Halloween Crafts and Activities

Halloween Art Projects For Kids

Fall is just around the corner, and with the cooler weather comes more inside time for the little ones. Naturally, they’re going to need something fun and creative to keep them busy. Help your kids prepare for Halloween by constructing these adorable craft projects! They’re easy and fun to make and the kiddos will love displaying them for the holiday.

Paint The Windows
Get some window paint and let the kids decorate. Have them draw ghost and pumpkins and write "boo" on the windows. If actual paint sounds too messy, go to your local craft store and pick out a few sheets of Halloween window stickers and use them to decorate the windows. There are quite a few static stickers available now that you can use for years to come.

Pin the nose on Jack ‘o Lantern
This is a spin-off version of the all-time favorite game among children. Make a huge Jack ‘o Lantern, leaving off his nose. Let kids take turns being blindfolded and pin (or tape) the nose on Jack.

Make a mask
Give kids construction paper, round-ended scissors, markers and glue. Let them make their own face masks for the party. Punch a hole in both sides of the mask and tie string or tiny elastic on the mask.

Make a haunted tree
Making a haunted tree is a fun activity for everyone. It is especially great to do right after raking leaves. First, pick the biggest, best tree in your front yard; preferably one with many long, crooked limbs. Next, take small white trash bags and stuff the top half with leaves from your yard. Twist and tie the bag into a knot, or use a twist-tie to close the end where the leaves stop. Turn upside down and you have a ghost! Make as many of these ghosts as you can, then tie them to tree limbs. As the fall winds blow, your ghosts will haunt your tree.

Vote For the Best Costume

This game is always a fun game for children. They like to look at the different costumes and chose one they think is the best. Here’s what you’ll need to play the game.

Be sure each child has his or her costume. A few weeks prior send Mom and Dad a note telling them to dress their child in their costume to come to school on a certain day.

Before the day of the contest, create a necklace for each child using a piece of yarn, a hole punch and either a cut out of each number or a piece of cardboard with the number written on it to hang from the necklace. You will need empty slips of paper (one for each child), pencils and a bucket to place the votes in.

As the children arrive, give them each a number necklace and have them place it around their neck. Each child should have a number that is large and visible to the other children. Tell the kids what these numbers are for and that it will be a part of the game. Numbers are easier for the children to write than their favorite costume name or the name of the student who is wearing it.

When all the children have arrived explain the game. What they will need to do is look at the other kid’s costumes. When they decided which costume is their favorite they will need to write the corresponding number on a slip of paper and place their vote in the bucket.

Once all the children have voted, it’s time to count the votes. Whoever has the most votes for their costume is the winner. The winning student can be named the student of the day, give them an extra Halloween treat, or some other small prize. Add as many categories to your list as you want and hand out a grand prize to the best costume.

Tape the Face on the Pumpkin

This game is a little like Pin the Tail On the Donkey. In this game the children get to place either an eye, a nose or a mouth on the pumpkin. If they like they can put the whole face on their pumpkin. That choice will be left to you. Here’s how to play.

The first step can be done ahead of time or as a class craft project. You will need orange, green and black construction paper, double sided tape and a blindfold. Start by making as many pumpkins as you have children in your class. Do this by cutting rather large circles out of the orange construction paper. Then add a stem to each pumpkin using the green construction paper. Make eyes, noses and mouths for the pumpkins out of the black construction paper. Remember each pumpkin will need a whole face so make as many parts as needed for the pumpkins.

When you have the pumpkins ready, place them on a wall low enough that each of your preschoolers can reach them with ease. Also place a piece of double sided tape on the back of each facial piece. This way the children can place their pieces on the pumpkin with ease.

Instead of using a blindfold, which smaller children might be a little leery of, you can place your hands over their eyes once they are standing in front of their pumpkin. With their eyes closed, covered or while blindfolded have the children take one facial piece at a time and place it on their pumpkin. Once they have placed the last feature, have them look at how crazy their pumpkin face is. They will get a kick out of not only their own, but everybody’s funny looking pumpkins.

