Easy Halloween Sensory Activities for 1 Year Olds

Are you looking for some easy activities to entertain your one-year-old this Halloween season? Maybe you’ve heard that sensory play is good for babies and toddlers, but you’re just not sure where to start. Don’t worry — I’ve got two of the easiest Halloween-themed sensory activities for 1 year olds that I know your little one is going to love!

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Benefits of sensory activities for 1 year olds

Wondering why you should bother with sensory play for one year olds? As a former teacher and now mama of two little girls, I can attest to the fact that sensory play has SO many benefits! Some of the benefits include:

• Enhances cognitive development: Sensory play stimulates brain development by engaging multiple senses, which helps with learning and problem-solving skills.
• Improves fine motor skills: Activities like pouring, scooping, and manipulating objects are great for building hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
• Supports emotional regulation: Sensory play offers a calming effect and helps children manage their emotions through soothing, repetitive actions.
• Boosts language skills: Sensory play is a great way to introduce new vocabulary and concepts through descriptive language and interactive play.
• Facilitates exploration and curiosity: This kind of play allows children to explore different textures, sounds, and smells, fostering curiosity and discovery.
• Strengthens parent-child bond: Sensory play provides opportunities for meaningful, interactive play with your child.

Okay, so you’re on board with the WHY behind sensory play, but now you’re wondering… what does this look like with a one year old (and how do I make it EASY)?

The activities I’m going to share with you today fall into two categories: easy and SUPER easy.

Create a DIY Halloween sensory bag 

This activity is so easy to put together, and if you have older kiddos around, they’ll love playing with and manipulating this spooky sensory bag, too!

Supplies needed

To create this monster-themed sensory bag, you’ll need:

• Rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover & a cotton ball (to remove the label from your bag)
• Clear hair gel (the cheapest kind you can find – something like this is perfect)
• Ziploc bag (I used a gallon size, you could also use a quart sized bag)
• Green food coloring
• Black permanent marker
• Googly eyes
• Clear packing tape

Creating your sensory bag

To create your monster sensory bag, first the rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover and cotton ball to remove the label from your Ziploc bag.  This step is optional, but leaving the label on the bag might take away from the fun spooky look of your sensory bag (then again, your one year old doesn’t actually care).

Next, use your black permanent marker to draw an outline of a monster on your Ziploc bag.  Don’t draw any eyes on your monster!

Squirt some hair gel into your bag.  Fill the bag less than halfway – the first time I tried this, I filled my bag almost all the way full of hair gel.  I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I made an absolute mess.  Fortunately, you can learn from my mistake and NOT fill the bag all the way.

Squeeze a few drops of food coloring in the bag.  Squish the bag between your hands until the food coloring is fully mixed into the gel.

Toss some googly eyes into the bag.  If you have googly eyes in multiple different sizes, that’s even better and will add to the sensory experience!

Make sure to squeeze all of the air out of the bag, and then seal it well.  I recommend using a long strip of tape over the opening of the bag as well, to make sure it is really sealed.

Playing with your sensory bag

Now comes the fun part!

Use your packing tape to tape the sensory bag down on a flat surface (the tray of your baby’s high chair can be a fun spot).  Sit them in front of their new toy and show them how they can poke, squish, and manipulate the bag!  Encourage them to move the eyes around inside the bag and make funny faces on their monster.

Alternatively, you could also tape your sensory bag to a window!  Vertical play is great for strengthening arm muscles and provides a whole new way to play.  Plus, the sensory bag looks really cool when the light shines through!

If you have big kids, they’re also going to want a chance to play with this fun sensory bag.  You can encourage them to count how many eyes they put on the monster’s face, and talk about how the bag feels when they squish and play with it.

Halloween water play

Okay, our sensory bag fell into the “easy” category.  This idea falls into the “SUPER easy” category.

Water play is probably the EASIEST kind of sensory play for one year olds… and often the biggest hit, too!

Supplies needed

(This supply list is VERY flexible!)

• A shallow tray or container
• Water 
• Orange or green food coloring
• Small plastic pumpkin buckets (or other Halloween-themed trinkets – just make sure they are not small enough to fit in your little one’s mouth!)
• Spoons, cups, funnels, etc.

Setting up for water play

Pour some water into your shallow tray, add a few drops of food coloring, and stir. The food coloring is, of course, optional.  Using orange or green makes it festive and Halloween-themed!

Consider laying down a towel or plastic shower curtain liner on the ground. (Side note: one thing that I love about water play is that even if it gets “messy”, it’s truly the cleanest mess ever.  It’s just water!  You may not want to do this activity on carpet if you’re using food coloring in your water.  But other than that, just wipe up spills and you’re good to go!)

Toss in your plastic pumpkin buckets.  You’re ready for water play!

Enjoying the water play

I first set my daughter up in her high chair with this activity.  This allowed her to play and splash from a comfortable seated position. 

Ruthie loved scooping water into the little plastic buckets and pouring it back into her water bin!  Don’t underestimate this one – we spent a LOT of time playing with this little setup!

Eventually, we moved to the floor, on a towel.  I also threw a few apple slices into the water!  This activity is SO flexible.  A few more ways you might want to play with your Halloween-themed water setup:

• Use your water table for some outdoor Halloween water play
• Take the whole activity into the bathtub for a fun, Halloween-themed bath
• Pour the water directly onto your little one’s high chair tray for a slightly different splashing experience
• Use an under-the-bed storage container for a larger water sensory bin
• Give your child a little bit of baby shampoo and a sponge or scrub brush, and turn your water play into a pumpkin bucket washing activity (this one might be better suited for slightly older toddlers – use your best judgment with your child)

Extending the Halloween-themed fun

From crafts to books to fun songs, there are SO many ways you can include your one-year-old in the Halloween fun this year!  Here are some not-too-spooky books your little one is sure to love:

• Five Little Pumpkins on Sesame Street by Sesame Workshop
• Peek-a-Flap: BOO by Rosa Von Feder
• Ten Little Jack O Lanterns by Amanda Sobotka
• Little Blue Truck’s Halloween by Alice Schertle
• You’re My Little Baby Boo by Nicola Edwards
• The Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills

And for more fun fall-themed sensory play, check out How to Make an Easy Fall Sensory Bin HERE!

If you try one of these easy sensory activities with your little one, I’d love to hear how it goes!  Comment below or tag me on Instagram to tell me all about it!