Hoopla Halloween Picks, Plus Easy Kid Crafts 

Make It a Hoopla Halloween! 

Dressing up, celebrating, and trick-or-treating are the highlights of Halloween. Make it a Hoopla Halloween by adding kid-friendly Halloween content, all ready to stream or download in minutes. Here’s what’s waiting for your little pumpkins and goblins, along with three easy crafts to keep hands busy while everything plays. 

A Kid-Friendly Halloween Collection Built for Families 

Hoopla’s Halloween for Kids collection gathers monster-mashing music, spooktacular movies, fa-boo-lous audiobooks, and (kinda) creepy comics in one place. Everything in the collection is made for kids, which means grown-ups can let them choose for themselves. Just like their favorite trick-or-treat houses are the ones where they can choose the candy they like best.  

Halloween Crafts to Enjoy Alongside Hoopla 

Halloween crafts for kids are one of the best ways to fill a chilly October afternoon, and you probably already have most of the supplies sitting in a junk drawer. These three projects use paper plates, construction paper, and a little paint, so there’s no big shopping trip required. Grab a stack of napkins for spills, pair with these kids’ Halloween titles from Hoopla, and let the kids get messy. 

An illustration of a pumpkin painted onto a a paper plate as a Halloween craft.

Paper-Plate Jack-o’-Lanterns Bring Smiles 

This one is a Halloween craft classic for a reason: it’s simple and forgiving, and every pumpkin turns out different. 

You’ll need: a paper plate, orange paint (or orange construction paper), black and green construction paper, child-safe scissors, glue, a paintbrush, and an optional black marker. 

How to make it: 

  1. Paint the paper plate orange and let it dry, or cover it with orange construction paper. 
  2. Cut two triangle eyes and one triangle nose from black paper. 
  3. Cut a jack-o’-lantern smile from black paper. 
  4. Glue the face pieces onto the plate. 
  5. Cut a stem and a small leaf from green paper and glue them to the top. 
  6. Add curly vines, freckles, or other doodles with markers for extra flair.

Here’s a kids’ Halloween film to go with it: 

Spookley the Square Pumpkin 
Who says a pumpkin can’t be a square? Unfortunately, a lot of the other pumpkins in Spookley’s patch do. Bullied and doubted, he finds friends who remind him different isn’t a flaw. When a storm hits the patch, his unique shape ends up saving the day. 

cover of Spookely the Square Pumpkin
An illustration of a ghost hand print as a Halloween craft.

Handprint Ghosts Are a Halloween Classic 

This craft doubles as a keepsake, since little hands only stay little for so long. 

You’ll need: white washable paint, black construction paper or cardstock, a paintbrush or sponge, a black marker or paint pen, googly eyes, a paper plate for paint, and wipes for cleanup. 

How to make it: 

  1. Pour a thin layer of white paint onto a paper plate. 
  2. Press the child’s hand firmly into the white paint. 
  3. Press the hand firmly onto black paper with fingers spread slightly. 
  4. Let the paint dry completely. 
  5. Flip the print upside down so the fingers become the ghost’s flowing bottom. 
  6. Add eyes and a mouth with a marker or googly eyes. 
  7. Fill in the background with stars, bats, candy, or a full moon. 

Here’s some Halloween music for kids to bop along to while they craft: 

KIDZ BOP Halloween 
So many classic Halloween songs on this album, all of them sung by kids. Of course “Thriller” is here, and “The Monster Mash” and “Purple People Eater.” But there’s also “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” and even a kid-friendly cover of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” (get it?). 

cover of Kidz Bop Halloween
An illustration of a monster corner bookmark craft.

Monster Corner Bookmarks for Little Readers 

This craft is a quick win for a rainy afternoon. 

You’ll need: colored construction paper or cardstock, white paper, black paper, a glue stick, child-safe scissors, a marker, and googly eyes. 

How to make it: 

  1. Fold a square of colored paper into a simple corner bookmark: 
    • Fold the bottom-right corner up to meet the top point, then unfold. 
    • Fold the bottom-left corner up to meet the top point, then unfold. 
    • Fold just the top layer of the top corner straight down to meet the bottom edge. 
    • Tuck the left flap up and into the pocket you just formed. 
    • Tuck the right flap up and into the same pocket. 
    • Crease all edges flat, then slip the bookmark over a book’s corner. 
  2. Using another piece of paper, cut out monster features such as teeth, horns, eyes, ears, or a tongue. 
  3. Glue the pieces onto the bookmark. 
  4. Add extra details with markers. 
  5. Slide the finished monster onto the corner of a favorite Halloween book. 

Here are some Halloween stories for kids to enjoy while they craft (or as the paint dries!): 

5-Minute Halloween Stories 
Four Disney stories, each of which can be read in about 5 minutes (perfect for little attention spans and quick bedtime stories!). “Trick or Treat” (Big Hero 6), “Scariest Day Ever” (Monsters, Inc.), “Marmalade Moon Night” (Tangled), and “Tricky Treats” (Wreck-It Ralph). 

cover of 5 Minute Halloween Stories

Make It a Whole Halloween Night with Hoopla 

The Halloween for Kids collection on Hoopla is packed with fa-boo-lous audiobooks and eBooks, spooktacular movies, (kinda) creepy comics, and monster-mashing music for pumpkins and goblins of every age. Everything streams or downloads for free with a library card, and Hoopla works on iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, and more, so you can even organize a Halloween movie night for kids. You can create a whole evening of fun things to do for Halloween without spending a dime.

Here’s a little treat (no tricks):

cover of Night of the Zoopocalypse
cover of Descendants Wicked Wonderland soundtrack
cover of Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen's Ghost
cover of Peppa's Halloween Party
cover of R.L. Stine's Spine Chillers BingePass
Have a Hoopla Halloween text on a night sky background with the moon, bats, and pumpkins out.

*Titles may vary by library