Glow in the dark Sensory Slime & more easy Halloween crafts

Halloween is a wonderful time and it is my favorite holiday! I love all things costumey and decorations for Halloween are my favorite. I also love Halloween crafts. LOVE THEM. So here I am rounding up some super easy and fun Halloween crafts you can do with your preschooler when your local pumpkin patch is rained out like ours is this weekend.

Glow in the Dark Sensory Slime

Yesterday I decided to finally try slime out. Why not? I thought to myself. It’s a fabulous activity for sensory play and it’s something I can get my son excited about. Gotta do something when the rains ruin all plans for outdoor play.

This is a 3 ingredient slime. 3 because I used two different things of glue. Otherwise, it’s honestly a 2-ingredient recipe.

All you need is FUN glue and some liquid starch (because of the sodium tetraborate). The rule of thumb is for 1 cup of glue, you want 1/2 cup of liquid starch. I used one container of glittery pink glue and another container of glow in the dark glue. Elmer’s, thanks for making so many varieties of fun glue!

How to make slime

I started with having my 3-year-old pour the glue out of both containers into a glass bowl. Then since the two containers made about a cup and a half of glue, I poured in 1/2 a cup of starch and planned to add from there. So I let my 3-year-old stir (great motor practice) and mix up the ingredients. And let me tell you he was thrilled! Then I kept adding a slight bit more liquid starch until the mixture wasn’t too sticky anymore. You want it squishy, but not too sticky. Then let it sit for a few minutes for everything to set.

Please remember, this slime is not edible. Wash your hands after play and before eating.

Here’s some slime science for you: 

I bet you already realized slime is a STEAM activity, but here’s what is going on. The polymers in the glue cross-link with the borate ions in the activator, which is our liquid starch. The chemical bonds that form between the molecules in the glue and borate ions cause the glue polymer molecules to get tangled up. They no longer flow freely and the substance becomes the Non-Newtonian fluid that is slime (that means it’s neither a liquid or a solid).

Then, because it’s Halloween and because we can one-up the coolness of the glow in the dark aspect of this slime, we added some Halloween stickers into the slime.

I tell you my son was thrilled I made this. Not only is it sensory and fun because it’s slime, but it’s also a great calm down tool. My son liked how it made a fun popping noise when squeezed and he kept going back to it, washing his hands, and going back to playing with it again. We’re definitely storing it in an air-tight container for playing with again later.

Easy Halloween Crafts for Preschoolers

Spider Crafts for Preschoolers

So you know my son is kind of obsessed with spiders. Enough that I wrote this post: Is Your Toddler Obsessed with the Itsy Bitsy Spider Song? Make this spider craft! You can read more about how to make this in the linked post, but here’s a quick summary. You will need a paper plate, blue and green Construction paper, googly eyes, scissors, and glue. I let my son rip up some green construction paper while I cut strips of blue construction paper and accordion folded it (that’s where you fold it back and forth to make the waves in the legs you see). Then we glued the legs to the back of the paper plate, and I let my son glue his ripped up green confetti to the front. Then we added the eyes and instant spider!

Here’s another Easy and Fun Halloween Spider Craft for Toddlers. Read the post for details but we used craft sticks for the body, Pipe Cleaners for the legs, and Pom poms for the stomach and eyes. And tape to hold it all together. It was kind of a random attempt at craft time but it came out looking unique so we enjoyed it.

Here’s another fun idea that I saw at our preschool bulletin board.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Fun spider craft perfect for #halloween? and #bulletinboard decor! ?????

A post shared by Julie {Fab Working Mom Life} (@fabworkingmomjulie) on Oct 12, 2018 at 9:04am PDT

This one looks simple enough- you can make it with a paper plate or a round piece of construction paper. Paint the round base, these were all painted brown but you can choose whatever color your preschooler wants. Punch holes for the legs, and add pipe cleaners. Then draw some eyes on white paper and glue them on.

Crepe Paper Scrunched Jack-o-lantern

This idea came from the Halloween craft challenge from My Bored Toddler. I outlined a pumpkin shape on a large piece of construction paper and had my son rip up and scrunch some orange crepe paper (like the kind you use in streamer decoration). Then I had him glue the pieces all inside the pumpkin shape. Then with a green marker, I drew the stem. Really quickly I use some black scraps of construction paper from a previous craft to make the eyes and mouth and glued those on for the face. And done. And now it’s hanging on our fireplace.

Easy Halloween Bats

This is another great idea from my preschool. I love how easy it is. It’s all made from black construction paper, but you can also paint a toilet paper roll. Trace the little one’s hands and cut from some black construction paper to make the wings. Then roll up a sheet of black construction paper for the body. Glue the wings onto the body. And let the little one draw the face with chalk. Of course, you can also add googly eyes or make small eyes on white paper and glue them on.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Another fun #halloween? craft idea brought to you by my preschool.????

A post shared by Julie {Fab Working Mom Life} (@fabworkingmomjulie) on Oct 17, 2018 at 11:32am PDT

Here are some more ideas for easy and adorable Halloween crafts for toddlers and preschoolers.

What fun Halloween crafts are you making this weekend?