Empty the Trick-or-Treat Bag

This game is a little like musical chairs but a lot more fun especially for preschoolers. All kids think about that great candy and how full their trick-or-treat bag will be on Halloween night. That’s even more important than their costumes if you ask them. This game will give them a little food for thought as they venture out to trick-or-treat. Here’s how it is played.

Place chairs in a circle facing in. Have all the children set down and then go around and tell each child a different type of Halloween candy. This will be the piece of candy they become for the game. Be sure it’s candy they know so they can easily remember which piece they are in the trick-or-treat bag.

Now to pick the first piece of candy in the trick-or-treat bag you think of a piece of candy and have the children guess what you are. The one who guesses right gets to be the first piece of candy. They move to the middle of the circle and you remove their chair. Start with one of the children in the chairs and go around the ring with each child trying to guess what piece of candy the child in the middle (trick-or-treat bag) is. The first child to guess it right then become another piece of candy in the trick-or-treat bag and their chair is removed.

The really fun side of this game is when you holler, “Empty the trick-or-treat bag!” All the kids have to move to a different chair anytime you say it. Anyone left without a chair is out of the game. Play continues until everyone has been a piece of candy in the trick-or-treat bag.

Halloween Treasure Hunt

This is a fun game for kids but can be a little messy, so be prepared. The kids will have a great time looking for their buried Halloween treasures and you’ll have a lot of fun watching them dig for those treasures.

For this game, you’ll want to set up prior to the children’s arrival. You’ll need plastic totes, play sand, treasure pieces, and enough small plastic shovels or spoons for each child to have their own for your treasure hunt. The totes should be large but not high. The children will need to be able to reach into and dig in them easily. There should be four children to each tote. Next, using the play sand, fill each tote approximately 1/2 way up.

Now, it’s time to bury the treasures in the sand. You can use candy, inexpensive Halloween toys, pencils, erasers and even stick a ghost, pumpkin or spider deep in the sand. Be sure to set the boxes far enough apart to give the kids room to dig without being in one another’s way.

Set one child on each side of the tote. Give them a plastic shovel or spoon to dig with. When everybody is set, let them dig in. Whatever they uncover they get to keep. They will be thrilled to find their little treasures and have even more fun digging in the sand. And if you think you’re stuck with all the clean up, never fear! Just let the kids dig the sand back up and put it in the totes again. Then you’ll just need to do a quick once over with the broom or vacuum once they are done.

Halloween School Mask

Kids love to dress up at Halloween and preschoolers are no exception. By making this easy Halloween mask they can dress up for their school party and parents won’t have to worry about trying to get them into their costumes or even worse - getting them out before it’s time to trick-or-treat.

Here’s your supply list:

Construction Paper
Safety Scissors
Crayons
Glue
Hole Punch
Elastic String

Help each child cut their first piece of construction paper so that it will fit over their face and come just slightly around the sides of their head. This will ensure the masks fits them well once complete.

Next, help each student cut out eyes for their mask. They need to be large enough that the children can easily see through them once the mask is placed on their head. This will ensue no one wearing a mask will get hurt by running into things or falling down.

Then let them go for it. They can make their mask to be anything they want. They can cut out facial pieces from other pieces of construction paper and glue them on, use crayons to draw their face, or whatever their imaginations lead them to create.

Once they have finished decorating their masks, help them to place a hole on both sides. Tie off a piece of elastic string through one hole. Pull the string around the back of their head and tie it off in the other hole.

Now they have their own Halloween mask. You can even play the costume game by turning it into the Scariest or Funniest Mask game.

Making Trick-or-Treat Buckets

Anybody who goes trick-or-treating needs something to collect all that great candy in. Here’s a craft you and your preschoolers can do to ensure they have just what they need when it comes time to go out for the night.

