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🎃 Spooky, Silly & Sustainable: Easy Halloween Crafts to Make with Your Kids 👻
Halloween isn’t just about costumes and trick or treat, it’s the perfect excuse to get crafty as a family! Whether your kids love spooky monsters or silly pumpkins, we’ve rounded up nine fun, eco-friendly Halloween crafts that use simple materials you already have at home.
Each project includes:
🧻 Common household or recyclable materials
✂️ Simple step-by-step instructions
🔗 A link to a full tutorial for photos and variations
🎨 Suggested age range
Let’s get creative, sustainable, and a little spooky!
👶 For Ages 4–6: Simple, Supervised & Spook-tacular
1. Toilet-Roll Mummy Puppets
Turn your old toilet rolls into adorable mummies!
Materials:
- Empty toilet-paper rolls
- White tissue or crepe paper strips
- Glue (PVA or glue stick)
- Googly eyes or sticker dots
- Black marker
Instructions:
- Wrap tissue strips around the roll, gluing as you go
- Leave a little space for eyes
- Glue on googly eyes and draw a mouth
🔗 Toilet Roll Mummy Craft – Happy Hooligans
2. Paper-Plate Pumpkin Faces
These cheerful pumpkins make great wall or window decorations!
Materials:
- Paper plates
- Orange paint or marker
- Black paper (for eyes and mouth)
- Scissors and glue
- Green pipe cleaner for the stem
Instructions:
- Paint or colour your plate orange and let it dry
- Cut eyes, nose, and mouth from black paper and glue them on
- Twist a pipe cleaner and glue to the top for a stem
🔗 Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft – Thriving Home Blog
3. Egg-Carton Spiders
Creepy-crawly fun with recyclables!
Materials:
- Egg carton
- Black paint
- Pipe cleaners
- Googly eyes
- Glue and scissors
Instructions:
- Cut out individual egg cups
- Paint them black and let them dry
- Attach four pipe cleaners on each side for legs
- Glue on googly eyes.
🔗 Egg Carton Spiders – KiwiCo DIY
🧒 For Ages 7–10: Imaginative & Independent
4. Cardboard Box Haunted House
Transform an old cereal box into a spooky haunted mansion!
Materials:
- Small cardboard box
- Black paint or paper
- Scissors and glue
- Tissue or tracing paper for windows
- LED tealight
Instructions:
- Cut windows and a door into the box (adult help for cutting)
- Paint or cover the box in black paper
- Add tissue-paper windows and paper ghosts
- Pop in an LED tealight for an eerie glow
🔗 Cardboard Haunted House – The Artful Parent
5. Bottle-Cap Monster Magnets
Recycle your bottle caps into silly little monster magnets!
Materials:
- Plastic or metal bottle caps
- Craft paint
- Googly eyes
- Glue or hot glue (adult help)
- Small magnets
Instructions:
- Paint your bottle caps in bright colours and let dry.
- Glue on googly eyes and draw teeth or horns.
- Stick a magnet to the back and decorate your fridge!
🔗 Bottle Cap Monster Magnets – Spotlight
6. Paper-Bag Monster Puppets
Perfect for a homemade puppet show!
Materials:
- Brown paper lunch bags
- Coloured paper
- Glue and scissors
- Markers
- Yarn or paper for hair
Instructions:
- Decorate the folded flap as the monster’s mouth
- Cut and glue paper shapes for eyes, teeth, and horns
- Add yarn hair and other fun features
🔗 Paper Bag Monster Puppets – I Heart Crafty Things
👩🎨 For Ages 10+: DIY Décor & Big-Kid Fun
7. Tissue-Paper Jar Lanterns
Create glowing Halloween lanterns from recycled jars!
Materials:
- Clean glass jars
- Tissue paper (orange, black, purple)
- PVA glue or Mod Podge
- Paintbrush
- LED tealights
- Twine or ribbon
Instructions:
- Tear tissue paper into small pieces
- Brush glue onto the jar and cover with tissue paper
- Add another layer of glue to seal
- Drop in an LED tealight and tie ribbon around the rim
🔗 Recycled Jar Halloween Lanterns – Super Make It
8. Papier-Mâché Pumpkins
Messy, fun, and perfect for creative tweens!
Materials:
- Balloon or balled-up foil
- Newspaper strips
- Flour + water paste or PVA glue
- Orange and brown paint
- Paintbrush and scissors
Instructions:
- Dip newspaper strips in paste and layer over balloon (3–4 layers)
- Let dry completely, then pop the balloon
- Paint orange, add brown stem and details
🔗 Papier-Mâché Pumpkins – Instructables
9. Sock Monster Door-Hangers
Give lonely socks a spooky new life!
Materials:
- Old socks
- Rice or stuffing
- Rubber bands
- Felt scraps and googly eyes
- Ribbon for hanging
Instructions:
- Fill sock with rice or stuffing and tie with a rubber band
- Use smaller bands to shape head and body
- Glue on eyes, felt teeth, and ribbons
- Hang on your door as a monster greeter!
🔗 Sock Craft Inspiration – DIY Crafts
♻️ Eco & Safety Tips
- Supervise younger children when cutting or using glue
- Avoid hot glue or small items for under-5s
- Use LED lights, never real candles
- Recycle leftover paper and reuse materials where possible
✨ Bonus Tip
Create a “Craft Corner” box with leftover recyclables like toilet rolls, egg cartons, bottle caps, and scrap paper. You’ll always be ready for the next rainy-day craft session!