Creative ways to celebrate Halloween

Vicki Manning
Oct 7, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Apr 26

I love Halloween! As a child it wasn't really a 'thing' here in the UK, but I am definitely making up for lost time now! My children are huge fans too, and I am always looking for more creative ways to enjoy the holiday with them.

Getting creative at Halloween fosters imagination, encourages self-expression, and allows you to add some unique decorations to your home. DIY Halloween decorations and treats are more personal and memorable. It also provides a fun outlet for children who may find more traditonal activities too spooky.

Ghost crafts on black paper, text "Creative ways to celebrate Halloween," leaf ghosts on orange, and colorful leaves as fire.

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Here are a handful of the fun projects that we have done together over the years in order to celebrate the spooky season in a creative way...

White leaves with googly eyes on orange background resemble ghosts.

Leaf Ghosts

This is such a lovely way to craft with all those fallen leaves, once you've had fun stomping through them that is!

Grab some leaves (sycamore and maple are the best shape for this), make sure they're clean and dry, then paint them white. You may need to give them a couple of coats if they are a dark colour.

Once the leaves are dry, draw on some spooky mouths with marker pen and then glue on some googly eyes.

Pumpkin picture made from orange squeegee art.

Squeegee Print Pumpkins

Squeegee art is totally addictive, you have been warned! You can make all sorts from your prints, but here we made a pumpkin using shades of orange paint.

Grab some orange paint and squirt it in small blobs all over a plain piece of paper. We used different shades to give our pumpkin that colourful effect.

Take a squeegee and slowly scrape it along the paper from top to bottom to create beautiful blended patterns. Leave it to dry, cut into a pumpkin shape then add features with a marker pen.

Autumn leaves in shades of red and yellow are arranged on green grass, with a pile of twigs beneath.

Bonfire Transient Art

Transient Art is creating on the go, from found objects. When created from natural materials it can be left for others to enjoy before returning to nature.

Autumn is a great time to create transient art as the leaves are so colourful ,and there are plenty of sticks, nuts and seeds to use.

We had fun making a the above bonfire using sticks and leaves, we've also made bats using fallen seeds, and pumpkin shapes using orange leaves. The only limit to this activity is your imagination!

A pumpkin with colorful paint splashes in pink, teal, and cream on a wooden surface. The mood is playful and creative.

Marbelled Pumpkins

This is a great alternative to pumpkin carving. for younger chidren.

If you think marbelling is limited to ink and books, then think again - you can achieve beautiful results just using nail varnish! And it's super simple to do.

Grab a large glass bowl and fill it with water. Working quickly, pour some blobs of nail varnish on the surface in a variety of colours, then dip the top of your pumpkin in. Remove your pumpkin and leave to dry.

Picture of ghosts made from splattered white paint

Blow paint ghosts

This is a fun way to create spooky little ghosts. To make it you just need some thick black paper, white paint and a straw.

Put blobs of the paint spaced out on the paper, then take your straw and hold it over the blob (without touching). Blow firmly and your paint will spread out, magically creating ghosts shapes.

Let the paint dry, and then use a marker pen to give them some features.

More spooky but creative ideas:

puffy ghost craft

pompom monster craft

For more Halloween fun check out 30+ of the BEST ideas for celebrating Halloween at home

What creative ways do you like to celebrate Halloween? Let me know below!