Supplies Needed:

Plastic ice cream buckets or solid autumn colored buckets like you can find at the dollar store
Crayons
Black permanent marker
Halloween stickers
Construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Glitter
Any other type of craft items that will help them decorate

You might also consider some glow in the dark stickers or glitter to help illuminate their bucket.

Just let their imaginations run wild. They can make ghosts, bats, pumpkins and even a witch out of the construction paper. Place Halloween stickers all over their bucket or use the crayons and glitter to decorate with.

One suggestion is to have a few Halloween pictures lying around the table so the kids will have something to copy from. Sometimes it’s hard for little ones to think of ideas but with pictures to look at they might come up with some great ideas.

Once they have their bucket decorated, place each child’s name on the bottom with the permanent marker so no one gets the wrong bucket to take home. You can also place their first Halloween treat in their bucket if you would like.

One last thing you can do is to make sure they have lids to their buckets. They work hard for their candy and nobody wants to go home with an empty bucket.

Party Goodie Bags

It’s time for that Halloween party at preschool and you want the children to have something different to take their goodies home in. Let them decorate goody bags the day before. Then you can take them home that night and fill them up. Won’t the kids be surprised to see their own creations filled with wonderful Halloween goodies the next day?

Supplies:

Brown paper lunch bags (1 per child)
Crayons
Halloween stickers
Construction paper
Scissors
Glue

Give each child a bag. Have them decorate the outside of the bag anyway they want. Using the craft items above they can create their own unique Halloween bag. Suggest ghosts, pumpkins, a witch, goblins and ghouls. Have them cut things out of construction paper or use stickers to decorate with. If they are talented at drawing, have them design their own pictures to color with the crayons. Just about any idea and craft item will work along with their own imaginations.

Once they have completed their bag have them place their name on the bottom of the bag. This will help you to make sure the right child gets the right bag.

Take the bags home and fill them with candy, inexpensive toys, pencils and fun Halloween gifts. Once filled, fold the top down and secure it with a Halloween sticker. Hand them back to the children or place them on their desk or table the next morning. Won’t they be surprised and excited about what they find inside?

Make Your Own Baby Pumpkins

Children love pumpkins at Halloween. Unfortunately pumpkins can be quite big and heavy for small children. They also have a hard time when it comes to carving a pumpkin even though their little hearts are set on it. Making their own baby pumpkins can alleviate some of those anxieties for smaller children. Here’s how to make them.

Gather up as many acorns as you can find. You will also need orange and green paint, a paint shirt or smock, small paintbrushes and a black and red fine point marker.

Have the kids help you clean any dirt off of the acorns so they will be easy to decorate. This will also help the children get used to working with something so small.

Once the acorns are clean and dry have the children lay them out on newspaper. Paint the bottom of the acorn orange. This will be the pumpkin. Once the orange paint has dried have them paint the top of the acorn green to look like the stem of the pumpkin.

When the green paint dries they can use the red and black markers to make the face on their pumpkin. The facial features will be small so remind the kids it’s ok to just have small dots for the eyes, a larger dot for the nose and a curvy line for the pumpkin mouth.

Once the marker dries thoroughly they will have pumpkins they can maneuver and place anywhere they want to in their home. You can also set up a place in the classroom for all the pumpkins – their own tiny pumpkin patch.

Outside Scavenger Hunt

Everybody loves a scavenger hunt, even the youngest of children. If the weather permits why not conduct one of your own out on the playground? It’s easy and the children will have a lot of fun looking for their little treasures.

Each child will need a small bag to place treasures in. Once you have the kids outside you can start the hunt. You want to include things such as a certain colored leaf, acorns, a specific color or shaped rock and other items that are a part of nature.

You can also go out ahead of them and place small pumpkins or other Halloween items in the area for them to look for. If you have Halloween candy you can place that out for the children to find too; just be sure it is well wrapped to avoid any disasters with the outside elements including animals.

