October 31st is quickly approaching, which might mean your baby’s first Halloween!

If you are the grown-up of a baby or toddler, making Halloween special and fun while keeping it engaging, developmentally appropriate, and safe for your little one is likely to be your top priority.

Here are some magical ideas to make Halloween with your tot one to remember, for all the right reasons..

First Halloween Ideas for Babies:

• Pumpkin Patch Photo Shoot
  Capture the memory of their first Halloween by dressing your baby in our adorable Little Pumpkin vest (with sign language fingerspelling!) as you head out to pick your very own pumpkin. Learn British Sign Language for pumpkin so that you can keep things in context for your baby.

• Tasty Pumpkin Puree
  Introduce your baby to the flavors of the season with pumpkin puree. Make it yourself or buy organic puree and mix into cereals, yogurts, or oatmeal. The bright orange color will be a point of interest with your baby, and you could introduce the BSL sign for ‘orange’ too.

• Halloween Baby Signing Class
  Enroll in a Sing, Sign + Rhyme class near you! You, and your little one, can learn some British Sign Language Halloween signs like ‘pumpkin’, ‘spider’, and ‘trick or treat’ while having a great time with other babies.  Our BSL baby sign classes are gently themed around topical songs and stories that are interactive and educational – your baby will love the interaction!

 BSL First Halloween Signs; Watch Arthur sign Spider and More

Halloween Ideas for Toddlers:

• Pumpkin Decorating
  Let your toddler get creative and decorate a small pumpkin with markers, stickers, paint, or other other tools that are safe for their age. Supervision is wise as toddler motor skills are still developing; markers and the table or walls is not a good combination! When you’ve finished, learn the sign for ‘pumpkin’ and help them to display their creation proudly.

• Spooky Music and Dancing
  Play some fun, upbeat Halloween music and have a dance party with your toddler to get them moving and giggling. Bring out scarves, ribbons, or costumes for added fun.

• Themed Crafts
  Do holiday-themed crafts together like painting rocks, making handprint bats, or constructing a witch hat. Your toddler will have such fun getting messy and learning with you!

• Trick or Treating at Home
  Toddlers may not be ready to walk the neighborhood just yet; Halloween has got progressively less ‘fun’ over the years and there is definitely more of an emphasis on very realistic and incredibly scary costumes.At this time your toddler’s brain is not developed enough to discern between what is real and what is a costume. Be careful of what you allow them to see and protect them from sensory overload.

  Create the experience at home, instead, by inviting friends to join you, dressing up appropriately, knocking on doors, and giving out yummy treats. It builds anticipation for years to come – and protects your child’s mental health.

• Toddler Signing Classes
  Continue developing your toddler’s sign language skills with Sing, Sign + Rhyme class where they’ll learn extend their BSL Halloween vocabulary with signs like ‘sweets’, ‘bat’, ‘dark’ and ‘scared*’.Toddler classes are designed to help little ones who need to move while they learn and signing supports active learning brilliantly. Some teachers may also run a private class for you and some friends.

  *(I’ll explain more in another blog about why teaching your Toddler the ‘scared’ sign might be really important.)

British Sign Language Halloween signs featured in this blog