Looking for spooky, squishy, and delightfully messy ways to celebrate Halloween with little ones?
These Halloween-themed sensory activities are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers who love to explore with their hands (and sometimes their whole bodies!).
Think slimy spaghetti “brains”, pumpkin-scented playdough and a little-bit-spooky sensory bins – plus a few dry and mess-free sensory activity ideas – yes, it is possible for kids to enjoy sensory play without the need for lots of clean up!
These Halloween sensory activities will bring just the right amount of creepy-crawly fun—without the fright. Ideal for at-home play, classroom fun, or for toddler Halloween party!
Dry Rice & Bean Skeleton Tuff Tray
Use white rice and dried beans to create a skeleton (or spider?) on a tuff tray, encouraging scooping, sorting, and imaginative play with a spooky twist. Such a fun tactile Halloween sensory activity for little kids to explore at home or in preschool.
Dry Rice & Bean Skeleton Tuff Tray from Charlie’s Child Play
Eyeball Soup Sensory Bin
This has to be one of the easiest Halloween sensory bins to set up. Just tint water with green food coloring, then toss in some plastic eyeballs, spiders, and other spooky creatures.
Simple, slimy fun that toddlers will love.
Eyeball Soup Sensory Bin for Kids from Taming Little Monsters
Fluffy Pompon and Pumpkin Sensory Activity
A bright and colorful Halloween sensory bin filled with fluffy, sparkly pompons, pumpkin shapes and mini glitter balls on a bed of dry beans. Offer scooping tools or simply allow your little ones to enjoy the Halloween-themed textures and materials.
Fluffy Pompon and Pumpkin Sensory Activity from Teacher of Superheroes
Vampire Slime for Halloween
Looking for something spooky, sticky, and just the right amount of gross? This vampire slime is it!
With its red coloring and oozy texture, kids will love pretending they’re squishing blood—or just enjoying the slime for what it is.
Vampire Slime for Halloween from Making Mom Magic
Skull-themed Halloween Sensory Bin
A striking Halloween sensory bin using black dried beans and orange-dyed pasta for a bold, spooky contrast. Add mini skulls, eyeballs, pumpkins or skeleton figurines for extra creepy fun. A fun sensory activity that encourages scooping, sorting, and dramatic play!
Skull-themed Halloween Sensory Bin from Simply Sweet And Messy
Colored spaghetti and eyeball sensory bin
This one’s an easy Halloween sensory activity to throw together—especially if you have pasta in abundance (just need to hunt down a few plastic eyeballs—how hard can that be?).
My kids are going to love the slippery, slimy feel of the spaghetti as they dig and explore.
Colored spaghetti and eyeball sensory bin from Simple Every Day Mom
Colorful Dry Rice Sensory
Brightly dyed rice creates a vibrant base for spooky fun! Add plastic eyeballs, spiders, and toddler-friendly fine motor tools like grabbers, scoops and oversized plastic tweezers so toddlers can sort, dig, and explore textures while building coordination and curiosity.
Colorful Dry Rice Sensory from Growing Up Yang
Need more sensory fun? Try these hands-on ideas:
- 21 Fun & Easy Dinosaur Sensory Activities
- 25 easy FAKE SNOW sensory bins
- 50 Christmas Sensory Activities & Bins
No mess color mixing pumpkin
Sensory play that’s mess-free and educational? I’m in!
Just squeeze some paint onto a sheet of white paper, seal it inside a Ziplock bag, and let your preschooler squish and mix away. Alternatively, try blobs of paint under contact paper on a large sheet of cardboard for a bigger version.
It’s a great Halloween sensory activity for toddlers – especially those who love finger painting – but with no cleanup.
No mess color mixing pumpkin from Not So Crafty Mom Blog
Puking Pumpkins Science
Science meets sensory with this fun puking pumpkin volcano science project – it’s the classic baking soda and vinegar experiment that will awe kids as they watch their jack-o’-lantern spew vomit and then playing with it after.
Sounds rather gross to play with vomit, so perfect for kids at Halloween!
Puking Pumpkins from Steam Powered Family
Dyed pasta Halloween sensory
A fun and spooky mix of black, purple, and green dyed pasta makes the perfect Halloween sensory base. Add in scoops, cups, or creepy crawlies for hands-on play that’s great for developing fine motor skills and encouraging imaginative exploration.
Dyed pasta Halloween sensory from Little Seashells Childminding
Halloween sensory bin & sorting
This one looks like so much fun! Time to gather some themed Halloween bits—like mini pumpkins, plastic spiders, and orange and other simple black items.
This Halloween sensory bin encourages both tactile play and sorting. My toddlers would love getting stuck into this.
Halloween sensory bin from A flourishing Rose
Luminous Green Halloween Sensory
Bright green dyed rice sets the scene for this eye-catching sensory bin. Add large Halloween-themed toys like eyeballs, bats, or witches (the spookier the better!) and let kids dig around, bury, and discover. A glowing, playful setup perfect for spooky sensory fun!
Luminous Green Halloween Sensory from Born To Be Wild Child
Halloween sensory bottles
Sensory bottles are a calm and contained way to offer sensory exploration—ideal for toddlers and perfect as a calm-down tool.
Sure, they take a bit of prep, but when meltdowns strike, you’ll be glad you made one! A great Halloween twist on a classic toddler favorite.
Halloween sensory bottles from The Soccer Mom Blog
Halloween jello dig
Got Jello lovers? This one’s a must!
Hide creepy crawlies in wobbly, colorful Jello—think purple, orange, and lime green—and let your kids dig for them.
It’s part sensory play, part sweet treat, and completely perfect for Halloween.
Halloween jello dig from Play Ideas With Jess
Halloween Play Dough Tray
If your little ones love creative play, they’ll enjoy this Halloween-themed play dough tray. Fill it with spooky extras like spiders, eyeballs, teeth, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, and beads in Halloween colors.
Then let them sculpt witches, monsters, or whatever creepy characters they dream up.
Halloween Play Dough Tray from Making Mom
Skeleton Hands Sensory
This spooky-soft sensory bin features light, tactile materials including cotton wool, white paper shreds, pom-poms, felt spiders and witch hats.
The challenge is then for kids to use long plastic skeleton hands to explore and move items into the haunted house and wooden boxes, This adds a fun, slightly eerie twist that builds motor skills and sensory curiosity.
Skeleton Hands Sensory from Moments And Magic
Witches Potion
If your kids love all things gooey and messy (like mine do!), they’ll have a blast with this bubbling witches potion.
Mix up a spooky brew with slimy, sticky ingredients and let your little scientists get to work stirring and experimenting.
Witches Potion from The Play-Based Mom
Taste Safe Pumpkin Play Dough
Mix cornstarch and pumping puree and you have a beautifully-scented taste-safe play dough, perfect for fall and Halloween. Add some pumpkin seeds for a little texture.
So simple and guaranteed to keep any playdough loving kids happy!
Taste Safe Pumpkin Play Dough from Parenting Chaos
Halloween slime
Squishy, spooky, and super fun—this Halloween slime comes with a witchy twist!
Dress it up with mini witch hats, spiders, or even a little black cat. These will make great Halloween party favors, too.
Halloween slime from The Mummy Front
Spooky season isn’t over—try these Halloween crafts & activities:
