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  • Our Favorite Halloween Traditions!

    Our Favorite Halloween Traditions!

    Halloween is not the biggest holiday at our house (that would definitely be Christmas), but I do love celebrating holidays with kids and my kids love this time of year! We stick with “fun” for Halloween with a touch of creepy atmosphere rather than scary or gory.

    One thing I love to remember about traditions is that traditions are here to serve our family, not the other way around! They can also change and adapt. One example of this is that we have had a tradition for years of going to our local corn maze. It’s about a 30 minute drive for us, the prices have gone up, the activities (like a bullet train ride or pony rides) are $2-5 extra per kid, and we have a lot more kids now than when we started (we had two small kids the first year we attended). On top of that, when I try to do the actual maze with the kids, they complain and don’t like it. I decided this year that it’s not worth it to me to take them. Does that mean we’ll never go again? No. And it also is okay that we have done it every year up to now and aren’t going to this year. We’re also adding in some simple traditions to try out this year. It’s okay for things to look a little different as your family circumstances change, or even to take a break for a year or two from traditions.

    Here are some of our favorite Halloween traditions!

    Decorating the Stairs

    When I was growing up, we would do crafts at the beginning of October and decorate the stairs leading down to our living space (we lived in my grandparent’s basement at the time). I love carrying on this tradition with my own kids! At the beginning of October, we take a morning and turn on Halloween Music from our playlist on YouTube music and make Halloween crafts out of construction paper. Then we hang up our projects on the stairs leading to their rooms and all month as we do Halloween activities, they can add art and projects to the wall there!

    Songs on our Halloween Playlist

    Thriller by Michael Jackson

    Ghostbusters by Ray Parker, Jr.

    The Monster Mash Original

    Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell

    The Addams Family Theme by AMC Orchestra

    What’s New Scooby Doo by Simple Plan

    Scooby Doo Theme Song by Ohio Express

    Hex Girls by Moon Sisters

    Earth, Wind, Fire and Air by Moon Sisters

    This is Halloween from Nightmare Before Christmas

    Shake Them Skeleton Bones by The Kiboomers

    The Hanging Tree by James Newton Howard

    Harry’s Wonderous World from Harry Potter

    Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter

    Kids in America by Kim Wilde

    Display Past Halloween Pictures

    I got this idea from one of my favorite bookish bloggers, Janssen at Everyday Reading, and we love it! I have 4X6 pictures of the kids in the Halloween costumes from previous years (and print last year’s) in dollar store frames and we set them up in the living room. It is so fun for everyone to see those past costumes and super simple decorating for me!

    Library Trick or Treating

    Every year leading up to Halloween (or sometimes on Halloween), our library does a trick or treat for the kids. We walk through the library, local free museum, and city building (that are both right next to our library) and trick or treat the workers there. The workers decorate their stations in fun ways, sometimes there’s a magician, and the kids get a little bit of candy. It is so fun!

    I think it’s always worth it to check out what is going on locally and decide which events you want to participate in. We also always do a truck or treat with our church, but there are other events (like a city truck or treat on main street) that we don’t participate in because it’s too much for us.

    Themed Family Costume (sometimes)

    This is another example of traditions being here to serve our family, not the other way around. Some years, we all are themed together, some years only a couple kids are, some years none! I always start off in the summer by exploring different themed costumes the kids might all enjoy. As we throw around ideas and the kids decide what they want to be, I don’t make them stick to a theme if they don’t want to. If it was really important to me to do a family theme, I’d try to find a way to do a theme and make each child happy with the costume, I just don’t mind too much.

    Last year, we did a dragon theme. The kids each picked a color of wings and a mask and since I was pregnant with Leah, I got a shirt that had a dragon egg on it. It was extra special because the kids picked that theme before they knew I was pregnant and after Ben and I had already started writing a children’s book themed around dragons to tell them about the pregnancy. It was really fun and the kids were all on board with the theme!

    This year, we never ended up finding a theme they all wanted to do together. Ashtyn has decided she wants to be a “pink thrifter” with her cousin, Rylee is going to be Elpheba from Wicked (and a cousin may be Glinda with her), Parker is going to be a cat and Leah will be her kitten, and Oliver is going to be a Jedi. They are all excited about their costumes and I’ve been able to find inexpensive, easy ways to put their costumes together.

    Collecting Leaves and Raking Leaves

    We love fall and live in a place where the leaves turn beautiful every year! We actually don’t have any trees in our yard yet, so we go to my in-laws house and always rake a ton of leaves into a big pile for the kids. They love raking the leaves almost as much as they love to jump in the pile afterwards.

    We love to go to the creek by my in-laws house or a place up the mountains that has a park and a little stream to collect leaves. We do crafts and activities (Pinterest is full of ideas) with the leaves afterward. It wouldn’t be fall for us without some leaf collecting!

