When the weather starts to cool down in fall and Halloween is on the horizon, kids can’t help but start talking about costumes and candy. You start to see pumpkins on everyone’s porches and many fun events start getting planned. If you’re looking to explore the many different aspects of Halloween with preschoolers, we have lots of Halloween Theme Preschool Activities to get you started.
Here are some fabulous resources for planning your preschool Halloween theme. Most of these activities are designed for kids ages 3 through 5, but many can be modified for younger and older kids as well.
WHY IT’S FUN
Kids love Halloween and all things spooky. There is so much fun to be had outdoors in the cooler weather exploring. There are many fun things to do with pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, monsters and much more.
WHEN TO TEACH A HALLOWEEN THEME
October is perfect for diving into Halloween activities that can follow or be incorporated into your Fall themed activities. October specifically is the perfect time to incorporate a pumpkin learning theme as pumpkins are harvested throughout the month and are symbolic of fall and Halloween.
You can divide the weeks of October into playful Halloween related themes, or save all the Halloween festivities for the last week of the month.
TEACHING TIPS & MAJOR CONCEPTS KIDS WILL LEARN
If you’re planning a preschool Halloween theme there are many possibilities for incorporating meaningful early learning skills.
These are just some of the concepts kids can learn about during a Halloween theme:
- pumpkins
- bats
- spiders
- the traditions of trick-or-treating and related cultural events
- life cycles of pumpkins and gourds
- baking with pumpkin
You can also use pumpkins, spider rings, and other fun Halloween inspired toys as manipulatives for many learning activities to teach math and literacy concepts.
ITEMS TO COLLECT AND REQUEST IN ADVANCE
If you get parents, friends, and family involved you can enrich the experience kids have during your preschool Halloween theme.
Collect or ask people to help you collect:
- miniature pumpkins
- pumpkin seeds
- gourds
- plastic spiders
- candy corn
You might even invite special guests (or go visit if you can) to come and share about fields and hobbies related to Halloween. You could include:
- a pumpkin farmer
- a baker to share a favorite Halloween themed recipe
- a pumpkin patch owner
- a hay rack ride operator (tractor driver)
- someone from the local to zoo to teach about bats or spiders
PRINTABLE HALLOWEEN THEME LESSON PLANS
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
This set currently includes active hands-on learning ideas and the following printables:
1) -at Word Family Bat Game (in color and b/w)
2) Candy Corn Science Experiment Recording Sheet (in color and b/w)
3) Candy Corn Uppercase, Lowercase, and Beginning Sound Picture Puzzles for Letters C, A, N, D, Y, H, O and R (in color and b/w)
4) Candy Corn Counting Cards 1-10 (in color and b/w)
5) Halloween Costume Syllable Sorting Activity (in color and b/w)
6) Haunted House Colors Board Game-3 variations to work on color recognition or color word recognition (in color and b/w)
7) “Look at the Costumes” Emergent Reader-3 variations
8) 0-35 Halloween Number Cards (in color and b/w)
9) Halloween Roll and Graph Math Game (in color and b/w)
10) Halloween Picture-Word Cards (in color and b/w)
11) Build a Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkin Mats and Shape Pieces
12) My Jack-o-Lantern Recording Sheets-2 variations, one to focus on shape recognition and one to focus on writing
13) Spider Number Mats and Ways to Show Numbers 0-10
GET YOUR LESSON PLANS
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
More Halloween Lesson Plans
We also have a wide variety of Halloween inspired lesson plans. Choose from bats, spiders, skeletons, monsters and more.
If the images below do not populate visit the Preschool Teacher 101 shop to see the themes available.
INDIVIDUAL HALLOWEEN ACTIVITY IDEAS ON FANTASTIC FUN AND LEARNING
Here on Fantastic Fun and Learning, we’ve shared the following ideas to go along with a preschool Halloween theme. Check out these awesome activities from creepy crawly spiders and spooky monsters to classic Halloween pumpkins!
We can’t resist a good headband craft! They’re fun to make and even more fun to use for pretend play and other activities. Choose from a spider headband, monster headband, or this fun bat headband pictured above.
Flip the painting process with this creative Halloween art project for kids.
Create simple Halloween sensory bins for toddlers to experiment with scooping and pouring.
Grab some black contact paper and create a life-size human body cut out. Invite kids to add their own drawings of bones to create skeleton inspired wall art.
Or use that same contact paper to create a sticky wall. Add in some gauze and you’ve got a fun sticky wall mummy activity that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.
Water beads make a squishy and inviting base for this Halloween inspired sensory bin.
