I am a Sunday school teacher and mom of 2 primary aged children (aged 4 and 8) and this time of year always needs extra planning!! With the school holiday falling around Halloween, my 2 always want to do things but my brain isn’t always ready for action! We don’t really do Halloween in our house so I’ve got autumn ideas in here too! So I’ve got a list of 8 awesome autumn and Halloween ideas for you to do with your children. 

1.Pumpkin carving

This is obviously a classic and can be quite messy but investing in some stencils, drawing pins, a big metal serving spoon and air freshener will help. We cut a hole in the top of our pumpkin (a grown up tends to help with this) and spend a good half an hour getting rid of the seeds and slime inside. You can buy scrapers and different tools for this but I find a solid metal serving spoon is perfect for scraping the ‘slime’ from the inside. We then dry our pumpkins as they can get a bit wet and pin the stencil to the right place. A sharpie is used to draw the outline onto the pumpkin and the stencil removed. An adult then starts off the cutting and sometimes finishes it depending on the child doing the pumpkin. 

Top tips: have a bowl of soapy water and a towel nearby for the children to wash their hands whenever they feel they need it. You also don’t have to do scary things on the pumpkin. We’ve done everything from cartoon characters to plain hearts. 

Time: up to an hour

Pros: takes a decent chunk of time, is a classic activity, great for fine and gross motor skills

Cons: can leave a pumpkin smell around for a while and is quite messy. Use a disposable table cloth on the floor to gather and mess and invest in a good air freshener if pumpkin isn’t your desired smell!

2.Pumpkin rice crispie cakes

We love these in our house but they can get a bit messy! We start by melting some white chocolate (obviously an adult needs to do most of this!) until it is smooth and add in plenty of orange food colouring. Mix in some rice crispies (we tried coco pops and it didn’t work!) and get your hands in to get all the crispies covered. Mould the mix into a ball and put onto some baking parchment or into cake cases. Pop a rolo on top for the stalk and a bit of green icing for the lead and refrigerate until they are set. 

Top tips: have a bowl of soapy water and a towel  nearby for the children to wash their hands whenever they feel they need it. 

Time: about half an hour

Pros: gives you delicious treats for this time of year, great for fine and gross motor skills

Cons: can be very messy!!! Don’t attempt this if mess isn’t your thing!

3.Leaf painting

This is such a simple thing but really gets the creative juices flowing. We will go for a walk or pop to the park for an hour and collect leaves. We keep them safe until we get home where we pop them between a couple of pieces of tissue for a little bit to dry off. Once they are dry we get out the paints and paper and simply paint one side of the leaves and put them onto the paper. My son (8) will gte really creative and make all sorts of patterns and colours, sometimes overlapping leaves on a page rather than do them one by one. My daughter (4) much prefers to print a single leaf at a time and with typical autumnal colours. Whatever you want to do is fine! Leave them to dry and then display them however you want. My parents and in-laws love receiving a painting so they get shipped over there!

Top tips: get plenty of leaves or very sturdy ones which you can wipes clean with a wipe if your children are likely to want to do this activity for more than a couple of pieces of paper. 

Time: whatever suits to collect the leaves, then about half an hour to do the painting. Older children might last a bit longer than this.

Pros: It gets you out of the house and active as well as being creative

Cons: painting can be tricky with smaller children but it’s well worth it.

4.Conker rolling

This is such a simple activity but gives a lovely effect.. You need to collect conkers and depending on when your holiday falls, you might want to collect them earlier in the season. Tape a piece of paper to a tray and get some pots of paint. Dunk the conkers into the paint and put at different points around the tray. Then simply tilt the tray and let the conkers roll. They should roll and leave a trail and colour behind them. You can either use one colour and one conker at a time or you can do multiple at the same time. Whatever takes your fancy!!

Top tips: put a cover down on the floor and allow the children do it themselves. A disposable table cloth will be brilliant for this.

Time: about half an hour

Pros: it is a simple activity but is really effective and there is no end to what you can achieve

Cons: the collection (and storage) of conkers may be tricky. The rolling can get a bit unruly too.

5.Apple printing

All you need for this is an apple, a knife, some orange paint and paper. Cut your apple in half, dunk the flat half in the orange paint. Press it down onto the paper and pick it up carefully. This should leave you with a pumpkin shape for you to draw a stalk and leaf onto or you can draw the segments onto the pumpkin. 

Top tips: pick your apple carefully for the best shape

TIme: about half an hour

Pros: this requires very little set up or clean up

Cons: the only one really is that it might not take a very long time.

6.Sponge printing

This is similar to the apple printing but needs a bit of preparation. You need to draw the outline of your desired shape onto a sponge and then (carefully!) remove the edges away from the outline. This should leave you with the shape you drew. I use scissors but a craft or stanley knife can also be used. Then simple dunk your shape into the paint and print onto the paper. I really love this for younger children as it allows for fine and gross motor skills to really be put to the test. 

Top tips: Allow plenty of time and attempts for this. 

Time: However long you allow

Pros: this can help with so many skills - the pressing into the paint with different pressure can get more or less paint on the sponge and the pressing into the paper can give more or less definition. It can be brilliant to allow your children to experiment until they get their desired effect.

Cons: I really cant see any!! Maybe just the fiddly cutting out of the sponge to start with.

7.Autumn wreath

This one involves collecting leaves and loads of them so you may want to start before you plan to do the activity. Cut the middle out of a paper plate leaving the ridged edges. I find it easier to fold the plate in half and cut a semicircle but whatever suits you. We then put white school glue around the edge of the plate and stuck the leaves on in whatever pattern we feel like. Once the glue has dried we then paint the leaves with the glue to help them last a bit longer (it dries clear). We then add a loop of wool onto the back with tape and hang it on the bedroom door.

Top tips: plenty of leaves!!! 

Time: about an hour once youve collected the leaves

Pros: the takes up a good chunk of time! And give you something to keep too

Cons: it can take a while to collect the leaves.

8.Marshmallow ghouls

This is a favourite in our house and it is so so simple! You need some cocktail sticks, big marshmallows and black writing icing. Stick a cocktail stick into the bottom of the marshmallow and then the other end into something firm. I use an apple. Once your ghouls are upright, grab the icing and draw on 2 eyes and a mouth. Our mouths vary from smiley to scary!!! And then leave for a little bit in a cool environment. Done!!!

Top tips: make loads - they never last long!

Time frame: 10 minutes to make, 10 seconds to eat!

Pros: very quick and easy

Cons: may increase your waist line!

If you try any of these out, let me know how you got on. Pictures would be great too as we haven't had very much success with some of these!