You want Halloween magic in your windows, but you also need to feed the tiny humans by six. I get it.
These 29 crafts are so simple that your kids can finish them before the lasagna comes out of the oven. And yes, every single one hangs proudly in a window for the neighbors to admire.
1. Floating Ghost Suncatcher
Grab a coffee filter, draw a ghost face with marker, and tape it to the window. That is literally the whole craft.
2. Paper Bat Chain
Cut out bat shapes from black construction paper. Fold each bat in half so they open like little books. Tape a long piece of string to the back of each bat, then tie the other end to a curtain rod so they dangle at different heights. Your window will look like a bat cave exploded in the best way.
3. Spiderweb Twirlers
Use white yarn to wrap a paper plate like a spiderweb. Poke a hole at the top and thread a ribbon through. Hang it with a suction cup hook, and watch it spin every time someone opens the door.
4. Glow-in-the-Dark Handprint Spiders
Paint your kid’s palm black and press it onto a clear plastic page protector. Add eight googly eyes for legs. Cut out the handprint, then stick it to the window with double-sided tape. When the sun goes down, those spiders actually glow if you used glow paint. My five-year-old screamed with joy the first time she saw hers light up.
5. Melted Crayon Window Leaves
Peel old orange and purple crayons. Shave them with a plastic knife onto wax paper. Fold the paper, place a towel on top, and iron on low until the wax melts. Cut out leaf shapes and tape them up. The light shines through like stained glass, and your kids will think you’re a wizard.
6. Toilet Roll Owls
Save three toilet paper rolls. Flatten them, cut one end into points for ears, and paint them brown. Glue on yellow paper eyes. String them together with yarn through the top, then hang the whole chain across your window. They look like a little owl family watching the street.
7. Skeleton Hand Garland
Trace your kid’s hand on white cardstock four times. Cut them out and draw bone lines on each finger. Punch holes in the wrists, thread ribbon through, and hang across the window. It’s creepy, easy, and uses zero glue.
8. Tissue Paper Pumpkin Patches
Cut orange tissue paper into small squares. Let your kid crumple each square into a loose ball. Glue the balls onto a clear plastic sheet in a pumpkin shape, then add a green stem from a pipe cleaner. Tape the whole sheet to the window. The texture looks amazing from the sidewalk.
9. Flying Witch Silhouette
Draw a witch on a broom on black paper. Cut it out, then cut a second identical witch. Tape them back to back with a piece of fishing line in between. Hang it so both sides face out. Now your window has a witch flying in both directions, which makes zero sense physically but perfect sense for Halloween.
10. Mummy Jar Lanterns
Wrap a clean baby food jar with white gauze strips, leaving gaps for the eyes. Glue on two plastic googly eyes. Place a battery-operated tea light inside. Hang the jar from the window latch using a ribbon tied around the neck. When dusk hits, that mummy glows like it’s alive. We made three last year and they lasted until Thanksgiving.
11. Coffee Filter Monsters
Flatten a coffee filter and let your kid color it with washable markers. Spray it lightly with water so the colors bleed together. Let it dry, then draw monster faces with a Sharpie. Tape them up in a row. Each one looks totally different, and the bleeding colors make them look slimy in a fun way.
12. Paper Straw Stars
Bend five black paper straws into a star shape and glue the ends together. Tie a string to one point. Hang it in the window, then make a dozen more. They catch the breeze and clink against the glass. Your kids can do the bending while you chop onions for dinner.
13. Q-Tip Skeletons
Lay out Q-tips on black paper to form a skeleton body: six for ribs, two for legs, two for arms, one for the head. Glue them down. Cut around the skeleton, then tape it to the window. The cotton ends look like little bones, and it takes about four minutes.
14. Foam Pumpkin Faces
Buy a sheet of orange craft foam. Cut out five pumpkin shapes. Let your kid cut different eyes and mouths from black foam scraps. Mix and match the faces, then stick each pumpkin to the window with a tiny loop of tape. Change the faces every morning for a new look. My kids argued over who got the angry face, so we made two.
15. Plastic Spider Rings on String
Buy a bag of plastic spider rings from the dollar store. Pop the rings off so you just have the spider tops. Hot glue each spider to a 12-inch piece of black thread. Tie the threads to a wooden dowel, then hang the dowel across your window frame. They dangle and wiggle whenever someone walks by. It’s delightfully gross.
16. Popsicle Stick Frames
Glue four popsicle sticks into a square. Paint it orange. Tape a piece of wax paper to the back, then glue on foam Halloween stickers. Hang the frame from a ribbon. The stickers catch the light, and the frame makes it look like art instead of a craft project gone wrong. We hung three in our kitchen window and they stayed up for two Halloweens.
