Coolest Ideas for Halloween Crafts

Skeleton Pasta: The guests can make their own skeletons out of uncooked pasta (all kinds of different shapes – curly spirals, rainbow macaroni, small shells, long tubes, long spaghetti, wagon wheel pasta, etc.) and dried beans. Print out this skeleton so that the kids know where all the bones are and how to create their skeletons (this can also be one of those very educational Halloween crafts). Give out black construction paper, the pasta and dried beans, the skeleton printout to guide them, and glue so that they can glue the pasta onto the black construction paper. Tell the kids to first construct their skeleton onto the paper without gluing (to make sure they have enough room on the paper for the whole skeleton’s body). Wagon wheel pasta is good for the head of the skeleton, long tubes are good for the collar bones, dried lentils and tiny tube pasta is good as vertebrae in the spine, small shell pasta is good for the ankles, wrists and kneecaps, two dried lima beans are good for hips. Let them be creative with this.

Trick or Treat Bags: You'll need white or orange pillowcases, fabric paint, glue, plastic jewels, and Halloween stamps. Have the guests decorate their pillowcase trick or treat bags with the colored stamps and jewelry. This is one of the most useful Halloween crafts because it can be used to hand out the favors at the end of the party AND for trick-or-treating later on.

Ghosts: Ghosts can be made from white balloons and white streamers. Blow up a white balloon for the face of the ghost. Then let the guests glue on white streamers to the bottom half of the balloon. For streamers you can also take white plastic bags and cut strips out of them to tape onto the balloon. Then let them draw the face onto the balloon with a black permanent marker. Instead of balloons for the face, you can also use plastic lids (the size of a cool whip lid) and attach streamers to it. This ghost can really fly (like a Frisbee).

Haunted House: Here's one of the coolest edible Halloween crafts that have your guests building their own haunted house. Provide graham crackers, “glue” frosting, candies, etc. The “glue” frosting is made with half a pound of confectioner’s sugar, three tablespoons of butter or margarine, one and a half tablespoons of milk, half a teaspoon of vanilla and a drop of red and yellow food coloring to make the orange color (this is optional). Mix all these ingredients together until it’s smooth and pretty easy to spread (don’t mix until runny). You might have to add a bit more milk or sugar to create the proper consistency. The graham crackers are used to create the house itself (the “glue” frosting holds the walls together as they lean on each other). They can use miniature chocolate bars, orange and black candies, pretzels, candy corns, chocolate kisses, licorice, etc. to make doors, windows and walkways. To create a scary tree in the yard make 2 to 3 inch slices (lengthwise) in a piece of black licorice. Use the icing to stand the licorice up and attach it (you will probably need at least a tablespoon to actually hold it; hold the tree in place for a few minutes until the icing becomes more stiff). You can also dye sugar or coconut flakes green with green food coloring to disperse around the haunted house (as grass). There you have it, one of the yummiest Halloween crafts.

Witch’s Hands: buy a pack of clear plastic gloves (you can find these at a pharmacy or beauty supply stores). Give each guest a plastic glove and guide them in putting first a piece of candy corn into each finger (pointy side first for fingernails). Let them fill the glove with popcorn and lastly tie with string or yarn at the end.

Spiders: Here's one of the coolest Halloween crafts. For the body of each spider you need one little cup from an egg carton (the place in which one egg sits). Turn it upside-down (so that the opening is closed off by the table). Make 4 holes on the bottoms of two opposite sides (big enough to let pipe cleaners go through). Give each kid one of these and pipe cleaners to tie into each hole. Give them googly eyes, markers, craft paper, glue etc. to decorate their spider.

Painted Ghosts: Give each kid a black piece of paper. Pour white paint into paper plates and let them dip the bottom of their hands into it. They then place their hands onto the black paper (preferably two times – keeping the palm in place and moving their fingers just a bit). Guide them to turn their black paper upside-down (the palms of their hands are the face and body of the ghost while the fingers are the bottom part of ghost). Then with a black marker they can add eyes and a spooky mouth for the face of the ghost. Give them crayons of colorful paint to add pumpkins, tombstones, a full moon, witches, etc. In these sort of messier Halloween crafts, make sure to give out wet napkins to clean their painted hands.

Build A Scarecrow: Form groups and have a variety of old clothes, pillowcases for heads, markers and newspaper. Groups have 20 minutes to create their scarecrow. Give prizes to the scariest, funniest, etc. and place outside. To help you out with the Scarecrow Halloween crafts, here are more detailed instructions on making your own Scarecrow.

Spooky Faces: Here's one of the most colorful Halloween crafts. Out of paper plates the kids can make cool Halloween faces: black plates for bats and cats, green plates for a witch’s face, and orange plate for a pumpkin face. Cut black triangles so that the kids can use as cat ears. You can make bat wings by cutting a black paper plate in half (each half being one wing) and cut the bottom edge (the straight, not rounded) just like in this picture. The guests can then attach these to both sides of a black plate as bat wings. Give out yarn for the witch’s hair (they will need glue or tape to attach to the plate). You can also cut out long green triangles for the witch’s nose and big black triangles for the witch’s hat. Give out more colored construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, etc. for the kids to decorate.

Papier-mâché pumpkins: This is one of the classic party and Halloween crafts. You'll need balloons (any size), newspaper or newsprint, string, paint, construction paper, and papier-mâché paste (here are directions to making papier-mâché paste). These sort of Halloween crafts require preparation a few days before the party.

Preparation: Cut newspaper or newsprint into 2-inch wide strips. Blow up balloons. Attach a piece of string to the end of each balloon. Dip individual strips of newspaper into the paste and apply (one by one) around the balloon. Repeat this process until the balloon is completely covered (the more layers that are put, the firmer it will be; it is recommended to put at least 2 whole layers). Then hang the balloons for at least 24 hours to completely dry (make sure to have newspaper or cloth under the balloons, just in case they drip).

This is optional – but if you want the pumpkins to have stems, add a cardboard toilet paper roll to the tapered side of the balloon and attach with the newspaper strips dipped in the paste.

On the day of the party (once the balloons are dry), each kid gets one. Gently insert a sharp needle into the base of the balloon. By doing this, you should hear the balloon pop. Gently push in the bottom of the newspaper shell to form a dent so that the pumpkin has a base to sit on (if it doesn't want to dent, don’t force it; you can also take a 1-inch wide cardboard strip, staple both ends, and have the pumpkin sit in the circle as the base).

Let the guests paint them orange and the stems green. Give them construction paper, markers, and scissors if they want to create and glue on any facial features. Once made, you can also cut the top off and use it as a treat bowl—this is one of those Halloween crafts that's great for the guests to take home.

You can also use the round structures to make bat and spider bodies, a cat’s, witch’s or scarecrow head, etc.

Make sure to check out our free and original printable Halloween crafts section, where you'll find more Halloween crafts you can print out and have the kids color or construct.

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