10 Simple October Crafts For Kids

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I love crafting. It usually doesn’t matter what I’m making as long as I get to craft something. I love October for that reason. There are so many fun crafts you can do. Whether it’s Halloween or Fall themed, they are always fun to do. The colors, smell, and decorating possibilities of Fall can make it even more fun to do.

10 Simple Crafts For Kids

I love crafting, but if you know me, I love simple too. I can spend hours walking around the local craft shops, and if I can’t do that, I’m scrolling through Pinterest finding new crafts, or figuring how to make an idea come to fruition. My kids would prefer YouTube. Whatever ideas I get in my head, if it involves crafting, the kids are gathered around ready to find out just what we’re going to do.

We recently had parent-conference week which meant the kids had a few days off. I knew exactly what we were going to do with our time. Craft! So, I dug through my art tubs to see what we had, and then we hopped in the car to pick up a few things at the craft store. I cannot pass up the opportunity to walk around a craft shop. The ideas are endless.

The Crafts

If you like to add a little fun in your home with crafts, then here are a few ideas you and your kids might enjoy. Now, remember simple is my game. With four kids ranging in age from 3 to 11, I like to keep things enjoyable and easy. This is a time for us all to engage with each other, and have a good time creating something new. I usually save complicated for me, or if there’s an off chance that my older girls and I can have time together. Regardless, they love anytime I call craft time and are pretty good at adding their own element. If someone decides they’re not interested, they usually end up joining in at some point.

#1 Plastic Pumpkins

Plastic pumpkins are great for several different crafts. They’re hollow in the middle so you can carve them like real pumpkins and save them to put out year after year. The girls painted some a few years back, and every year they come out as part of our Halloween decorations. The girls painted faces on them using googly eyes and foam pieces for hats, and I used mine to make a pumpkin floral decoration.

#2 Paper Plate Templates

I found these cute little prepackaged mini paper plate activities. All the kids had to do was put them together. They were only a few dollars, and it came with 12. My older girls made a few different versions- and when the cousins stopped by, guess what? They got a craft to do also. If you keep a stash of paper plates in your cupboards, you can pull them out and create something from scratch.

#3 Mini Pumpkin Decoration

You can find mini pumpkins anywhere during the fall season. Grab a few sharpie markers and draw funny faces, or collect a few items around the house and glue them on your pumpkin to make a face or decorate. Ribbon, yarn, cotton balls, paper, whatever you can find can turn your mini pumpkin into a fun creation.

#4 & #5 Slime & Oobleck

For some odd reason, my kids go crazy over slime. I don’t understand why they love it so much. All I know is that whenever it’s around I end up scrubbing something to get it out. Occasionally, we let them make it, or sometimes they find the supplies around the house on their own, and all of sudden we have slime in the house again. I like Ooblek a little better. I prefer making it if the word slime comes up. A quick online search will find you a simple recipe. Most of the ingredients you probably have in your house, but you may have to run out to grab some glue and Borax.

You can always try both and see which one you like best. Make it a little science project, or add it to your pumpkin for a little bit of gross!

#6 October Drawings

Directed draws can be a lot of fun. Art Projects For Kids is one of my go-to websites for finding drawing tutorials or art project ideas. Most of them are free. There are so many drawing tutorials to choose from, and many have an art concept that can be taught while doing the project. Sometimes I change up the tools depending on what I have on hand. Instead of oil pastels, I might use crayons and watercolor. I usually make the 3D looking pumpkin each year, but this year we decided to try the haunted house using paper and oil pastels.

#7 Pipe Cleaner Spiders

This is a really easy project to do by using fuzzy pipe cleaners and googly eyes. All you need is 4 pipe cleaners cut in half. You only need 4 halves for eight legs. Get one more pipe cleaner and cut it in half, and wrap it around the middle of the other 4. Bend the legs and you have a spider. Add some googly eyes for extra fun!

#8 Halloween Perler/ Fuse Beads Designs

Using Perler Beads (we call them Fuse Beads in our house) are very popular in our home. I never realized how much concentration and patience it actually takes until I finally did my own TODAY! I almost gave up, but I was determined to figure it out. I did not use a template. Those little suckers are small. And don’t bump your project on accident, or your whole thing flies everywhere. I have heard enough loud yells of “ah man” when Perler Beads are involved. I’ve also picked up my fair share off of the ground. So now I have a new appreciation for this craft. Concentration, creativity, and patience are all pretty good skills to practice for myself and the kids.

#9 Beaded Pumpkin Craft

Really, I would have to say any kind of bead project in our house sparks interest. We usually use the beads for necklaces and bracelets, but this time we made a few Fall decorations. Last year we made Indian corn (I don’t know if that is politically correct, but that’s what it was called) out of beads. This year we made pumpkins. The beads in this project are better if little hands want to try. All we needed was pipe cleaners and beads. Things we already had in our art box.

#10 Ghosts and Graves Cardboard Cutouts

If you read my last post about books that spark imagination you know we always find a way to have some good ‘ol box creation fun. I was at a friend’s house recently, and she always has her house decorated so well for Halloween. The kids helped put out a few last decorations. They were ghosts. I didn’t look closely enough to see if she had made them herself, but it sparked an idea in my head that was cute, easy, and fun. All that’s needed is cardboard, paint, and markers. See? Simple and a good 30 minutes of fun!

Time to Create!

So, there you have it. 10 simple activities you can easily do with your kiddos at home. They might be simple, but it adds a lot of fun, a little bit of messy, and a lot of seasonal decorations. Got any easy and fun crafts you think we’d love to try? Add them in the comments below.

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