31 Halloween Activities And Crafts For Toddlers

My favorite month is here, and I am so excited! I usually wait until the last minute to decorate and get costumes, but this year I decided that I would switch it up and start early. 

I also choose to start early because my daughter is absolutely in love with Halloween. She loves singing about Halloween and watching Halloween theme shows on YouTube Kids. 

I wanted to create an awesome month of Halloween fun so I committed to doing a Halloween activity every day of the month! Yes! I made the pledge of 31 Halloween activities for the whole month. I’m not sure how this will work since I am working full time, but I will do anything to see her smile. 

Goal: Do a Halloween activity with my 2-year old that is for toddlers. I am going to share here every day until I get to 31! This will hold me accountable and make sure that I do each activity!

I’m collecting ideas from Pinterest and Instagram and will add the Halloween activities that we choose to do. I’m also going to give the pros and cons of each Halloween activity.  I will include the materials that we used!

Here we go! 

1. Pumpkin Painting | Halloween Activity 

Material Used:

1. Orange carvable pumpkin from Dollar Tree
2. Paintbrushes
3. Paint Tray Palette
4. Washable paint

Clear off a place to paint and let their imagination go wild!

I practiced going over colors with her as we prepped the paint.

She wanted to paint the whole pumpkin a different color.

Verdict

Pros 

1. It was a good sit down activity that kept her in one place. I didn’t have to keep telling her to sit down.
2. It allowed her to be free and express her creativity! She loved mixing the colors and putting her paintbrush in the water.
3. It gave her something to put by the fireplace and for the next couple of months, she has something that she can enjoy and know that she created it. 

Cons

1. A little messy, but hey, it’s paint! Even though she tried to keep the paint off her hands, it was on her face, arms, and legs by the time we were done. 
2. Waiting for it to dry – She wanted to hold it and take pictures right after we finished painting and she was disappointed that she would have to wait until it dried. We did this activity late at night, so when she woke up this morning she was super excited that it had dried. So she didn’t have to wait all day for it.

Duration – This toddler activity lasted about 45 minutes

2. Halloween Themed Flour Bin For Toddlers

Material Needed

1. Flour
2. Bin or anything large enough to hold the flour and toys
3. Jars and containers
4. Fake Halloween creatures – we got ours from Dollar Tree
5. Sifters, spoons and other utensils for them to take out the insects

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Put your Halloween trinkets and critters at the bottom of your bin and cover with flour.

I gave her instructions at the beginning of the activity. I made up a scenario saying the creatures were stolen and we had to dig them up and rescue them.

I told her to find the critters and put them in the jars to save them.

Verdict

Pros

1. Easy to set up

Cons

1. Super messy! Make sure to have something down to catch all the flour. Or have someone who likes to clean.

Duration: She played about 30 mins before she started to forget the scenario and started throwing it everywhere.

3. Halloween Stickers Everywhere Toddler Activity

Materials Needed

1. Halloween Themed Stickers – We got ours from Dollar Tree

I was so tired the day we did this activity. I thought it was going to be super boring, but she really enjoyed it.

I allowed her to run around the house and put stickers anywhere she wanted. Just make sure that the stickers are able to come off your walls.

Verdict

Pros

1. Good toddler activity to relax and allow them to do the work.
2. No cleanup
3. Easy to explain to toddler what to do.

Cons

1. It wasn’t an issue with me, but you will have stickers everywhere! However, you can also make it into another activity for your toddler to help take the stickers down when Halloween is over.

