Not-so-scary Halloween activities for little kids

For little kids who scare easily, keep Halloween cute and silly: draw smiling pumpkins, friendly ghosts, cartoon cats and goofy monsters, trace and color simple Halloween pages, and let kids decide how spooky things get. Drawing a “scary” thing as a silly cartoon helps young children feel in control of it.

Why drawing helps with fear

Young children often aren’t sure what’s real. Masks, costumes and decorations can be overwhelming. When a child draws a ghost with a big smile, or gives a monster polka-dot underpants, the scary thing becomes something they made, and something they can laugh at. It’s a gentle way to take the edge off.

Friendly Halloween ideas

• Smiling pumpkins. Big round pumpkin, triangle eyes and the biggest smile you can draw.
• A ghost who says boo-hoo. A ghost who’s sad, sleepy or ticklish.
• Cute black cats. Circles for a body and head, triangle ears and a curly tail.
• Candy characters. Give a piece of candy corn a face and arms.
• Cute monsters. One eye, three arms, a party hat. See monster drawing ideas.
• Bats with bows. Turn a bat into a friend.

Tracing pages for ages 3 and up

Tracing is perfect for preschoolers: trace the dotted outline, then color it in. It builds pencil control and gives little ones a finished picture they’re proud of. See tracing for kids. Grab the free Halloween pages to try one.

Let the child choose the spook level

Ask “Do you want your ghost happy or a little spooky?” and go with their answer. Some kids like a tiny bit of scary once they’re in charge. Others want all smiles. Both are fine.

Gentle costume drawings

Before Halloween, have kids draw themselves in their costume. Talking through what they’ll wear, and what other people might wear, helps kids know what to expect on the night.

Read, then draw

Read a gentle Halloween picture book, then draw a favorite character. See reading response drawing.

If your child is still worried

• Keep decorations at home cute.
• Draw what they might see while trick-or-treating, and talk about it.
• Have a “silly costume” drawing session where everyone draws masks with funny faces.
• Skip anything they don’t want to do. There’s always next year.

For older siblings

Older kids who want spookier art can use the step-by-step Halloween hub lessons while little ones trace. See drawing with mixed ages and Halloween drawing activities.

Tip: Give every scary thing a silly detail: a ghost in sneakers, a vampire with a lollipop, a skeleton with a teddy bear. Kids love it, and it works.

The book that helps

Cartoon Halloween Characters and Cute Cartoon Monsters are friendly, smiling and silly, not scary, and Trace Then Color is made for ages 3 and up.

Trace Then Color: Cartoon Halloween CharactersSee it on Amazon

How to Draw: Cartoon GhostsSee it on Amazon

Trace Then Color: Cute Cartoon MonstersSee it on Amazon

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