BOO! Fun Sensory Crafts for Fall (and Halloween)

The trees are changing colors and there’s a brisk chill in the air. Halloween is almost here, making this the perfect time of year to plan some new sensory crafts with your kids. Get them excited about the new season with these fun, themed activities that engage the senses:
  1. Carve and decorate pumpkins – play with pumpkin innards for some sticky sensory input. Your child will get a kick out of practicing creativity, fine motor skills, and handwriting as you decorate the pumpkin together.
  2. Try a scary snack! – Put gummy worms or spiders or other silly, holiday appropriate candy into a bowl for your kids to put their hands into and get a gooey sensory experience. Here’s another idea: fill a big bowl with cooked (and cooled) spaghetti and peeled grapes. Then let your kids go Zombie and pretend to touch and eat brains and eyeballs.
  3. Go on an autumn scavenger hunt – Put together a list of fall items you are likely to find in your backyard or at the local park. Head out with your child and have them search for and collect the items on your list. Examples include: acorns, pinecones, grass, cobwebs, bark, sticks, leaves, feathers, and branches. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to jump in some piles of fall leaves! There’s nothing quite like the sensory input – the sight, the sound, the feel, and the smell — of crunching leaves. If a scavenger hunt is not possible, try making your own sensory bin at home, filled with nature’s treasures. You could have a lot of great discussions about autumn and the changing of the seasons while your child gets used to the different sounds, smells, and textures of fall.
  4. Make a tree collage – Another good way to practice fine motor skills is to give colored papers to your child and have them tear them into small pieces. Then arrange those paper scraps on a piece of construction paper in the shape of a tree.
  5. Paint Leaves – Collect some fallen leaves and have your child paint them different colors. You can even glue them to construction paper as an art project, make a mobile out of them with some string, or include them in some other creative fall themed art projects.

Try these activities to make the change of season fun, to learn a little bit more about nature, and to increase your child’s sensory skills.

child hay
leaves
pumpkin carving
Interested in more sensory integration blog posts? Try our summer sensory activity tipsour sensory processing children’s book list, or our sensory friendly Halloween tips.

Eyas Landing is a therapy clinic with a mission to provide evidence-based and family-centered therapy services for children, adolescents, and their families. The primary goal is to deliver relationship-based interventions within the most natural environments and to empower families to reach their full potential. To achieve this goal, our highly educated, compassionate staff dedicates time and expertise to create experiences that maximize therapeutic outcomes. The strength, determination, and perseverance of our clients are evident as they succeed in therapy, and ultimately in their daily lives.

Eyas Landing offers a wide range of comprehensive services including Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, ABA Therapy, Social Work, Family Therapy, and Neuropsych testing. Services are provided throughout the Chicagoland area via Telehealth, In-Home, and in our state of the art clinic.

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