Creating celebrations that include everyone really isn’t that hard. I have 3 children, all different ages and all different development stages. Creating fun experiences for them all to enjoy on different levels takes a bit of planning but is totally doable. Here are some of our adaptable Halloween ideas:
Baking
All 3 of mine love baking. It encourages turn taking and waiting, mixing and maths with the weighing.
Each child can take on a bit that is accessible to them. The girls can pour ingredients in easier than Ethan so he enjoys doing to mixing, especially with the electric whisk. We are awaiting his new switch adaptor which means he can also turn the appliance on aswell.
Sensory play
I have 2 that love to get messy and one wh sti isn’t sure. So we do a mixture of wet and dry sensory play. Halloween play ideas which are particularly good are dry bow tie pasta shapes to pretend they are bat’s, you can also colour with paint or food colouring, slime or jelly for a really messy time, adding in eyeballs or bugs, coloured cooked spaghetti or black glittery playdough.
Scavenger hunt
We are going to do a Halloween themed scavenger hunt around our garden and driveway finding Halloween themed pictures. For them all I will have a little check list to cross off when then find them. For Ethan I will print of extra picture cards and he can, with help, place one of them onto the grid. He can also use the small pictures to help him find the bigger pictures.
Disco
We will pop some music on, dim the lights, grab some glow sticks and dance to some spooky songs. You could even make shadow shapes on the wall using a torch.
Pumpkins
Carving the pumpkin is such a great sensory experience. Getting hands in to scoop out and feel the seeds and guts is great for hand skills. Smelling the pumpkin is also great for the senses. Little to no pen control can also be used to colour over a stencil which won’t need any cutting out.