Black paper, orange paper and a pair of scissors will decorate a room for Halloween in an afternoon, and nothing made from them needs to be stored carefully in November. This guide is organised by what you do to the paper: fold it, cut it symmetrically, roll it, weave it or build a box from it. Each project has a suggested age, the adult steps marked, a template described in words so you can draw it with a ruler, and a time estimate.
Nothing here is lit with a flame, nothing needs glitter, and every shape is a generic bat, ghost, cat, spider, witch or pumpkin rather than a character from a film or a shop. If Halloween is not a tradition where you live, the section near the end covers using the same projects for an autumn table or a themed party.
One Link for the Whole Paper Halloween
A short address you control, holding the photos of the garlands, lanterns and masks you made and the list of what you still want to try.
Paper, Tools and the Rules Followed Here
Three kinds of paper cover every project: thin coloured construction paper for anything folded or cut by a child, card for anything that has to stand up (the witch, the mask, the mummy base, the box), and tissue paper only as the lining of the lantern. Packaging cardboard makes the templates you will trace several times.
Scissors and knives. Penn State Extension describes cutting "with blunt-tip scissors, always with an adult present." That is the practice followed here: children cut with blunt-tip scissors and an adult in the room, and any cut that needs a craft knife (the mask eye holes, the box window) is done by the adult on a cutting mat. Each project says which cuts those are.
Light is battery light. Every project here is paper, and paper burns. For lighting a pumpkin the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests "a battery-operated flameless candle, flashlight or glow stick instead of a candle," and that is the only kind of light that goes near the lantern in this guide. Battery tea lights usually run on coin batteries, and the same organisation's guidance on small batteries is to "make sure that the battery compartments of all electronic items are secure and taped shut." The adult installs the light and tapes the compartment before the lantern goes anywhere near a child.
Small parts. Penn State Extension's Better Kid Care programme lists items that "should not be accessible to children under three," including "button batteries, magnets, plastic bags, styrofoam objects, coins, balloons, latex gloves, and glitter." So no project here uses glitter, googly eyes, beads or sequins; eyes are drawn with a marker or cut from paper. The same source gives the size rule for anything used by children under three or by any child who still puts things in their mouth: at least 1¼ inch (about 3.2 cm) in diameter.
The age next to each project is a suggestion about the tools, not a rule about the child. A younger child can join any project if the adult does the cutting.
Folding: Chains of Bats and Ghosts
The accordion fold turns one cut into a row of identical shapes joined at the wing tips or the hands. It is the fastest way to fill a wall, and the child only has to cut once.
1. Chain of linked bats. Suggested age: 6 and up, 4 and up with an adult cutting. Time: about 15 minutes per chain.
Take a strip of black paper about 10 cm high and as long as the sheet allows. Fold it back and forth in equal panels about 8 cm wide, like a fan, until the strip is one folded stack. On the top panel draw half a bat with the fold on one side: a rounded body along the fold, one pointed ear, and a wing that stretches all the way to the opposite edge, with two scallops along its bottom. The wing must touch the edge, because that touch is what keeps the bats joined. Cut through all the layers at once, leaving the wing tip uncut. Unfold: a row of bats holding wings. Draw two eyes on each with a white crayon and tape chains end to end for a doorway.
2. Chain of ghosts. Suggested age: 5 and up. Time: about 10 minutes per chain.
Same method in white paper. Fold a strip about 12 cm high into panels about 7 cm wide. Draw half a ghost with the fold on one side: a rounded head, a body that widens toward a wavy bottom, and a short arm reaching to the opposite edge. Cut, keeping the arm attached, and unfold. Two dots of black marker per ghost make faces. With no thin part to snap, this is the folding project a five-year-old can cut alone.
Symmetric Cutting: Web, Cat and Mask
Fold the paper, cut half the shape, unfold a whole one. Symmetry does the drawing for the child, which is why these shapes look right even when the cutting is rough.
3. Cut-paper spider web. Suggested age: 8 and up. Time: about 15 minutes each.
Start with a square of white or black paper about 20 cm a side. Fold it in half diagonally into a triangle, then in half again. Fold the triangle into thirds: bring the left corner across so it covers about two thirds of the shape, then fold the right corner over that. Trim the ragged top edge straight. Along each long side of the wedge cut a row of shallow notches, little arcs or narrow V shapes about a finger apart, and leave the folded point at the bottom untouched: it is the centre of the web. Unfold gently, flatten under a book and fix to a window with rolled tape at the back. A white web shows against the dark glass; a black one shows on a light wall.
