Halloween Crafts for Kids: Our 40 Favorite DIY Ideas for Spooky Season
Get into the Halloween spirit with these fun Halloween crafts for kids, many using materials you have at home!
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Outdoor Decor Halloween Crafts for Kids
1. Mini Vampire Pumpkins
Transform a cute, innocent baby pumpkin into a scary Dracula! All you need is mini pumpkins, plastic vampire teeth (which you can easily find in the Halloween section of any store this time of year), and sewing pins for eyes. Though, you can use anything for eyes, really...think: beads, pompoms, googly eyes, felt...you get the idea!
2. Illuminated Ghost Milk Jugs
Here's another recycled craft, this time using empty milk jugs. Give your kids (empty, rinsed out) milk jugs and a marker and have them draw silly or spooky faces on them. Then cut a hole in the back and insert a battery-powered tea light to see the faces come to life at night! Line the walkway to your house with these jugs to welcome enthusiastic trick-or-treaters in style.
3. Googly Eyes Halloween Wreath
Googly eyes, ping-pong balls, and a wreath form are the basics you need to whip up this eye-catching door decoration! After all, if you put googly eyes on anything, you’ll make people smile.
4. Trash Bag Spider Web
Using a similar method to create coffee filter snowflakes, you can turn a boring old garbage bag into an eye-catching spiderweb. It’s perfect Halloween decor for your porch or stoop!
5. Ding Dong the Witch is Dead
Fans of the Wizard of Oz will appreciate this porch decoration. Just stuff some Halloween-themed tights with polyfill, paint an old pair of shoes like ruby slippers, and place the faux legs against the house.
6. Glowing Jack-O’-Lantern Jars
Head to the dollar store and grab some canning jars with lids, glow sticks, and black sharpies to make these cute, colorful decorations! And while the directions call for the glow sticks to be cut open (by an adult!), you could just as easily put the glow stick in the bottom of the jar for a less-messy option. A few things to note from Amanda Formaro, over at Crafts by Amanda: Green and yellow glow sticks work better than other colors and glass markers work better than Sharpies, but either option is fine.
7. Halloween Wreath
This creepy, feathery, skull wreath is more involved and better to create with older kids, but it’s perfect for your Halloween door. And Karen Bertelsen, the blogger behind The Art of Doing Stuff, was able to source all the materials for this from her local dollar store. It may scare away some trick-or-treaters, but that just means more candy for you!
8. Frankenstein's Monster Can Craft
A great craft for older kids, you can turn an empty paint can into the monster from Frankenstein—then fill it with Halloween candies for the trick-or-treaters, Halloween party attendees, or just you and your kids!
9. Glowing Eyes
Looking for a quick, easy DIY to scare-ify your yard? Try this idea from RustandSunshine.com: Cut eyes into toilet paper tubes, put glow sticks inside the tubes, and stick the glowing tubes in the trees and bushes around your house. Trick-or-treaters will feel like they're being watched!
10. Pumpkin Candy Dispenser
Going trick-or-treating with your kids, leaving your door unmanned? Instead of leaving a bowl of candy on the porch, try this: Drill holes in a pumpkin and stick lollipops in the holes.
11. Halloween Duct Tape Doormat
Looking for a fun Halloween decor project? This Duct Tape doormat from Stephanie Morgan, founder and managing editor of Modern Parents Messy Kids, is a great one to do with kids. It teaches them about upcycling and only requires a few supplies.
You’ll need:
- a well-worn doormat (preferably one you were getting ready to toss)
- a few rolls of Scotch® Color & Pattern Duct Tape in Halloween colors
- a cutting mat
- a straight edge
- scissors
- tape
Directions
- Once you have your supplies, go online and find an appropriate Halloween image. Silhouettes work best—try using the “clip art” filter in Google images to find one that will work.
- Use photo editing software, such as PicMonkey or Photoshop, to make the image the same size as your doormat and print the image on several pages and lay it out on your doormat to be sure it will work. Then cut out the silhouette on each “quadrant”.
- Now it’s time to get to taping! Be sure your doormat is clean, pick a background tape color, and start layering strips onto the top of the mat.
- Tuck the ends of each strip under so that your mat looks like this.
- Layer several strips of black Duct Tape onto your cutting mat and tape the first image quadrant on top and use the straight edge to cut around the silhouette and remove the excess tape. Repeat this process with each quadrant.
- Then line up the four black silhouette pieces on top of your doormat. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, the tape is very forgiving. If you don’t get it lined up perfectly, you can just add another piece of black tape on top.
- The last step is to cut out a spooky message and apply it to the top of your silhouette. I added a few black stripes on each side for visual balance and used glow-in-the dark tape for the wicked smile and the, “Boo!”. It’s quite the creepy look in the dark—perfect for Halloween.
Halloween Crafts for Kids: Costumes
1. Felt Crown
Whether your kid wants to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are or Elsa from—duh!—Frozen for Halloween, they’ll need a crown to complete the outfit. Try your hand at a custom, two-sided felt topper that (bonus!) can be used later for imaginary play from Project Kid by Amanda Kingloff.
2. Duct Tape Cape and Mask
Nothing screams DIY quite like Duct Tape—did you know there are scholarships available for teens who make their prom tuxes or dresses out of the sticky stuff? Try your hand at making a Duct Tape cape and mask for a reusable costume (and hey, if you need to fix something, you'll have tape with you!).
3. Paper Animal Masks
Is your kiddie an animal lover? Are they dressing as a cat or bird for Halloween? All you need are pants and a sweater in the color of the animal and one of these DIY masks for a completely homemade costume!
4. Train Costume
Why buy a kid's Thomas the Tank Engine costume this Halloween when you can build one? Using cardboard boxes and crafts supplies, follow this step-by-step guide from a Rockland County mom to DIY a train costume for your child.
5. DIY Animal Costumes
Have a kid who loves frogs or dogs? Check out these two easy costume DIYs. They’re seriously easy—they both use hoodie sweatshirts as the base for the costume. What could be easier (and keep your kid warm if it’s a chilly Halloween night)? Bonus: These costumes are super budget-friendly!
6. Toddler No-Sew Tutu
What could be cuter than a toddler dressed as a ghost, with the focal point of the costume being a tutu?! Find out how to make your own with this DIY from Jennifer Garry, the Westchester mom behind the blog CuddlesandChaos.com. Plus, older kids can easily tackle this DIY on their own if their costume requires a tutu.
7-10. Even More No-Sew Costumes
Local parents share how they made DIY costumes for their kids to dress up as grapes, Waldo, a school bus, and Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus.
Here at NYMetroParents, we've got everything you need to have a safe, fun, and festive fall and Halloween season. Whether it is pumpkin or apple picking, getting lost in a corn maze, making Halloween crafts or finding costumes and decorations, we're here to help.
