Hocus Pocus Lab Halloween Dramatic Play

My little Charlie LOVES imaginary play, and she loves Halloween. I knew I needed to make her the perfect dramatic play set to bring these two loves together. So, I created a Halloween dramatic play… the Hocus Pocus Lab!

Supplies

I started by finding items that I could fill in jars. I found many things in the Halloween section at Target, but I also found a lot on Amazon. I created a list of all the items I purchased here. I didn’t want it to be scary because it is made for young children, so I created simple names like “sneaky spiders”, “hoppy frogs”, and “flying bats”. I purchased clear plastic jars on Amazon and bought full sheet sticker labels to plop right on the jars.

I also wanted to add some potions, so I bought small plastic bottles and filled them with confetti, yarn, and green webbing. I used a glue gun and sealed them shut.

Every good scientist needs some potion goggles. You could use real goggles, but I thought some Halloween glasses would be fun too.  

To mix the magic potion, you could use plastic cauldrons, buckets, or bowls. I happen to have a combination of goodies. You will also need some mixing spoons.

Setup

Once you have all your goodies prepared, you will need to set them up. Don’t worry if you don’t have a dramatic play center like mine. A bookshelf or a table works too. I’ve had a lot of people use just that. I have also made money for the lab, but you could use your own play money too.

Halloween Dramatic Play Activities

So, what can you do at the lab? Lots of fun things. Students can shop and purchase items. They can get a potion card and make a magic potion. These potion cards come with visual pictures and with text. That way you can meet the needs of more students.

I wanted this play area to also help enhance her reading, math, and writing. There are open-ended extensions for math using manipulatives and a few math games. I have included a variety of writing activities including a mini book. Finally, there are a few crafts and sequencing activities that you can use to show what you made with a magic potion card.

Charlie is 9 and we still set up this Halloween dramatic play lab! She loves to make potions, use her imagination, and celebrate the season.

“A class favorite! I know we will be using this again in the future, as my students are sad to see it go after Halloween. This set lends itself to so many math extension activities: mixing, measuring, weighing, etc. Absolutely wonderful! Thank you!”

“Very cute and great way to engage students for a station while learning.”

“This was so much fun for an October dramatic play! My students loved it!”

You may also like some of my other dramatic play sets:

Read more from my blog about fun Fall activities:

• Halloween Fun with Main Idea and Details – Don’t miss the Witch’s Brew activity in this post!
• Top 10 Classroom Apple Activities
• 4 FUN ways to make learning fun in October
• Pumpkin Pie in a Cup