October means autumn is in full swing with fall leaves, sweater weather, pumpkin patches, and, of course, all things Halloween. It’s an exciting time of year, especially for kids.
Since my 30 Days of September Activities was so popular, I decided to do the same for October.
Would you like some ideas of creative activities to do with your children this month?
MY LATEST VIDEOSSome of our October traditions include picking out our pumpkins (perhaps at a pumpkin lot or a local farm), decorating our pumpkins, planning and making our Halloween costumes, baking with pumpkin, and making lots of Autumn and Halloween arts and crafts!
Plus reading Halloween books, of course. I’m including a list of favorite children’s picture books about Halloween at the bottom. (Please add to it in the comments—I always love more recommendations!)
Here’s my list of Halloween activities for kids and families!
31 Days of Halloween Activities for Kids
If you’d like a printable version of the list, scroll down to the bottom of this post to get a handy PDF version!
5 Pumpkin Decorating and Carving Ideas for Kids
1.) Pumpkin Painting with Kids (it’s the perfect Halloween sensory activity!)
2.) Make awesome 3D pumpkin faces with playdough and poke-ins (you can do this fun activity early in the month and then still carve the pumpkin closer to Halloween!)
3.) The best pumpkin decorating ideas for kids (that they can actually do!)
4.) How to carve & decorate a pumpkin fairy house for kids (plus more pumpkin fairy house inspiration)
5.) How to get a Lite Brite effect for your Jack-o’-lantern (super cool!)
5 October and Pumpkin Recipes
6.) Bake a batch of the best pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
7.) Make mini Halloween gingerbread houses
8.) Bake monster bread for dinner
9.) Make delicious and healthy pumpkin waffles
10.) Make Jack-o’-lantern pumpkin pancakes for breakfast (or brinner!)
6 Halloween Art Ideas for Kids
11.) Tape-resist skeleton paintings (full-sized!)
12.) Make not-too-spooky drawing prompts for kids with eye stickers (are they ghosts, monsters, bats, Jack-o-lanterns, witches, spiders, owls?)
13.) Raised salt painting with Halloween themes such as pumpkins, Jack-0′-lanterns, spiders, webs, ghosts, and witches
14.) Double-doodle art with Halloween themes (see above)
15.) Halloween scratch art (an easy peasy DIY method!)
16.) Make playdough monsters with poke-ins
5 Spider Arts and Crafts Ideas
17.) How to make a Halloween spider web from coffee filters (super easy, plus they look awesome in the window!)
18.) Make glue resist spider webs and pumpkins
19.) Zentangle spider webs (a fun tangle art activity for older kids and adults)
20.) Spider web crafts (so many more ideas here!)
21.) How to make Halloween spider webs with a marble and paint!
3 DIY Halloween Decorations
22.) DIY bat garland (the perfect Halloween decoration!)
23.) How to make a Jack-o’-lantern melted bead suncatcher
24.) Make a super easy Jack-o’-lantern suncatcher with colored tissue paper and contact paper
3 DIY Costumes for Kids
25.) Have a costume making party for kids and make paper plate masks, cardboard wings, and more!
26.) The easiest ever glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume
27.) DIY Fairy wings and wands
- How to make fairy wings with cardboard and doilies
- Flower fairy wings (or use autumn leaves!)
- Dazzling fairy wands made with melted pony beads
4 More Halloween Activities for Kids
28.) Fill-in-the Jack-o’-lantern faces (a Halloween drawing activity for kids)
29.) Make a spooky Halloween fort and drape colored lights on it for evening play (or a witch house play fort)
30.) A not-too-spooky Halloween music for kids activity
31.) Head to the library and check out some Books about Halloween
Need some suggestions? Ask your children’s librarian or try some of these:
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler- Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara
- Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell
- Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell
- Halloween Mice by Bethany Roberts and illustrated by Doug Cushman
- Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween: A Safety Guide for Scaredies by Melanie Watt
- The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Richard Egielski
Would you like a printable version of 31 Halloween Activities for Kids to hang on your fridge? You’re in luck! Just click on the image below and get a PDF delivered straight to your inbox!
How about you? What are your favorite Halloween activities for kids? Something from this list or something different? Please share in the comments!
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Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I am a new director of an after school program and you have saved my day!
You’re so welcome, Laura! :) Good luck with your after school program!
The tape resist skeletons are so fun! I did one for my 3yo and 10 mo old. So cool! Thanks!
You’re welcome, Ashley! Aren’t they fun?! (We may need to do those again this month…)