This post may contain affiliate links. Read my whole disclosure here.
Inside: Discover 5 easy and fun Halloween activities for kids that you can quickly set up and enjoy with your little ones!
Halloween will look different this year. There will be no Halloween parade at school, no big events, no trick or treating.
Knowing how much my son loves Halloween, I was sad to see him missing out on the fun activities he always enjoys this time of the year.
But as October went by, I was happy to discover that his school prepared some nice surprises to help kids have fun on Halloween even if they will no be together.
The school collected photos from all the parents to create a virtual Halloween Parade and we can’t wait to watch it. Also, the PTO organized “The Great Pumpkin Hunt” by inviting all the families into our community to display a picture of a pumpkin in their windows and create a pumpkin trail for the kids to discover.
I wanted to prepare a few fun Halloween activities for us to do at home as well, so I looked for easy ideas for us to try together! And I found some super easy and fun activities my son loved!
⭐ Short on time? Download the printable Halloween scavenger hunt here.
5 easy and fun Halloween activities for kids
If you are looking for ideas to try with your kids this year, here are 4 fun Halloween activities we already tried, plus one that we planned for the Halloween day.
1. Watercolor resist spider web
This is such a simple and fun idea that works great for many ages!
Materials:
- paper
- crayons or oil pastels
- watercolor paint.
Instructions:
- Draw a spider web using crayons or oil pastels. For best results, make sure to press on the crayons to get strong lines.
- After your kids finish drawing, invite them to use watercolor to paint the whole paper. The lines they drew with the crayons will resist the watercolor, so the design will look really nice!
- After the paint dries, the kids can add additional designs if they want.
⭐ Bonus idea: You can use this idea for creating many other designs like pumpkins or haunted houses.
2. Paper plate masks: Funny monsters
This was actually my son’s idea. I had a few paper plates that were shaped like a bear’s face and I asked my son if he would like to decorate them and create funny bears.
Instead, he said he will use the other side of the plate and create funny monsters. 😊 And this is exactly what we did!
Materials:
- paper plate
- drawing supplies (anything you have at hand: pencils, markers, paint)
- pom poms, pipe cleaners, paper pieces, sequins, and anything else you want to use to decorate the “monster”
- glue (we used glitter glue as well).
Instructions:
I just put all the supplies in a tray and offered it to my son. He asked for help gluing some of the decorations, but he did everything elso on his own.
3. “Monster lab”
For this activity you’ll only need paper and drawing supplies.
Invite the kids to a “Monster lab” and create funny (or scary) monsters together. Encourage kids to get creative and use their imagination to create monsters and name them.
We had a lot of fun talking about the monsters we created and all their “super powers”!
You can see one of the monsters my son created in the picture above (on yellow background). He’s called Crunchy and he loves cookies. 😊
⭐ Bonus idea: We also had another “Monster lab” session when we used playdough, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and beads to create monsters.
4. The “Halloween Wall”
My son loves to display his creations in his room and he is very proud when we display them in the living room.
This year I decided to give him a “special mission” and invite him to create a “Halloween Wall” in our Halloween and decorate it any way he wants. He used the space to display his favorite artworks and creations, and I’m sure he’ll add more to the wall until Halloween.
This super simple idea can keep kids busy for hours creating drawings or other decorations for their special Halloween space!
5. Halloween scavenger hunt
We love scavenger hunts and we tried many ideas over the years!
This year, when going trick or treating is not possible, I really wanted to find an idea that would help me create something fun for us to do on Halloween. And a Halloween scavenger hunt with a “sweet bonus” seemed a perfect way to replace trick or treating!
Materials:
- the printable Halloween scavenger hunt (you can download it below)
- a pen or marker (to check the items on the list)
- (optional) clipboard to hold the paper
- a bag of candies (for the parents to hold)
- trick or treat buckets or bags for the kids.
Instructions:
- Prepare the printable scavenger hunt and the markers. Also, prepare a bag of candies (or other treats) to take with you.
- Go for a walk in your neighborhood and enjoy the decorated houses!
- Invite the kids to find the items on the list.
- Anytime the kids find one of the items, check it on the list and invite the to take a candy / treat from the bag and add it in their buckets.
This easy activity is a great alternative if you can’t go trick or treating, and I hope your kids will enjoy it!
To download the printable, click the button below:
More fun Halloween activities for kids
We planto try these activities in the next days, but I wanted to share them with you, in case you want to try them as well:
- Invite your kids to draw Halloween costumes they would like to design for each member of the family.
- Choose a theme and invite all family members to decorate a pumpkin using that theme as inspiration.
- Create Halloween-themed paper chain decoration and use them to decorate the house.
- Create zentagle pumpkins (an activity that works great for many ages – you can find more details here).
- Play Halloween bingo (you can download free printable bingo cards here)
- Have a Halloween-themed story time. Here are some Halloween books we enjoyed in the last years: Pete the Cat: Trick or Pete, Pumpkin Jack, Goodnight, Little Monster, Creepy Carrots!, and Little Blue Truck’s Halloween.
I hope you and your kids will enjoy these ideas! Have a fun Halloween!
How to create a time-in space that will help kids manage strong emotions