Halloween Craft Ideas For Teachers

Author's Note: The following piece was originally published you-know-where without any images because the platform wasn't set up for them at the time. Looking through the articles I salvaged just now I realized the timing was good to re-publish this one right now. Perhaps an update with pictures will appear in the future...

Originally published September 2009

Halloween Craft Ideas for Teachers

Crafting at Halloween can be a fun time for teachers who are particularly creative, but for those who don't see themselves in quite that light coming up with crafty ideas in the classroom can sometimes present a ghoulish challenge, particularly with little hands. Whether it is crafts for decorating the classroom, or projects for students to do, Halloween crafts need not be daunting.

Everything from templates to coloring sheets can be found online with a quick Google search of Halloween printables. Crafting with young children need not be complicated to be engaging. All you need is a simple project that can be completed in ten to twenty minutes in between your academic lessons.

When creating Halloween crafts with kindergarteners, you will want to keep things simple without too many steps. Keeping things simple also means you will have an easy time of cleanup as well. You may want to reserve activities that require the use of paint for days when you have extra time for setup and cleanup.

One fun and easy classroom craft for little hands requires only a pumpkin coloring sheet, squares of orange craft tissue and glue. Cut the tissue into 2 inch squares and have the students wad the individual sheets into balls and glue them onto the pumpkin. Alternatively, black tissue or even yarn can be used to create facial features and other details before adding the crumpled orange tissue. This tactile craft is great for improving hand-eye coordination.

Another quick and simple craft for small hands is to have students color their pumpkins with orange markers and then put green glitter around the edges. Minimize the mess by drawing a line of glue around the edge of the pumpkins and giving students small amounts of glitter to sprinkle over it. Older kids can cut their pumpkins out and paste them onto black construction paper with glue sticks. Alternatively students can make collage pumpkins by tearing or cutting colored tissue or other paper and gluing it onto a pumpkin printout.

First graders can make cute Halloween crafts by pressing their thumbprints on paper and then using a pencil to create legs or wings for spiders or bats. The pencil lines can then be traced over with fine tipped black markers. Older students with more drawing ability can turn their thumbprints into black cats. The students' thumbprint creatures can adorn greeting cards or be placed in a mat for framing. To add a language arts component to your Halloween crafting have students create their own comic strips by placing words above their thumbprint critters.

For second and third grade students who are able to skillfully cut out shapes with scissors try making paper doll style chains of Halloween themed figures. Make a sample first by accordion folding white paper wide enough to accommodate the chosen figure and then trace the desired shape on top so that the side edges of the figure are up against the folds of the paper. Carefully cut out the shapes leaving a bit of the sides intact against the paper folds so that when you open up the paper the figures will be linked together as if holding hands.

Printable coloring sheets can also be used to create puppets, garland, mobiles or even custom Halloween trick or treat bags. Simply print out the coloring sheet or other printable and enlarge or reduce the designs on a copy machine as needed to create your desired project. Crafts from paper supplies are not only inexpensive, they are easy to organize and execute.

For older children, Halloween crafting doesn't have to mean ghosts and goblins. Friendship bracelets in orange and black or beading projects made with those colors is more than sufficient. Kids love wearable art projects and they provide the added benefit of helping to develop self esteem. To allow for more individuality, provide students with additional white or gold beads and floss for more color variety.

In keeping with the idea of non-traditional Halloween crafts, students can create their own one-of-a-kind pair of socks using tie dye techniques and seasonal colors. For an even quicker simple, wearable craft, give students orange and black sharpies and let them create their own shoe laces. Be sure to protect desks or work surfaces before beginning to protect them from becoming stained by the sharpies.

Halloween crafting in the classroom can be smooth and easy with a little planning. Always create a sample project ahead of time to be sure of the difficulty level and the amount of time it will take to complete. Plan on it taking almost twice as much time for some students and less for others. Have a supply of coloring sheets, puzzles or other printables on hand for early finishers.