One of the favorite programs we have at CLP – Squirrel Hill is our Halloween party. We host the event about a week before Halloween for children birth-grade 5 and their caregivers.  The program begins with a short storytime and is followed by activity stations.

This year our craft stations consisted of a “make-your-own squishy monster” and decorating ghost puppets. The squishy monsters were made out of Play-Doh and assorted materials like pipe cleaners, googly eyes and glitter. The ghost puppets were made with popsicle sticks and cardstock.  We had the participants go “fishing” for their ghosts with magnetic fishing poles before decorating.

 

 

In addition to crafts, we had several interactive activities including toss games and “Halloween Memory.”   Our teen volunteers used paper plates to create two large-sized memory games.  We also had a pumpkin memory game template for the children to customize and take home.

 

The biggest hit of the program was our “Spooky Sensory Station.” At this station we had a variety of sensory-based activities including green goo (a mixture of cornstarch, water and food coloring), monster slime (a mixture of Elmer’s glue and Borax solution) and “haunted” kinetic sand.  We also had some pumpkin pie scented gluten-free play dough with stampers.  These activities are easy and inexpensive to recreate at home.  For those and more creative ideas we recommend 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids by Asia Citro.

 

 

Maddie is a Children’s and Teen Librarian at CLP – Squirrel Hill.  She enjoys reading, frolicking with her felines and traveling to far off lands.