4. Black cat silhouette for the window. Suggested age: 7 and up. Time: about 20 minutes.
Fold a sheet of black paper in half. Draw half a sitting cat with the fold as the centre line: the top of the head with one pointed ear, one side of the face, a rounded back and one front paw at the bottom. Keep the ear short and wide so it survives the scissors. Cut through both layers and unfold; the tail is a separate curved strip glued on behind, which is easier than cutting it in one piece. Two circles of orange paper for eyes, each larger than a coin, finish it. Tape it to the inside of the glass at windowsill height.
5. Folded half mask. Suggested age: 7 and up, eye holes cut by an adult. Time: about 25 minutes.
Fold a sheet of black or orange card in half. With the fold as the centre, draw half a mask that will cover the eyes and the top of the nose: about 8 cm tall at the fold, tapering toward the temple, ending about 10 cm from the fold. For a cat add a pointed ear on top; for a bat a scalloped wing stretching outward; for a pumpkin keep the top rounded with a stem notch at the fold. Cut the outline through both layers. Hold the folded card against the child's face, mark the eye position with a pencil, and the adult cuts an almond about 3 cm long at that mark through both layers so both holes match. Unfold, punch a hole at each end and tie thin elastic. The folded cut is what makes the two sides match.
Keep the Web After It Comes Off the Window
Photograph what the family cut and keep it behind one address you can share, so the paper Halloween outlasts the paper.
Rolling: Cone Witch and Paper Lantern
Rolling turns flat paper into something that stands on a table. Both projects are built on a single roll and one glue seam.
6. Cone witch. Suggested age: 8 and up, 5 and up for the rolling and the face. Time: about 40 minutes.
Draw a half circle on black card: put the pencil at the centre of one long edge of an A4 sheet and swing a ruler like a compass to mark a curve 14 cm from that point, then cut along it. Roll it into a cone, overlap the straight edges by 1 cm and glue. The head is a circle of light paper about 6 cm across, glued to the point of the cone from behind, with the face drawn on in marker. The hat is a much smaller cone from a half circle of 5 cm radius, plus a ring of black paper for the brim with an inner hole the size of the small cone's base; slide the ring on, glue from underneath, and glue the hat to the head. Hair is a fringed strip of orange paper glued under the brim, arms are zigzag-folded strips of black paper glued to the sides, and a broom is a rolled strip of brown paper with a yellow fringe at one end.
7. Paper lantern with a battery light. Suggested age: 7 and up, light installed by an adult. Time: about 30 minutes.
Cut a rectangle of orange construction paper 30 cm by 20 cm and fold it in half along the long side, so it is 30 cm by 10 cm. From the folded edge, cut slits toward the open edge, stopping 2 cm short of it, about 2 cm apart along the whole length; the open edge is what holds the lantern together. Unfold, roll the sheet the other way into a cylinder with the slits vertical, overlap the short edges by 1 cm and glue. Press gently from top and bottom so the slits bow outward. Line the inside with white tissue paper glued at the top and bottom edges only, and glue a jagged mouth and two triangle eyes of black paper on the outside. The adult switches on a battery tea light, tapes the battery compartment shut as noted in the rules above, and sets the lantern over it on a plate. Nothing with a flame goes inside a paper lantern, ever.
Strips and Weaving: Spider and Mummy
Strips are the material a young child handles best: an adult cuts a batch with a ruler and the child does the gluing and weaving.
8. Strip spider. Suggested age: 5 and up. Time: about 15 minutes.
Cut a strip of black paper 3 cm wide and 20 cm long for the body and eight strips 1 cm by 12 cm for the legs. Curl the body strip into a ring, overlap the ends by 1 cm and glue. Glue four legs to each side of the ring at its widest point, fold each leg in a zigzag of three bends so it looks jointed, and bend the last section down as a foot. Two circles of white paper for eyes, each larger than a coin. Tape a length of black thread to the top of the ring and hang it on the web from project 3, or hang several from a doorframe at different heights.
9. Woven mummy. Suggested age: 6 and up. Time: about 25 minutes.
Cut a simple upright figure from card about 25 cm tall: rounded head, straight body, arms held close, all in one outline with no thin parts. Cut white paper into strips 1.5 cm wide and longer than the figure is wide. Glue four or five strips down the length of the figure, a strip's width apart, wrapping the ends round to the back. These are the warp. Weave the remaining strips across, over and under, one row at a time, angling them slightly so the bandages look uneven, and glue each end at the back. Leave a gap between two rows at head height and draw two eyes on the card there. The bandages sit on the figure rather than being wrapped round a tube, so the result lies flat enough to tape to a door.
