While most schools in our area opt for “Black and Orange Day” instead of celebrating Halloween, it’s really all the kids can talk about! I believe in meeting kids where their interests are, so we have this Halloween Classroom Play Dough Kit on our shelves for some open-ended Halloween sensory play.
*Pair this with our Halloween Math and Literacy Centers for even more learning fun!
I have always said that I think Halloween is a great time for kids to work out their fears and also learn more about others by trying on different roles and characters (something that kids really should be encouraged to do year-round).
With spiders, skeletons, rats, and other spooky sights decorating everything from the neighbor’s house to the local coffee shop, encouraging kids to play with replicas of the objects they fear is a great way to make those things less scary and teach children positive ways of handling their fears.
A successful Halloween Play Dough Kit should have a mix of spooky and approachable items so as to not be too intimidating.
While I have some zombie fans in my midst, I opted for a slightly tamer approach to the holiday. If you have older children, you could definitely add spookier or grosser elements to your play dough kit.
How To Make a Halloween Play Dough Kit
In our Halloween Play Dough Kit you will find:
- Lime Green Play Dough
- Chocolate scented play dough (in honor of trick or treating)
- Purple Play Dough
- Orange Play Dough
- Skeleton decorations or toys
- Glow in the dark flies (if you want to add some “gross” you can get rubber flies).
- Marbles (I thought they were less gruesome than eyeballs)
- Halloween cookie cutters
I have a small kit of play dough supplies that I keep in our arts and crafts cupboard so that I can whip up a batch of play dough super quickly without hunting all around for the supplies.
Since our play dough is played with by a large group of kids, I replace it often to prevent the spread of germs.
Our play dough recipes tend to last over a month at home, so if you’re making this for a smaller group you could definitely keep it around longer.
With such a fun array of shapes and items, making impressions was a strong theme – skeletons provide a great opportunity to learn and discuss the different parts of the body, especially with the help of the song, “Dem Bones.”
These flies look super cool in the dark because they glow. They are harder to find, but you can find toy flies on Amazon.
A session of play dough fun would not be complete without lots and lots of play dough snakes – which are even more fitting to the Halloween theme!
I also loved these “jewel-encrusted” leaves that I saw being created.
Do you celebrate Halloween in your classroom? How do you encourage children to conquer their fears?
More Halloween Fun
Looking for more fun Halloween ideas to try this year? Check out some of our favorites!
Jennifer
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