    Pumpkin Pancakes for Movie Night

    We do movie night and breakfast for dinner each Friday. I love to make pumpkin pancakes at least once leading up to Halloween as we watch a Halloween movie for movie night! I did a post sharing our favorite Halloween movies here.

    Halloween-themed School Activities

    One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is that I can do fun holiday activities as part of school! We love to do worksheets, math activities, crafts, and science all themed around Halloween.

    Witch Cauldrons

    This is something my kids love to do every single year. I put baking soda in little witch’s cauldrons and give them vinegar, food coloring, and other little things (sticks, tiny spiders, googly eyes). They get to make fizzing witch’s potions then. We can turn it into a science lesson if we talk about why the baking soda reacts to the vinegar, or just do it for fun!

    Halloween Bingo

    I didn’t even realize how much my kids love this tradition until they started asking almost daily when we’re going to do it this year–but Halloween bingo! I printed off some free Halloween Bingo cards a few years ago and laminated them. Then I buy candy corn and we use those as place markers for the bingo board. As we play, they eat a few and afterwards, they get to eat all the candy corn (I am firmly in camp “candy corn tastes like wax” but my kids all love it). It’s simple and they love it!

    Halloween Scavenger Hunt

    This is a new tradition I would like to start with my kids (and probably their cousins) this year! I am going to make up a list of Halloween things that are often found on people’s Halloween decorations and the kids can take that list around the neighborhood to find them.

    Make the Same Face as your Pumpkin

    My kids love to paint and carve pumpkins, of course. One fun tradition we have each year is to take a picture of the kids trying to make the same face as their pumpkin. We’ve gotten some priceless pictures this way!

    Jack O’Lantern Pizza and Taco Soup before trick or treating

    On Halloween, we always have the same dinner. I buy a jack o’lantern pizza from Papa Murphy’s and make taco soup. I also make things like carameled apples and pumpkin muffins. We always have a big group for trick or treating, so we invite them all to join us and whoever can, comes!

    After we are done eating, we all set out together to trick or treat our street! Ben stays behind to hand out candy and when we all get back, anyone who wants more dinner can have some. It’s a super easy dinner that everyone loves and fits perfectly with the feeling of Halloween.

    Visit Grandma to Trick or Treat

    After we finish trick or treating, we let the kids stay up late and go trick or treat Grandma! In the past, we’ve stopped at my husband’s grandmother’s house and his parent’s house. This will be our first year after his grandmother passed away, which is sad to think about. We are still planning on stopping at his parent’s house. I have memories growing up of stopping at my grandparent’s house after trick-or-treating as well and I love that I get to share that tradition with my own kids.

    The Switch Witch

    My least favorite part of Halloween was always the unending candy for weeks afterward. I got sick of it and I felt like my kids got sick of it. When I heard about the Switch Witch (a witch who comes to your house after trick or treating and switches candy for a toy), I decided to try it. We’ve done it every year since!

    When we’re done trick or treating, we have the kids dump their candy out in a pile and go through it. They get a quart sized freezer bag to put their favorite candy in (so they still get plenty of candy for the trick or treating efforts) and the rest goes into a big bowl. I’m always amazed at how much candy is leftover after filling their plastic baggies. While they are sleeping, the candy in the bowl disappears and something is left in its place.

    The first few years we did this, the Switch Witch brought kinetic sand. Last year, the kids got water colors and colored pencils. This year, the Switch Witch is bringing molding clay for each child. Our kids know the Switch Witch is me, because I have talked about it that way from the start (our two youngest don’t know about Santa or the Toothfairy yet). I love doing it this way because my kids get to enjoy a lot of candy at Halloween still, but it’s so much more of a manageable amount. I also love that they wake up on Halloween and spend all day doing whatever it is the Switch Witch brought, rather than just eating a ton of candy (they do eat candy, but honestly, they forget about their candy for hours every single year because they are so busy playing).

    I hope some of these traditions have inspired you, not only with some ideas of traditions that will work for your family, but also showing that traditions don’t always have to be big and flashy! Some of our favorite traditions are simple and easy. Now inspire me! What are some of your family’s favorite traditions?

  • 25+ Picture Books Perfect for Halloween!

    When I get out our Halloween decorations, I also haul up our big pile of seasonal books to read throughout the month together. It’s both my favorite thing and my kids’ favorite thing! We love our “Halloween” books–some are actually about Halloween, some are a little creepy or about Halloween related things like monsters, and some are simply books perfect for fall.

    Today I am sharing some of our FAVORITE books to read at Halloween time!

    Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex

    We love Goodnight Moon at our house and Goodnight Goon is a fun and hilarious Halloween take of the original. It includes all things Halloween–monsters and witches and a werewolf–but all in the same cutsie art style. The changes that are made are clever and fun to read.

