We’ve got the lowdown on how to make Halloween a scream (in the best way possible) with your little one. From toddler-friendly song ideas to not-too-spooky activities, we’ve got your Halloween game plan covered. You’ll find some new Halloween traditions the whole family can get in on! Even your youngest kids will have a good time this spooky season with these Halloween festivities.
Holidays are the perfect time of year to try new fun things and see joy light up your toddler’s face. You’ll love all these great ideas for how to have a happy and fun Halloween season with a toddler!
Once you get to the end of the list, there’s also an option to download a printable checklist, or take a screenshot of it on your phone so you can hang on to all these great ideas and try more of them out.
So, here are the best ways to celebrate Halloween with a Toddler!
1) Visit a Pumpkin Patch
Going to see a pumpkin patch with your little one is like stepping into a pumpkin wonderland! It’s a great way to kick off your Halloween celebrations and your older children will love it too. They get to explore, pick their own pumpkin (it’s like a treasure hunt for them). Pumpkin patches at a local farm are an adventure that’s as cute as a button. Plus, it’s the perfect photo op for making memories that you’ll look back on and smile.
2) Go Trick or Treating or Trunk or Treating
This is the ultimate toddler mission – they get to dress up, knock on doors, and get treats! It’s like their mini Halloween adventure. And let’s be real, watching their eyes light up when they receive a piece of candy is priceless. Plus, it’s a great time for family bonding while strolling through the neighborhood.
You don’t have to go far or fast. Visit just a handful of houses in your own neighborhood, it’s a fun way to show your favorite neighbors your adorable toddler’s Halloween costume! Or if there’s another neighborhood in your city where a lot of your friends or family live, try trick or treating there!
3) Read Halloween Board Books
Board books for Halloween are colorful, short, and captivating, making it an excellent way to introduce them to the Halloween spirit. Plus, snuggling up with a Halloween board book is a recipe for heartwarming moments. Halloween activities don’t have to be complicated to be memorable! Fun holiday books provide a great opportunity for flexing those early literacy skills!
There are so many great Hallween books for young kids that have popular characters in them that your kids will recognize. Everyone from Peppa Pig, to Blippy, Paw Patrol and so many more each have their own Halloween books for toddlers. Visit your local library or buy your favorite and enjoy reading it over and over for the next few years!
4) Listen to Fun Family Friendly Halloween Songs
Music makes everything better, especially Halloween. Dancing with your toddler to catchy, family-friendly Halloween tunes is a hoot! You’ll both be bopping around, maybe even attempting some monster dance moves. It’s a party waiting to happen in your living room.
Try some popular songs like: The Monster Mash by Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett and the Crypt-Keepers, Spooky Scary Skeletons by Andrew Gold or The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley. Try a family-friendly playlist online, or find a popular group like The Wiggles or Cocomelon and download their Halloween songs.
5) Pumpkin Decorating
Pumpkin decorating is like an art project that doubles as Halloween prep. Toddlers can go wild with their creativity and design the pumpkin of their dreams. It’s hands-on, messy, and a surefire way to spark their imagination. Plus, the final result is a proudly displayed masterpiece on your doorstep.
Remember, you don’t have to carve them if you don’t want to. You can use washable paint, glitter glue, and even pipe cleaners to decorate your pumpkins however your spooky-heart desires!
6) Take Cute Photos
These pics aren’t just for your family album; they’re future nostalgia nuggets you’ll treasure forever. Watch as your mini-monster or tiny witch strikes adorable poses, and be ready to capture those precious, grin-inducing moments.
It’s a joy to freeze these special memories in time, and you’ll cherish them for years to come. Use some of these Halloween Letter Board Quotes on your word board at home and sit your toddler next to it, or bribe them with candy to hold it up for a quick photo (ha!)
7) Get a Cute Halloween Costume
Choosing a Halloween costume with your toddler is so much fun and you might pick something that makes them feel like a superstar. It’s all about the cuteness factor, and you’ll have an absolute blast watching them transform into their chosen character.
As your kids get older, they’ll want to pick out their own outfit! So if there are any adorable costumes you have in mind for your baby’s first or second Halloween, make it happen! They can also use the costume to play dress up the rest of the year. Who says they just get to wear it once?
