20 Halloween Art Activities for Middle & High School
Finding Halloween art activities that actually fit a middle or high school classroom, rather than feeling too young, is harder than it sounds. Below are 20 ideas built for students ages 12 to 18, from a haunted house build using recycled milk cartons to school-wide pumpkin decorating contests and symmetry-based drawing activities, plus a few deep dives on the ones worth planning a whole class period around.
As a certified art teacher, I've built this list around projects that work in a real classroom: manageable supply lists, clear steps, and enough creative freedom that older students stay genuinely engaged.
20 Halloween Art Activities for Middle & High School
The Full List: 20 Halloween Art Activities
Milk carton haunted houses, built with fabric scraps, wallpaper, and stuffing cobwebs
School-wide pumpkin decorating contest
Collaborative classroom door decorating contest
Halloween stop motion animation shorts
Class Halloween costume theme project or creating wearable art
Mixed media monster collage
Spooky silhouette gradient painting (black silhouette over a sunset sky)
Halloween zentangle pumpkins and skulls
Paper mache or cardstock Halloween mask making
Illustrated spooky story panels (a mini graphic novel page)
Found-object spider and bat sculptures
Black light or glow-in-the-dark Halloween painting
Halloween stamp printmaking (bats, pumpkins, spiders)
Candy wrapper mosaic art
Collaborative Halloween classroom mural
A few of these are worth a closer look, so let's dig into the milk carton haunted houses, the symmetry sheets and colouring pages, and the classroom-wide celebration ideas below.
Halloween Art Activities: Milk Carton Haunted Houses
This is one of my favourite Halloween art activities for older students because it combines building, design, and storytelling in one project.
How it works:
Rinse out an empty milk carton and cut it in half lengthwise to create an open, roofed structure.
Have students sketch their haunted house design in a sketchbook first, planning out windows, doors, and overall shape before any gluing starts.
Using a glue gun (with proper supervision), students build up the exterior with fabric scraps, scrap pieces of wallpaper, and pulled-apart stuffing to create cobwebs.
Once the house is built, pair it with a short written piece: have each student write a spooky story set inside the haunted house they created.
This project works well as a cross-curricular tie-in with English class, and it gives students who love 3D work and storytelling a chance to shine, not just the strongest drawers in the room.
Halloween Art Activities: Symmetry Sheets & Colouring Pages
Symmetry drawing is a reliable favourite for Halloween because the subject matter (spiders, bats, pumpkins, skulls) lends itself so naturally to a mirrored design.
My Fall/Halloween Symmetry Grades 5-8 are built for students who are still developing their symmetry and proportion skills.
My Halloween/Fall Symmetry Grades 9-12 push further into detail and more complex compositions for older students.
My Fall and Halloween colouring pages (middle school) are a great lower-pressure option for a day you need a quieter, independent activity.
Ways to use them in class:
Turn a symmetry sheet into a drawing contest, with finished pieces displayed in the hallway or classroom for students to vote on.
Use them as a calm, independent activity while playing spooky instrumental or Halloween music in the background, which keeps the room focused without needing constant direction.
Ways to Celebrate Halloween in the Classroom
Halloween is a great excuse to build classroom community while still keeping the focus on art skills.
Themed classroom party. Build a short party into the end of a class period around whichever activity the class voted on, whether that's the symmetry drawing contest or a group build like the haunted houses.
School-wide pumpkin decorating contest. No-carve pumpkin painting is a safe, low-mess way to get creative with a pumpkin, and it scales well beyond one classroom. This is a great idea to propose to your principal as a school-wide contest, with classes competing by grade or homeroom.
Collaborative door decorating contest. Have each class pick a Halloween theme and decorate their classroom door together. It's a quick win for school spirit and gives every student a small, manageable piece of a bigger design.
Halloween stop motion animation. In pairs or small groups, students plan and shoot a short spooky stop motion animation using phones or tablets. It's a strong project for students who gravitate toward digital media over traditional drawing.
Class costume theme. Pick a costume theme as a group, whether that's a shared colour palette, a decade, or a pop culture reference, so students are creating something together instead of competing for the "best" individual costume.
Projects like these matter beyond the final product. Working toward a shared design, whether it's a door, a pumpkin, or a short film, gives students a reason to collaborate and builds the kind of classroom community that carries through the rest of the year.
FAQ: Halloween Art Activities for Middle & High School
What are good Halloween art activities for middle schoolers? Symmetry drawing sheets, colouring pages, no-carve pumpkin painting, and group projects like door decorating all work well because they're structured enough to stay on task but still feel festive.
What Halloween art projects work for high school students? Higher schoolers tend to engage more with open-ended projects like milk carton haunted houses, stop motion animation, mixed media collage, and more advanced symmetry drawing sheets.
How do you make a milk carton haunted house? Cut a rinsed milk carton in half lengthwise, sketch the design first, then use a glue gun to add fabric scraps, wallpaper pieces, and pulled-apart stuffing for cobwebs.
How can I celebrate Halloween in my art classroom? A themed classroom party, a school-wide pumpkin decorating contest, a door decorating contest, or a symmetry drawing contest are all easy ways to build Halloween into your existing lesson plan.
What's a good Halloween activity for students who don't like to draw? Stop motion animation, milk carton haunted houses, and mixed media collage all let students lean on building and planning skills instead of drawing.
Pick a Project and Get Spooky
With 20 ideas covering everything from a quiet symmetry activity to a full-class haunted house build, there's a Halloween art project here for whatever your October looks like this year.
If you want a low-prep starting point, grab my fall and Halloween symmetry drawing sheets or colouring pages and pair them with some spooky instrumental music for an easy win.
Halloween Symmetry for Middle School and High School
Fall/Halloween Symmetry Grades 5-8
Halloween/Fall Symmetry Grades 9-12