17. Egg Carton Bats
Cut an egg carton into individual cups. Paint each cup black. Cut bat wings from black paper and glue them to the sides. Draw tiny white eyes. Poke a hole in the top, thread a string through, and hang them upside down. They look like real bats roosting, but way less scary than the ones in my attic.
18. Tissue Ghost Garland
Crumple a piece of white tissue paper into a ball. Wrap a second tissue paper around it and tie the neck with white thread. Draw two black dots for eyes. Tie each ghost to a long piece of yarn, then string the yarn across the top of the window. Make ten of them. They bounce when the heat kicks on, which makes it look like they’re dancing.
19. Milk Jug Cat
Rinse a clear plastic milk jug. Cut off the bottom, then cut two triangle ears into the top. Draw a cat face with permanent marker. Hang the jug upside down from the window latch using the handle. The light catches the marker and makes the face float. My neighbor thought we bought it at a store.
20. Pom-Pom Spiders
Glue four black pipe cleaners into a large black pom-pom to make eight legs. Bend the legs so they look like a spider crawling. Glue on two small googly eyes. Tie a thread around the pom-pom and hang it. These spiders are fuzzy enough that even my arachnophobic aunt said they were cute.
21. Cereal Box Tombstones
Cut tombstone shapes from a flattened cereal box. Paint them gray. Write funny epitaphs like “RIP My Patience” or “Here Lies Last Year’s Halloween Candy.” Punch a hole at the top, thread string through, and hang them in a row. The cardboard is sturdy enough to last all month, and the jokes keep the kids giggling.
22. Cupcake Liner Wreath
Flatten 20 orange and black cupcake liners. Fold each in half, then in half again to make a triangle. Glue the triangles in a circle on a paper plate with the center cut out. Add a ribbon to hang it. This wreath takes ten minutes and uses supplies you probably already have. Hang it in your front window so everyone knows you have your life together. (You don’t, but they don’t need to know that.)
23. Salt Dough Handprint Ghosts
Mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 1/2 cup water. Roll it out and press your kid’s hand into it. Cut around the handprint, then bake at 200°F for two hours. Paint it white with black eyes. Tie a ribbon through a hole you poked before baking. These are heavy, so hang them from a strong nail. They become keepsakes you’ll find in a box ten years from now and cry over.
24. Clothespin Bats
Paint wooden clothespins black. Cut bat wings from black craft foam and glue them to the sides of the clothespin. Clip the clothespin onto a string or directly onto the window blinds. You can open and close the blinds without disturbing the bats. We clipped six onto our vertical blinds and they ride along like tiny passengers.
25. Napkin Ghosts
Open a white paper napkin. Place a lollipop in the center, then gather the napkin around the stick. Tie a black ribbon around the neck. Draw a face. Hang the lollipop ghosts by their sticks using a clothespin on a string. When your kids finish the craft, they get to eat the evidence. Win-win.
26. Yarn Pumpkins
Wrap orange yarn around three fingers twenty times. Slide it off and tie a green pipe cleaner around the middle to make a bow. Fluff the loops into a circle. Hang it from the green pipe cleaner. These tiny yarn pumpkins look adorable in a cluster. Make a bunch while watching a Halloween movie, then tape them to the window in a big pile.
27. Paper Chain Snakes
Cut black and orange construction paper into strips. Loop the strips into a chain, but alternate colors randomly. Glue on a red forked tongue at one end and googly eyes at the other. Hang the snake vertically so it looks like it’s slithering down the window. My son named his “Spaghetti the Scary Snake” and insisted we make three more.
28. Cotton Ball Clouds
Glue white cotton balls onto a blue paper plate to make a cloud shape. Cut a crescent moon from yellow paper and glue it on. Add stars from foil. Punch a hole and hang it. This one isn’t strictly Halloween, but it’s a great filler craft when the kids are tired of ghosts. The cotton balls make it soft to touch, and toddlers can do most of the gluing themselves.
29. Pizza Box Monster Faces
Cut the front off a clean pizza box. Let your kid paint it green. Cut eye holes and a mouth hole, then tape colored tissue paper behind the holes. Hang the whole box in the window so the light shines through the tissue paper. The monster’s face changes color depending on the time of day. Plus, you got pizza for dinner, so you’re already winning.
There you go: 29 window-hanging Halloween crafts that actually get done before dinner hits the table. Pick three or four to start, or go insane and try all of them. Your windows will look so festive that the mail carrier might leave you candy. Grab some glue, round up the kids, and remember that perfection is overrated. A lopsided ghost hanging in the window beats no ghost at all.