6 Educational Halloween Activities for Babies & Toddlers

1. Make Yummy Treats Together

Children love making their treats, which feeds their desire to be part of a community, refine their senses and motor skills, and make them much more likely to try new foods since they are part of the process of preparing them. For healthy treats, make tiny pumpkins by placing a small piece of celery into the top of peeled orange, or ghosts by adding nuts (or chocolate chips) to half of a banana. If Halloween is a time for a special sweet treat in your family, you can bake cookies in Halloween shapes together. Appropriate for a child who can sit or stand at a work table.

2. Practice Grace and Courtesy

Trick-or-treating is an opportunity to practice grace and courtesy with your little one. When trick-or-treaters come to the door, you can demonstrate greeting people. And if your child is old enough to go out trick-or-treating, they can practice saying thank you at each house. If your child does not wish to speak to strangers, that's alright. They will absorb your words and your tone of voice. Learning grace and courtesy begins as an observation of the behavior you model from birth, and moves into practice as your baby grows.  Appropriate for a child who is using sign language or speaking.

3. Set up a sensory activity with dry materials

The mom behind Instagram account @ourmontessoriview shared her Halloween project with us. "This was Ayla’s first experience with a sensory tray using dyed pasta, and it certainly kept her busy! I had no idea that dyeing pasta was so easy - just vinegar and food coloring + your choice of pasta shape ... She loved filling and emptying the bowls and buckets." 

4. Decorate Together

Collaborate with your child to decorate your house, with spiderwebs, pumpkins, ghosts, and all. Toddlers are often frightened by things that don't look like they should. Scary decorations at stores or around town are an opportunity to discuss why people decorate, and the difference between real and pretend.

5. Prep Pumpkins

Work with your child to scoop out your pumpkins and roast or plant the seeds. The inside of the pumpkin can be a very engaging sensorial experience. If you want to avoid sharp objects for carving and involve your little one in the decorating process, scrub and paint each pumpkin together. (More details: 7 Pumpkin Activities for Toddlers).

6. Design a Costume

If your child is wearing a costume, encourage them to be part of the process of making it. Ask them if there is anything they would like to dress up as, like an animal they love, or a realistic character from a book. If your child can't decide or doesn't have verbal language, offer them two choices...you can be a lion or a puppy...what do you choose? Give your child a chance to spend time in front of a mirror, seeing what they look like with a costume on. (Mirrors help develop their sense of self and body awareness.) Wishing you a Happy Montessori Halloween from the Monti Kids team!