Halloween is such a fun time for exploring new concepts and activities with your little one.
Here are a few ideas of fun ways to celebrate and explore at home!

Halloween Fingerplay

Rhythm, rhyme, and repetition are the 3 Rs of early phonological development, foundational skills for early literacy development. Stories, songs and fingerplays are great ways to expose your child to all 3. Try out this classic halloween finger play with your kiddos at home!

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “Oh my it’s getting late” (hands on cheeks)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air” (point to sky)
The third one said, “But we don’t care” (shake pointer finger)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run” (pretend to run arms)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun” (point to self)
Then Wooooooh went the wind (make a wooooh sound and wave hands)
And OUT went the lights (clap hands together once)
And the 5 little pumpkins (hold up 5 fingers)
Rolled out of sight (roll hands)

Halloween Sensory Play

Sensory play is incredibly important for your child’s development. They learn about their world by exploring it with their senses. They touch, taste, smell and experience it with their whole body. Exploring with their senses builds neural connections in the brain, develops their motor skills and supports language development.

A fantastic way to explore sensory play during the season of Halloween is through carving a pumpkin together. Cut the top off of the pumpkin and let your child stick their hand inside to pull out the seeds and pulp. Pour it out into their high-chair tray and let them explore. Talk about how the pumpkin feels. Is it cold, wet, messy, slimy, sticky, etc. If your kiddo is uncertain about the texture you can always put the pumpkin innards into a ziplock bag and let them squish it from the outside. Less messy this way too!

Halloween Concepts & Vocabulary

Gather a variety of pumpkins and gourds to explore together! Talk with your little ones about how they feel (bumpy or smooth), what size they are (big, medium, small), how much they weigh (heavy or light), what color they are (orange, green, yellow, white) and other ways they are similar and different!

Halloween Books!

Here are some of our favorite Halloween books for little ones!

Eek! Halloween! by Sandra Boynton
Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin
Trick or Treat Little Pumpkin by Cottage Door Press
The Spooky Smells of Halloween by Mary Man-Kong
Spooky Pooky by Sandra Boynton