How To Make 9 Easy Halloween Crafts for Kids

Last Updated on: 15th October 2026, 09:43 am

Easy Halloween Crafts

Halloween is the perfect time to get creative with the children. From friendly ghosts and cheeky bats to spooky pumpkins and creepy-crawly spiders, there are so many easy Halloween crafts that you can make using things you probably already have at home. The best thing about Halloween crafts is that they don’t have to be complicated or expensive. A little coloured paper, some paint, glue and a few googly eyes can be transformed into fantastic Halloween decorations. Here are 10 fun Halloween crafts that are perfect for a family afternoon.

1. Paper Plate Pumpkin Faces

Paper plates are fantastic for Halloween crafts because they can be turned into almost anything. To make pumpkin faces, you will need the following things:

Paper plates
Orange paint
Black card or paper
Glue
Black marker pen

Paint the plate orange and leave it to dry. Whilst the paint is drying, you need to cut out two eyes, a nose and a spooky mouth from black paper. Then stick them onto the plate when the paint is dry. Children can make happy pumpkins, scary pumpkins or even silly pumpkins with huge smiles. You could also add a green paper stalk to the top and hang the finished pumpkins around the house. Paper plate pumpkins are a particularly easy craft for younger children, and you can even use them to make other spooky characters like ghosts or bats.

2. Spooky Halloween Suncatchers As Easy Halloween Crafts

You can always brighten up your windows with homemade Halloween suncatchers. You will need the following things for this Halloween craft:

Black paper or card
Clear sticky-back plastic or contact paper
Tissue paper
Scissors

Decide what creature you are doing to make; some will be easier than others. Cut out a pumpkin, bat or ghost shape from the black card, leaving an opening in the middle. Place the shape onto the sticky plastic and let children fill the middle with small pieces of colourful tissue paper. Alternatively, you can glue strips of tissue paper to the card for the same effect. Orange looks fantastic for pumpkins, while purple, blue and green work brilliantly for bats and monsters. When you have all finished your Halloween suncatchers, stick them to a sunny window and watch the light shine through the colourful tissue paper.

3. Easy Halloween Crafts Like Toilet Roll Bats

Don’t throw away those empty toilet rolls – turn them into spooky bats! This is an easy craft to do from home, and it is free because you are recycling household items. You will need

Toilet roll cardboard centres
Black card
White paper
Googly eyes or a white pen
String

Paint an empty toilet roll black and then leave it to dry overnight. Next, you will need to cut two bat wings from black card and stick them onto the sides. Add two googly eyes or paint white dots for eyes. Lastly, add a couple of tiny white paper fangs. You could make several bats and hang them from the ceiling using the string. If you don’t have any toilet roll centres, you can use a piece of black card and roll is into a cylinder shape. Tape it together, and there is your bat shape.

4. Handprint Ghosts

Handprint crafts are always a favourite with children and make lovely keepsakes. You will need the following things,

White washable paint
Black Paper or Card
Black paper for eyes and a spooky mouth, or a black pen to draw them on

Paint your child’s hand with white washable paint and carefully press it onto a piece of black paper. Once the paint has dried, turn the handprint upside down so the fingers become the ghost’s floating arms. Add two black eyes and a spooky mouth with paper or by drawing them. For younger children, this can be a particularly fun activity because they can see their own hand transformed into a Halloween character. These are great keepsakes for grandparents too.

5. Halloween Paper Plate Ghosts

Turn another paper plate into a friendly ghost. This is what you need for this activity

White paper plates or coloured plates that you can paint white.
Black paper to make eyes and a mouth, or a black pen to draw them on.
White paper or white tissue paper
String to hang the ghost

Paint or leave the plate white, then add black eyes and a mouth. Cut several strips of white paper or tissue paper and glue them underneath the plate to create the ghost’s flowing body. Add a piece of string to the top and hang your ghosts around the house. You can make a few with different facial expressions.

6. Egg Carton Spiders

Have you had a try at making creepy-crawly spiders using an empty egg carton? They are simple and free to make, because it is old packaging that you have at home and craft materials we all have at home. What you need is ….

Old Egg Boxes

Black Pipe cleaners or black card cut into spider leg shapes

Googly eyes, white paper or a white pen.

String

Cut out one section of the carton and paint it black; it will soak in the paint, so you might need to do 2 coats. When it is dry, glue on two googly eyes, or white paper. You can also draw the eyes on with a white pen or paint. Use black pipe cleaners for the eight legs, or cut legs from black card if you don’t have pipe cleaners. Make a few different spiders and create your own Halloween spider family. These are particularly good for decorating windowsills, shelves or a Halloween party table. But if you thread some string through the top, you can also hang them.

7. Paper Plate Bats

Why not make a colony of Halloween bats? Again, you make these with those trusty old paper plates. This is what you need:

Black paper plates or paper plates that are painted black
Black paper or card
Googly eyes, or coloured paper to make eyes and a mouth
Glue
String

Leave the painted black plates to dry. Cut the plates into bat shapes, or cut the sides of them into bat wing shapes. You could also keep the plates in one piece and cut wings out of black paper or card.

Paint a paper plate black and allow it to dry. Cut the sides into bat-wing shapes or cut separate wings from black card and attach them. Add white or googly eyes and draw a cheeky smile, or cut one out of paper. Thread some string through them. Make bats in different sizes and hang them together to create your own spooky bat display.

8. Halloween Bunting

Halloween bunting is a simple way to decorate the house without spending lots of money. It is an eco-friendly activity because you are making bunting from paper rather than plastic. These are the things you need:

Orange, black, and purple card
White card or paper to make some lettering
Coloured paper to cut out Halloween shapes
Pens, pencils and crayons to colour the bunting in
String
Hole punch

Cut the orange, black and purple paper into triangles; you can usually get two per A4 sheet. Use the scraps for decorating the bunting. Punch a hole at the top of the bunting in the corners. You could either write HAPPY HALLOWEEN across the bunting, with one letter on each piece. Or cut the letters out of paper and glue them on. Let the children decorate them with pumpkins, bats, ghosts, witches’ hats and spiders. Lastly, thread the pieces onto string or ribbon.

9. Spooky Monster Pictures

Let the children create their own Halloween monsters. There are no rules with this craft, which makes it particularly good for encouraging children’s imagination. You need the following things for them to get creative..

Coloured paper
Paint and pens
Pom poms, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, wool, etc
Sticky tape or glue

They can draw monsters and cut them out before decorating them with craft materials. They can give their monsters 3 arms or 4 eyes if they want. If they want a 3D monster, they need to turn some of the paper into a roll and tape it together.