As soon as it is officially fall I jump right into excitement head first. This is by far my favourite season of the year. The crisp cool air, pumpkins, apple picking, leaves changing colour; you name it I love it! We've been up to a lot of fun already this month and I hope that we can inspire you to join in on it with us! Here are some fun fall and Halloween inspired activities. All activities can be modified to be appropriate for various age groups.
Paper Plate Witch Supplies Needed; construction paper, markers or paint, paper plate, scissors, glue or tape
Step 1: decorate the paper plate to look like a witches face Step 2: Cutout a hat Step 3: Trace your child's hand 4 times Step 4: Adhere together with glue or tape
This activities took us about 10 minutes to complete. It was easy and mess free. What I really liked is we were able to use glue and Lily was able to stick all the pieces together on her own. She didn't want us to trace her hands so I traced mine instead which she thought was funny. We had to help her draw the witches face and cutout the shapes but otherwise she did most of the activity and decorating on her own. We did let her have a pair of children's scissors to practice cutting with which she thought was pretty special.
Spider Headband
Supplies needed; construction paper, googly eyes, glue
Step 1: Measure your child's head and cutout the headband
Step 2: Cutout 8 strips of paper for the legs and fold repeatedly to make the legs
Step 3: Glue on googly eyes and legs. Let dry.
Step 4: Adhere the headband as per your child's head size and let them have fun wearing it.
Lily thought this activity was hilarious. She loved walking around the house scaring everyone with her spider headband. Mason thought it was really funny too! Laughter guaranteed with this activity. It took us about 10 minutes to complete it.
Pine Cone Crafts
Supplies needed; pine cones, glue (hot glue gun works best), various craft supplies (pom poms, pipe cleaners, googly eyes etc.)
The kids and I went on a hike throughout a local park one day this month. We took in all the beautiful fall scenery and weather and decided to pick up some pine cones and leaves. It was a great way to talk to Lily about what happens as the seasons change. But I thought, what am I going to do with all these pine cones. We turned them into various creatures some more fall and Halloween themed than others; chick, turkey, spider, owl and pumpkin.This activity required more help from me as Lily was limited in what she could do, especially when we were using the hot glue gun. But the results were so cute and she had fun decorating her play kitchen with all of our creations.
Spider and Pumpkin Hand prints Supplies needed; paint, paper, googly eyes, marker
This activity was quick and easy. It helps if you have an extra set of hands if you are doing this activity with an infant. Be sure to strategically place your child's hands on the paper so you have room to complete your desired look. We decided to turn Lily's hands into a little pumpkin and spider. This would be a great gift as well for loved ones for Halloween and/or Thanksgiving. If your child won't let you do multiple hand prints get one good one and then photocopy some extras for family.
Decorate and/or carve pumpkins
Supplies needed; stencil, carving supplies, paint, random craft supplies
You can get very creative when it comes to decorating a pumpkin. I prefer to carve out something cool on mine, which we will do later this month but for now we decided to paint a few of our pumpkins. Lily and Mason got to pick a small pumpkin each from the patch to paint. My mom also found this awesome pumpkin decorating kit at the dollar store and did it with the kids. It got lots of laughter from them both when they seen how silly their pumpkins looked after.
Leaf painting
Supplies needed; paper, paint, leaves
This one was really fun! We went exploring at a local park found different shape and sized leaves to take home to paint. It was a great opening to talk about what happens as the seasons change. I rolled out Lily's big craft paper and let her go crazy using various painting supplies (sponges and brushes) to make different affects over top of the leaves.
Apple Stamping Supplies needed; paper, apple, paint
This activity was so easy and Lily had a blast! We cut an apple in half and used it as a stamp. Use your creativity and turn them into pumpkins and other various Halloween and fall inspired shapes.
Fall Activity Tray
Supplies needed; active world tray, fall inspired toys and sensory play items (i.e leaves, acorns, pumpkins, pine cones etc.)
This was a great activity for Mason and Lily and one I've left out all month long. It is mess free and the kids have fun going back and forth to explore their senses. I purchased pretend leaves from the dollar store as well as some other fall inspired items such as pine cones, pumpkins and acorns. Mason and Lily had fun exploring the different textures and jumping in the leaves together. The dollar store also had awesome Halloween Sun catchers which are a great rainy day activity and they look really pretty hanging in your window.
Decorate your house -- Whether you choose to go spooky or not there are so many different options for decorating your house for Halloween. Here at the Camara house we think the spookier the better! Have fun decorating the inside and outside of your home. Your kids can really get to use their creativity. If your looking for affordable decorations make a trip to the dollar store and you will be surprised with how many awesome finds you get!
Visit a local pumpkin patch and/or apple orchard
Two of my favourite fall activities are picking out our pumpkins and visiting the apple orchard. This year we did both on the same day because we found an awesome local Apple Orchard to visit. We made it a family affair this year and had so much fun together. The kids had a blast playing in the various play areas and picking out a special pumpkin each. This is a guaranteed fun filled day. Most pumpkin patches have numerous activities on site for children to participate in so make sure to do your research and plan ahead.
I hope you've been inspired to try one, two or all of these activities. I know they brought us lots of laughter and memories as I hope they do for you too! Here's a quick tip: if you are planning on doing one or more of these activities gather your supplies the night before or during nap time so they are ready to go when you and your kiddos are.
Leave a comment below and let me know what some of your favourite fall and Halloween inspired activities are! We would love to try some more out.