Use black play dough and cotton swab bits to set up a fun invitation to create play dough skeletons.
We’ve also shared these complete theme planning guides here on Fantastic Fun and Learning. Choose from spiders, monsters, and pumpkins for even more Halloween related fun and learning.
These fun spider themed activities are great for learning about spiders and what makes them so cool! With a little information, everyone can learn that spiders are actually great!
Get in touch with your wild side with these awesome monster themed activities and crafts! Monsters don’t have to be scary, and are actually quite nice once you get to know them!
Pumpkins are probably what comes to mind when you think of the Halloween season, so enjoy these pumpkin themed preschool activities! Pumpkins are great for sensory learning too with their smooth hard outside and gooey pulp and seed inside!
MORE ACTIVITIES FROM CREATIVE EDUCATORS
These fun and spooky Halloween Playdough Activities are sure to bring a smile to any child’s face while helping them to develop fine motor skills.
These adorable 5 Little Pumpkins Activities are perfect for Halloween! Developing memorization skills and learning to sing along to familiar songs and chants are important in preschool.
Whether you’re planning for Halloween snacks at home or prepping for a class party, these healthy(ish) Halloween snack ideas will come in handy.
INFORMATIONAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Homeschool Pop teaches kids all about pumpkins including what pumpkins are, their origin, and more.
Hey! Guess What teaches kids about pumpkin facts such as if pumpkins are fruit, what is the largest pumpkin ever grown, and more.
Mr. DeMaio uses puppets to teach kids all about Halloween including the history of Halloween and more.
YOUTUBE SONGS
Mike, Mia, and Little Johnny have entered into a spooky Haunted house, where they meet new friends and enjoy the Halloween Dance Party.
Celebrate Halloween with this collection of kids’ Halloween songs from Super Simple Songs!
Shake them Halloween bones with this Skeleton Dance from the Kiboomers!
We’ve also shared some of our favorite Halloween songs for kids here.
OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES
Finger plays and action rhymes are a great addition to your preschool themes. Here are a few terrific options to go along with a Halloween theme.
Kids will really enjoy these Halloween Songs for finger play and action rhymes. They are great for circle time!
These 10 Fall and Halloween Songs and Fingerplays are sure to be a hit in your classroom during the Halloween season!
Your kids are sure to love these adorable and super fun Halloween Fingerplays during circle time or anytime!
Your Pre-K students will definitely have a blast with these Halloween Songs, Poems, and Fingerplays!
If you’d like to supplement your hands-on learning with some online games you might try:
These fun Halloween Games from PBS Kids will bring some of your kids’ favorite characters to life and get them into the Halloween spirit.
These Halloween Games from Safe Kid Games are much fun for all ages up to the seventh grade.
FAVORITE HALLOWEEN BOOKS
There are a ton of wonderful books to read for your Halloween theme! Below are some of our favorite picture books for a Halloween theme.
Not-So-Spooky Halloween Song Books
Books About Skeletons and Bones
FREE PRINTABLES FOR HALLOWEEN THEME PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES
This free printable Halloween Candy Beginning Sound Sort Matching Game is an excellent way to help preschoolers and kindergarteners practice letter recognition and beginning sounds.
This 5 Little Spiders Preschool Circle Time Song with free printable will help teach your kids some basic facts about spiders in a playful way.
This super fun Fine Motor Monster Cutting Activity will help preschoolers and kindergarteners strengthen their fine motor skills as they practice cutting with scissors.
You can use this free printable Halloween Costume Writing Activity so that kids can capture their ideas on paper. The finished drawings make great keepsakes!
Make counting fun with these spooky Spider Counting Numbers Printable Mats.
Incorporate Halloween sweets without using any real candy (if you choose) using this Candy Counting Puzzle Activity.
This fun Pumpkin Letter Matching ABC Game is a great way to incorporate pumpkin fun into your literacy lessons.
With this Fall Pumpkin Roll and Color Math Game, your little ones will learn math skills in a fun and festive fall game.
Practice fine motor skills and shape recognition with these Pumpkin Seed Shape Mats. Also, have some sensory fun getting the seeds out of the pumpkin for this activity!
POSSIBLE FIELD TRIPS OR ADVENTURES
- Take a trip to explore a local pumpkin patch or farm.
- Take kids to a local trunk-or-treat event.
- Host a Halloween costume parade.
WHAT NEXT?
As you wrap up your preschool Halloween theme take note of what the kids were most interested in throughout the theme. Continue on by investigating one of those concepts more in-depth. Below are some possible suggestions.
More Halloween Ideas to Explore
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