Easy Halloween Crafts for Kids

These easy Halloween crafts are great for decorating the classroom or using around the house in the fall.

Ghosts are a fun and easy shape to make in lots of different ways, but I like the way this one allows kids to make unique ghost shapes with blow painting. Learn how with this tutorial from Crafty Morning.

Finger-painted monsters are another fun craft for younger kiddos, which can turn into a mixed-media project with the addition of googly eyes, yarn, paper hair, whatever your kids want to add. See how to do this at Toddler Approved.

Or how about a shape monster? Live Well Play Together has this cute idea that helps kids learn shapes while making funny monsters to decorate for Halloween.

Little kids might need help with the cutting on this paper plate jack o’lantern project, but even little ones can do most of the work of painting and drawing the face. I love the idea of adding an LED candle; you could have a whole jack o’lantern display right in your classroom! This DIY is from Easy Peasy and Fun.

It doesn’t get any easier that these paper plate wreaths kids help make by adding holiday stickers. This idea would work for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or really any time of year with any theme of stickers you have handy. Check it out at My Bored Toddler.

Paper snowflakes are a classic winter craft, but why not make paper spider webs, too? The method is similar, you’re just cutting out chunks in lines instead of making other shapes. Get the instructions from One Little Project.

Speaking of spiderwebs, you can also make them with craft sticks and yarn. This might be easier for little kids without the scissors skills, and it’s a great fine motor activity. Find this one at Buggy and Buddy.

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Weaving Projects to Make With Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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