Make a Portable Magnetic Halloween Play Set for Kids

Halloween is about dressing up, candy, frights and delights but nothing will delight ‘em like their own portable Halloween play set. It’s so easy to make, though, you’ll want to do one for your kids, one for the neighbor’s kids....

Images of black cats, happy or scary jack-o-lanterns, witches and ghouls abound around Halloween. You’ll find them on napkins, treat bags, in magazines and other places. These images are the beginning of a fabulous portable Halloween play set for your kids.

Cut out Halloween images and affix them to magnetic sheeting. The peel-and-stick sheeting makes it easy to make paper images magnetic. Peel the protective paper back, place the pictures on the sticky magnet, cut them out, and get ready for the fun to begin.

An ordinary cookie sheet or baking pan - round or rectangular - makes for the perfect backdrop. To make it even more interesting cut a picture out of a pumpkin patch, a room in a haunted house, or another large picture. This can also be attached to the magnetic sheeting, then placed on the baking pan as the scenery for the Halloween Play Set.

After you have your background and characters ready, cut boots, hats, and other accessories from magazines and books. Put these to the magnetic sheeting for some great fun for kids. They can move the magnets around on the baking sheet, add clothing and accessories to their witches and ghouls, and even have storage for the pieces they aren’t using. Simply attach the magnets that aren’t in use to the backside of the baking sheet.

With a rectangular baking sheet you can make separate rooms or separate scenes for the characters. Split it into four sections to make a haunted house, a pumpkin patch, a woodsy scene and an “at home” scene. Or, split it into two sections and create two separate backgrounds. Another idea is to make various backgrounds which cover the whole sheet, then the child can use the one he wants and put the other backgrounds on the backside of the sheet until he needs them.