    Little Blue Truck’s Halloween by Alice Shertle

    We are also huge fans of Little Blue Truck at our house! I am usually not very impressed with spin offs of favorite books (for example, I will sometimes read Pout Pout Fish holiday books, but I don’t love them, and we don’t even own any other Tacky the Penguin books, despite the fact that I love the originals of both), but I have loved every Little Blue Truck book that we’ve read. Little Blue Truck’s Halloween is no exception! It’s a flap book (and the flaps are very durable) showcasing all the animals’ and truck’s Halloween costume.

    Monster Mash by David Catrow

    I have a daughter who simply loves Halloween and always has, and the Monster Mash is one of her favorite songs. This book has some creepy or weird looking pictures in it, but that’s part of the appeal to her and doesn’t have anything gory. It’s a fun book that follows the song.

    Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere by Smriti Prasadam-Halls

    Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere is a cute picture book looking at different jack o’lanterns and following a group of people who have a pumpkin festival. It’s perfect for Halloween time!

    Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw

    Sheep in Jeep is another of my very favorite children’s books. Sheep Trick or Treat is a fun spinoff following the sheep as they make Halloween costumes and go trick or treating–but on the way home, some wolves start to follow them. It’s clever and well done, just like the original.

    Ollie’s Halloween by Olivier Dunrea

    I love all of the Gossie and Friends books and so do my kids. Ollie is our favorite. Ollie’s Halloween follows the goslings on Halloween night, talking about how it’s a night to scare. At the very end, Ollie hasn’t had any treats and they share with him, and the book ends by saying it’s a night to share. It’s a cute little story.

    Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

    Go Away, Big Green Monster! has been a Halloween book I’ve had in my house since my youngest was a toddler and the kids all want to read it every single year. We love the clever way it’s set up to first show the Big Green Monster appearing and then disappearing. We also Nighty Night Little Green Monster, which is set up in the same way, and If You’re a Monster and You Know It, which is just a monster version of If You’re Happy and You Know It with pictures to go along with it, by the same author. I love reading all of them at this time of year!

    Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo

    Princess in Disguise is technically a chapter book, but it has lot of illustrations and is a fun read for younger and older kids alike (it’s my four-year-old’s favorite right now). It’s short enough that we’ve read it one sitting before. Mercy Watson is a fun series about a couple who have adopted a pig named Mercy, and Princess in Disguise follows their adventures as they try to take her trick-or-treating.

    A Super Scary Narwhalloween by Ben Clanton

    A Super Scary Narwhalloween is another short chapter book, and is in graphic novel format. My kids love for me to read them the Narwhal and Jelly books and this one is perfect for Halloween time.

    There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro

    Ah yes, the classic Old Lady Who Swallows books. We love seeing all the variations on this story and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat is great for this time of year.

    Dem Bones by Bob Barner

    Dem Bones is another song that my younger kids love (my older kids groan every time I turn it on). This version of the book is fun because it teaches about the different bones with facts on each page rather than just being the song in book form. It was a great one to use when I did a unit study on bones at Halloween time one year.

    T. Rex Trick or Treats by Lois G. Grambling

    T. Rex Trick or Treats follows a T Rex who wants to dress up as something really scary for Halloween but isn’t sure what to be. His friends help him find the best costume–himself with a really big frown–and they have fun together trick or treating. It’s a cute story for Halloween time and perfect for any kid who loves dinosaurs!

    Halloween Hustle by Charlotte Gunnufson

    Halloween Hustle is in the top 5 of my favorite Halloween books to read! I love the rhythm that naturally comes out as I’m reading the book and the story and illustrations are both super cute. Even though it has Halloween characters, the book is about dancing and friendship rather than anything scary.

    There’s a Witch in Your Book by Greg Abbott

    There’s a Witch in Your Book is an interactive book about trying to “clean up” the mess a naughty little witch makes. It has you block spells with your hand, clean things up by wiping them away, and point your finger to say some spells. My kids love reading this together!

    Stumpkin by Lucy Ruth Cummins

    I think Stumpkin has the number one spot for my favorite Halloween books. It follows a pumpkin who is perfectly round and orange, but no one picks him for a jack o’lantern because he doesn’t have a stump. In the end, he realizes he doesn’t need a new home because he already has one–with the shopkeeper, who makes him into a jack o’lantern for the shop. The story telling and illustrations are so well done, I love reading it every year.

    Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connel

    Ten Timid Ghosts is another of my top 5 favorite Halloween books. It follows a group of ghosts who live in a haunted house when a witch comes and starts to scare them into leaving so she can the house for herself–but one ghost is paying attention and helps the ghosts all get their house back. The rhyming is fun to read and it’s fun to catch the little ghost paying attention in the illustrations.

    Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

    Room on the Broom is a book we read throughout the year, but because it’s about a witch, I love pulling it out each Halloween time. It follows a witch who keeps dropping things. Each time she stops to find her things, she meets another animal who asks if there is room on the broom for them. In the end, all her new friends are able to help her when a dragon shows up. I love the book and I also love 30 minute animated movie they’ve made of the book. Both are super cute, with super cute rhymes, story, and illustrations.

    Sherlock Chick and the Case of the Night Noises by Robert Quackenbush

    Sherlock Chick is not actually a Halloween book, but I love reading mystery books at this time of year–both in my personal reading and out loud to the kids. The Case of the Night Noises is such a fun picture book mystery, it is a great introduction for kids to the mystery genre. I grew up reading this one and loving it. I also noticed while writing this post that there are other Sherlock Chick books and now I am going to go check those ones out with my kids!

    Little Witch’s Big Night by Deborah Hautzig

    Little Witch’s Big Night is a fun Halloween book. It follows a young witch who is accidentally “too good” so she has to stay home from the Halloween fun with her mom and aunts. While at home, she makes friends with some trick or treater kids. In the end, she and her mom make up and there’s a cute ending.

    The Monster’s Monster by Patrick McDonnell

    The Monsters’ Monster is a cute story about monsters who have a lot to learn–I love that the story is about gratitude, even while following monsters. I like to read it at Halloween because monsters are Halloween-y to me but it’s a fun one that isn’t about “being scary”.

    Little Ghost Makes a Friend by Maggie Edkins Willis

    Little Ghost Makes a Friend has super cute illustrations and a really fun story. It follows a ghost who is nervous about making friends. When he gets a new neighbor, he decides to be brave and invite her to a Halloween party, where he finds out that she sometimes feels nervous about making new friends too. He has the best Halloween ever with his new friend. My favorite part of this book are the illustrations, but the story and character are also fun to read about.

    At the Old Haunted House by Helen Ketteman

    At the Old Haunted House is probably my kids’ favorite Halloween book. It’s always the first one they pick out for me to read and we often read it several times throughout the month. I also love it. The rhythm of the book makes it a really fun read aloud and the illustrations aren’t scary or weird as the book introduces each Halloween character.

    Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds

    Creepy Carrots and the entire series (Creepy Crayon and Creepy Pair of Underwear) are some of our favorite books to read year round, but I especially love them at Halloween. They play on the horror genre, but because it’s about carrots–or crayons, or underwear–it’s silly instead of scary for kids. The story and illustrations are so well done, both the kids and I love reading these together.

    How Spider Saved Halloween by Robert Kraus

    How Spider Saved Halloween is my favorite Halloween book from my own childhood. The story follows spider and the way he and his friends handle a group of bullies at Halloween time. It’s a cute story that my kids love every time we read it.

    The Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain

    The Spooky Old Tree and the similar book, Bears in the Night, are books we love reading all year, but especially at Halloween. This is such a classic book with an atmosphere that is perfect for Halloween time without being too scary for kids.

    The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King

    The Pumpkin Patch is a picture book of photographs that chronicles how pumpkins are grown for pumpkin patches. I love photo books like this, especially holiday ones.

    Leaf Man by Lois Elhert

    Leaf Man is such a unique and fun book–it depicts leaves in different shapes, like a man, cows, or an orchard. Each page has new shapes to discover and my kids love it. It’s also fun as a book to read before going out and gathering leaves together).

    Those are our family’s favorite picture book reads at Halloween time each year! What are some of your favorite holiday reads? Do you lean into the scarier or more fun Halloween vibe? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

  • 15 Fun Halloween Books for Toddlers!

    There is nothing I love more than reading holiday-themed books with my kids! Especially as fall comes and it means the start of the holiday season, there is something about pulling out holiday themed books and snuggling up on the couch together. It’s especially fun with young toddlers and preschoolers, who are so excited about the upcoming holiday.

    Here is a list of my favorite Halloween and fall themed books that are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers!

    The Spooky Wheels on the Bus

    This Halloween variation on the Wheels on the Bus has been my kids’ favorite for years. It’s a fun one because even young toddlers are familar with the original song and love books that have songs in them. It’s also so inexpensive!

    Are You My Monster? by Amanda Noll

    We love the entire I Need My Monster series about a boy who can’t sleep unless his monster is under his bed. Rather than being scary, they are cute and fun. Are You My Monster is perfect for toddlers, as it is a board book that identifies aspects of monsters to see which one is the boy’s monster.

    Nighty Night Little Green Monster by Ed Emberly

    My kids have always loved Go Away Big Green Monster from a young age, and Nighty Night Little Green Monster is such a cute addition. I love that it is about bedtime, which kids can relate to. The whole setup of both books is clever and I always enjoy reading them with my kids as much as they enjoy me reading it to them.