4. Spider and Worm Cupcakes

Materials Needed

1. Chocolate Cake mix
2. Chocolate Icing
3. Oreos
4. Candy Eyes
5. Gummy worms
6. Pretzels sticks
7. Ziplock bag
8. Halloween Cupcake Liners
9. Cupcake Pan

Directions:

1. Prepare cake mix as directed on box

Do this while cupcakes are cooking:

1. Put Oreo cookies in a ziplock bag. Give your toddler a spoon and let them bang away on the cookies to crunch them up. My daughter loved this part.
2. Let them help you put the toppings into the separate bowls. I put the candy worms and the candy eyes on separate plates and the pretzels in a bowl. She was so amazed out how they looked that she forgot the cupcakes were cooking.
3. Once the cupcakes have cooled, spread the icing on top of each cupcake. This will act as the glue in the activity.
4. Sprinkle the Oreo crumbs on top of each cupcake.
5. Stick the candy eyes on each cupcake.
6. If you’re making the spider cupcake, add candy eyes and 8 pretzel sticks.
7. If you’re making the worms, just add the candy worms. She mixed everything together!
8. Make sure to take pictures!!

Verdict

Pros

• This Halloween activity was perfect because of the different things we had to do. From preparing the cake mix to smashing the Oreos down, it kept her very engaged.
• Very hands-on
• Gives your toddler a chance to use their imagination to create their own cupcake

Cons

• It involved a lot of sugar! She was up all day because of it.
• She wanted to eat cupcakes and the toppings all day!

Duration: About an hour and a half

5. Puffy Ghost Toddler Halloween Activity

Materials Needed

1. Cotton Balls
2. Black Poster Board
3. Glue Sticks
4. Marker

Directions

1. Take your marker and draw out an image of a ghost on your construction paper.
2. Glue cotton balls onto the poster board. I used the glue stick to make a place for her to place the cotton balls. I asked her where she wanted to put the cotton ball and then I would put the glue there. By the end of the activity, she was using the glue stick on her own.
3. Let them hang up their ghost somewhere in the house that they can see throughout the month. My daughter put her ghost underneath her bed!

Verdict

Pros

1. Easy to set up and easy to explain
2. They will have something to hang up around the house.

Cons

1. This was my daughter’s first time using a glue stick, so I was hesitant to let her use it. So this activity started out super slow and I thought it would be a fail. When I did let her use the glue stick, she wasn’t putting enough on the construction paper, so the cotton balls were not sticking.

Tip: Put the cotton balls in a separate bowl. I had them lying on the table and she kept grabbing the cotton balls that were already stuck to the paper. Once I put them in the bowl, I told her to only grab the cotton balls that were in the bowl. This helped out A LOT!

Duration: 30 minutes

6. Plastic Tablecloth Ghost

Materials Needed

1. White plastic tablecloth
2. Twine or some sort of string
3. Black permanent marker
4. Newspaper
5. Plastic bag

Directions

You can use anything to make the head. You can use newspaper, old towels, or anything that makes the head appear round.

Put the stuffing in the plastic bag and cover with the plastic table cloth

Tie off at the base of the head with the twine or string of your choice.

Use a permanent marker to make the eyes and the mouth of the ghost.

Verdict

This Halloween activity was done when my daughter was super tired and full of sugar! That was a horrible combination, but we made it through. Once I explained to her and showed her how to make the ghost head, she was very adamant about doing it herself.

She loved crumpling up the paper to put in the plastic bag and the sound of it. Which makes this an awesome sensory activity too!

Duration: 45 minutes

7. Halloween Ghost Circle

Material Needed

1. Plastic tablecloth ghost from the activity above
2. Wooden stakes
3. Twine
4. A centerpiece to put your ghost around. We chose the tree in the front yard

Directions

Take the wooden stakes and put them around your centerpiece. Make sure to place the stakes close enough to each other because your ghost will be holding “hands” around the centerpiece. We took a hammer to drive the wooden stakes into the ground.

I reused the twine that I tied around the ghost head from the previous activity.

We positioned the ghost head on top of the stake and tied the twine around the base of the ghost head and around the stake. Make sure to tie it tightly. My daughter actually did this herself! I was so proud of her!

Connect the ghost hands together by joining each of the bottom of the tablecloth together and tie them in a knot.

Tip: We usually put orange lights and other things around the tree to make our ghost circle stand out more. It gives off the illusion of the ghost surrounding a fire.

You can use anything you want or nothing at all. It will still look awesome!

