This collection of frightfully fun ideas for a family Halloween-themed movie and craft night is guaranteed to inspire screams of delight!
Hosting a Halloween party? Make a night of it by pairing your Halloween movie & craft with pumpkin decorating, a set of our free printable mini Halloween doodle books for favors, and a big bowl of healthy homemade cinnamon apple chips for hungry movie-watchers!
Kids Halloween Movie Craft Ideas
1. Watch Hocus Pocus and Make a Paper Witch Boot Craft
If there were ever a craft fit for the Sanderson sisters, it’s these wickedly whimsical witch boots on a broomstick.
2. Watch The Witches and Make an Egg Carton Witch Craft
The first scary movie I can remember watching was The Witches and it STILL gives me the creeps as an adult – moving oil paintings…chilling!
Should you dare to watch this Roald Dahl Halloween classic, upcycled egg carton witches (via ART CAMP) are a perfect way to shake off the hair-raising vibes. Be sure to save up a few cartons so you can create your own creepy coven come October…!
3. Watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Make DIY Revelio Charms
Though the first Harry Potter movie premiered just in time for Christmas, the spirit of the full HP movie catalog screams Halloween to me! To add a little mystery and magic to your own movie-watching experience, try this intriguing science-based DIY magic charm (from Anna at Babble Dabble Do)! Conjure the series’ imaginative creatures, ghosts, goblins & warlocks with your own magic spells – definitely a trick AND a treat.
Add our DIY paint potions lab for even MORE wizarding fun!
4. Watch Kiki’s Delivery Service and Make a Black Cat Lantern Craft
Celebrate young witch Kiki’s journey into the realm of humans with a paper bag DIY black cat lantern featuring the sweet and sarcastic Jiji in front of a full moon!
5. Watch Frankenweenie and Make a Zombie Pet Plush
It’s alive…it’s ALLIIIIIVE….!! Well…sorta. 😉 Beloved pets return to life in this spookily stylish picture, so can you imagine a better craft to pair with it than a zombie bunny softie?! If you’re amazed such a dreadfully delicious DIY even exists, you’ve never met my uber-creative friend Shannon from Oh Creative Day…!
6. Watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Make Stamped Pumpkin Art
With so many iconic moments, it was nearly impossible to pick just ONE craft to pair with this Snoopy classic, but we thought we’d pay homage to the star of the show, the Great Pumpkin with potato stamp pumpkin prints.
Play with stamps and experiment with new art supplies as you make your own printed patch. You never know what will rise out of your own gallery of gourds on Halloween night…!
7. Watch Super Monsters and Make a Monster Craft
Here’s a series that’s PERFECT for little ones who want to watch – something that captures the Halloween spirit but skips the spookiness. Invite them to design their own monsters with a clever DIY that turns plastic containers into the cutest upcycled DIY monster treat buckets.
Bonus? These slightly smaller-than-average treat containers are the perfect size for your own little monsters and can double as a kid-safe lantern!
8. Watch The Haunted Mansion and Make a Hatbox Box Craft
From “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” to the actual ride, to the movie re-creation – The Haunted Mansion is a Halloween classic around here. I was absolutely doubled over with cackles of joy when I found this clever DIY for a hatbox ghost from All for the Boys.
I can easily see a collection of these, lit with flameless tealights tucked into the corners of a kids’ bookshelf or on a Halloween table.
9. Watch Casper and Make a Paper Ghost Craft for Kids
The friendliest ghost is also the most festive! This adorable scrap paper ghost craft is a boo-tiful way for little bats & ghouls to celebrate October while practicing a bit of not-so-spooky mark-making.
10. Watch Goosebumps and Make a Skeleton Hand Craft
You won’t believe what’s hidden inside this ghoulishly green hand, my pretties…mwuhahaahah! For parents looking to incorporate a little science into play, this eerie and exciting disappearing hand (from Brainy Beginnings Network) reveal is sure to elicit goosebumps…the good kind, of course.
11. Watch Monsters, Inc. and Make Sully Slippers
Boo! Like the movie itself, this monster flick & fashion paring is kid-friendly and brimming over with cuddly cuteness. Curl up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and these cozy Sully-inspired slippers (via Studio DIY) for a not-so-scary Halloween treat!
12. Watch Monster House and Make a Paper Haunted House Craft
Here’s another slightly spooky streaming favorite in our household. Little haunted house enthusiasts will scream for Monster House while designing 2D haunted houses all their own made from our custom-made printable pieces.
13. Watch Hotel Transylvania and Make Pom Pom Bats
You just never know what you’ll find hanging around in an old hotel..! In this case, it’s a band of silly monster misfits that provides more funny than fright (perfect for little ones). Combine the giggles with a gaggle of these cute pom pom vampire bats (via Make Film Play) for a bloody good time.
14. Watch Coco and Make a Sugar Skull Craft
MAKE: Salt dough sugar skulls from Brainy Beginnings Network
15. Watch a Classic Halloween Cartoon and Make Playdough Pumpkins
Combine classic animated Halloween shorts like Disney’s “Trick or Treat,” Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny’s Howl-aween Special, Tom and Jerry Halloween favorites, or The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad with an equally iconic Halloween theme…pumpkins and jacks!