    Where’s the Witch? by Ingela P. Arrhenius

    Where’s the Witch is an adorable Halloween book with such cute illustrations! It goes through different Halloween characters and has felt flaps, which I love more than the paper flaps (they rip so easily) and a mirror at the end. This is one of my favorite interactive books for toddlers, Halloween or not.

    Where is Baby’s Pumpkin? by Karen Katz

    I love Karen Katz books (despite the paper flaps sometimes getting ripped) and Where is Baby’s Pumpkin is such a cute Halloween one! Baby is looking for her pumpkin so she can go trick-or-treating and on each page, the child can lift the flap to see if her pumpkin is there–and when it’s not, something else “Halloween-y” will be there!

    Trick or Treat, Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Deisen

    We really like the original Pout Pout Fish book and had one child in particular who loved it for awhile. Trick or Treat Pout-Pout Fish is a short board book that shows each of Pout-Pout Fish’s friends all dressed up for Halloween!

    Boo! Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton

    Sandra Boynton is one of my top three authors for board books–I always love reading them aloud (which is very important when you have to read a book over and over again). Boo! Baa, La La La is a Halloween play on her book Moo! Baa La La La (a favorite in our house) and is so fun! It’s not interactive in the same way the flap books are, but my kids love “guessing” who is making the noises.

    Spooky Pookie by Sandra Boynton

    I love Pooky! In Spooky Pookie, we get to see Pooky trying on different costumes as he tries to decide what to dress up as for Halloween. It’s a short but fun story, perfect for young kids to follow along with.

    Eek! Halloween! by Sandra Boynton

    Another Sandra Boynton–because we really love her books! Eek! Halloween! is a silly book about chickens experiencing the weird things around this holiday and not knowing what to make of it. My kids always laugh when we read it together.

    Ollie’s Halloween by Olivier Dunrea

    I love all of the Gossie and Friends books and so do my kids. When I got Ollie’s Halloween out this year, my four-year-old was very excited to read a Halloween book about Ollie. I also love the ending of this book–throughout it says that Halloween is a time to scare, and at the very end, it plays on that and says that Halloween is a time to share. It’s a cute little story about the goslings that younger and older kids can enjoy.

    Max’s Halloween by Rosemary Wells

    Max and Ruby are another of my favorite books for young kids–I remember my mom reading them to me when I was growing up. In Max’s Halloween, we get to see Ruby trying to be in charge as the older sister and Max just doing his own thing. It’s a fun story about siblings trick or treating together.

    It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff

    It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse is perfect for parents who want to avoid monsters and anything scary on Halloween–it’s a cute story about Mouse and Dog painting their pumpkins together. We have the board book, making it perfect for little toddler fingers.

    The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin by Sanoli Fry

    Another song book! Again, even the youngest toddlers will be familar with the original Itsy Bitsy Spider song. The Itsy Bitsy Pumpkin has been a favorite with all my kids at the toddler age. The book is cute, because it has a little story in the song about the pumpkin finding it’s way back home.

    Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw

    I don’t know if there is a toddler/preschooler book out there that I love more than Sheep in a Jeep. This Halloween spin off Sheep Trick or Treat is not as good as the original, but is still super fun and has a cute story. The sheep get dressed up and go trick or treating, but there are wolves on the prowl! My four-year-old loves it this year and was very invested in seeing what would happen the first time we read it.

    Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

    Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin is another great one for parents who want to avoid monsters or magic for Halloween. It follows Duck and Goose as they search for a pumpkin in all the fall places–like an apple tree and a leaf pile. It’s a cute one for young kids!

    Those are some of our favorite read alouds for young toddlers and preschoolers! What are some of your favorite books to read with young kids for Halloween? Let me know in the comments below!

  • Halloween Homeschool Activities 2025

    One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is during the holidays when we can theme a lot of our school activities around the holiday! With a baby, I’m feeling a little behind, but I have started planning some Halloween homeschool activities to do with the kids this Halloween and I wanted to share them here!

    Halloween Crafts

    Skeleton Paper Garland

    For this activity, you use paper chains to make a large skeleton. We have already done a few simple skeleton activities this year (labeling the bones in a skeleton, cutting out and gluing together a paper skeleton, etc) and I thought this would be a fun activity for the kids. I have one daughter in particular who I think will love it this year and it can be a decoration when we are done!

    Water Color Webs

    With this activity, you use a white crayon to draw a spiderweb on a paper plate. Then you let the kids paint over it with water colors–the paint sticks to the paper but not to the crayon drawing. My kids have loved water color paints this year and this is a really fun activity that all my kids (ages 4 to 11) will really enjoy.