Verdict

My daughter enjoyed this activity a lot. Since it was an outside activity, she was able to run around and play and get her energy out. We did this activity last year when she was one and she was afraid to stand inside the ghost circle. Now she didn’t even seem phased by it. We also used this time to put up other Halloween decorations outside too. It was so good to see her smile and to know that we are starting an annual tradition.

Duration: 45 minutes (This Halloween activity could have gone longer, but it got too dark)

8. Wooden Skull Painting Activity

Materials Needed

Wooden Skull Painting Kit – We got ours from Michaels Craft Store for $4

Verdict

Painting activities are the best! She took her time painting and I was really surprised at her creativity. After she painted the skulls, she took them and placed them by the fireplace. It seems as if the fireplace is going to be the place that she showcases all of her creations this Halloween!

Duration: 30 minutes

9. Pumpkin Slime

Verdict

This activity was a complete fail! The slime did not turn out how I thought it would. The 2 main materials for this recipe was the orange food coloring and the mason jar.

The orange food coloring was for the slime to resemble a pumpkin when you put it into the mason jar.

I was so frustrated by the outcome that we just put felt decorations on the top of the jar and called it a night. After continuous stirring and my daughter waiting for the slime to form, we were both super tired at the end.

I still managed to get a smile out of her though.

Materials used

1. Epic fail Slime Recipe ( Try to find one with good reviews )
2. Mason jar
3. Pumpkin decorations

Duration: 2 hours: But it shouldn’t have lasted that long

10. Halloween Pretzel Activity

Materials Used

1. Pretzel Dipping Kit – We got ours from Walmart

Verdict

This Halloween activity was fun and simple. It was also very tasty.

We were supposed to put them in the refrigerator to let them get hard, but we ended up eating them right after we made them.

Duration: 30 minutes

11. Glow Stick Hunt

Material Used

5 Halloween Themed Glow Sticks- We bought ours from Walmart, but you can get them on Amazon! Check the price here

Take the glow sticks and hide them.

Let them run around and find them.

We did this outside, but it could easily be done inside the house.

After our hide n go seek game, we had a glow stick dance party

Verdict:

I absolutely loved this activity! I had so much fun hiding them and watching her go and find them. We had a blast dancing to Halloween songs! I will definitely be doing this activity again next year.

Duration – 45 minutes

12. Stuff A Pumpkin Man (Yard Decor Activity)

Material Used

1. Halloween Yard Decor Pumpkin Man. Walmart has a lot of different types of yard decor you can choose from. We also got a bat that can hang in the tree.

This would be the perfect activity if you have a lot of leaves lying around.

Rake the leaves in a pile and stuff the yard bag decor.

Verdict

This Halloween activity was really fun. I remember doing this as a child and it brought back memories. The results turned out really good! Tamryn really enjoyed helping me stuff the bags with the leaves. She also helped out holding the bag too.

Duration- 3o minutes

13. Critters In A Jar Activity

Material Used

1. Halloween Critters – Dollar Tree
2. Mason Jar
3. Cotton Balls

Let your toddler take the critters and layer them with cotton balls. I told Tamryn that we were creating a home for them.

After we finished creating the jars, she hid them underneath her bed.

Verdict

This was an impromptu Halloween activity. It was very simple and went fairly quick. You can also add glow sticks in the mason jars for an eerie effect. We might add those later this week.

14. Pick Out Halloween Costume

I always wait until the last minute to pick out Tamryn’s Halloween Costume. So this year I made a goal to get one early. She also boldly told me at two years old, that she wanted to be a vampire and a ghost. So I had no choice but to start early this year.

We went to Party City to pick out her outfit, but they didn’t have the type of vampire costume that I had in mind. We might end up buying one from amazon or I might make one myself.

She ended up deciding on a Tacky Witch costume. It came with a pointy hat, dress, and tights. She will try it tonight. Hopefully, she will be able to fit it. We have up until 7 days before Halloween to return it and get our money back.

Verdict

This was a cool activity. We went to Party City around 8:00 at night, so it wasn’t packed.