The Whole Display, in One Place
One address for the photos of the chains, the lantern and the mummy on the door, and the notes on how you made them, shared with family in a single link.
Building: A Treat Box From Card
10. Pumpkin treat box. Suggested age: 9 and up, 6 and up with an adult cutting the net. Time: about 30 minutes each.
Here is the net, described so you can draw it on orange card with a ruler. Draw a row of four 6 cm squares side by side, sharing their vertical edges; these are the sides. On the bottom edge of every square add a 6 cm by 3 cm flap; folded inward and overlapping, they close the base. On the top edge of the first and third square add a 6 cm by 6 cm flap, the lid in two halves, and on the second and fourth a small triangle flap as a tuck-in tab. Along the outer edge of the fourth square add a 1 cm glue tab. Cut the whole outline as one piece, then score every internal line by pressing along the ruler with a ballpoint pen so it folds cleanly. Fold the sides into a square tube, glue the tab inside the first side, fold the base flaps in and tape from inside. Draw a pumpkin face on one side with a black marker, add a green paper leaf on one lid half as the stem, fill it and tuck the triangles over the closed lid.
If you want a window in the front, the adult cuts it with a craft knife before folding. If anyone wants to draw on the sides before assembly, the ideas in our post on easy drawing ideas are the right size for a 6 cm square.
If Halloween Is Not a Tradition Where You Live
None of these projects depends on trick-or-treating, a costume parade or a street that decorates. They work for a school event, a themed afternoon or a party with friends, and the motifs are generic enough that nobody needs to explain a tradition to enjoy cutting a chain of ghosts. Where the date is not marked, the same techniques work without the label: the lantern without a face is an autumn light, the cone witch built in green with a leaf hat is a garden gnome, the treat box with a plain front is a gift box, and the accordion chain works with any half shape drawn on the fold. Nothing in the method is seasonal; only the shape is.
Setting Up, Order of Work and Cleanup
Do the adult cuts in a batch first. The mask eye holes, the box window, the strips for the spider and mummy and the mummy's card figure all take an adult a few minutes with a ruler. Doing them before the child sits down means nobody is waiting with scissors in hand.
Choose by cutting difficulty, not by age. Chains and strips (projects 1, 2, 8, 9) are the ones a younger child finishes alone. Symmetric cuts with thin parts (3, 4, 5) and the box net (10) need older hands or an adult on the scissors.
Light last. The lantern gets its battery light only when it is finished and standing where it will stay, installed by the adult, with the compartment taped.
Keep the good ones flat. Chains, webs and the cat store flat in a folder for next year. A photograph of the whole wall before it comes down is the version that lasts.
FAQ
What are easy Halloween paper crafts for kids?
The chain of ghosts, the strip spider and the woven mummy. Each uses one colour of paper, no drying time and cuts with no thin parts. An adult cuts the strips and the child does the rest.
How do you make a paper bat garland?
Fold a strip of black paper into equal panels like a fan, draw half a bat on the top panel with the fold on one side and the wing tip touching the other edge, and cut through all the layers without cutting the wing tip. Unfold and the bats come out joined. Project 1 has the measurements.
Can I put a candle inside a paper lantern?
No. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests a battery-operated flameless candle, flashlight or glow stick instead of a candle for a pumpkin, and a paper lantern is more flammable than a pumpkin. Here the adult installs a battery light and tapes the battery compartment shut, following the same organisation's advice on small batteries.
Are these different from Halloween crafts by age?
Yes. This guide is organised by what you do to the paper, and every project is paper only. Our guide of Halloween crafts organised by age covers other materials such as paint, pumpkins and glass jars, with a different set of projects.
Can kids use glitter on Halloween paper crafts?
Not in this guide. Penn State Extension's Better Kid Care lists glitter among items that should not be accessible to children under three, alongside button batteries, magnets, coins and balloons, so every project here uses marker and paper instead.
References
- Penn State Extension: Kindergarten readiness, physical motor skills. Cutting with blunt-tip scissors, always with an adult present.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org: Halloween safety tips. Battery-operated flameless candle, flashlight or glow stick instead of a candle.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org: How small batteries can become dangerous to children. Battery compartments of electronic items kept secure and taped shut.
- Penn State Extension, Better Kid Care: Arts and creativity in three- and four-year-olds. The minimum size for items used by children under three and the list of items, including glitter, that should not be accessible to them.