October 6, 2026

Halloween Paper Plate Crafts

Friendly paper plate pumpkin, cat, and ghost

Halloween paper plate crafts can be friendly. A plate is already a pumpkin, a moon, or a ghost body. These projects use orange, black, and white paper, and they skip gory details. They sit beside the seasonal snowflake and leaf crafts, which cover the rest of the year.

Set up the table

Offer two colours at a time. A third colour can wait until the face is done. Pre-cut triangles for eyes if scissors are new. The craft is finished when someone else can tell what it is.

Pumpkin plate

Ages: 4+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: paper plate, orange crayon, green paper stem, black paper shapes.

  1. Colour the plate orange, leaving no big white gaps.
  2. Glue a stem at the top.
  3. Add two eyes and a smile.
  4. Draw rib lines if they want.

A smile keeps it friendly. Skip jagged scary mouths for younger children.

Black cat plate

Ages: 4+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: paper plate, black crayon, two triangles, glue.

  1. Colour the plate.
  2. Glue the ears.
  3. Draw eyes and whiskers.
  4. A paper strip can be the tail, glued at one side.

Press hard with the crayon so the cat reads as black, not grey.

Ghost

Ages: 3+. Time: 15 minutes.

You need: paper plate, white tissue or the plain plate, two black circles.

  1. If you use tissue, glue it over the plate and trim with help.
  2. Glue or draw two eyes.
  3. Leave the mouth off, or add a small smile.
  4. Hang it with tape.

This is a good one for a child who does not want a lot of steps.

Moon and bat

Ages: 5+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: paper plate, yellow crayon, a black paper bat.

  1. Colour the plate yellow.
  2. Glue one bat on a side.
  3. Add a few star dots.
  4. Stop before the moon is covered.

One bat is a picture. Many bats hide the moon.

Candy-corn collar

Ages: 6+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: a plate ring cut by an adult, yellow, orange, and white paper, glue.

  1. Cut the centre out so the plate is a ring, adult job.
  2. Glue bands of yellow, orange, and white.
  3. Wear it as a collar or hang it.
  4. No faces required.

The hole must be large enough to go over the head without forcing.

Spider

Ages: 5+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: paper plate, black crayon, eight paper strips.

  1. Colour the plate.
  2. Glue four strips on each side.
  3. Draw two eyes.
  4. Bend the strips a little so they are legs, not sun rays.

Count the legs together. That is the math in the craft.

What to watch

Collars and masks need a fit check. Nothing tight around the neck. Keep the faces friendly if the crafts will be worn by younger children in the same house.

The Imagination Hive is a children’s art and STEM studio in Milton, Ontario. These projects use ordinary supplies so you can start at the kitchen table.

Keep making