Quick No-Prep Halloween Activities for Preschoolers

Want some fun, motivating no-prep activities to do this week?  I've got a couple of ideas!

A number of years ago, I bought these wooden shapes from a craft store. Every October I bring them out, and use them in ways I never have before. They are durable and appealing, and most of all, the kids love them. Here are three ways I used them:

1. Mystery Box!  I have this wonderful mystery box that I got from Lakeshore Learning that has holes in each end of the box. I have the child close their eyes, and I sneak one of the shapes inside the box.  Next, I let the child reach in and touch the shape from the other side. I held onto the shape from the other side as well to help prevent the child from taking a peek, but you wouldn't need to do this if the child has enough self-control not to peek. Then, I give the child three or four clues about what the object is and let the child guess. After the child makes a guess, he/she pulls the object out of the box.  Here is an example of the clues I gave: You see it on Halloween. It is white. It flies. It is scary. It says "Boo!"
2. Flashlight Hunt!  This one was my little friend's idea. He asked me to turn off the lights and hide the wooden shapes around the room so he could find them using a flashlight in the dark. How could I resist? So we did just that. It worked perfectly for working on object location! We found the shapes "on" the floor, the bench, the shelf, the chair, the box and the table and said the location each time. We repeated this activity three times, but he could have done this all day! I just know his mom is going to go home and recreate this using Halloween things they have at home.
3. Make a Sentence! We laid the shapes on the table and named each one. Then we chose two shapes to tell a "story" about. For example, after choosing the witch and the ghost, the child said, "The witch and the ghost went trick-or-treating." This was so great for generating sentences and ideas about what the characters might do! It's the perfect way to introduce storytelling to your littles.

I know you probably don't have these same wooden shapes, but no worries! You could do these same activities using picture cards. And if you don't have a mystery box, use a tissue box instead!