Easy Halloween Crafts for Kids, Sorted by Materials and Mess

Two of these five Halloween crafts for kids put paint on the supply list, and one of them accepts markers instead. The other three use cotton balls on paper, coffee filters with washable markers and water, or oil pastels with some cutting and gluing. You can choose by how much cleanup you’re ready for, not by the photo.

Pick a Halloween Craft by Your Cupboard: Two of Five List Paint

The table copies each craft’s supplies as its source lists them, and marks wet paint and scissors from that list alone. Rows run from no wet paint, to optional paint, to required paint. Within each group, crafts whose source names no cutting come first. The mess column is a suggestion based on those materials.

Craft	Materials the source lists	Wet paint?	Scissors?	Mess (suggested)
Coffee filter monsters (Parents.com, One Little Project)	Water, coffee filters, washable markers	No	Not in the source’s list	Low: washable markers and water
Cotton-ball ghosts (Parents.com, Thriving Home)	Cotton balls, white construction paper, glue, black paper eyes and mouths	No	Not in the source’s list; our inference: likely, to shape the black paper faces	Low: glue, no paint
Printable haunted house (The Benson Street)	Printed sheet, oil pastels, glue	No: oil pastels	Yes: the only description of the five that names cutting	Low: dry oil pastels and glue
No-carve pumpkins (FamilyEducation)	Small pumpkins, paints, markers	Optional: markers alone skip it	Not in the source’s list	Medium with paint, low with markers alone
Noodle pumpkins (ABCDee Learning)	Cardboard or paper, acrylic paint, ziplock bags, parchment paper, art trays, googly eyes, glue, wheel and spiral pasta	Yes, acrylic	Not in the source’s list	High: acrylic paint plus glue

If paint worries you, start with the top three rows. If scissors worry you, pick a craft whose source list names none: the coffee filter monsters or either pumpkin craft.

No-Carve Pumpkins Swap Carving Tools for Paints or Markers

FamilyEducation suggests putting the carving tools away and decorating pumpkins with paints and markers instead. Its pitch is skipping “the mess of carving,” and its version uses “small pumpkins.”

Activity card: Mess: medium (suggested), from wet paint, or low with markers alone · Skill: sketching, then painting or drawing

What you need: small pumpkins, paints, markers.

1. Gather the small pumpkins, paints and markers.
2. Have each child sketch a design before it goes on the pumpkin.
3. Paint or draw the design onto the outside of the pumpkin. There’s no carving.

Weak spot: the entry names no type of paint. Fix: check the label on whatever paint you pick with our guide on how to read supply labels before you start. Skip it if you have no pumpkins → make the cotton-ball ghosts.

Cotton-Ball Ghosts Use No Paint, Just Glue and Paper

Parents.com credits its hanging ghosts to Thriving Home. They’re cotton balls on white construction paper, with black paper eyes and mouths glued on.

Activity card: Mess: low (suggested), glue but no paint · Skill: gluing, plus cutting if your child makes the faces

What you need: cotton balls, white construction paper, glue, black paper.

1. Glue the cotton balls onto the white construction paper.
2. Glue on black paper eyes and mouths, in whatever expressions your child picks.
3. Hang the ghosts up.

Weak spot: Parents.com doesn’t say how to make the black paper faces, and our guess is that cutting small eyes and mouths is the fiddly part. Fix: cut a batch of eyes and mouths ahead of time so the child only glues. Skip it if your child wants to paint → make the noodle pumpkins.

Noodle Pumpkins Have the Longest Supply List of the Five

ABCDee Learning’s noodle pumpkin calls for cardboard or paper, acrylic paint, ziplock bags, parchment paper, art trays, googly eyes, glue, and wheel and spiral pasta. The spirals become the leaves, and the stem is drawn on.