Keep it simple for the children. You might start out with having them find a white rock. Most areas have plenty of white rocks so it will be easy for each child to accomplish this. By doing something that is easy for them to find at the beginning they will begin to understand the game and feel more comfortable playing. Work your way up to the harder items such as an acorn or a pinecone.

Make sure all the items you mention are things the children will know about. If they have to ask what a certain object is they can become frustrated and may not want to participate in the game. Also be sure to set a time limit on the length of time you give them to find a certain object. Not all the children will find every object, but it’s more important to not allow them to become bored or frustrated so they can continue to enjoy the game.

Once you’re finished with your list of items have the children look into their bag. What a sense of accomplishment they will feel when they see just how many things they found.

Inside Scavenger Hunt

If the weather is just unbearable or if you don’t have an area outside to do a scavenger hunt you can always have one in the classroom. Kids enjoy the hunt as much as they do going outside. Plus you have a little more control over where the kids will go and what they can find.

Most of the items you want the children to find such as pencils or a certain color crayon will mean the need for specific rules. You will have to explain to them that they have to find the items where you hid them not in their own belongings. This will make the hunt much more fun for all involved.

You can also hide things such as small pumpkins, Halloween treats and other goodies that might be harder to do if you were doing an outside hunt. Be sure that whatever you hide you make it easy for the children to find.

Start with something relatively easy to find. This game needs to be fun for the children and if you make the items things the children don’t know or have a hard time finding right at the beginning they will become bored and frustrated with the game.

Be sure each child has a bag to collect his or her treasures in. Choose bags that will fit the size and number of items they are looking for – brown paper lunch bags work great for this. Children can be upset easily if they start to lose items they have collected or can’t hold the bag because it’s too full.

Also put a time limit on how long you allow the children to look for a certain item. Sometimes they can have a hard time finding what they are looking for and their determination keeps them looking and looking. Remember not all the children will find every item so don’t let them stay at it too long before announcing the next item they should look for.

After you have finished the list, let the children see what all they have collected. They will be surprised at how many items they found and you will be too. Let them keep everything they found. You can also give a final prize to the person or persons who found the most items if you choose. This is a fun game for children and can be helpful in their learning experience at the same time.

Make Halloween Greeting Cards

It may sound a little strange to make greeting cards for Halloween because most of us don’t do it or know of anyone who sends cards to family and friends on Halloween. Why not start new traditions with your preschoolers that they can carry on for years to come? What a surprise for their parents, grandparents and even their teacher to receive a greeting card that says Happy Halloween.

The most fun way for the kids to make these cards is with construction paper, crayons and their imagination. You might want to have some pictures of such things as pumpkins, ghosts, bats, a witch and so on available so the kids can have an idea of what they want to draw.

Start their cards by having them take one piece of black construction paper and folding it straight down the middle. This will be their actual card. Next, have them cut a piece of construction paper, any color they would like except for black or brown, slightly smaller than the one side of their card. They can paste this to the inside of card to write their message or sign their name to. Black can be a very hard color to write on and still be able to see it. By placing this on the inside of their card they should have no trouble seeing what they have written.

With other colors of construction paper they can make their designs. Whether it is a scary ghost, a good or bad witch or just a lot of pumpkins, let their imaginations run wild. When they are finished designing they can cut them out and paste them to front and the inside of the card.

With your help, the children can print their own little message inside the card and then sign their name. Now they have their own Halloween greeting cards to take home to their parents, grandparents or other family friends.

Black Bat Stringers

Pumpkins are a traditional Halloween decoration. There should always be a number of pumpkins of all shapes and sizes set about when you decorate. Pumpkins should not be the only decorations though.

Kids love to do crafts and making Halloween decorations can be a lot of fun for them. One decoration that is easy to make are bat stringers. With some folded black construction paper, a pencil, scissors and some string you can have bat stringers just about anywhere in the classroom.

On the edge of a piece of black construction paper you will need to trace with a pencil the shape of a bat or let the kids do it by using a template they can trace around. Once the bat has been traced help the kids fold their paper over and over until all the paper is under the piece with the traced bat.

