Lovely childcare

Toddler-Approved Halloween Crafts: Ideas That Captivate 2-Year-Olds

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.

Are you wondering what kind of Halloween crafts to make with your two-year-olds? There are lots of wonderful ideas that encourage fine motor development, such as fluffy tissue-paper ghosts, cute paper-cup monsters, and jack-o’-lantern footprint stamps.

This time, we’re introducing Halloween crafts that two-year-olds can enjoy working on, whether at home or in daycare.

Let’s have fun creating an exciting, heart-thumping Halloween world together with the children! Since the children’s creations are treated as works, we use the term “seisaku” (production/creation) in the text.

Ideas for Halloween Crafts That Will Enthrall 2-Year-Olds (1–10)

Paper Cup Monster

[Halloween Craft] Easy! Paper Cup Monster 🎃 Handmade with 100-yen store items!

Paper Cup Monster

Introducing a paper cup monster you can make with items from the 100-yen shop.

You’ll need paper cups, pipe cleaners, googly eye stickers, washi tape, and so on.

First, turn the paper cup upside down and stick on as many eyes as you like.

Use pipe cleaners to make eyelashes, a mouth, hands, etc., and attach them with glue.

Once they’re attached, wrap washi tape around it, and your one-of-a-kind monster is complete.

Twisting, folding, and sticking the tape and pipe cleaners should also help improve fine motor skills.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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Halloween candy made with cotton swab stamps

Perfect for Halloween crafts with toddlers: Halloween candy using cotton swab stamping 🎃🍬 #preschoolcrafts #nurseryteacher #earlychildhoodideas #traineenurseryteacher #nurseryteacherlife #easycraft #constructionpaper #paint #Halloween

Halloween candy made with cotton swab stamps

Let’s make cute Halloween candies with cotton swab stamping.

All you need are cotton swabs, construction paper, and paint.

First, dab the paint onto the paper with the cotton swabs.

Using Halloween colors like orange and purple will make it feel even more Halloween-y.

The dabbing is lots of fun and lets each person’s personality shine through.

Once you’re done, let it dry and cut it out in the shape of candies.

If you make little ghosts from white paper and stick them on the back, it will give it an even stronger Halloween vibe.

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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Footprint Jack-o’-Lantern

Yakushiji Nursery School: Let’s make a Halloween craft!

Footprint Jack-o'-Lantern

This is a craft that turns cute child footprints into Halloween pumpkins.

Use orange ink and stamp three footprints side by side horizontally.

For a neat look, use the left foot on the left side and the right foot on the right side.

Add eyes, a mouth, and a hat on top, and it will look like a Jack-o’-lantern.

If you write the child’s name and the date on the hat and stick it on the wall, it becomes a very cute keepsake to track growth.

If your child doesn’t like having their foot inked, don’t force it—but do give this a try!

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Hirakawa Masako (Bōkarisuto: Sakata Mizumako)

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Toddlers Will Be Hooked! A Collection of Halloween Craft Ideas (11–20)

Jack-o’-lantern made with torn-paper collage

https://www.tiktok.com/@hoiku.labo/video/7281551854478200066

Kids love getting absorbed in activities like tearing paper, don’t they? For this Halloween craft, children glue torn pieces of origami paper onto a pumpkin base prepared by the teacher.

Interest in actions like tearing and pulling paper tends to grow around age two.

Even if they can’t tear into small pieces yet, they begin to manage larger tears, which broadens the fun.

Incorporating this into crafts is highly recommended as practice for fine motor skills—children can enjoy the process of making something while developing dexterity.

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Triangle Monster Garland

This is a triangular monster garland you can use to decorate a room for Halloween.

It’s fun to make and fun to display—perfect for creating in early childhood settings! Fold origami paper into a triangle, crease it, then open it.

Fold both sides toward the center line, and fold the remaining corners to complete one piece.

You can keep making pieces with the same steps, and enjoy lots of variations just by changing the patterns.

It’s a fun idea to decorate with Halloween-themed characters like pumpkins, ghosts, and bats.

Try making these as an activity to help 2-year-olds practice their fine motor skills!

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Jack-o’-lantern

Halloween at the Harappa parent–child class for 2-year-olds at Wako Tsurukawa Kindergarten

Jack-o'-lantern

Speaking of jack-o’-lanterns, they’re the very icon that evokes Halloween itself, aren’t they? A craft where you use construction paper to shape a three-dimensional pumpkin and draw whatever face you like is sure to get kids excited.

For younger children, forming the pumpkin shape can be tricky, so dividing roles between parent and child to make it together can be fun too.

It’s a craft that lets you experience the joy and festivity of Halloween, as the piece you create together brightens up the party.

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Hoshino Takashi

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Making a Halloween costume

[Ages 0–2] Halloween Costumes — Absorbed in a Candy Hunt

Making a Halloween costume

Halloween is becoming a big event in Japan, too.

It’s a familiar occasion for children.

Let’s try making costumes perfect for Halloween! If a 2-year-old wants to make a simple costume, using plastic bags is recommended.

Use an orange bag to be a jack-o’-lantern, a white one to be a ghost, and a black one to be a witch.

Draw or stick on your favorite patterns, and you’ll have an easy Halloween costume ready in no time! Make sure an adult handles cutting the holes for the neck and arms.

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