by Barbie L.
Scrambling to come up with last-minute ideas to make Halloween special with all the restrictions this year? Here are some simple toddler-friendly crafts you can do with supplies you may already have around your home.
Tape Resist Art
I love doing tape resist art with toddlers because it always comes out looking great! You tape out an interesting pattern, let your child paint over and around it, then remove the tape to reveal the pattern within their artwork.
Busy Toddler features a spider web pattern you can make on cardboard, a canvas, or any surface that won’t get damaged when you remove the tape at the end to reveal the web.
This year, my family decided to use homemade sidewalk paint (1 part cornstarch to 1 part water, plus food coloring) to make life-sized skeletons on our driveway. First I had my children lay down on the concrete and traced their bodies with sidewalk chalk. Then, I taped out a skeleton for my younger child while my older child copied me in her own body outline. Once the taping was done, they filled in the outlines of their bodies with sidewalk paint. When the paint was dry, we peeled off the tape and had these adorable skeletons on our driveway until it next rained!
Peek-a-Boo Haunted House
I was inspired a while back by The Crafting Chicks to make simple paper houses for my kids with doors and windows that open to reveal what’s inside. As Halloween approached, I added a twist and made haunted paper houses. Use black construction paper to fold and cut the house as shown in The Crafting Chicks tutorial linked above. I like to trace the door and window openings onto the paper behind them so my kids know where to draw the people or creatures they want peeking out. Then, give your child a something that will show up on black paper:
- Low mess: white crayon
- Medium mess: Halloween stickers
- High mess: Paint pens (this is what we chose)
Okay, I admit it, I got so excited about this idea I made one of my own too:
Pumpkin Play
Having a toddler do nothing more than pick out a design for you to carve into a pumpkin is underestimating the potential for pumpkins to entertain children.
Pumpkin Washing
Why wash pumpkins yourself? Toddler love to do stuff like this! Fill a water table or bin with soapy water, give your child a sponge, a toothbrush, a cloth… whatever they might enjoy washing a pumpkin with, and let them scrub away! Don’t forget to have them rinse the suds off and dry off their gourds at the end.
Pumpkin Decorating with Self-Adhesives
Most toddlers love things that stick. Get a variety of self-adhesive decorations, like stickers, googly eyes, washi tape, gems, etc. and let your kid loose. Toddlers tend to LOVE googly eyes, so some pumpkins might come out looking a little creepy, but that will be perfect for Halloween!
Pumpkin Painting
This is super simple, but it took me years to think to do it with my kids. Paint. Pumpkins. Go. It can be finger paint, tempera paint, watercolors, or paint markers. Kids have a blast, and you can still carve a painted pumpkin closer to Halloween (or redo the pumpkin wash activity to get a clean pumpkin to carve!)
Happy Halloween, San Bruno Parents!