Kids always get excited about Halloween. Whether it’s the costumes or the trick-or-treating or decorating the house for the holiday, children are all in for this sugary holiday. You can add to the energy by doing some cool and cute Halloween crafts with your students. Here are five favorites from The Best Ideas for Kids.
1. Melted crayon pumpkins
To make melted crayon pumpkins, you’ll need small white pumpkins (you can use orange pumpkins, too, but the colors may not be as vivid). You’ll also need a bunch of broken crayons, tacky glue, and a hair dryer. If you’re using whole crayons, cut or break them in half.
Glue the crayons on top of the pumpkins, and once the glue is dry, use the blow dryer to melt the crayon. It’s one of the messier Halloween crafts (the writer suggests making them outdoors), but the reward is a really cool-looking pumpkin that will make a great Halloween decoration. (Complete instructions for the project are here.)
2. Paper plate spiders
To make paper plate spiders, you’ll need small paper plates (two per spider), kid-friendly paint, googly eyes (varying sizes, eight per spider), chenille stems (easy to find at craft stores), paint brushes, school glue, scissors, and a stapler.
Start by painting the underside of two paper plates and let them dry completely. When they are dry, cut four chenille stems in half to make eight, then bend the stems so they look like spider legs. While holding the paper plates together, put each chenille stem between the plates and staple it down, then use the stapler to close around the rest of the plates. Glue eight googly eyes on top of your spider—spiders have eight eyes, after all, then punch a hole in the top of the spider and tie a white string through it so you can hang it up. See? Halloween crafts can be fun and educational! (Complete instructions and visuals here.)
3. Handprint witches
To make handprint witches, you’ll need green, orange, brown, and black construction paper, white cardstock, gold foam paper or gold glitter paper, googly eyes, a black Sharpie, light-brown pipe cleaners, glue sticks, and tacky glue.
Have your students fold the green construction paper in half and trace their hands. Cut out the handprint and glue it to white paper or cardstock. Add hair by cutting little strips from the orange construction paper and gluing it on. Next comes the hat: cut out a pointy witch’s hat from the black construction paper, then cut a small strip of gold foam paper and glue it on top of the hat. Glue on the googly eyes, then draw a pointy nose and a smile. (Complete instructions for making handprint witches, and a broom and some stars as well, can be found here.)
4. Construction paper black cats
Black cats are definitely among our favorite Halloween symbols—and Halloween crafts. Here’s an easy black cat paper project. For your paper black cats, you’ll need 9” x 12” black construction paper, scissors or a paper trimmer, a little bit of yellow construction paper, a little bit of pink construction paper, and glue.
Use two sheets of 9 x 12 black construction paper. Cut four short strips across one sheet’s width, then cut four long strips across the other sheet’s length. Align the short strips and the long strips (separately), then gently bend in half to mark the middle of the strips. Start with one long piece and glue two short strips, one on top of the other, crossing at the middle. Then glue a third short strip on. What you have now should look like a star or an asterisk. Loop the strips and glue the ends together, then glue all the strips to form a paper ball. Repeat to create another ball.
After the glue has dried, add a generous amount of glue at the bottom of one of the balls, then stick the two paper balls together. You’ll have to hold them together for a little bit to allow the glue to set. Cut two triangle shapes for the ears out of black construction paper and decorate the ears with the pink paper. Fold into an L shape, then glue the ears on top of the smaller ball. Cut a small pink triangle for the nose and glue it onto the paper ball. Cut two eyes out of yellow construction paper, draw in eye details, and glue them onto the head. You can also add whiskers if you want. (Complete instructions with visuals can be found here.)
There are all kinds of Halloween crafts you and your students can do. If these don’t suit your classroom, look here for a whopping 50 Halloween craft ideas.
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