Rain-friendly outdoor adventures in your Warm Wellies

Puddle jumping: Put on waterproofs and your Warm Wellies and let the kids splash to their hearts’ content. 

•  Nature walks in the rain: Forests and parks feel magical in the rain—listen for raindrops on leaves, spot worms, or snails. 
•  Scavenger hunts: Collect leaves, sticks, and stones that look different when wet. 
•  Rain painting: Use chalk on pavements and watch how rain transforms the drawings. 
•  Muddy play: Build mud pies or mini “mud kitchens.”

 🎃 Halloween Crafts 

•  Pumpkin painting or decorating – great for little ones who can’t carve yet. Use paint, stickers, or googly eyes. 
•  DIY spooky lanterns – decorate jam jars with tissue paper and a tealight inside. Paper plate masks – witches, bats, cats, or pumpkins. Ghost garlands – cut out ghosts from white paper, decorate, and string them across the room. 
•  Monster rocks – collect pebbles and paint them into silly or spooky characters. 

 🍁 Autumn Nature Crafts 

•  Leaf rubbings or printing – with crayons, paint, or ink. 
•  Autumn wreaths – use cardboard rings and decorate with leaves, pinecones, conkers, and acorns. 
•  Stick and twig stars – tie twigs with string or wool to make rustic decorations. Nature collage – glue down leaves, seeds, and twigs into pictures. 
•  Pinecone creatures – add googly eyes, felt wings, or pipe cleaners to make hedgehogs, owls, or spiders.

🍫 Cosy Indoor Creations 

•  Halloween baking – decorate biscuits or cupcakes with spider webs and pumpkins. 
•  Salt dough ornaments – cut out Halloween or autumn shapes, bake, and paint. 
•  Slime or playdough making – orange, black, or glittery for a Halloween twist. Story stones – paint stones with autumn or spooky images, then use them for storytelling games. 
•  Shadow puppets – cut out bat, cat, or ghost shapes, attach to sticks, and use a torch for a puppet show.

Here's your seven-day crafting plan for the half-term holidays:

Here’s a 7-day October half-term crafting plan that balances indoor, outdoor, and Halloween-themed activities. All are kid-friendly with simple materials you can find around the house or garden. There's one activity per day, with an easy materials list, so you don’t have to think on the spot.

And if you'd like to download the sheet... CLICK HERE

Day 1 – Autumn Leaf Collage 🍂 

 Materials: Leaves, paper/cardboard, glue, crayons/markers 

Activity: Collect fallen leaves outside. Arrange them on cardboard and glue them down to make a picture. Optionally, add drawings or paint to fill gaps. 

 Tip: Use different leaf shapes and colours for extra texture. 

 Day 2 – Pumpkin Painting 🎨 

Materials: Small pumpkins, acrylic paints, brushes, stickers 

Activity: Paint pumpkins with fun faces, patterns, or Halloween designs. Stickers and googly eyes can make it easier for younger children. 

Tip: Lay down newspaper or an old sheet—painting pumpkins can get messy but fun! 

 Day 3 – DIY Spooky Lanterns 🕯️ 

Materials: Jam jars, tissue paper, glue, scissors, tealight or LED candle 

Activity: Tear tissue paper into pieces and glue onto jars. 

Draw spooky faces with markers or cut shapes from black paper to stick on. Light with LED candles and display around the house. 

 Day 4 – Nature Wreath 🌿 

 Materials: Cardboard ring, leaves, pinecones, acorns, glue, string 

Activity: Glue collected leaves, pinecones, and acorns onto a cardboard ring to make an autumn wreath. Hang on doors or walls.  

Tip: Older kids can help make a pattern with colours and shapes for extra creativity. 

 Day 5 – Monster Rocks / Story Stones 🪨 

Materials: Smooth stones, paint, brushes, markers 

Activity: Paint stones with fun monsters, pumpkins, or autumn symbols. Alternatively, paint story stones with images (house, tree, sun, cat) and use them for storytelling games. 

 Day 6 – Paper Plate Masks / Shadow Puppets 👻 

Materials: Paper plates, scissors, string, markers, sticks 

Activity: Make Halloween masks: cats, bats, witches. Cut out holes for eyes and attach string. Or create shadow puppets for a spooky storytelling show. 

 Day 7 – Salt Dough Ornaments / Halloween Baking 🍪 

 Materials: Salt dough: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup water Baking option: cookies or cupcakes + decorations 

 Activity: Make shapes like pumpkins, ghosts, and leaves. Bake, then paint when cooled. Or decorate cookies/cupcakes with Halloween themes. 

 ✅ Bonus Tips: Prep materials in advance to keep kids engaged. Mix indoor and outdoor activities so energy is balanced. Keep a tray or newspaper for messy crafts—clean-up is faster and stress-free.