20 Easy Ideas for Halloween Play at Home

Halloween is a great time of year to have lots of fun with play and learning. I thought I would share a few ideas to support planning for October.

Pumpkin Painting

I loved doing this with my son. Before cutting out the pumpkin face, we decorated it with paint – it makes a change from them just being orange. I completely let him mark make what he wanted. If you wanted to have more of a theme or focus it would be good to paint the pumpkins white and have more of a blank canvas to work with.

Instead of painting the pumpkin, try these ideas:

1. Stamping onto the pumpkin using different tools or sponges for textures
2. Using rollers to roll paint onto the pumpkin
3. Writing straight onto the pumpkin – paint it white and mark make in pencil or cover in chalkboard paint and write on them
4. Adding textures, using PVA glue with tissue paper newspaper, cut up or tear up tissue paper and apply to the pumpkin

   

   

   

   
   

Tuff Spot Ideas (or play tray)

1. Creating a large spiders web; using string or ribbon to create it a large web, plastic spiders
2. Creating magic potions; using different coloured liquids, pots and containers, mixing equipment pop together to explore
3. Exploring pumpkins, have a selection of pumpkins cut or chopped up for children to explore, smell and touch. Include tweezers, spoons, scoops, magnifying glasses etc. Add other autumnal vegetables to the tuff spot to be explored.
4. Create halloween slime (recipe from Pinterest by Imagination Tree)
5. Messy play I previously wrote a blog post using spaghetti
6. Creating a witches brew or soup using different textures and liquids
7. Shaving cream mixed with plastic eyes and other halloween themed items; spiders, cobwebs, bats

Halloween Play Dough

1. I made some playdough using this recipe Halloween black play dough
2. Other ideas from my Play Dough Play Pack include;
3. Use playdough cutters to create bats and decorate
4. Make 3D pumpkins and decorate
5. Making spiders + webs
6. Create a halloween monsters
7. Create a witch, hat, broom or cat

Suggested Books

• Funnybones
• Room on a Broom
• Meg and Mog
• Winnie the Witch

Do you like Halloween? Do you have any ideas you want to share. If you do throughout October @printplaylearn will be taking part in the #oct_playalong on instagram. We would love you to join us! My Pinterest shares loads of ideas so check it out.

Another place for a great ideas is Play Hooray, Claire’s made a miniplay PROMPTs set for Halloween which you can purchase directly from her site. She will also be doing #playingoutoctober so look out for that on her page, there will be loads of play ideas for getting outside!

If you want to check out Print Play Learn’s downloads then look under the Halloween Theme.

Any questions or just want to get in touch use my contact form or contact me on social media.

Michelle from Print Play Learn