers around the door with some pencils.
Make little porch lights with acorn caps from the door sides to create lights by attaching them with hot glue. To make a cute awning, cut a piece of wood around it and glue it above the door.
Collect some leaves in various colors to decorate pumpkins and add round wood steps to the front porch for the final touch. Repeat the same process with the bit of acorn squash; instead, the door makes a cute little window. Place the pumpkins wherever you want, but we recommend placing them on your porch in front of the door as your Halloween decoration.
#4 Visit a Corn Maze or Take a Hayride
It is the perfect time to go to the corn maze! We wanted to include some nature and fall activities, and this one we liked the best. Many farms offer “haunted” corn mazes on Halloween. However, the corn maze is often available throughout October, so you can choose one day and make a family trip.
Since these mazes can be very long and often the trip takes a lot of time, ensure your kids have suitable footwear and cloth, and don’t forget to bring water with you. Find the scariest corn maze near you and plan a spooky family trip together!
Another way to connect with nature is to go on a hayride as well, since October is the perfect month for it. The local farms often offer haunted versions of harvest pastime, so you might want to look out for those.
#5 Make an Eyeball Punch
For making a spooky, kids-tailored eyeball punch, you will need the following:
- Blueberries
- Canned lychees
- Fresh lemon juice
- Blueberry juice
- Lemon-lime soda
Blend the blackberries, lychee syrup, and lemon juice together. Once that’s done, strain the liquid into a pitcher, pressing on the solids with a rubber spatula, and add the blueberry juice. After finishing, place the mix into the refrigerator to chill for around 2 hours.
Take the unused blueberries and place them in the cavity of each lychee. Once that’s done, add the lemon-lime soda and gently stir it together. This drink is suitable for kids of all ages, while the quantity will depend on how much punch you want.
These are our top Halloween Activities for preschoolers among many others that we mention about in the Halloween fun at home! We are so prepared for the spooky season and the creativity is bursting among us!
