I love getting messy with my students. Yes, Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus is my idol. Getting their hands dirty can be challenging for some, but it can be a positive experience for everyone if done well. Here are some great ideas to engage your students, meet their sensory needs, and keep them from overwhelming or sending them into sensory overload. Have fun and enjoy Halloween fun for your special needs classroom.
Halloween Fun Idea #1: Spaghetti Brains and Eyeballs
This can be a math bin for your students. Feel free to adjust for any level you may be teaching. This one can be time-consuming, but it is worth seeing your students’ faces as they play with the “brains” and “eyeballs.” My students always end up loving this Halloween sensory bin the most. Most children love what is creepy and gross.
How to Start
When creating this Halloween sensory bin, the first thing is to prepare the spaghetti. This is fairly simple to do. Simply prepare your noodles as you would eat. Remove the noodles from the boiling water a few minutes before it is thoroughly cooked. It is essential to rinse the noodles with cold water. Now for the fun part!
Place the cooked noodles in a large resealable plastic bag. Add a few drops of food colouring to the bag. I always double-check that my bag is zipped tight and mix and shake until the colour is blended through. At this point, I would grab a pair of latex gloves and get messy! I mix the pasta with my hands so the colour is mixed evenly. I also add more food colouring if there are any blank patches. Once that is done, spread the pasta onto a baking tray and let it dry out as much as possible before getting ready to use with your students.
Voila! The pasta needs plastic eyeballs, number cards, and tools like tweezers, tongs, or spoons. I would use a shallow but large bin with a lip (to help contain the mess) and add your “brains” and “eyeballs.” Your students can pick a card and, using the tools, count out as many eyeballs as indicated on the card.
I will add gloves for my students with the tools. The ‘brains” are fun to touch; however, with various sensitivities, gloves can encourage all students to feel like they can touch them, too.
Halloween Fun #2: Magic Potions
This has to be one of my favourite Halloween sensory bin ideas ever. The setup of this activity is the most fun. This is a more magical version of the exploding volcano using vinegar and baking soda. With just a little sparkle and food colouring, your students will surely ooh and ahh over this activity that they can try repeatedly. Read the full description of how to create this bin on the blog How Wee Learn. I had the pleasure of working with Sarah Noftle, and we wrote this piece a few years ago (my little boy was so little).
While the blog post was about how it was done at home, this is easily transferred to the classroom. It involves a little preparation, filling each container with the necessary ingredients. Since my students are kindergarteners and do not know how to read, I would label them. Ingredients one, two, and three so they know what to put in and when. This quickly turned into a sensory bin, as many of my students loved mixing it with spoons to see the potion erupt, and some even loved touching the slime (dish soap). The children love this Halloween sensory bin and even get a science lesson.
Another way to do this is to have the students add various Halloween-themed items to a giant cauldron by following a recipe. I went to my local dollar store and purchased items like bugs, spiders, eyeballs, etc, that could work for a spooky Halloween recipe. I would create a recipe that could be used with these “ingredients.”
Idea #3: Pumpkin Baths
Our Pumpkin Baths is a classic sensory bin. We added some pumpkins and green food colouring to create the Halloween vibe. This can be adjusted to create a sensory bin to go along with just about any theme.
Using dish soap, warm water, and green food colouring in your Halloween sensory bin, your students will enjoy scrubbing their pumpkins until they are squeaky clean. The green food colouring is an additional touch to help your students get into the Halloween spirit. Give your students sponges, brushes, and washcloths; they will love giving their pumpkins a bubble bath.
This may be one of the easiest, lowest-cost Halloween sensory bin ideas and still full of fun. While it may involve a little mess with pumpkins being splashed and washed, at least the kids will not go home dirty! They will be spic and span once they are done too!
Halloween Fun Idea #4: Spider Webs
Use a cardboard box or a small basket. If you use a cardboard box, you need to use a hole punch to punch holes along the top to create the spider web. Using a white basket with holes might add to the cost of these Halloween sensory bin activities, but it is well worth it. Making holes in your cardboard box might be challenging. Take some cotton and layer the bottom of the basket. Now is the time to weave your spider web. Start at one end of the basket and put it through the different holes, going from one side to the other. Continue until you have covered the entire length of the basket.
Once your web is done, it is time to add the Halloween toys. While we try to use whatever we can find for this Halloween sensory bin, plastic spiders are the coolest. Place as many spiders as possible in the bin, sticking them in the cotton and spider web. Give your students tweezers, tongs, or even clothespins and their number cards. Have them choose a card; they must take out as many spiders as indicated by their number card. This a fabulous counting activity for your little ghouls and goblins!
My last idea: Alphabet Graveyard
When preparing my sensory bins, I love ensuring I work on various skills. Creating a Halloween sensory bin on letter recognition, letter writing practice, and spelling is a must in my classroom. This a fun one and such an easy one to prep.
Place our alphabet letter sheet on the bottom of the basket. Try to print on cardstock or glue to a piece of construction paper. Laminate it so you can have it last for many years to come. If you don’t have access to a laminating machine, a good trick is to use contact paper. It’s sticky and durable. Next, cover the entire bin with black beans. Add foam graveyards or toy bones. Your students can use a brush or scoop to remove the beans to uncover the letter underneath.
Your students can explore this Halloween sensory bin in a variety of ways. The children can trace or practice finding each letter one at a time as they uncover them. Depending on their skill level, they can write or trace the same letter or can write or trace the uppercase and lowercase letters instead. To increase the challenge, I would add a timer. See how long it takes to find and uncover the entire alphabet. This is a fa-boo-lous Halloween sensory bin full of fun and learning!
If your students don’t mind getting messy, you can use the alphabet flashcards and a tray filled with a thin layer of orange shaving cream. Your students can then use their fingers or popsicle sticks to write the letters in the shaving cream.
There you have it! These are simple, easy-to-prepare Halloween sensory bin ideas for your classroom. Watch your students explore and grow as they involve their sense of touch in many exciting ways.
Halloween is one of my favourite holidays; learning with these activities helps everyone get into the holiday spirit. Get some boo-ti-ful classroom decorating ideas here, and you will indeed have a magnificent Halloween.
Please check out our shop for this Halloween sensory bin bundle. We have every worksheet mentioned in this post done for you. Save time and energy with this ready-for-you package.
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