Halloween Activities for Toddlers

We threw a Terribly Terrific Toddler Halloween Party today, so I wanted to take a minute to outline what we did in hopes that it will be useful to parents or caregivers planning Halloween activities for their littles. The toddlers in attendance were 12 months, 17 months, 22 months, 23 months, and 2 3 year olds for reference. Enjoy!

Food

Menu

Spooky spider sandwiches (uncrustables, chocolate chips, and pretzel sticks)

Creepy cheese (string cheese)

Franken-apples (green apples)

Petit pumpkins (mandarin oranges)
Boo Bananas (chocolate chips and bananas)

Favors 

Personalized Halloween buckets and cups 

These were really easy to make. The buckets and vinyl were from the Target Dollar section and the cups were from the Dollar Tree. I have a Silhoutte Cameo, so I just used it to cut the names out and then transferred them onto the cups and buckets. It was maybe 20 minutes and work and I loved how everything turned out. We used the buckets for lunch. This saved us from using disposable plates. 

DIY Sensory Jars

I set up one empty plastic jar per kid (these ones came from Michaels) and a bunch of small options to fill the plastic jars with to make a take home sensory bottle. 

The object we used were:

• Shredded paper (Dollar Tree) 
• Tiny Halloween erasers (Target)
• Glow in the dark vase filler (Michaels)
• Pipe Cleaner Coils (they come uncoiled from Dollar Tree, I just twirled it around my finger to make the coils)
• Feathers (I bought two boas from Dollar Tree and pulled the feathers off)
• Plastic Eyeballs (Dollar Tree)
• Sequins (I had this in my craft things but I think it’s originally from Michaels) 
• Googly eyes and shiny shapes (Dollar Tree)

This was so much fun. I swear by the benefits of sensory bottles. They’re shakers. They’re I-spy. They’re visually stimulating. I love them. It was fun to let the moms personalize their own bottles. We finished them off with some hot glue on the lids to seal them. 

Play Opportunities 

There were a lot of play learning opportunities at the party. I channeled my inner Tinkergarten leader and really focused on activites to use all 7 of our senses (that’s our Tinkergarten theme this season). The seven senses I am referencing are sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell, vestibular, and proprioception. 

Sticky Spider Web (hearing, touch, sight, vestibular)

I took contact paper, flipped it sticky side out, and taped it to the wall. I made a web using yarn. Included to stick and unstick were pipe cleaner spiders, popsicle stick ghosts, and ring/pipe cleaner ghosts. 

This activity was a favorite of all of the kids (12m-3y). There’s something really satisfying about the action of sticking and unsticking. It also made a great noise when you stuck and unstuck your finger to it, so we did that for a while too. 

Vertical play is incredibly beneficial to toddlers. They work on bilateral coordination, spatial awareness, core strength/posture, and so much more. For a resource on the benefits of vertical play, click here. 

Pikler Triangle Web (touch, vestibular, proprioception) 

Using yarn, I strung up a web underneath the Pikler Triangle. This one was for the toddlers to work on their gross-motor skills and proprioception (fitting in narrow spaces). They also climbed the triangle after, which worked on their vestibular sense! 

Save the Spiders (touch, sight)

Using more yarn, I strung up a web in a laundry basket and popped two spiders in the basket. The toddlers used their fine motor skills to work the spiders out the basket. 

Hallo-tastic Movement Game (touch, vestibular, hearing, sight)

Using a blank jumbo dice from the Dollar Tree, I wrote 6 different Halloween related movements. I got the movement idea from Gift of Curiosity.

• walk like a mummy
• pounce like a cat
• roll like a pumpkin
• crawl like a spider 
• glide like a ghost
• fly like a bat

This was a great game for the twins (3 years old) because they have a better understanding of movement. 

Spooky Sensory Bin (touch, sight, hearing)

It wouldn't be a Chicka Chicka Mama party with sensory bins. I used the Flisat table, and the bins were loaded with the following things: 

• Shredded Paper (Dollar Tree, Michaels)
• Glow in the dark fingers (Target)
• Bats (Target)
• Creepy Crawlies (Dollar Tree)

Cloud Dough Bins (touch, sight, smell)

The big finale of the day was a large cement tub filled with cloud dough. The cloud dough was made with 8 parts flour to 1 part vegetable oil. I threw in a container of pumpkin pie spice to encourage the use of smell. When I made the recipe, I did so believing that it was taste safe. However, I just learned today that raw flour is not taste safe. Please keep that in mind with children who put everything in their mouth. 

The bin had little Halloween trinkets, some cookie cutters and stamps, and sensory tools to use. I also got some gourds to mix up the texture a bit. The favorite tool of the day was the skeleton hand. Those came two to a pack at Dollar Tree marketed as tongs. 

All of these activities and foods together or individually are a fun way to celebrate Halloween with your toddler! We hope you have a very spooky Halloween! 

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Halloween Activities for Toddlers