    Make a Paper Spiderweb

    This is similar to making snowflakes, but in a way that when you open up the paper, it is in the shape of a spiderweb! I think my older three girls will love this one! I also think once they learn how to make one, we’ll end up with about a hundred paper spiderwebs around the house (anyone else have factory-mode kids with crafts?).

    Yarn Pumpkins

    For this activity, you cover yarn in glue and place it around a balloon. Once the yarn is dry, you pop the balloon and are left with a pumpkin shape of yarn. I don’t know if I’ll do this activity, but we have balloons and yarn, so it would be doable. I think my kids would love it, it just seems a little more involved for me and with the baby, it depends on how much capacity I end up having for something like this.

    Draw Monsters with Googly Eyes

    This activity is really simple! You put googly eyes on a paper in random places and let your kids draw monsters around the eyes. It’s a good activity for all ages because they can draw at their own level, but I think my four year old will especially love this activity.

    Halloween Science Experiments

    Mummy Apples

    One thing I love to do with science is find things that are Halloween-y and learn about them (I did a whole unit study on bones one year!). This year, we are learning about the mummification process and what real mummies were, and for a hands on science activity, we are mummifying our own apple. It’s really simple–you just make some cuts in the apple and place it in a bag with salt and baking soda–but it does take a few weeks.

    Witch’s Cauldrons

    This is an activity we do every year. I have mini cauldrons that I fill halfway with vinegar. Then I give my kids baking soda and things to put in their potions (sticks, food coloring, googly eyes, fake spiders, etc) and let them go at it. We talk about catalysts and reactions and things, but mostly they just like to make potions.

    Dissolving Candy Corn

    This is another favorite activity–you get different liquids (water, hot water, oil, vinegar, etc) and put a piece of candy corn in each one. You can each make a hypothesis beforehand about which one will dissolve the candy corn fastest, and then you wait and watch to see who was correct.

    Disappearing Monsters

    I’ve never tried this activity before, but it seems pretty simple, which is great for us this year. The kids draw monsters on coffee filters and then use water to make the monster pictures disappear.

    Core Subjects

    Halloween Madlibs

    Madlibs is a fun way to get some grammar in with my kids and doing them themed just makes them more fun.

    Surprise Math Pictures

    These are always my kids favorite–they are color by number graphs that don’t have any pre-drawn lines, so the kids don’t know what it is until they fill in all the squares. Just like with color by number, Pinterest has a ton of free printables ranging from just numbers to addition to multiplication.

    Graphing Candy

    Graphing Candy is a new tradition I want to start with my kids this year. Before Halloween starts, you all guess how many of each popular candy is going to be handed out. After trick-or-treating, you create a graph together of how many your family actually recieved and you use the graph to see who was correct in guessing. It sounds very fun and is great graphing practice.

    Halloween Decor Scavenger Hunt

    Another new tradition I want to try this year! A few days before Halloween, I’ll have an outdoor scavenger hunt ready, with items like Giant Spider or Spiderwebs, things that are often used as decorations. The kids and I can walk around the neighborhood looking for each item on the list.

    That’s what I have planned to do with my kids this month for Halloween that are school related! I think it’s a manageable list, but also will be fun for the kids. What do you have planned to do with your kids? What are some of your favorite Halloween homeschool activities to do? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

  • Our Favorite Halloween Movies for Kids!

    My kids love Halloween (especially our middlest child) and I love holidays! However, we are not a family who loves gore or super scary movies (my kids are also not super sensitive). I have a fun list of “Halloween-y” movies that fit our family just right that I love to pull out each fall. Some of these are more scary than others, but all of them have been fun family movies to watch together.

    These are our favorite movies to watch each year!

    Room on the Broom

    Room on the Broom is an adorable movie based on a (equally adorable) children’s book. It follows a witch who keeps losing her stuff. As different animals help her find her things, they ask if there is room for them on her broom. In the end, those she makes room for get to help her out as well! It’s only about 30 minutes long and I love everything about it–the animation, the story telling, the message.

    We own this one on Google Play.

    Coco

    Coco is such a fun movie for Halloween time! I love the message of family and geneology that it gives and I think the storyline is very well done, as well as the music. It’s also a fun one if you are learning about other cultures and their traditions and holidays this time of year.

    We watch this one on Disney Plus.

    Monsters, Inc.

    Monsters Inc is not a Halloween movie, but it’s a fun one to watch this time of year because … Monsters! It’s also perfect for kids who don’t like scary things as much.

    We watch Monsters Inc on Disney Plus.

    Pooh’s Heffalump Movie

    Pooh’s Heffalump Movie is such a great Halloween-y movie for younger kids. It has more of a “scary” feel to it without actually being scary. It’s a fun adventure with just the right feel to it and honestly, who doesn’t love Winnie the Pooh?

