Something Playful: The Halloween Edit
Your cheat guide to Halloween, broken down by age. The easiest Halloween play ideas I’ve been setting up for a decade.
Last week I put out the same Halloween coloring prompt I’ve been using every October since my teens were toddlers. Here’s what happened…
My thirteen year old came down for a drink of water before bed. She saw me setting up, and lingered for a few minutes, then she decided to climb onto a bar stool at the counter and color a little while. We chatted a little, but mostly we were both just lost in our own thoughts in the dim kitchen light, coloring.
The next morning, before she left for school, we both bent over the counter again, coloring one last thing before the rush of the day.
I found myself absentmindedly filling in the giant pumpkin later that day while I chatted on the phone with my VA, as we ironed out Holiday Guide details.
My daughter was at school late that day, and had a bunch of homework. She didn’t touch the coloring all afternoon or evening. I left it out.
My oldest daughter, sixteen, walked through the kitchen after practice, popping little pieces of dried mango and cashews into her mouth from a little Stasher bag in her hand. She didn’t even glance up from her phone long enough to notice the coloring.
Until she got thirsty. Came back down from her room, poured some water, and as she drank it, she filled in the gravestone with purple and green marker, all thin stripes and tiny dots. And just as fast as she arrived, she departed.
The next day, my youngest, home from school with two friends who were staying for dinner, sat around the countertop, and colored in the entire banner. They listened to music, checked phones for texts, took photos, and they colored while I dropped spaghetti into a boiling pot of water and spread garlic and butter on a loaf of Italian bread, and put it into the oven. They munched cucumber slices as I made the salad, and I tried to stay quiet as they gabbed.
My oldest is nineteen and I think he was around six when I started making this coloring prompt on the table. It became a yearly tradition, at this point, it’s more for me than for them. Of course, they weren’t going to squeal with excitement and go on and on about Halloween costumes, but it did give us a few slowed down moments throughout the week, and a nod to the little kid years, that I’m sure felt as comforting for them as it did for me.
Below: a little Halloween station for your toddler, where the mirror does most of the work. One small thing to add to the blocks for your preschooler instead of buying a Halloween version of everything. A playdough tray from whatever Halloween bits you have laying around, and a trick-or-treat game you can play in the hallway. The coloring roll and the Rice Krispie treats for every age. A sixth grade party, teens who still trick-or-treat, and why your little kid keeps asking to see the scary thing.
Something Playful is a paid series inside this publication. Each installment takes one type of play material (playdough, magnetic tiles, art supplies, sensory toys, chalk, stickers, and more) and tells you exactly what to put out, how much, and what to do when it stops working. Age-by-age.
If you have been thinking about subscribing, this is a good week to start. Use this 7-day free trial on me. (The rest is for my paid subs...)
