Halloween Activities for Young Children

Celebrate the annual Fright Night with these seventeen fun (and not so scary) ideas, especially for young children.

1. Try your hand at face painting, or allow your children to paint each other's faces with washable face paints.

2. Make your own goodie bags. Set out some brown paper bags with the standard art supplies or embellish an old pillowcase with fabric paints. You can even spring for blank canvas baggies from your local discount store or craft store without spending a a lot.

3. Tie-dye some shirts and socks with orange and black fabric dye.

4. Do ghosts. Fold a sheet of black construction paper in half and let your child spray paint white on the inside. Squish the paint from the paper, let dry, then embellish the white ghost with paints, markers and other craft materials.

5. Make homemade slime. This is always a popular activity. Here is a recipe from Family Fun Magazine lot: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and->crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10684

6. Watch a Halloween movie. Make popcorn, cuddle up together in blankets, and take in some spooky cinematic sights. Harry Potter, Dracula, or Ghostbusters are great choices. For younger children, choose Heffalump Halloween, starring Winnie the Pooh or The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad by Disney Classics.

7. Eat creepy cuisine. Cut sandwiches or tortillas into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Create a ghoulish look with almost anything by mixing in a little green or red food coloring.

8. Play "Guess How Many Pumpkin Seeds." Each family member or party guest gets to take turns guessing how many pumpkin seeds are in a jar. The winner gets a prize.

9. Go apple bobbing. Fill a bucket or tub with water and apples and see how many apples each contestant can snag.

10. Make masks. Set out the art supplies and see who can make the scariest mask with a paper plate, construction paper, yarn, and markers or paints.

11. Create a family costume. Come up with a costume theme that the whole family can participate in. One year, we were all Star Wars characters. Maybe you will all be people from the Wild West or fuzzy forest animals.

12. Have a pumpkin seed spitting contest.

13. Roast pumpkin seeds. Clean the pumpkin seeds and toss them in just enough melted butter to lightly cover the seeds. (One tablespoon of butter is generally enough for the Seeds from a medium-sized pumpkin.) Sale of seeds, then spread them on a baking sheet in single layer. Bake at 250 degrees until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

14. Play Pin the tail on the black cat (or pin the nose on the pumpkin.) Any variation of Pin the tail on the donkey is fun for young children.

15. Make a tape Scare. Record you and your family sounds spooky. All you need is a recorder and a little 'fantasy. Contain tracesslamming doors, screams creepy werewolves, and crazy cackles. Play the tape from the porch on Halloween.

16. Give each child a disposable camera cheap for the big night. This is a fun way to see what Halloween looks like, from their perspective. I like giving my kids a blank journal and let them tell the story of memorable events such as Halloween. This is a great tradition and really helps to share their personal stories they tell to keep for many Halloweencome.

17. Once Halloween is over, make sure to shop the post Halloween sales for fun additions to your dress up closet, which your young children are sure to enjoy year round.

Happy haunting!