Using the scissors the kids can cut around the traced bat. Make sure they know to stay on the line and they may need your help in turning the paper to complete the cut. When they have cut completely around the bat they can then unfold the paper. They will be excited to see their string of bats all together.

You can let them decorate their bats too. They can use a red crayon to create the eyes and other colored crayons, stickers or glitter to decorate any way they would like. You might find you have some very exciting looking bats to hang around the classroom.

Now that you have the bat stringers they will need to be hung. Make a small hole on each end of the stringer. Pull string through the holes and tie them off. Hang the stringers around the room from the ceiling. The kids will be thrilled to see their creations hanging all around the room above their heads and you’ll be batty over the excitement they create.

Make A Door Witch

What would Halloween decorations be without a witch in the mix? Decorating the classroom door with a witch is pretty simple to do and doesn’t take a lot of items. You will need to help the kids a little with this project, but in the end they will have a witch to cover their classroom door to help keep the ghosts and goblins away.

Start with a plain piece of cardboard. Cut out a single sided pointed hat. With either paint or crayons, the kids can color it completely black. Now they have that wonderful pointed hat to place on the witch’s head.

Using another piece of cardboard, you can cut out the witch head. Be sure to bring the chin to an almost perfect point and don’t forget that long pointed nose. If you feel you’re not talented enough to cut out the perfect witch head, you can find a template online that can be used to trace the head on the cardboard first. Making the nose separate and attaching it with glue can make it easier when cutting out the head also.

Let the kids color the eyes and mouth onto the face of the witch. Don’t let them forget that big ole wart on her nose and of course no witch is complete without her pale green face.

Now for the perfect witch body - again you will need a piece of cardboard. It is best to have a long rectangular piece. There won’t be any cutting or drawing on this piece so as long as it fits on the door, any size will work.

Have the kids take a piece of black fabric and glue it to the cardboard. There will need to be a little extra on the front that will flow down the body like a cape. Have the kids glue some red rik rak around the edge of the fabric. They can also add glue glitter, stars or any other types of decorations they would like to give their witch some attitude.

She will also need her beautiful black shoes. Cut these out of cardboard either on your own or with the help of a traceable template. Have the kids color them black and place a red or silver buckle on the top of each.

Now that you have all the parts decorated and ready to go they will need to be glued together. Start with the shoes at the bottom of the body. Next comes the witch’s head and last, but not least, her hat. The witch is together and ready to hang on the classroom door.

Oh but wait, we almost forgot the broom. You can use a real broom or have the children make one with cardboard. Cut a piece of cardboard for the handle and color it brown. The bristles can be made with a piece of yellow construction paper that is cut in slits from one side to the middle of the paper. Attach the bristles to the handle with glue and add it beside the witch on the door.

Mummy Candy Holders

There’s always candy around at Halloween. Teachers bring in candy, kids bring candy from home and parents are always bringing in some kind of candy for snacks. Let the kids make some mummy candy holders to place in the classroom. It will keep their candy together and also give you a little more control over how much candy each child eats.

Start with small coffee cans. Be sure there are no sharp edges and that the can is clean and dry. Other supplies needed are white construction paper, gauze, glue, scissors and crayons.

Place the white construction paper around the outside of the coffee can. Help with cutting the paper so it’s an exact fit to the can. Once the paper is cut place glue on the back and attach it to the can.

Attach the gauze from top to bottom of the can. Put a small amount of glue on the piece of gauze when you first start it and again on the end when the can is completely covered. This will keep the gauze from slipping when little hands grab the candy dish to get their piece of candy.

When those little drops of glue dry the kids can use the crayons to give their mummies some facial features. It can be just eyes peeping out or they can give them a mouth and nose too. Now you have a Halloween candy dish to hold all that scrumptious candy. If you sneak a piece that’s ok too, only the mummy will know and he’s not talking!