Halloween Craft: Chinese Jack-O-Lantern

My kids love making their own holiday decorations. This simple Halloween craft is a fun twist on a paper Chinese lantern — it’s a Chinese Jack-O-Lantern! This is super simple to make and can be adapted for even the youngest kids.

Halloween is nearly here and I have a confession. I have yet to even pull out my Halloween decorations. I have a bit of an excuse. After our move most of our stuff was still in our storage unit and our box of Halloween decorations only recently made it to our new house. Most of you are probably way ahead of the game, but if you aren’t (or even if you just want a fun Halloween craft) these easy Chinese Jack-O-Lanterns are perfect for adding a little spookiness to your home.

Materials Needed

Construction paper – orange, black
Scissors
Scotch tape

Instructions

To make these easy Chinese Jack-O-Lanterns, start with a piece of orange construction paper.

Fold the paper in half lengthwise.

From the folded side, make cuts about every inch, stopping about an inch away from the edge of the paper. My oldest son likes the look of making cuts closer together so you can play around with this a bit.

Open your paper up. Bring the top and bottoms of the paper together to form a cylinder shape.

Tape the edges together at the top and the bottom. You should end up with something that looks similar to this:

We make these Chinese paper lanterns every year for Chinese New Year’s. To give them a fun Halloween twist cut out triangles and other shapes from black construction paper and give your paper lantern a Jack-O-Lantern face!

Hang these up as Halloween decorations. Your kids will love seeing their artwork on display!