Simple Halloween Crafts for Toddlers

Halloween is coming and for parents with older kids, there are hundreds of fun crafts to do for this holiday. But what if you want to enjoy doing holiday crafts with your toddler? It can be difficult to find things that are easy enough for a small child to make with you, but here are a few ideas.

Scary Pumpkin Faces

For this project, you will need to cut pumpkin shapes out of cardboard ahead of time and get some orange finger paint. Spread out a plastic sheet on the table and let your little one paint the pumpkins orange. Then hang them up to dry. Once dry, you can enlist his help to stick on giant googly eyes while you draw jagged mouths with a black marker. Don't worry if the eyes end up skewed, that's part of the scary factor! Punch a hole in the top of the pumpkin and hang from the ceiling with a piece of string.

Candy Jars

Create decorative jars with fun Halloween candies. You'll need a wide mouth canning jar and an assortment of colorful candies to layer in the jar. Your toddler can help by pouring the candy into the jar for each layer (and taste testing, of course!). Once the jar is full, cap it and tie a Halloween ribbon around the top. Then set it on the table or counter, where it can decorate the place.

Furry Spiders

To make these creepy crawlies you'll need circles cut out of cardboard (cereal boxes work well)and cotton balls, previously pulled apart and dipped in black dye, then dried. You'll also want to have 4 black pipe cleaners and two googly eyes for each spider.

Punch four holes along each side of the circle. Thread the pipe cleaners through the holes, from underneath (so each pipe cleaner crosses under the spider body) and bend the "knees" as well as a short bit at the end to make feet. Cover the cardboard with glue and have your toddler press the cotton down on it to make the furry spider's body. Add two googly eyes and you're ready to go place frightening spiders around the house!

Halloween Cupcakes

You'll need a batch of chocolate cupcakes to start this edible craft. Buy assorted candy, especially spooky candies that are shaped like worms and bats, etc. Ice the cupcakes with orange icing and let your toddler decorate with the candies. Expect to lose some to curious little mouths!