Non-scary halloween activities

This week is Halloween and many preschoolers will head out for a spot of trick or treating with their parents. While this very American tradition is growing in popularity in Australia, for many preschoolers typical Halloween motifs are pretty scary.

Witches, bats, goblins, and ghosts are the stuff of nightmares for some children and it's important to bear this in mind when planning any Halloween-themed activities or projects. To take the scare factor out of Halloween this year, we thought it might be fun to share a few non-spooky craft ideas.

As always, these suggestions are simple, cost effective and can be scaled up or down to best meet the needs of the children in your service.

Pirate pumpkin loot bags
Pumpkins are the universal symbol of Halloween and these little loot bags are cheap, environmentally friendly and useful.

Emoji pumpkins
Kids love the universal language of emojis and these pumpkin themed emojis stick to windows.

Mini jacko-lanterns
Pumpkins aren't in season in Australia in October and are quite expensive. Swap them out for oranges and use battery powered tea lights to make these cute jack-o-lanterns.

Fan paper jack-o-lanterns
This simple paper-based activity gives children a wonderful opportunity to practice their fine motor skills as they carefully fold the paper like a fan to create these happy Halloween pumpkins.

Paper chains
Stick to the pumpkin templates or pop smiles on the faces of the ghosts and you'll have no problems taking the scare factor out of this project.

Halloween Slime
Children love slime and you can use orange and green colouring to give this slime recipe a Halloween-y feel.

Happy Handprint Cats
Children's handprints form the basis for this activity which supports the development of fine motor skills.

Bats in the sky
Australian children are very familiar with the sight of bats in the evening sky, which reduces the scare factor of this simple template-based activity.