This Halloween bath activity is absolutely the best – and will take you about 30 seconds to set up. Grab your Halloween decorations, your kiddo, and turn on the bath. Fair warning: this may become a Halloween tradition.
What is a Halloween bath?
It’s exactly as it sounds: a Halloween themed bath. Yes, it’s simple. Yes, it’s easy. And yes, you’re going to set this up when you need help making it to nap time this October.
For my family, we officially have a new Halloween activity. This was easy (check), I had all the supplies on hand (check check) and it made my little one so unbelievably Halloween excited.
And it took seconds to set up!
RELATED: Looking for more Halloween activities? Check out this amazing list.
The supplies
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- Plastic spiders
- Plastic eyeballs
- Halloween pumpkin bucket
- Mini pumpkin buckets
- Mini black cauldrons
- Food dye or Bath dye (love these tablets)
Whoa. This is a long list. I know. But these are the same Halloween activity supplies that I use in all my activities. Everything on this list goes in my favorite Halloween activities… you won’t use these for just one activity and move on.
These are the Halloween supplies you’ll keep coming back to.
How to set-up this activity
First, my son and I went to the Halloween supply bin (yes, I have a box dedicated to Halloween activities supplies that I use every single year to make a little Halloween magic).
We pulled out spiders, cauldrons, pumpkins, and our candy pumpkin bin, and I also grabbed the orange food coloring because I love a little color moment. I squirted a few drops in.
I know what you’re thinking: But will the food color ruin the tub?
It hasn’t ruined mine. Food coloring is water soluble and a few drops of color into all the bath water – we haven’t had any problems. Of course, I’m just some lady on the Internet so proceed with your own caution.
Why is a Halloween bath activity a must do?
Bath activities have a way of resetting kids better than any other activity. I use activities as tools, so when I set up something like a Halloween-themed bath, I’m doing it because we need help. We need a reset.
This activity absolutely did the trick. It reset the whole vibe of the house.
My son took a bath with these Halloween supplies for almost 1 hour. That’s a whole hour I just got to sit and supervise and drink my coffee and relax a little.
Yes, relax a little.
I know, it sounds like such a luxury but that’s exactly what this Halloween bath activity gave to me. A moment to sit and breathe (I call this sittervising and it was glorious).
By the time we ended the activity, my son’s entire mood had lifted and changed. The bath reset him. We were ready to try our day again.
Is there any learning in this activity?
OF COURSE! There’s learning in all aspects of early childhood, especially when they play. Remember, we don’t need to qualify an activity and pinpoint the learning to make it valuable.
But in case you were curious:
- Baths are a sensory activity for kids. It’s a full body sensory bin, but it’s still a sensory bin.
- Dramatic play: it’s amazing what kids can dream up with a few supplies
- Life skills: scooping and pouring water in a bathtub is the foundation for pouring milk and orange juice later in life
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! Food coloring is water soluble – and heavily diluted in this activity.
Food coloring will rinse of little hands (if any gets on) and come out of clothing easily (just set the clothing is cold water for a few hours).
Think stages not ages. Instead of focusing on a child’s age, consider the stage of life they are in as well as their personality.
Before you drain the tub, grab a colander to help fish out all the trinkets. Lay them on a towel to dry.
Susie Allison, M. Ed
Owner, Creator
Susie Allison is the creator of Busy Toddler and has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram. A former teacher and early childhood education advocate, Susie’s parenting book “Busy Toddler’s Guide to Actual Parenting” is available on Amazon.
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Bev says
You can purchase color my bath tablets off of Amazon. Non toxic, non staining and kid safe. My grandchildren love to mix color tablets to green, orange and purple. I use the tablets for outdoor water play too.
Olivia says
Awesome idea! My son loves playing in the bath! But does not food coloring color clothes?
busytoddler says
Hi Olivia, It doesn’t – in this case, the food coloring is so diluted by the water it doesn’t stain. Even if it’s concentrated food dye, you just set the clothing in cold water for about an hour and it’ll rinse itself clean. It’s actually pretty cool to see!