There seems to be a hint of cool crispness in the air and the leaves have started to shift to shades of gold. That means that spooky season is upon us! We know that our little ones may not get to experience their usual tricks and treats this year, so we rounded up thirteen of our favorite Halloween-themed art projects from the internet to share with you. Go ahead and buy the candy and sit down to make some art while you eat it!

Puppets

We love a good puppet project and we especially love them made with simple, household items! This Paper Plate Bat Puppet project is one of our favorites. The fun in projects like this are that you can continue with creative play once they are complete as you create and perform your own puppet play. This project has downloadable templates but you can always make your own backgrounds.

Don’t have any paper plates at home? No worries! This similar puppet project uses construction paper or card stock! And if it’s popsicle sticks that you lack, you can make these easy Halloween paper hand puppets with construction paper and a glue stick.

Nature Art

We approve of any excuse to go on a nature walk, and these leaf ghosts are great excuse. All you need for this project are leaves, white paint, a black marker, and scissors. Create several and make a festive Halloween banner! We’ve also seen some variations on this project, turning leaves into zombies that works well with magnolia leaves. Let the natural decay of the leaves guide your zombie design!

Perhaps you found more pinecones than leaves on your walk? If so, grab a few along with some pipe cleaners and more google eyes and create these pinecone spiders. For added fun, use some yarn to hang them from your porch or trees for Halloween decorations.

If you have an extra apple lying around the house, you could make these adorable apple stamped treat bags. You could use this stamp process on any fabric, though. Make a t-shirt or a tea towel. Adults will definitely need to carve the apple but once dry and ready, all ages can enjoy making prints with their apple stamp.

Wearable Art

There’s no better time of year to make some fun wearable art. This not-so-spooky spider hat is made with construction paper and google eyes…a lot of google eyes! We also like this spider barrette project made with pipe cleaners and, yes, more google eyes. For older kids (because it calls for a hot glue gun), this monster eye headband is fabulous. You just need a head band, a feather boa, and two foam balls to create a more silly than spooky costume piece. Lastly, we thought it might be fun to make Halloween necklaces and bracelets with DIY paper beads. This easy tutorial will show you the basics and then simply choose Halloween colors for your beads.

Day of the Dead

This is also a great time of year to teach your kids about Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. If they’ve seen Disney’s Coco, they are likely familiar with the concept but why not dive a little deeper into this beautiful celebration remembering and honoring deceased loved ones. National Geographic Kids has a great kid, friendly article about the history and traditions surrounding this holiday. Once you’ve learned a bit about the celebration, you can create some artwork inspired by it. Check out our lesson plan that revolves around a piece in our permanent collection, Game of Chance by Billy Hassell. We also have another art project inspired by this piece: Papel Picado to Celebrate the Day of the Dead that only requires tissue paper, a hole punch, and scissors. Deep Space Sparkle offers several Day of the Dead art projects complete with suggestions for picture books to accompany your project.

Even though circumstances are challenging this year, we hope you are able to find some inspiration for Halloween fun from these projects. Make sure to tag us on social media with your Halloween creations. We LOVE to see what you create!