Sensory activities are a great way to keep kids engaged and learning any time of year. Increase this experience this year with a Halloween sensory walk. Take off your socks and shoes for this unique, exciting and a little bit creepy Halloween experience.
There is always a lot of excitement this time of year. Especially in kindergarten! Finding great learning opportunities to keep kids engaged and learning can be challenging; however, sensory activities and other hands-on opportunities are a great way to keep the learning going.
Children love to get their hands on different textures, develop fine motor skills, engage in imaginative play and stimulate their senses.
This Halloween, grab some creepy, slimy and strange materials for the Best Halloween Sensory Walk!
Years ago I did a fall sensory walk with my kindergarten children. It was just meant to be a quick activity, but it ended up be really popular and my students loved it, and requested it again and again.
Since then I have started creating lots of different sensory activities for my classroom and home. Each time they continue to be exciting, popular and a great sensory experience for all of my children.
Sensory paths can be created for virtually any season, celebration, or even a book. Check out my Going on a Bear Hunt Sensory Walk where children experience the popular book in a whole new way!
Grab a yoga mat for a DIY Sensory Path that can easily be rolled up and rolled out virtually anywhere.
Halloween Sensory Walk Materials
There are several materials you need for this walk, but you can also substitute materials and use what you already have on hand. I suggest including about six bins for your Halloween sensory walk. You can include more or less, but six tends to work well.
- 6 Plastic Bins
- Pumpkin Guts/Seeds
- Spaghetti
- Food Coloring
- Plastic Eyeballs
- Corn Starch
- Large Sealable Baggie
- Elastic String
- Spider Webbing/Cotton Balls
- Plastic Spiders
- Towel + Plastic Sheet
Below I have described each of the bins and how to quickly create them. Many of the materials can be changed for another material. If you don’t have supplies, such as food coloring, don’t worry your sensory path will still work.
Make sure that you have six sturdy plastic bins. If you have extra Halloween decorations, such as bones, you can add them to some of the bins to fit your theme.
Some of the bins include materials that are slippery to walk through. Make sure to hold children’s hands as they go through the sensory walk. Setting chairs or a table for children to hold as they walk can also help avoid falls.
Spider Sensory Bin
Fill the bin with spider webbing. This is usually available around Halloween at stores. It’s soft and stringy. If you don’t have access to this webbing, you can use cotton balls.
Use a stretchy elastic rope to create a web like wrapping around the bin. String will also work, but may break if children step on it. Once you’ve wrapped the webbing, place spiders on the rope and in the bin.
Oobleck Sensory Bin
This is always a favorite bin! Fill one of your bins with oobleck. If you’ve never played with oobleck before, it is a substance that is neither a liquid or a solid. If you apply pressure, it feels hard, but once the pressure is let go, the oobleck ‘melts’ like a liquid.
Mix 2 cups of corn starch and one cup of water. The consistency should allow you to stir very slowly, but will crack and become solid if you stir fast. Add a few drops of food coloring.
You can simply place the oobleck into the bin; however, if you have many children doing the walk, or young children, the oobleck will quickly become transferred into the next bin.
Since my students walked through the bins many times each, I put the oobleck into a sealable bag. This way they could step onto the (hard) oobleck and then stand still, and sink into it.
You can add decorations, such as plastic bones to the oobleck if you want.
Eyeball Soup Bin
This is a quick and easy bin to add to your Halloween sensory walk. Fill a bin half way with water and add food coloring. Then drop in decorative eye balls. I added some that were like Ping-Pong balls and others that were squishy.
Worms Sensory Bin
The worms bin requires a bit more preparation, but it’s easy!
Cook up a bunch of spaghetti. After draining the pasta, but before it cools, add red food coloring and mix.
Allow it to cool before using it on the sensory path. My students decided that this bin was full of worms. So we called it the worm walk. I added a few skeleton hands just for fun.
Pumpkin Guts Bin
The pumpkin gut bin is really simple and straight forward, but of all the bins make sure to include this bin. It is always a kids favorite and often the one children remember about the Halloween sensory walk.
Open a pumpkin and take out all of the seeds, guts and some of the pumpkin meat. Place it into the bin.
Halloween Sensory Walk Set Up
Once you have all of your bins ready, it’s time to set up the walk. Start by setting a plastic cloth or table cloth under the bins. This will have keep anything that falls out of the bins as children walk through, contained on the cloth. Place towels at the end for children to dry off on after they complete the walk.
Although you could put the bins in any order you want, it is best to put them in the following order: spider, oobleck, eyeballs, pumpkin guts, spaghetti and then water.
By placing them in this order your Halloween sensory walk will last longer. If you place the spaghetti before the spider bin, the webs will become covered in spaghetti very quickly.
Alternatively you can also place the eyeball bin after the spaghetti to help rinse feet off more, but it then places two bins with water beside each other (which is less exciting).
As long as the spaghetti and pumpkin guts are at the end, the sensory path will last longer.
The bin of warm water and soap is the last bin. Once children have stepped through each bin the water will help rinse everything off children’s feet. We called it a magic rinse and kids loved it! Add a drop of food coloring to make it even more exciting.
You can decorate around the bins to add to the excitement of the activity. It is a great addition to any Halloween party for kids too!
Best Halloween Sensory Walk
I love how excited my students get when they see sensory walks. I also love all of the learning that happens during.
Some of the materials in the bins are slippery. Make sure to avoid falls by holding children’s hands. You can also place chairs along one side of the walk for children to hold onto.
As children walk through the bins, encourage them to talk about what they feel with their feet. Children are used to feeling with their hands so this is often a new experience for children.
By talking with kids as they step into each bin, it encourages them to think about what they are feeling are come up with words that fit the experience.
Some children are not interested in going barefoot through the bins. I encourage them to touch and feel the materials so that they still have the sensory experience, but in a different way.
Sensory Play for Kids
I hope if you try this sensory activity, your children love it as much as mine do. I love that this activity challenges children to step out of the comfort zone a bit. When I have done sensory walks at school, there are often a few children that are hesitant to try the sensory walk.
I never force children to walk through; however, when they watch their peers walk through, and love it, they often end up taking their shoes and socks off before the end of the class.
Happy Halloween!
Extension Ideas
Although the pumpkin guts are a highlight with this activity, the oobleck tends to create the most questions and interest. It is a material that most children are not familiar with. They can feel that it is a unique substance on their feet.
My students love the oobleck. They were fascinated with the way it felt on their feet. Oobleck is a great science lesson for kids and sensory experience. If you are looking for another activity after this Halloween sensory walk, try letting kids play with their hands with oobleck.
You can always add more bins to your walk as well. If you have enough bins, and materials, you can create a circle or loop for kids to walk through. The only thing to keep in mind is the messy bins such as the pumpkin seeds, will need to be washed off before walking into a bin like the web.
Free Sensory Walk Printable
Make setting up your Halloween sensory walk easy with a free printable to help have a visual with you as you prepare. Click the grey box, or “click here” image below to sign up to Play Learn Inspire through Grow.
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