Finding a fun art and craft activity to do with your kids this Halloween can be tricky. Especially toddlers and preschoolers who need something a little easier. Fortunately this Paper Plate Jack-o-Lantern is perfect for kids of all ages.
Not only is this paper plate craft easy enough for younger children, it also helps to teach them some essential life skills at the same time. Try it at home or in the classroom, either way you’ll love this simple idea.
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Disclosure: Adult supervision is required for all activities at all times. Some of the links provided in this blog are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase.
More Halloween Arts and Crafts to Try
Halloween themed art ideas, is a fun way to teach toddlers and preschoolers about Halloween by making it fun instead of scary. Here are some more of my favorite kids craft ideas to do this time of the year.
- Haunted House Silhouette Art
- Flower Craft for Halloween
- Toilet Roll Stamp Spider
- Easy Bobble Ghost Halloween Craft
- Popsicle Stick Spider Web Craft for Kids
For more fun ideas, take a look at these 27 Halloween Crafts for Kids.
Materials Needed
- Paper plates
- Orange paint
- Black paint pen
- Jumbo popsicle stick
- Green paper
- Scissors
- Sticky tape or glue
- Paint brushes
For this project I used a black paint pen instead of a regular black marker. I prefer to use acrylic paint pens to draw over my craft projects because they’re paint based instead of ink based. I find that when I use a sharpie to draw over paint it ends up ruining my sharpie rather quickly.
How to make a Paper Plate Jack-o-Lantern
1. Paint your paper plate orange.
Use orange paint to cover your entire paper plate. While I used a regular paintbrush, you can also experiment with different tools in this step. Maybe your kids would prefer to make their plates orange using fingerpainting, cotton ball stamps or something else.
2. Let the paint dry.
3. Cut a jumbo popsicle stick in half.
This is going to be the stem of your pumpkin. However, if you don’t have any jumbo popsicle sticks on hand, don’t worry. Some brown paper, pipe cleaners or even some bark from the backyard would all be a great alternative.
4. Draw a leaf onto your green paper.
You can also paint some regular cardboard green before drawing your leaf, if you don’t have any green paper to use.
5. Cut the leaf out.
Younger children, like toddlers, may need help with this step. Older children should be able to draw a more complex leaf and cut it out all by themselves.
6. Turn your paper plate over, and attach the popsicle stick and leaf to the top.
I used sticky tape to attach the popsicle stick and green paper to the top of my plate. You can also use glue and just wait for the glue to dry before moving onto the next step.
7. Draw a spooky face onto your paper plate.
Use your black paint pen to draw a spooky face onto your paper plate. This is a chance for your kids to get creative and make any kind of face they want.
8. Fill in the face.
If you don’t have a paint pen, you can also use regular black paint and a paint brush to fill in the jack-o-lantern face.
9. Let the paint dry.
What You’re Learning
Creativity
Arts and crafts are a great way to use your imagination and then have the freedom to create that idea with your hands. Creativity is important not only for artistic pursuits, like painting or music, but also for problem solving. Which is an essential life skill that everyone needs to develop.
There are a few different ways where your children can try their own unique ideas. They may want to:
- Draw a funny face instead of a spooky smile.
- Create a different type of leaf.
- Decorate the jack-o-lantern with additional designs
History
Making your jack-o-lantern is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about the history of Halloween. Talk about where the holiday started, why and how it’s changed to what we recognise to be Halloween today.
Fine Motor Skills
Fine motor skills refer to the small muscles in the hand and fingers. Developing these skills are important in being able to write when the kids go to school, as well as being able to complete tasks independently. (For example, dressing and feeding themselves).
Using paintbrushes, scissors and sticky tape are all going to help young kids develop:
- Pincer grip
- Palmar grasp
- Hand-eye coordination
- Dexterity
- Strength
Are you going to make this Paper Plate Jack-o-Lantern Craft with your kids?
Don’t forget to pin the idea for later.
86 Pages of Halloween themed play based learning activities. Perfect for preschool and kindergarteners.
