10 Fun Halloween Crafts & Learning Activities for Kids

We have Halloween on the brain - big time! The Lil Divas are so excited that I can't help but feel pretty excited too. So I have started planning some fun activities to do here at home and thought I'd share some of last year's fun with you to start things off.

I made a Halloween Scavenger Hunt Sensory Bin that was definitely one of my favorite Halloween activities of all time. It was squishy, slimy fun for the kiddos to find all the hidden Halloween items in the colored pasta. Really, it feels so cool to put your hands in there - a must try!

While you are already cooking spaghetti, you might want to save some so you can make these Spooky Spaghetti Spider Webs. We hung them up as decorations and they looked great. I want to make more this year.

In keeping with the spider theme for another moment - you have to try creating this Spider Web Maze at home! The Lil Divas have already asked me if I would do it again. It was such a fun and memorable activity for them.

Pumpkins are a huge part of Halloween and fall in general. I love pumpkin recipes and so look forward to this time of year. I can't wait to get crafty with our pumpkins this year. This Colored & Glittered Pasta Pumpkin Craft is one of my favorite crafts from last Halloween. 

Did you know that October 30th is National Candy Corn Day? We had lots of fun celebrating this fun holiday last year. We crafted, did some math and even worked on word families all in honor of candy corn. 

While working on this post I asked the Lil Divas for their favorite activities and crafts - after all it is about the kids right? Both Lil Divas said I had to share our Mummy Wrapping Fun with you again. Stock up on gauze and then let the kids get wrapping. This was such a simple way to have fun, yet it made such an impact on them. Aren't those the best activities/memories?

You know I like to sneak in some learning into our fun so one of my favorite activities from last year is our Paper Roll _at Word Family Bats. They turned out super cute and were a great way to practice some phonics skills with my kindergartener. 

I have a fondness for handprint crafts. I can't help but think about the fact that the Lil Divas hands won't be this small for very long. They are getting so big already, I love trying to capture where we are now and freeze time if only through a craft memento so these Handprint Spiders and Marble Paint Webs are very near and dear to my heart. Not only is marble painting a fun activity but the fact that these handprint spiders are made from their little hands - well, let's just say this craft is one of the ones that I have tucked away for the future.

Another easy & fun Halloween craft - Painted Rock Ghosts. These are beyond easy to make but make sure you have a generous rock supply because they kiddos won't want to stop at painting just one.

One more ghost and a final Halloween themed activity for you - Faux Stain Glass Ghosts. These are easy to make and great to hang on your windows. 

Have fun Halloween crafting & learning!

Bern

National Candy Corn Day - 10/30/11

Yes, today is NATIONAL CANDY CORN DAY!

Of course we had to have a lil Diva Fun celebrating this fab holiday-

after all candy corn is yummy & a timely Halloween treat!

So here's how we celebrated:

Reading: Candy Corn Word Family Fun

What You Need:

1. Candy Corn template

I used clip art from the above link - 

resized them & fit 4 to a page for the word mats 

and 9 to a page for the recording sheets. 

2. Alphabet Letter Tiles (we use these often - great to have!)

3. markers to write word family endings

Here's a photo of the Word Family Mats I made:

(we focused on -en, -at, -in & -ig)

I supplied letter tiles for each word family mat -

Note: I threw in 1 or 2 that did not fit to see if they could figure it out.

What To Do:

1. Use letter tiles to make & read words on each mat.

2. Write the words made on the recording sheet 

Here's a little peek at some of the words the Lil Divas made.

Math: Candy Corn Addition

What You Need:

1. Dice - we love our foam dice

2. Candy Corn (Yum!)

3. Pencils

Note: I used the same template listed above for the word family mats to make the addition mats.

How To Play:

1. Roll dice, record number and count out corresponding number of candy corn

2. Repeat step 1 for second number in equation.

3. Add/count candy corn & record answer.

4. Repeat until all candy corn templates have been used.

Craft: Torn Paper Candy Corn

What You Need:

1. large candy corn shape on card stock or other firm paper.

2. yellow, orange & white construction paper

3. glue

What To Do:

Prep: Have child help you tear paper into pieces to use for the project.

1. Apply glue to the section you will work on first.

We started at the top with white.

2. Apple torn pieces of the correct color - encourage child to cover all spaces.

3. Move on to the middle section, apply glue and place torn paper pieces into place.

3. Move on to the final section, apply glue and place torn paper pieces into place.

Now you have a fun torn paper candy corn to display!

This is an easy project that is fun for little hands!
If you have a little one doing it try to make the torn pieces a bit larger -
it might help to cut paper into strips for them first & then let them rip.
Also, a smaller candy corn template works great for
younger children so they don't get tired!

Happy National Candy Corn Day!

Bern