8) Use Some Free Halloween Coloring Sheets
There are so many great, free Halloween coloring sheets online! You’ll see your toddler’s little face light up as they dive into a world of pumpkins, ghosts, and witches. Plus, it’s a win-win because it keeps them entertained while you catch a breath.
9) Do a Simple Halloween Craft
Crafting with your toddler during Halloween is like creating mini masterpieces. They’ll get to glue, paint, and decorate to their heart’s content. And the best part? You’ll end up with some spooktacular decorations to showcase around the house. Double win!
Halloween crafts don’t need to be expensive or difficult. Print off some free templates at home for a family-friendly Halloween craft with your little monsters.
10) Make Some Low Sugar Halloween Treats
There are so many great Halloween treats you can make at home with your toddler. To stay on the healthy side, opt for low-sugar recipes, and let them mix, decorate, and taste-test (just a little, of course). Toddlers love getting in on the action in the kitchen and it’s a chance to enjoy some guilt-free goodies together.
11) DIY Decorations
Transform your home into a haunted toddler paradise with DIY decorations! Your little one can help make or decorate bats, ghosts, and pumpkins to hang around the house. It’s an excellent way to bond, have some quality time together, be creative, and get into the Halloween spirit as a team. Your house will be the spookiest on the block, thanks to your tiny DIY dynamo!
As you’re preparing your craft, do some reading up on the creature you’re crafting so you can learn while you do your art! You could pair a black cat craft with some of these purr-fect facts about black cats!
12) Home Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Have a toddler-sized adventure in your own home. They get to search for hidden treasures, maybe some spooky toys or candy, and their faces will light up with every discovery. It’s all the fun of trick-or-treating without leaving the house, and you get to play the mastermind behind the hidden goodies. If your toddler loves doing an Easter egg hunt, they’ll love this activity too! Try out this free printable Halloween Scavenger Hunt activity.
13) Glow In The Dark Activities
Toddlers go bananas for glow sticks, and the giggles that come with glow-in-the-dark games are priceless. Plus, it’s a superb way to make Halloween even more magical.
Here’s a quick and easy fun game with glow sticks to try out!
Glow Stick Ghost Hunt:
- Get a pack of glow sticks and activate them.
- Have your toddler help you wrap the glow sticks in white tissue paper. You can even draw a ghost face on them!
- Hide the glow sticks around a safe, dimly lit area in your home or backyard.
- Give your toddler a flashlight or another glow stick as their “ghost-hunting” tool.
- Challenge them to find and collect all the glowing “ghosts” (the glow sticks).
- Repeat the game again and again. It’s like a game of hide and seek with a Halloween twist.
14) Pumpkin Bowling
Bowling, but make it spooky! Make a bowling alley right in your living room or backyard. Your toddler will have a blast rolling pumpkins to knock down some ghostly pins (okay, maybe just some empty orange painted bottles). It’s a fun, active game that keeps them entertained and helps them develop those hand-eye coordination skills.
15) Halloween Face Painting
With a bit of Halloween face paint, your toddler gets to transform into their favorite spooky character or something sweet like a friendly pumpkin. The best part? It’s all washable, so there’s no need to worry about a permanent monster makeover. It’s pure creative fun!
16) Update your Playhouse With Decorations
Deck out your play house, or play kitchen with spooky spider webs, paper ghosts, and maybe even a pretend cauldron. When you decorate your toddler’s space with Halloween decorations, it’s like stepping into a magical realm every time they play, and it’s the perfect backdrop for all their Halloween adventures. Plus, it’s a project you can tackle together, creating lasting memories along the way.
17) Make Balloon Ghosts
Picture this – you and your little one are blowing up white balloons, drawing funny ghost faces on them, and then they start floating around like friendly spirits. It’s like having your very own ghostly buddies to play with. Balloon ghosts are a simple and adorable way to add a touch of Halloween magic to your home.
