Make · Occasion
Halloween projects
37 things to make for Halloween, sorted by who is making them.
10 projects
Toddlers
Painted pie pumpkin
A real little pumpkin your toddler covers in color, then it sits on the porch all October.
Pumpkin washing station
A tub of soapy water, a few small pumpkins and a scrub brush, which is all a toddler needs for a happy half hour outside.
Witch's brew water bin
A tub of green potion, a big pot and a ladle, so your toddler can stir up something spooky.
Pumpkin squish bag
A taped-up bag of orange gel your toddler can poke, squish and smoosh with zero mess to clean.
Spider web paper toss
A sticky tape web across a doorway that your toddler pelts with paper balls until it's full of bugs.
Handprint ghost
A spooky little ghost made from your toddler's white handprint on black paper, and a keepsake of how small that hand was this October.
Tissue paper plate pumpkin
A bright orange pumpkin made from scraps of tissue your toddler sticks on 1 piece at a time.
Toilet roll bats
Little black bats made from empty toilet paper tubes, ready to hang upside down in a window.
Sticky monster face
A monster built on sticky contact paper, where your toddler slaps on eyes, teeth and horns again and again.
Paper bag monster puppet
A lunch bag that turns into a talking monster after your toddler sticks on the face.
9 projects
Preschoolers
Paper plate spider
A fuzzy black paper plate spider with 8 bendy legs that dangles from a string for Halloween.
Footprint ghosts
White paint on tiny feet makes a row of friendly ghosts, with toes for the bottom of each sheet.
Toilet roll bats
Empty cardboard tubes turn into little hanging bats with scalloped paper wings.
Tissue paper jack o lantern
Orange tissue squares on sticky paper make a glowing pumpkin face for the window.
Puffy paint pumpkins
Homemade puffy paint from shaving cream and glue dries into a squishy, raised pumpkin you can't stop touching.
Paper plate pumpkin
A fat orange pumpkin with a curly green vine that your preschooler paints, tears and glues all by themselves.
Paper plate monster mask
A silly, not-too-scary monster mask with paper horns, wild hair and as many eyes as your kid wants.
Fizzing pumpkin volcano
Baking soda and vinegar bubble out of a small pumpkin's mouth for a Halloween science show that never gets old.
Yarn spider web plate
Lace yarn back and forth through holes in a paper plate to weave a spider web, then add a little spider friend.
9 projects
Kids
Milk jug ghost lanterns
Empty milk jugs get spooky faces and a battery tea light, and turn into glowing ghosts for the porch.
Shoebox haunted house
A spooky little haunted house built inside a shoebox, with cut windows, paper ghosts and a flashlight glow.
Popsicle stick mummies
Wrap a craft stick in white yarn, add googly eyes, and you've got a pocket-size mummy puppet.
Paper bag pumpkins
Stuff a lunch bag with newspaper, twist the top into a stem, paint it orange, and it stands on the table like a real pumpkin.
DIY scratch art paper
Color paper with bright crayon, cover it in black, then scratch a drawing that shines through like neon.
Yarn pom-pom monsters
Wrap yarn around a fork to make fluffy pom-poms, then turn them into silly little monsters.
Monster corner bookmarks
Folded paper bookmarks that hug the corner of a page, with a monster face that looks like it's chomping the book.
Paper plate spiders
A big black paper plate spider with bendy accordion legs that bounce when you hang it from the ceiling.
Toilet roll bats
Black toilet paper roll bats with folded paper wings that you can hang upside down from a shelf.
2 projects
Teens and students
4 projects
Grown-ups
Velvet fabric pumpkins
Plush velvet pumpkins with real dried stems, the high-end fall decor look for a few dollars each.
Punched tin can lanterns
Recycled cans punched with star and dot patterns that throw sparkly light across a patio table at night.
Halloween apothecary jars
Thrift-store jars aged and labeled like a witch's pantry, filled with spooky ingredients for a shelf or mantel.
Plywood Halloween yard silhouettes
Big black cats, bats and witches cut from plywood that stand in the yard and look eerie with a light behind them.
3 projects
Seniors and grandkids
Yarn-wrapped pumpkins
Soft, round pumpkins made by winding chunky yarn around a cardboard ring, as soothing to make as they are cute.
No-carve painted pumpkins
Pumpkins painted with simple patterns, faces or dots that last for weeks longer than carved ones and need no knife.
Ghost jar luminaries
Glowing, friendly ghost faces on frosted jars lit from inside with battery tea lights.