Activity card: Mess: high (suggested), acrylic paint plus glue · Skill: painting, gluing

1. Put the pasta in a ziplock bag with some acrylic paint and shake it, or paint the noodles by hand.
2. Dump the pasta onto parchment paper to dry.
3. Paint the spiral noodles that will become the leaves.
4. While the pasta dries, draw and paint the pumpkins and their stems, then add googly eyes and a face to each.
5. Once the pasta is dry, put a small amount of glue on each wheel noodle and stick it around the face.
6. Glue a spiral leaf next to the stem you drew.

If it goes wrong: ABCDee notes that painting in the bag can leave unpainted spots on the wheel pasta. Touch those up by hand before gluing. Skip it if you want no wet paint today → make the ghosts or the haunted house.

Coffee Filter Monsters Need Only Water, Filters and Washable Markers

Parents.com credits its coffee filter monsters to One Little Project and calls the project “simple and inexpensive.” The monsters “come together in a snap with just water, filters, and washable markers.”

Activity card: Mess: low (suggested), washable markers and water · Skill: drawing with markers

What you need: coffee filters, washable markers, water.

1. Give each child a coffee filter and the washable markers.
2. Draw a monster on the filter.
3. Add the water, the third supply on the list.

Weak spot: the listing names three supplies but no steps, so it doesn’t say how much water to use. Fix: wet one spare filter first and watch what the marker does before you do the batch. Skip it if you want a craft that hangs up → make the cotton-ball ghosts.

For another Halloween character, try the popsicle stick vampire craft.

The Printable Haunted House Adds Oil Pastels, Cutting and Gluing

The Benson Street lists a printable haunted house that kids finish with oil pastels and “some cutting and gluing.” Of the five craft descriptions here, it’s the only one that names cutting.

Activity card: Mess: low (suggested), dry oil pastels and glue · Skill: coloring, cutting, gluing

What you need: the printable sheet, oil pastels, scissors, glue.

1. Print the haunted house sheet.
2. Color it with oil pastels.
3. Cut out the pieces.
4. Glue the scene together.

Weak spot: you need a printer, and someone has to cut. Fix: if your child isn’t ready for scissors, they color while you cut. Our craft safety guide on scissors and craft knives covers who holds which blade. Skip it if you have no printer → make the noodle pumpkins.

Before You Start: An Adult at the Table, Then Supplies and Time

1. Plan for an adult at the table. The Best Ideas for Kids states, “All activities should be supervised by an adult.”
2. Read every paint and glue label before the child sits down.
3. Pre-cut anything you don’t want the child cutting, such as the ghosts’ black paper faces or the haunted house pieces.
4. Lay out the parchment paper early for noodle pumpkins. ABCDee’s steps use it as the place the painted pasta dries.
5. Gather the full list first, using the table above as your shopping list.
6. Fit the craft to your time. None of these five descriptions gives a finishing time. If you need one that fits a set window, Baker Ross lets you filter its own Halloween guides by skill level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) and by time to make, from 15 minutes to more than a day.

Next step: Have popsicle sticks instead of pasta? Make the popsicle stick witch hat craft for Halloween.

Next step: read more in Projects by age on Kids Art Magic.

FAQ: What Are Some Easy Craft Ideas for Kids?

The same sources list two more. FamilyEducation makes a ghostly garland: wrap a cotton ball in a square of tissue paper, tie the top, then string the ghosts together. Parents.com points to a Happy Hooligans monster mobile made from painted or colored toilet paper rolls, with googly eyes, pipe-cleaner arms and construction-paper mouths. For more, browse our projects by age.

Which of These Halloween Crafts Skip Wet Paint?

The coffee filter monsters, the cotton-ball ghosts and the haunted house, which uses oil pastels. The no-carve pumpkins also skip it if you use markers alone.

Can You Make These Crafts Without Scissors or a Printer?

Yes. Neither scissors nor a printer appears in the source lists for the coffee filter monsters, the no-carve pumpkins or the noodle pumpkins. The ghosts need no scissors at the table if you cut the black paper faces ahead of time.