12 Easy Halloween Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Halloween with toddlers is a funny thing. They don't quite understand it, they're slightly scared of it, and they want to do every single bit of it. When my boys were small, our kitchen table spent the whole of late October covered in glue sticks, googly eyes and half-dried paint, and honestly, those are some of my favourite autumn memories.
The trick with under-fives is to keep things short, tactile and forgiving. A toddler's attention span is roughly two to five minutes per year of age, so the best crafts have a quick "wow" moment and don't fall apart if a step gets skipped. Here are twelve we come back to every year, all doable with bits you probably already have at home.
Before you start: setting up for a calm craft session
- Cover the table with an old shower curtain or wipe-clean tablecloth. It turns "don't make a mess" into "go for it".
- Pre-cut the tricky bits. Toddlers love sticking and painting; cutting is usually where frustration creeps in.
- Offer two or three materials, not ten. Fewer choices means more focus (and less glitter in the carpet).
- Use washable, non-toxic paints and chunky crayons sized for small grips.
1. Paper plate bats
Paint a paper plate black (or let them go wild with purple), fold it in half when dry and add two paper wings and a pair of googly eyes. Hang them on string by the window and you've got a colony. Great for practising big arm painting movements.
2. Handprint ghosts
White paint on a little palm, pressed onto dark card, fingers pointing down. Turn it upside down, add two eyes and you have a ghost with wavy edges. Date it on the back; you'll want it in ten years.
3. Tissue paper pumpkins
Cut a pumpkin shape from card, brush it with watered-down PVA glue and let your toddler scrunch and stick orange tissue squares all over it. It's brilliant for fine motor skills (that pincer grip they'll need for holding a pencil later).
4. Spooky window drawings
Window crafts feel like magic to little ones because the light shines through. Scratch-art window banners are a lovely no-mess version: they reveal colour underneath as they scratch, and older siblings can help with the details.
5. Salt dough monsters
Mix two cups of plain flour, one cup of salt and about a cup of water. Roll, squash and shape into monsters, bake low and slow (around 100°C for two to three hours) and paint the next day. It's a two-day craft, which is secretly perfect for half term.
6. Toilet roll owls and cats
Fold the top of a cardboard tube inwards from both sides to make two pointy ears. Paint it, add eyes and you've got an owl or a black cat. A row of them on the windowsill looks surprisingly stylish.
7. Cotton wool spider webs
Draw a simple web in PVA glue on black paper and let them press stretched-out cotton wool along the lines. Add a pipe cleaner spider. Lots of sensory squishing, very little stress.
8. Leaf monsters
Collect a bag of leaves on your next walk, then stick on googly eyes and draw on teeth. Every leaf has its own personality. This one doubles as an excuse to get everyone outside first.
9. Air-dry clay creatures
For three- and four-year-olds who love squishing, air-dry clay is a step up from playdough because the result keeps. Mini kits with a couple of designs are just the right size for a short session.
10. Shrink art keyrings (with a grown-up)
Colour in a shape, a grown-up pops it in the oven, and everyone watches it curl up and shrink. My boys still talk about the first time they saw this. Tiny ones colour; you do the oven bit.
11. A sewn trick-or-treat bag
For preschoolers who are ready for something bigger, a felt bag with pre-punched holes is a gentle introduction to sewing, and they get to carry it proudly on Halloween night. Do a few stitches a day across the week.
12. Decorate spooky biscuits
Not technically a craft, but icing biscuits ticks every box: colour, texture, sprinkles and something to eat at the end. If you're local to Slaithwaite, our Little Bakers workshops run over half term (Tuesday 27 and Friday 30 October, 9.30–10.30am) and every child takes home a box of decorated biscuits. Somebody else does the washing up, too.
Making it a tradition, not a task
You don't need to do all twelve. Pick two or three for half term, keep one simple make for Halloween day itself, and don't worry about the end result. At this age the process is the point: they're building concentration, hand strength and confidence, and you're building a little family ritual.
If you'd like everything in one place, our Spooky Style edit has craft kits, dress-up and decorations, and there's a wider range in our crafting collection. Or pop into the shop in Slaithwaite. We love seeing what you make, so tag us on Instagram.
Happy crafting,
Lucy x