How Soon Can I Start Prepping for Halloween with kids?
Let’s face it — Halloween is full of skeletons, bones, monsters, and spiders. Who wouldn’t have some fears about Halloween? If your little one has some fears and anxieties around the spookiness of Halloween, the sooner you start to help kids prepare for Halloween, the better! Here is how to prep for Halloween with kids and honor their feelings around the day.
I usually get my house into the Halloween mood once October kicks off. Introducing my kids to Halloween’s images, colors, and language in fun and playful way helps them immensely.
Focusing on fun costumes and dressing up is one of the most simple and familiar ways to kick off the Halloween spirit! Who doesn’t love playing dress-up anyways? This can help them understand that costumes are just for playing make-believe and that there are familiar people underneath them.
As a kid, I felt afraid whenever I saw a vampire’s teeth. My mom would remind me that those vampire’s teeth were plastic, and she showed me how to put them in and take them out. Once I saw that they came in all sorts of silly colors and understood how they worked, I felt much better whenever I saw them.
Related: Here are 5 safety tips for kids on Halloween.
When it comes to spooky decorations that your kids may see around the neighborhood or on your next drive to Target, teach them that all the decorations are simply decorations and that none is real. Even if your child feels that Halloween is too scary, honor that.
Speaking of Target, check out Five at-Home Halloween Activities for a list of must-have items you can grab from your next trip down the seasonal aisle!
Keeping your daily routines and letting the Halloween spirit fit into your everyday life as they know it will help kids prepare for Halloween by subtly noticing changes in their environment that feel more fun than scary.
6 Tricks to Get Into The Halloween Spirit
There are many fun ways to get into the Halloween spirit at home!
You can help your kids prepare for Halloween by:
Decorating
There’s nothing like decorating your house with pumpkins, cobwebs, and all things orange and black to give off some Halloween vibes. So go ahead and pull out that dusty bin of Halloween decorations and get your kids involved in the fun decorating process.
If you’re looking to get your kids involved in some decorating, you can use their sweet art projects from school to hang around the house. If you’re looking for more decoration ideas, try out Bone Painting for a colorful, creative, and interactive way to get your kids into the Halloween spirit!
Easy At-Home Halloween Activities
Check out 31 Halloween Activities for Preschoolers for many easy and spooky ideas to get your kids excited about Halloween. Some of my son’s favorite Halloween activities are:
- Eyeball Soup – silly Halloween sensory play.
- Halloween Eraser Graph – festive math graphing activity!
- Preschool Color by Number for Halloween – easy Halloween-themed coloring.
- Skeleton Sensory Bin – great for after school
- Spooky Halloween Track – fun way to play mix car playing with Halloween.
- Spider Web Dots – increases motor skills, number recognition, and matching.
- Pumpkin Faces for Halloween – a fun craft that doubles as a decoration!
All of my 31 Halloween Activities for Preschoolers are excellent breakfast invitations ideas during the month of October!
Host a Halloween Party
Another fun way to get your kids excited about Halloween is organizing a Halloween-themed party for a few neighborhood families or preschool friends!
Play Dress Up
There’s no better time to pull out that dress-up bin overflowing with costumes than October! Put your to-do list aside and delve into your preschooler’s world by playing dress up and imagination.
Learn How to Make a Robot Costume with this easy tutorial, and let your kids play dress up! Heck, use it as their costume!
Reading Halloween-Themed Books
We all know that reading to our kids is one of the best ways we can spend quality time together. Take a trip to the library with your child and pick out some fun and silly Halloween-themed books to bring home this month.
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Our favorite Halloween books are:
Finally, Watch a Halloween Movie
Snuggle up with your kids with a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy a silly, light-hearted Halloween movie. Here are a list of 10 (Not too Scary) Halloween Movies for Little Kids!
Teach Your Kids that Halloween is Fun!
Researchers have found that 89% of parents have children that partake in Halloween-related events. Getting your kids excited about Halloween can and should be fun for everyone! Halloween can be a great opportunity to play with imagination, set up Halloween-themed preschool activities, and organize a fun costume play date party! If your child is having any fears or anxious thoughts about Halloween, you can work with them to help them manage their anxiety by teaching them some simple safety rules.
What’s your favorite Halloween tip or trick?
Related: October is flying by! Here are the best toys for kids.
Frequently Asked Questions
In our house, it all starts with some fun decorations to get my boys in the Halloween spirit! Include your little ones in decorating to get them into the festive spirit! Of course, I love to set up Halloween-themed activities as breakfast invitations for some morning fun while I enjoy my HOT coffee!
Holidays, especially fun ones like Halloween, are wonderful opportunities to bond with your kids and teach them fun traditions. Halloween, in particular, offers countless things to do with your kids for Halloween in your home and your community to prepare your kids for Halloween! Browse my collection of 31 Halloween Activities for Preschoolers for easy and fun ideas you can do right from home.
Make Halloween fun! Focus on highlighting Halloween’s black and orange colors to familiarize them with the thematic color scheme. Try to expose your child to fun images and ideas of Halloween when they are young: pumpkins, cute Halloween costumes, cobwebs, haystacks, and of course, candy!