    We watch this on Disney Plus.

    It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown–such a classic. I have watched this every year at Halloween for as long as I can remember, and now so have my kids! I love Charlie Brown, especially the holiday shows. It’s a shorter movie without any scary parts, but is actually a Halloween movie as well.

    We own the DVD (we don’t have Apple TV and it is impossible to buy/stream it anywhere else online).

    Scooby Doo Where Are You!

    I grew up watching the older (Scooby Doo Show and Where Are You) Scooby Doo episodes and I love sharing them with my kids now. My 4-year-old son particularly likes them right now (my oldest also went through a stage where she loved them). We watch them year round, but I love pulling them out in the fall, especially if it’s been awhile since we watched them.

    We also love the Scooby Doo and Scrappy Too, and my son loves the Scooby Meets Batman collection. I don’t love any of the newer Scooby Doo shows, so we avoid those.

    We own these on Prime Video and some DVD’s.

    The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

    The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is such a funny movie! I mean, who doesn’t love Don Knotts? It’s not a movie geared to particularly young kids, but my kids have enjoyed watching it as a family starting at fairly young ages (4-5) and it’s one of my favorites to revisit each year. I love having some “grown up” movies my kids can love!

    It’s not a “Halloween” movie, but it deals with haunted houses, ghosts, and a mystery, which makes it perfect for this time of year.

    We own this on Google Play.

    Blackbeard’s Ghost

    Blackbeard’s Ghost is not a Halloween movie, but because of the atmosphere of the movie and the fact that it has a ghost, we watch this every fall. While this technically has a ghost, it’s not a scary movie at all–it’s a fun and silly one. My kids always laugh so hard. Blackbeard’s Ghost gets up to all sorts of mischeif and it has a feel good ending. This is a good one for slightly older kids who still don’t want to watch scary movies.

    We watch this on Disney Plus.

    Nancy Drew

    This Nancy Drew movie is one of my favorites! I love the message of Nancy Drew being confident in being herself and the mystery is really well done. My girls have all loved it as well. It’s a better movie for slightly older kids, both in terms of what will hold their interest as well as the fact there are a couple more intense scenes and a few mild swear words. My four year old son had very little interest in it this year, but my daughter loved it starting when she was five or six.

    We own this on Google Play.

    Toy Story of Terror!

    Toy Story of Terror is such a fun, short Halloween-ish movie! The very beginning can be scary for more sensitive kids, but there’s a cute character arc, we get to revisit characters we know and love, and the ending is very fun. It has the feel of “horror” but in a wholesome way.

    We watch this on Disney Plus.

    Scooby Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost

    Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost is probably my favorite Scooby Doo movie! I love the plotline and I think they did a really good job sticking true to the original Scooby Doo feel. It has a real ghost in it at the end, like the movies tend to do, but it isn’t too scary. We also love Scooby Doo and the Alien Invasion, which also isn’t too scary, and Scooby Doo and Zombie Island, which is scarier for younger kids. My kids love watching all three at Halloween time.

    We own all three movies on Google Play.

    The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

    I grew up watching the short film about Ichabod Crane. I think this movie could definitely be scarier for a sensitive child, but my kids haven’t ever had any issues with it. I like that it’s shorter but still has that “Halloween” feel to it, but if you want to have a longer movie night with it, you can watch Mr. Toad as well. I don’t know why Disney connected them into one movie, but Mr. Toad and the atmosphere of that movie makes it a good one to watch this time of year as well.

    We watch this on Disney Plus.

    Halloweentown

    Halloweentown is not my favorite Halloween movie (I didn’t grow up watching it, so I don’t have any nostalgia around it; the first time I saw it, I was already in my late 20’s). My kids, however, love it, so they watch it every year while I go do something else.

    We watch this on Disney Plus.

    James and the Giant Peach

    James and the Giant Peach has such an atmosphere, that is perfect for fall and Halloween time. I have always loved the music in the movie, even though the movie itself is a little weird (true to the book). We don’t watch this every year, but when we are needing an extra movie in the fall, this is a fun one we can pick.

    We watch this on Disney Plus.

    Abbott and Costello

    I grew up watching Abbott and Costello and just love them. Their Monsters Collection is just perfect for Halloween. My older kids are just getting old enough to really appreciate Abbott and Costello. My favorite of their movies to watch at Halloween is actually Hold that Ghost (it has a “haunted” house and ghost and a mystery, so perfect for this time of year, and it’s hilarious), but that one is actually really hard to find. I am going to see if I can hunt it down on DVD this year.

    We own the DVD of the Monsters Collection.

