Get creative with the Corn Exchange this half-term!
We’ve rounded up some fab indoor and outdoor activity ideas for little ones to keep your October half-term engaging and creative - whatever the weather!
Leaf decorations
It’s nearly Halloween! Why not collect some orange and black objects and furnishings from around your house and use them to make a spooky Halloween picture on the floor?
Leaf rubbings
Collect a big leaf and place white paper over the top. Use a wax crayon (or colouring pencil) to colour over the leaf and watch the outline and veins of the leaf appear! Repeat for as many different leaves as you want. You could even cut them out afterwards, hole punch the top (or cut it with scissors) and string the leaves on a piece of ribbon or string for autumnal decorations.
Fingerprint tree painting
Fingerprint tree painting. Draw (or print a template of) a tree trunk with branches but no leaves. Using paint and your fingertips dot on the leaves. You can stick to autumnal colours or just go with rainbow colours. You could also use Q-tips for children who don’t like getting their fingers messy!
Make a stick maze
Get outside and collect as many sticks as you can carry. Lay them in parallel on the ground and make a maze! Ask someone to walk through it and see if they can find their way out without reaching a dead end.
Decorate your own pizzas
Decorate pizzas (homemade or pre-bought!) with your own spooky Halloween faces made out of fruits and vegetables. Why not design them on paper first so you know what ingredients you’ll need to buy?
Make a rainbow mobile
Collect 8 sticks and some paints and string. Tie 7 pieces of string equally spaced across the biggest stick and let them dangle. Paint the remaining sticks different colours and when they’re dry attach one stick to each piece of string. Ta-da - a rainbow stick mobile!
Make your own games
Gather as many leaves as possible. Cut out a rectangle from a cereal box and then cut a square out of it in the middle so it looks like a photo frame. While the leaves are still fresh, glue them down so they cover your frame, overlapping each other. When it’s dry, you can either cut off the overhanging bits or leave it natural!
Nature naughts and crosses
Make your own noughts and crosses! Collect ten rocks. Choose two designs e.g. ladybirds and bumblebees. Paint 5 one design and 5 the other. Using chalk (or pen and paper!) draw two parallel vertical lines and two parallel horizontal lines to make a grid on the ground. Play noughts and crosses!
Make your own crown
Cut a long rectangle out of paper to make the basis of a crown. It should wrap around your child’s head once with a little extra for stapling/gluing. Collect leaves, cut off the stems and stick the leaves onto the crown. Add as much decoration as you want!
Spooky biscuits
And finally, why not use icing sugar and food dye to decorate some spooky Halloween biscuits!