These playdough Jack-O-Lanterns are hands-on fun for the whole family! Or use a set of printable features to make your own upcycled cereal box jack-o-lanterns – a little velcro lets you arrange and re-arrange all October long!
16. Watch Paranorman and Make Mystery Playdough
A new stop-motion Halloween favorite of mine, Paranorman has us in [Frankenstein] stitches every Halloween. It’s a little bit strange, a pinch scary, and a tad snarky, making it a great choice for kids who are dying for a Halloween movie that’s more creepy than cute. Add some zombie-inspired jet black mystery playdough (from Left Brain Craft Brain) for an eye-poppingly eerie project & picture combo.
18. Watch Nightmare Before Christmas and Make a Jack Skellington Wreath
What’s this, what’s this..?! It’s a Nightmare Before Christmas extravaganza fit for the King of Halloween Town himself! Make a decorative tribute to Jack Skellington (via Red Ted Art) to deck your halls while you watch the movie that turned stop-motion horror into kid-friendly movie magic and made Tim Burton a household name.
19. Watch Halloweentown and Make Trick-or-Treat Puppets
When it comes to kids’ Halloween specials, Halloweentown is absolute CANON. The movie features a universe filled with (not-so-scary) witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghosts, trolls, zombies, pumpkinheads, and MORE.
So if your little one is just discovering costumes and Halloween characters, pair a viewing with DIY costumed popsicle stick puppets (via hello, Wonderful) for a treat-filled night!
20. Watch Coraline and Make Button Slime
An alternate universe, imaginative characters, scary secrets, and BUTTONS! If you’re looking for something spooky and suspenseful, Coraline is a modern kid Halloween classic. Stream it with a side of this clever button slime (from Comic Con Family) to help you knead your nerves away.
Heads up, if you’re thinking of watching this with younger kids, you may want to preview it yourself first – it’s a little creepier than I had expected, and though I love a dark twist, your little ones may not.
Halloween Movies and Crafts for Older Kids
Due to themes that may be a bit more “mature,” a little adult humor, or a scarier scene or two, these Halloween family flicks *may* be best suited to pre-teens and above. But give them a preview and use your own judgment (these classics are fun for parents to watch again and AGAIN).
21. Watch Ghostbusters and Make Ecto-Cooler
What goes better with an iconic eighties family horror movie than a technicolor beverage served up in a squeezable pack? If you were a kid of the ’80s, you’ll instantly recognize this healthier DIY Ecto-Cooler recipe, poured into a Capri-Sun-like reusable pouch – we even recreated the classic Slimer Ecto-Cooler design!
Sip and stream this “supernatural spectacular” for a trip back to the Halloweens of your youth.
22. Watch The Addams Family and Make a Wednesday Softie
Beware snugglers…cuddle this sarcastic softie at your own risk! By pairing some adult sewing help with kid-painted features & clothing, this DIY Wednesday Addams doll is a spooky little sewing project that the whole family can participate in.
23. Watch E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Make an Alien
Okay, fellow 80’s kids – pull on your sweatshirts and grab your bikes, we’re going to need to revisit this movie. Even though I rarely see it listed among Halloween movies, it is an absolute October must-watch for me – and a viewing just wouldn’t be complete without a DIY alien of your very own (and maybe a box of tissues, because I still tear up every time!).
24. Watch Beetlejuice and Make a 3D Haunted House
If you haven’t watched Beetlejuice in a while, you may have forgotten that the beautifully quirky house played a starring role! Make your own black & white (Beetlejuice-styled!) haunted house while you watch – just beware of the Beetlejuice curse…you never know what will happen in your adorable new abode when you invite Beetlejuice in…!
25. Watch Practical Magic and Make a Taste-Safe Love Potion
Forget sticking to the Halloween season – when I was in junior high I watched the spooky sisters of Practical Magic on repeat all year long. So when I ran across this “love spell” taste-safe magic
26. Watch Batman and Make A Paper Bat Craft
There is no shortage of Batman entertainment to pick from these days, but for my money, nothing beats the iconic duo of Keaton and Nicholson’s Batman and Joker.
If you have older kids who can appreciate the quirkiness of late ’80s movies (and a Prince jam for the ages!) stream this Tim Burton classic while making your own colony of bendable mixed media bats.
27. Watch Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Make DIY Camp Lanterns
Gather ’round the fire, friends as I tell you about a dark and stormy night, waaaay back in the early ’90s when Nickelodeon’s SNICK ruled the pre-teen TV lineup and scary stories were the best way to spend a Saturday night.
If you’ve never caught an episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark” you can find a classic throwback (watch for a young Ryan Gosling!) or stream the new version. And submitted for the approval of the midnight society: a craft to keep those campfire vibes burning – our own DIY recycled camp lantern.
28. Watch Edward Scissorhands and Make Paper Topiary Art
Here’s a favorite that I revisit EVERY single Halloween (and yet another Tim Burton movie to add to the list!). With lots of fantastical scenery, an endlessly imaginative story, and loads of heart, this flick never gets old.
A few years ago I made a paper topiary art project inspired by the film, so grab a set of cookie cutters and design your own Edward-inspired landscape while you fall in love with the quirky tale.
More Easy Kids Halloween Entertainment Ideas
For a break from screentime, fire up our Halloween playlist over on Spotify for spooky tunes suitable for bats and ghouls of all ages, then find a good read with our BIG collection of Halloween books for kids.
