Easy Halloween crafts with recycled paper
A spooky prediction hidden under a paper flap. A swarm of bats swooping across the window. Sometimes the simplest Halloween crafts are the ones children have the most fun making.
These two projects turn recycled paper into something to play with and something to display. Start with a folded paper fortune teller and fill it with funny Halloween fortunes, then make black paper bat silhouettes using our free printable template.
You’ll need just a few basic supplies, and there’s no glue or drying time involved in either activity, useful for classroom sessions, craft groups and afternoons at home.
How to make a paper fortune teller for Halloween
You can make a paper fortune teller from an ordinary A4 sheet: trim it into a square, fold the corners into the centre on both sides, then open the pockets for your fingers. Add hidden messages and you’ve got a Halloween game to share with friends.
In our video, we use 100% recycled 140 gsm cartridge paper. For this project, we suggest paper between 100 and 140 gsm; thicker card makes the layered folds harder to manage.
What you’ll need
- One sheet of A4 recycled cartridge paper, 140 gsm
- Scissors
- A pen
- Coloured pencils or pens for decorating
Watch the fortune teller video
Watch the paper fortune teller tutorial on YouTube.
Step-by-step folding instructions
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Turn your A4 sheet into a square. Fold one corner diagonally across until the short edge lines up with the long edge. Cut away the spare strip, then unfold. Keep the offcut for another small craft.
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Find the centre. Fold the square diagonally in the other direction and open it again. The creases should cross in the middle.
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Bring the corners in. Fold each of the four corners into the centre, pressing each crease firmly. You’ll have a smaller square.
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Turn it over and repeat. Flip the paper over and fold all four corners into the centre again.
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Fold across the middle. Fold the smaller square in half, open it, then fold it in half the other way. Unfold again.
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Open the finger pockets. Gently slide your thumbs and index fingers into the four pockets underneath. Ease them open and bring the corners together to form the fortune teller. Take care not to pull hard enough to tear the paper.
Add your colours, numbers and decoration
Following the video, open the fortune teller in one direction and label the four visible triangular sections 1–4. Open it in the other direction and write four colour names on the other sections.
Lift the flaps and write your fortunes underneath. Decorate the outside with ghosts, pumpkins, cobwebs or witches’ hats, keeping the labels easy to read.
How to play your paper fortune teller game
- Ask a friend to choose one of your four colours. Spell the colour aloud, opening and closing the fortune teller in alternating directions once for each letter.
- Ask them to choose a number. Open and close the fortune teller that many times.
- Ask them to choose one of the visible sections. Lift its flap and read out the hidden fortune or challenge.
What to write in a Halloween paper fortune teller
Write short, funny predictions under the flaps, or use your fortune teller to reveal Halloween challenges. One sentence per section is plenty, leaving enough room for clear handwriting.
Eight funny Halloween fortunes
- A friendly ghost will borrow your socks tonight.
- You’ll discover a witch’s secret biscuit stash.
- A black cat will choose you as its new best friend.
- Your next pumpkin will grant you a wish.
- A dancing skeleton will challenge you to a dance-off.
- Your next sneeze will sound like a witch’s cackle.
- A bat will deliver a mysterious message.
- You’ll turn into a pumpkin at bedtime — but only for five minutes!
Halloween challenges to try
For a more active game, swap the fortunes for little challenges:
- Give us your best witch’s laugh.
- Walk across the room like a mummy.
- Invent a name for a pet bat.
- Pull your funniest pumpkin face.
- Draw a ghost with your eyes closed.
- Name three orange things.
- Make up a magic spell.
- Tell a spooky story in one sentence.
Add a recycled-paper twist
Making fortune tellers with a class or craft group? Mix in a few facts and questions about the materials you’re using:
- Paper fact: The cartridge paper used in our video is 100% recycled.
- What does that mean? Its paper fibres come from recycled material.
- Offcut challenge: What could you make from the strip you trimmed away?
- Use it again: Could the blank side of a used sheet become another fortune teller?
Keep these messages brief so they fit beneath the flaps. Children could also write their own questions for friends to answer.
How to make easy paper bats for Halloween windows
To make an easy paper bat, fold black paper in half and draw half a bat with the centre of its body against the folded edge. Cut around the outline, leaving the fold joined, then open it out to reveal two matching wings.
Our free bat template gives you a shape to trace around, so you can make a whole swarm of Halloween paper window decorations.
What you’ll need
- Black sugar paper, 100 gsm
- Our free printable bat template
- A pencil, a light-coloured pencil is easier to see on black paper
- Scissors
- A little tape suitable for your window
Step-by-step paper bat instructions
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Print and cut out your template. Use the outline as a reusable guide. For a whole-bat template, fold it down the centre of the body to make a half-bat guide.
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Fold your black paper in half. Press the crease down neatly.
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Position the template. Line up the centre of the bat’s body with the folded edge of your black paper.
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Trace the outline. Draw around half the bat, including the ear, wing and body.
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Cut through both layers. Follow your drawn outline, keeping the folded centre of the body joined. Younger children may need help around the pointed wings.
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Unfold your bat. Carefully open the paper to reveal the complete silhouette.
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Arrange your window display. Attach the bats with small pieces of suitable tape. Try a swooping line from one corner of the window or scatter them across the glass.
Prefer to use card? Trace the full bat onto a flat sheet of black recycled card and cut around it. This avoids having to cut through two thick layers.
Make a bigger Halloween window scene
Add orange paper pumpkins beneath your bats, or cut a row of crooked black houses to sit along the bottom of the window.
For a group activity, each child can make one bat to contribute to a shared display. The folded-paper method is also a simple way to explore symmetry: open the bat and compare its matching wings.
Which paper should you use for Halloween crafts?
The best choice depends on whether you’re folding, cutting or making a decoration that needs to hold its shape. These papers and card are all 100% recycled.
Cartridge paper: for fortune tellers
Our A4 cartridge paper, 140 gsm, is the paper used in the video. Its light surface gives you room for colourful drawings, clear labels and handwritten fortunes.
Black sugar paper: for folded bats and window silhouettes
Choose A4 black sugar paper, 100 gsm, for the folded-paper bat activity. It’s lightweight enough to fold and cut through two layers, making it useful for window decorations and classroom crafts.
Black card: for firmer cut-out shapes
Our A4 black card, 270 gsm, is stiffer than sugar paper. Use it when you want a firmer bat or decoration, tracing the full outline onto a flat sheet before cutting.
Orange sugar paper: for a Halloween splash of colour
A4 orange sugar paper, 100 gsm, is easy to fold and cut. Try it for orange fortune tellers, pumpkin shapes or a colourful background for your black silhouettes.
If you’re looking for sugar paper craft ideas, start with the folded bats and an orange fortune teller. You can use the remaining sheets for pumpkin cut-outs, paper chains or a Halloween collage.
Arrange your shapes close together before cutting to make the most of each sheet, and save small offcuts for details. After Halloween, store your bats flat so you can bring them out again next year.
Free printable Halloween bat template
Use our free bat outline to make your own black paper window silhouettes. Print it, cut it out and keep it as a guide for tracing more bats onto paper or card.
Download the free bat template (PDF)
For folded-paper bats, align the centre of the body with your paper’s fold. For flat card silhouettes, trace around the whole bat.
Your fortune teller doesn’t need a printed template you can start with an A4 sheet, trim it into a square and follow the folding video above.
Ready to get making?
Find recycled paper and card for your fortune tellers, window bats and Halloween classroom displays.