She was able to run around the store and play with all of the Halloween decorations. I definitely recommend going after 8 if you want to avoid a bunch of people and long lines.

Duration: 45 minutes

15. Toilet Paper Mummy Activity

Material Used

• Toilet Paper
• 1 Toddler

This was a super quick Halloween activity. I was so tired after work, that I decided this would be the best thing to do for the night.

We wrapped her up in toilet paper and let her run around the house as a mummy. ‘

She actually had a lot of fun!

Verdict:

If you are looking for a super laid back and quick activity. This is definitely the one to do. She already knew what a mummy was so when I told her we were going to make her into a mummy, she was mentally prepared to be wrapped up.

Duration: 15 minutes

16. Halloween Critters Water Play

Material Used

• Halloween Critters – We got ours from Dollar Tree
• Bubble Bath
• Jar

I took the Halloween critters and dumped them in the water and told her to pick them out.

At first, she was scared to reach down in the water to get the spiders and skeletons. So I had to reach my hand in there and show her that it was okay to pick them up.

After that, she was good to go. She took the critters out of the bathtub and put them in the jar.

Verdict:

This was another quick and lazy Halloween activity. If you feel tired and would like to sit down and watch, this is the perfect activity to do.

17. Scary Movies Night

Materials Needed

• YouTube Kids TV app – Check it out here

This activity was literally me and my daughter watching Halloween episodes on the YouTube Kids App. It was a super long day and I didn’t have any activities planned. So we cuddled up and watched “scary” movies.

Verdict

If you’re just looking for a nice quiet night, this is the activity to do!

Duration: 45 minutes

18. Hide And Ghost Seek

Material Needed

1. Coffee filters
2. Lollipops
3. String
4. Markers

Place the coffee filter over the lollipop and tie it off with a string.

Use markers to draw the face of the ghost.

Hide them around the house and let them find each one.

Verdict

This was an awesome Halloween activity. We practiced counting with the ghost lollipops as she found each one. I put them at eye level so that she could easily find them. I always made one kind of hard to find to give her a challenge. After I hid them for her, she surprised me and started to hide them from me. It was so cute! This is definitely an activity that we could do every night.

Duration: 45 minutes

19. Halloween Slime Play With Critter

Materials Needed

1. Slime with critter in it – We got ours from Dollar Tree

Since our homemade pumpkin slime activity didn’t work out the way that I planned. I decided that I would go ahead and buy her some slime.

Verdict

It took her a minute to want to touch the slime since it had the spider in it. Once she saw me play with it, she decided that she was brave enough to try it.

Duration: 20 minutes

20. Witches Hand

Material Needed

1. Clear plastic gloves
2. Popcorn
3. Candy Corn

Take candy corn and place it in each “fingertip” of the glove.

Fill the glove with popcorn and tie a knot at the top!

Verdict:

This Halloween activity would be good to do for a party. We only ended up making two gloves. She was more concerned with eating the popcorn than putting them in the bags. This would probably be a better activity for an older child. However, she did help out by handing me the candy corn and the popcorn. I had to crunch some of the popcorn up so that it could go down in the fingers of the gloves.

Duration: 20 minutes

Sidenote: I finally caught up with our Halloween activities! I’d fallen behind a couple of days due to work, but now I am back on track. My plan for the next 11 days is to plan out each activity beforehand and get all of the materials that I will need. So far this has been a very rewarding experience! I look forward to finishing off the month strong!

21. Halloween Gallon Jug Ghosts

Materials Needed

1. Gallon jugs – We used our old water jugs
2. Markers
3. Scissors
4. Flameless lights

Draw scary faces on each one of the jugs.

Cut holes in the back of the jugs and put the lights in each one

Verdict:

I really had fun making the faces on each one of the jugs. Tamryn only drew one face. After she finished drawing, she directed me on how to draw the faces. This was a good Halloween family activity. She took the Halloween ghosts jugs and lined them up along the front door. I think she really enjoys creating her own Halloween decor.

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