    Harry Potter

    I save Harry Potter for the end because we waited until our kids were older to have them watch this, though I know every family is different. We now watch the first two with all our kids, so our younger kids have seen it at younger ages. Our oldest is turning eleven this month and has seen the third, and after watching Lord of the Rings and doing well with it, we decided she can watch the rest of the movies with us this year (she is very excited!). The first two have some scary parts, but overall, I don’t think it’s too bad for even younger kids. The third one has a definite shift in atmosphere and obviously the fourth on (minus the sixth) are pg-13. They are such fun ones for Halloween time though!

    We own the DVDs.

    Those are some of our favorite Halloween movies and we watch many of them every year in the fall! What are some of your family favorites? Are you a “fun and light” Halloween family or more of a “horror and scary” Halloween family? I’d love to hear about your traditions and favorites in the comments below!

  • A Mini “Skeleton Unit Study” for Halloween!

    I love doing holiday-themed activities with my kids and this year I decided to choose one Halloween-y topic to dive deeper into with my kids! I picked skeletons and we had a lot of fun with it.

    Books on Skeletons

    The core of our unit studies are always books. Here are the books we read together:

    Understanding Muscles and the Skeleton by Robert Snedden

    This book has a lot of information spanning the skeletal system. Because my kids are young, I didn’t read all of this with them, but rather picked out the parts that were the most interesting. I liked that it had so much information in it.

    Amazing Body Systems – Skeletal System by Karen Latchana Kenney

    We read everything in this book together and the kids learned a lot from it. I really liked the way the graphics went with the text and the “Did You Know” sections that gave interesting little tidbits.

    Your Skeletal System Works by Flora Brett

    This was similar to the previous book and had some overlapping information, but not all the information was the same and I think it’s good to repeat the information at times. My favorite part of this book was a graphic that showed a human skeleton and highlighted/labeled the different joints.

    Bones by Steve Jenkins

    This was a fascinating book to read together. It teaches about each different part of your skeleton and shows to scale how our skeleton compares to other animals. It includes the skeleton of turtles, storks, elephants, and even dinosaurs. Of the books we read about skeletons, this was my favorite.

    Bone by Bone by Sara Levine

    This was another book comparing our skeleton to that of other animals, but it went about it slightly differently. It starts with a human skeleton and then asks what kind of animal we might be like if we had a different skeletal makeup. The kids can guess and then you turn the page to find out. It’s a great way to learn the differences that make up all the different animals and I actually learned a lot that I didn’t know before. It was a really fun book to read together.

    Dem Bones by Bob Barner

    I always like to include some books that aren’t purely nonfiction. This was a great in between book. It goes through the song (and we sang through the book once as well!) but each page also gives facts about that bone.

    Halloween Hustle by Charlotte Gunnufson

    This is a fun story about a skeleton who wants to do the “Halloween Hustle” but keeps falling apart. It’s not realistic at all (they glue him together at the end of the book, which obviously wouldn’t allow movement) but it’s a fun little story and my kids enjoy it.

    I Spy a Skeleton by Jean Marzollo

    We also got this book from the library because it features “Skeleton” in the title. It doesn’t have a lot to do with skeletons, but my kids had fun with it, and it does have some skeletons and bones in it.

    Videos on Skeletons

    We also love to supplement with YouTube videos. We only watched a couple for this topic:

    SciShow Kids – Your Super Skeleton

    We love SciShow Kids and this video was great. It has an overview of your skeletal system in a way that keeps the kids interest.

    PeekaBoo Kidz – Bones

    This video goes through the different parts of your skeleton and gives some facts about it.

    Happy Learning – The Human Skeleton: Amazing Facts

    This video shares five different facts about the human skeletons that aren’t facts you normally hear about.

    Magic School Bus Episode

    I also like to find some sort of show to watch that relates. For skeletons, we watched the Magic School Bus episode Flexes Its Muscles (in season 2). It shows the kids making a robot and delves into how a body works together to move. I thought it was the perfect way to tie up what we’d learned about the skeletal system.

    Skeleton Learning Activities

    Q-Tip Skeletons

    After learning about skeletons, we did a couple of activities. The first one was the kids favorite. We made little skeletons out of Q-tips. While we made them, we listened to the song Dem Bones.

    Paper Skeletons

    Then I found these paper skeletons that the kids cut out and glued onto black paper as a Halloween decoration. As we did, we learned some of the technical names for different bones. I also printed an extra and laminated it so the kids could play with it over and over again. When they were first putting it together, they went and found a picture of a skeleton in a book to make sure they were doing it right.

    Twigs and Rocks Skeleton

    The final activity was making a skeleton out of rocks and sticks outside. It was a more active one because we first had to find the twigs and rocks. I love any activity we can do outside, and the kids had a lot of fun with it!

    Overall, this mini unit study was a short but fun way to learn more about the skeletal system and it was perfect for Halloween time!