12 Fun Halloween Arts And Crafts For Toddlers
Halloween holds a special place in the hearts of children. With its spooky decorations, costumes, and sweet treats – it’s a much-anticipated occasion for kids. Halloween arts and crafts are a perfect way for kids to celebrate this special day, especially toddlers! These creative projects are not only fun but also provide opportunities for creativity and sensory play! I’m excited to share a roundup of twelve fantastic Halloween arts and crafts for toddlers to enjoy during this spooky season.
Halloween Arts And Crafts For Toddlers: A Spooktacular Celebration!
Halloween is a time for young imaginations to run wild. It’s a day when costumes come to life, and pumpkins transform into jack o’ lanterns. For toddlers, it’s a chance to explore the world of make-believe and creativity. Halloween crafts for kids not only help enhance their fine motor skills but also allow them to express themselves. As they eagerly await their turn to go trick-or-treating, these easy Halloween crafts for toddlers will keep them engaged and excited.
1. Classic Jack-o’-Lantern
Materials:
- Large orange pumpkin
- Pumpkin carving kit (this is my favorite one that we use every year – it also comes with stencils to help you design your jack-o-lantern!)
- Tea light or LED candle
- Marker
- Newspaper or a disposable tablecloth for easy cleanup
Instructions:
Step 1:
Place the pumpkin on a sturdy surface covered with newspaper or a disposable tablecloth.
Step 2:
Have your toddler draw a spooky face on the pumpkin using a marker. You can guide them to draw simple shapes like triangles, circles, and a mouth.
Step 3:
Using safe carving tools or a pumpkin carving kit, carefully cut out the shapes your toddler drew. This step is for adults or older kids to handle.
Step 4:
Once the face is carved, place a tea light or LED candle inside the pumpkin. Make sure it’s secure and won’t tip over.
Step 5:
Turn off the lights and watch your Jack-o’-Lantern glow!
This classic Halloween activity allows toddlers to participate in a timeless tradition.
2. Spooky Spider Handprint
Materials:
- Black construction paper
- White tempera paint
- Googly eyes
- Paintbrush
- Hot glue gun
Instructions:
Step 1:
Lay out black construction paper as your canvas.
Step 2:
Paint or trace your toddlers hand (use white paint or pencil to be able to see on the black paper).
Step 3:
Cut out a spider in the shape of their handprint! (Or, just use their palm and add legs to the outline for a real spider shape, as seen below).
Step 4:
Add googly eyes to the handprint to create the spider’s eyes. A hot glue gun works best for this!
Step 5:
Use a paintbrush to add spider legs to complete the spooky look.
This activity not only allows your toddler to explore their artistic side but also helps improve fine motor skills as they manipulate the paintbrush and glue the googly eyes.
3. Candy Corn Collage
Materials:
- White or black construction paper
- Tissue paper in orange, yellow, and white
- Glue
- Scissors
Instructions:
Step 1:
Cut the tissue paper into small squares or rectangles.
Step 2:
Show your toddler how to apply glue to the white paper.
Step 3:
Let them stick the tissue paper pieces on the paper in the shape of a candy corn to create a candy corn collage.
Step 4:
Allow the glue to dry, and your artwork is ready to display!
This craft not only encourages creativity but also introduces toddlers to the concept of patterns and shapes.
4. Toilet Paper Roll Monsters
Materials:
- Empty toilet paper rolls
- Paints in various colors
- Pipe cleaners
- Googly eyes
- Glue
Instructions:
Step 1:
Paint the toilet paper rolls in different colors and let them dry.
Step 2:
Attach googly eyes to the rolls using glue.
Step 3:
Add pipe cleaner arms, legs, or antennae to create whimsical monsters. Add google eyes, construction paper teeth etc- get creative!
This project sparks imaginative play and allows toddlers to explore color mixing as they paint their monster creations.
5. Jack-o’-Lantern Masks
Materials:
Instructions:
Step 1:
Cut out triangle eyes, a nose, and a mouth from the black construction paper.
Step 2:
Glue the facial features onto the orange paper plate. Step 3: Attach elastic string to the sides of the plate to create a mask.
With these masks, toddlers can become jack-o’-lanterns themselves and immerse themselves in imaginative role-play.
5. Haunted House Collage
Materials:
- Black construction paper
- Cutout shapes (ghosts, bats, cats) from construction paper
- Glue
- White tempera paint (optional)
Instructions:
Step 1:
Provide your toddler with a black construction paper as the background.
Step 2:
Let them arrange and glue the cutout shapes to create their spooky haunted house scene.
Step 3:
If desired, add white tempera paint for ghostly details.
This craft encourages storytelling as toddlers create their own haunted house narrative.
6. Masking Tape Mummy
Materials:
Instructions:
Step 1:
Cut the paper into a mummy shape (I do this ahead of time to preplan).
Step 2:
Show your toddler how to line the paper with pieces of masking tape that look like mummy material!
