• Paper Plate (One per child/adult)
• Scissors
• Leaves
• Glue Sticks
• Orange Construction Papers
• White Construction Paper
• Black Construction Paper
• Washable Black Marker
• Black Yarn (optional)

Prior to making this halloween decoration, you should gather as many fallen leaves of different shapes and colors as you can find.

Cut the center from each paper plate prior to giving one to each child. These will be the base for the homemade wreaths.

Glue leaves to the paper plates. You can glue them to cover the entire plate, randomly around the plate or even as a border around only the edge, whichever you prefer. Once you’ve glued the leaves to the paper plate, leave the plates to dry for 24 hours or at least overnight.

In the meantime let the children draw Halloween images on the construction paper. Here are some ideas:

Pumpkins (from orange construction paper, use the black marker to draw the face on their pumpkins)
Ghosts, Mummies, Bones (from white construction paper)
Cats, Witch Hats (made from black construction paper, you can use the yarn to put a tail on the cat and hair on the witches head)

Once the children have picked out and drawn which decorations they’ll be using, carefully cut them out and paste them to the wreath. When the children are happy with the way the decorations are placed, it’s time to glue them to the leaves.

Allow some time for the decorations to dry completely.

Enjoy your child’s creation by hanging it on the front door or his or her bedroom door for all your friends and family to see and admire.

First, draw a circle or hexagon on top of the pumpkin in preparation for making an opening large enough for your hand to reach through, then cut through the stem end of the pumpkin along your outline with a sharp knife or pumpkin-carving tool. Remove the stem end and scrape off any seeds or pulp.

Then use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from inside the pumpkin.

Draw a pattern for the face on the clean pumpkin with a felt-tip pen, or scribe the lines into the skin using a pencil. Be sure to make the eyes, nose and mouth large enough; you’ll have a hard time cutting out tiny features when you’re using a big knife blade to saw through tough skin.

Follow your pattern as you cut all the way through the pumpkin, and push the cut-out features gently from the inside of the pumpkin and discard the pieces.

And then –  you are ready to light the candle inside!

For free carving patterns, click here.

Would you rather see how it’s done? Watch the video here.