toddler friendly halloween activities

Celebrating Halloween in the UK is growing in popularity and for our children it’s a chance to have a little fun dressing up all the while eating sweet treats. We should however keep in mind that for younger children some Halloween themes may be a little too old. Graveyards, witches, ghosts and ghoulies are just some of the thoughts toddler aged children might be fearful of. Keeping Halloween age appropriate is a great way to still enjoy all the fun without scaring your little one.
So, we have put together a toddler friendly guide to this Autumn’s biggest celebration so bedtime doesn’t turn into a nightmare.

‘Trick or Treat’ Treasure Hunt

This is a great alternative to the traditional trick or treating if your children are still a little too young. Hiding treats around the house and in the garden, can provide all the fun of receiving treats without leaving the house. You can be as creative as you like, think treasure maps, using pumpkins as your treat markers, treat buckets and fun treats. If you must leave a trick, give your little one’s clues to where the treats are. Invite family and friends with children to join in all the treasure hunting fun, you’ll soon see beaming smiles before bedtime.

Glitter Pumpkins

Forget pumpkin scooping or carving with a sharp knife, decorating your pumpkins with glitter is a toddler friendly way enjoying this Halloween activity together and here’s how,

-Firstly, choose a wipe clean spot to decorate your pumpkins or cover your work area in newspaper, this could get messy
-Make sure your pumpkin is clean and dry
-Use craft tape to create your design, think stripes or chevron patterns, the world really is your oyster (or pumpkin is this case)
-Apply a clear craft glue to cover the sections you want in glitter. Sprinkle your chosen glitter generously over the glued sections. Shake off any excess glitter once it’s been covered and touch up any sparse areas
-Applying some of your glue on top of the glitter will help seal the glitter
-Lastly, remove the tape for the big reveal

For a tape free design, apply the glue to the pumpkin’s stem and indented ridges working your way from the top of the pumpkin to around half way down. Apply glitter on top and then shake off the excess to reveal a sparkly design without the fuss.

Baking cookies

A quick google search will give you a basic cookie recipe and to theme them, we suggest using cookie cutters in the shapes of pumpkins, spiders or cats. Decorating will be the fun part and one that your little one can help with. Adding some spices such as ginger or cinnamon to your cookies will give them a yummy autumnal twist.

Pumpkin plates

Using paper plates and some orange paint (risky we know, so we suggest another load of newspaper for this one). Task your children with designing their own pumpkin face on a paper plate. Let them choose from a range of crafty materials to give their pumpkin unique features such as curly pipe cleaner hair or googlely eyes.

Film night

Watch an age appropriate film such as Monsters Inc or Poohs Heffalump Halloween Movie. These films have some of the themes we all associate with Halloween but presented in a kid friendly way. Keep it cosy with the lights on and yummy food to tuck into, what’s not to love!

Happy Halloween