We've been doing lots of Halloween-themed art activities this week. Here are eight activities we've tried. Most of these activities are suitable for children 3-5 years+.

1. Spider puppets - using cardboard spider cutouts, a rod and string. These could also be used for Halloween decorations. 

We could present these with paints or crayons, but here we've used markers.

2. Spider painting - I found some old cardboard spiders in our Halloween decorations, and I thought it would be fun to try some negative printing. We put the cardboard spider on the paper and then used a roller to paint over the spider. 

Then we lift the spider up and wow! It's like using a stencil in reverse. 

This is an interesting exploration of painting and printmaking. 

3. Halloween pumpkin painting - we also tried the reverse printing with a cardboard pumpkin cutout. 

This wasn't as clean cut, but it gives the child ideas on painting and printmaking that they can use independently now and in the future.

Halloween stampers - we've used this for some free stamping, but we could also present them with markers for the child to draw a scene.

We are using these self inking Halloween stampers (UK), similar here (US).

Halloween cutting tray - Otto loves this activity. The child cuts the tape to find or 'rescue' what is in the muffin tray. I've used model spiders, insects including cockroaches, and Halloween-themed cut outs. We are using Halloween washi tape (AU), similar here (US).

I encourage Otto to try one cutting activity every day. 

Halloween pasting tray - using Halloween-themed cutouts and glue. Pasting trays are underrated. Although it is not hard work, all the pasting is great for developing fine motor skills.

Pasting trays use lots of fine motor skills like coordination and concentration. 

As much as possible (and practical), I encourage Otto to paste with a brush rather than a glue stick. 

This could also turn into a story-telling activity. 

Painting a Jack O' Lantern - we love to paint various Halloween decorations. This one is from Kmart (AU), and Riot Art (AU) also has many good options. 

Scary!! 

Halloween cutting sheets - another cutting/scissor activity. We've used these Halloween cutting sheets but we could easily make our own. 

We could use the cut out shapes for storytelling or for pasting. 

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