Step 4:
Use a black marker to draw a mouth and any other details.
For a fun bonus: attach googly eyes to the mummy’s face!
This craft promotes fine motor skills and provides an opportunity for creative expression.
7. Tissue Paper Ghosts
Materials:
Instructions:
Step 1:
Crumple a piece of white tissue paper to form a ghost shape.
Step 2:
Glue the crumpled tissue paper onto a black construction paper.
Step 3:
If you want to, cut out eyes and a mouth from black construction paper and glue them onto the ghost!
Toddlers will enjoy the sensory experience of working with tissue paper and creating friendly ghostly figures.
8. Spooky Sensory Bottles
Materials:
- Empty plastic bottles with lids
- Water
- Glitter
- Small Halloween-themed toys (e.g., spiders, bats)
- Clear glue
Instructions:
Step 1:
Fill the plastic bottles with water.
Step 2:
Add a few drops of clear glue and some glitter to create a swirling effect.
(Optional – you can also add food coloring to make it more fun!)
Step 3:
Drop in small Halloween-themed toys.
Step 4:
Seal the bottle with the lid.
These sensory bottles provide entertainment and relaxation as toddlers watch the glitter swirl and the toys float.
9. Paper Plate Spider
Materials:
- Paper plates
- Black paint
- Paintbrush
- White construction paper
- Black marker or crayon
- Pipe cleaners in different colors
- Beads in different colors
- Hole punch
Instructions:
Step 1:
Paint the whole top side of a paper plate with black acrylic paint and let dry.
Step 2:
Cut out two quarter sized ovals for the eyes and glue them towards the top of the plate. Fill in each one with a smaller drawn on black circle for the inner eyes.
Step 3:
Using a hole punch, punch 4 holes in each side of the paper plate. This is where the legs will go.
Step 4:
String a pipe cleaner through each hole and fold the top inch over to meet the other part of the pipe cleaner. Spin them together. Do this with all 8 pipe cleaners.
Step 5:
Cut the top 1-2″ of each pipe cleaner to shorten them up a bit for the spiders legs.
Step 6:
Match the beads to the same color pipe cleaner. Fill the pipe cleaners with beads or space 7-8 beads of each color onto each pipe cleaner (whichever you desire).
Paper plate crafting is great for fine motor skills. These adorable spiders are a simple craft that allows toddlers to get into the Halloween spirit.
10. Pipe Cleaner Pumpkins
Materials:
Instructions:
Step 1:
Bend an orange pipe cleaner into a pumpkin shape.
Step 2:
Twist a green pipe cleaner into a stem shape and attach it to the top of the pumpkin.
These pipe cleaner pumpkins are a fantastic fine motor activity for toddlers.
11. Bubbling Witch’s Brew
Materials:
- ½ cup white vinegar for each color
- ¼ to 1 cup baking soda
- Food coloring, in various colors (I love these plant based food colors – they are artifical dye free!)
- 1 small container (a mini witch’s cauldron works perfectly)
Instructions:
Step 1:
Mix the food coloring with the vinegar in individual cups for each color. You will need to add a drop or two of food coloring to each cup to get your desired colors.
Step 2:
Add the baking soda to the bowl you’ve chosen to work with. We used a mini witch’s cauldron for added effect!
Step 3:
Create Brewing Eruption! Start pouring one color of vinegar into the bowl containing the baking soda and watch the eruption occur!
Step 4:
Make It Last Longer! If you want your eruption to last longer, simply stir the baking soda with a spoon or popsicle stick and add more vinegar at the same time. Enjoy the magical bubbling witches’ brew!
This bubbling witch’s brew is not only a fun craft but also a sensory experience that toddlers will adore, and it’s a super easy Halloween craft for preschoolers to enjoy!
12. Tissue Paper Frankenstein’s
Materials:
- Green, white and purple construction paper
- Glue
- Tissue paper (various colors)
Instructions:
Step 1:
Cut the construction paper into the shape of Frankenstein’s head or use a full piece of construction paper as the background.
Step 2:
Use white/black construction paper to draw Frankenstein’s facial features.
Step 3:
Tear small pieces of various colored tissue paper and glue them onto the Frankenstein head to create a colorful and textured effect.
Toddlers will have a blast creating their unique versions of Frankenstein!
These Halloween arts and crafts ideas for toddlers are sure to bring joy and creativity to your Halloween celebrations. Each project offers a chance for creative expression and the development of fine motor skills. Whether you’re creating spooky spiders, candy corn collages, toilet paper roll monsters, or jack-o’-lantern masks, the key is to make the activities enjoyable and age-appropriate for your little one.
To find more fun fall and Halloween ideas for preschoolers and kids, check out our “fall bucketlist” post for additional inspiration.
Halloween is a time for imagination and creativity, and these crafts provide the perfect outlet for your toddler’s creativity. Get ready to make memories and have a spooktacular Halloween celebration with these easy and fun arts and crafts activities!
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