18) Candy Sorting (And Counting)
Candy sorting and counting is Halloween math disguised as a delicious game. It’s never too early to start practicing math skills like basic counting; you’d be surprised by how young toddlers can pick up this skill with some repetition. Your little one gets to sort their candy haul into piles, maybe by color or type, and count how many they have. It’s sneaky learning wrapped in the excitement of sweet treats! Plus, you get to sneak a piece or two when they’re not looking (shhh, our secret).
19) Spooky Sensory Play
Your toddler can squish, squeeze and explore Halloween-themed textures like slimy fake spiders or crunchy dried leaves. It’s a hands-on adventure that stimulates their senses and keeps them entertained for ages.
20) Decorate Trick or Treat Bags
Time to unleash their creativity! Decorating their very own trick-or-treat bag is like an art project with a purpose. They can go wild with stickers, markers, and spooky embellishments, making a unique bag that they’ll proudly carry on their candy quest. Plus, it’s eco-friendly, reducing the need for disposable bags.
21) Monster Freeze Dance
Monster Freeze Dance is a dance-off with a Halloween twist! Put on some fun Halloween music and have a dance party. But when the music stops, everyone has to freeze in a spooky pose. It’s laughter-inducing, energy-burning, and a fantastic way to get everyone in the Halloween spirit, one monster dance move at a time.
22) Plan a Costume Play Date
Do you have any other toddler friends to celebrate Halloween with? Invite your cousins, and besties over for a Halloween Costume play date! It takes the pressure off because you don’t need to host a big party but you still get the fun of dressing up and playing.
Add in a couple activities from this list like an easy Halloween craft, pumpkin decorating, or a monster music freeze dance! It’s an easy way to get in the Halloween spirit and have some fun.
23) Visit a Corn Maze
Going through a corn maze with your toddler is like stepping into a real-life Halloween adventure. Your little one gets to explore, navigate twists and turns, and maybe even find surprises along the way. It’s the kind of outdoor fun that makes Halloween feel like a grand exploration.
24) Make Shadow Puppets
Turn off the lights, grab a flashlight, and let the show begin! Make spooky or silly shapes with your hands and a light source to put on your very own shadow puppet theater. It’s storytelling in its most basic and captivating form. Your toddler will be mesmerized by the dancing shadows and the stories you create together.
25) Play Witches Hat Ring Toss
Imagine this – you’ve got a witches’ hat, some soft rings, and your toddler is trying to toss those rings onto the pointy hat. It’s like a Halloween-themed carnival game right in your living room or backyard. It’s not only entertaining but also a great way to develop their hand-eye coordination.
26) Hand out Halloween Candy
Let your toddler join in the fun of handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. They get to be a part of the action and experience the joy of giving. Plus, it’s like a mini Halloween party right at your doorstep as you greet all the little goblins and ghouls.
More Halloween Fun:
- Check out the recipe for these Halloween Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- You’ll love these adorable Pumpkin Themed Cupcakes
- Try one of these Family Friendly Halloween Party Names for your spooktacular bash!
- Use this Halloween Party Invitation Wording to craft the best invites and cute rhymes
- Spruce up your home decor with these Halloween Letter Board Quotes
Printable Toddler Halloween Bucket List
Download it and take a screenshot, or save and then print out the bucket list from the link below to save this Halloween toddler bucket list! It’s got all of the great ideas in this article for you to try out. You’ll never be stumped looking for a fun activity for your toddler’s or baby’s first Halloween again!
Final Thoughts on Making Halloween Fun With A Toddler
Even though Halloween is known for being the spookiest holiday of the year, there are so many ways to make it fun with young children and to try out some new family traditions. If Halloween is one of your favorite holidays, you don’t have to give up on celebrating it until your kids are older, just focus on the parts of it that are age appropriate for your little ones to try out this year.
Which of these fun ideas are you going to try out first with your little pumpkins? Share them with your friends or save them to Pinterest for next year so you can try them all out!
Happy Halloween!
More Halloween Fun From Mama’s Buzz
150+ Best Halloween Letter Board Quotes
Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes (With Black and Orange Cake)
Chocolate Covered Halloween Pretzels (Mummies, Ghosts, and Monsters)
100+ Family Friendly Halloween Party Names (Plus Free Printable Invitations)
Best Halloween Party Invitation Wording (50+ Phrases)
