Halloween is a great time of year to try new and exciting activities with your family. And while you want to have fun, it also doesn't hurt to learn something from the experience.
STEM and STEAM activities are your key to towing the line between all work and all play. With Halloween approaching, there are a ton of fun, spooky, interesting projects out there for your little mad scientists to try out.
These activities will teach your kids memorable lessons while creating fun Halloween memories. It's all treat, no trick!
Safe Halloween Slime
Slime has recently enjoyed a serious moment as a favorite activity among kids. There are countless recipes, themes, etc., and you've got something fun to play with when all is said and done. Southern Cravings has a simple, safe slime recipe that will bring hours of fun.
Dissolving Candy Pumpkins and Candy Corn
Try putting the candy of your choice in different liquids and predicting what will happen in this experiment from Lemon Lime Adventures! This experiment uses milk, oil, vinegar, and water. Most kids think the candies will simply sink or float, but watching the different ways they break down provides an interesting lesson.
KaBOOm Exploding Baggie Ghosts Chemistry Activity
Mix together some common household items in a baggie, and watch out for an explosive reaction! This one is best done outside, and what better time to get outside than fall? Bring kids' artistic side out by letting them decorate the baggies before they go boom!
Fall Science Pumpkin Crystals
This is a great craft that can be adapted for any season, but the Halloween version from Green Kid Crafts is too cute to pass up. Grow crystals in all kinds of spooky shapes.
Erupting Pumpkins
Get creative carving your pumpkins, then bring the science that makes them erupt! A simple reaction of household items can lead to a fun and unusual look to your jack-o'-lanterns. It's an experiment that's easy to repeat, making it a good one for little kids.
Electric Play Dough
It takes a little prep and supply gathering to make this fun, unique experiment. The conductive play dough is made totally of household supplies, so it's nice and natural and safe. Once you nail Tech Age Kids' pumpkin, you can try all kinds of things that let your imagination run wild.
Bone Bridge Challenge
Build all kinds of bridges and learn a thing or two about engineering. Cotton swabs serve as your bones, but you can incorporate all kinds of stuff you might have in your arts and crafts stash, like craft sticks and pipe cleaners. Build bridges for length or strength and learn the differences in making the different kinds of bridges.
Pumpkin Pulley
Making a pulley system is a challenge in itself. This Halloween, make pulleys for different-size pumpkins in your home, whether they're real, fake, big, or small.
Halloween Bath Bombs
There are SO many different Halloween-inspired bath bombs that you can create. STEAM-Powered Family has ideas for glow-in-the-dark, hand-painted, and more creepy, awesome designs. It takes only a few ingredients to make these creations, which can even be gifted out at a Halloween event.
Spider Drawing Robot
With a few simple supplies and a battery, you can make a robot that will draw without you doing a thing! Challenge your kids to decorate their robots in a Halloween theme, from spiders to monsters and more, to bring it all together.
Candy Pumpkin Catapults
Candy catapults are another fun activity that you can make out of common household craft items. Malia at Playdough to Plato decorated hers with adorable Halloween washi tape to make it extra special. Though her catapult uses candy pumpkins, it'll be fun for kids to try it out with different items from their trick-or-treat loot.
Revelio Charm: A Science Magic Trick
If your kids are into magic (especially Harry Potter), they'll love this activity. Use marbles, a shot glass, and a few other items to perform this awesome optical magic trick. This will be one the kids love demonstrating in front of new people.
Skeleton Hand
Make your own moving skeleton hands while learning about the different bones in your hands! You won't believe how easy it is to gather the few and common items needed to bring this craft to life! Kids will be proud of this one and may even want to make it part of their Halloween costume!