There’s no need for a trip to the craft shop, either. Grab your colouring pencils, scissors and glue, and you’re ready to get started.

I love crafts that give children room to make their own choices. They can fill their wreath with friendly pumpkins, add a ghost or two, or squeeze in as many spooky decorations as they like. Even when everyone starts with the same printable, each finished wreath will look different!

What’s included in the free Halloween wreath printable?

The seven-page printable includes:

• Four wreath bases, with spiderweb, woven and twisting branch designs.
• Nine pumpkins, each with a different expression.
• A sheet of Halloween decorations, including a bat, ghosts, a spider, a skull, a cat, a witch’s hat and sweets.
• A sheet of autumn decorations, including leaves, berries and feathers.

Everything comes in black and white, ready for children to colour. Choose one wreath base and print the decoration sheets you want to use; there’s no need to print all four bases for each child.

What you need

• The free Halloween wreath printable
• White paper or lightweight card suitable for your printer
• Colouring pencils, crayons or felt-tip pens
• Scissors
• A glue stick
• Ribbon or string for hanging, if you wish

Tip: If you’re printing on ordinary paper, glue the wreath base onto a piece of recycled card before cutting it out. A cereal box works well and helps the finished wreath hold its shape.

How to make your cut and colour Halloween wreath

1. Choose your wreath base

Pick your favourite design. The spiderweb base is a fun choice for a spooky wreath, while the branch designs look lovely with autumn leaves and pumpkins.

Print your chosen base along with the decoration pages you’d like to use.

2. Colour the pieces

Colour the wreath and decorations before cutting them out. It’s much easier to colour small pieces while they’re still on the sheet!

Try orange pumpkins, purple ghosts and bright green leaves, or use reds, yellows and browns for an autumnal wreath. There’s no right colour scheme here. If your child wants a pink pumpkin and a rainbow bat, let them go for it.

3. Cut out the wreath and decorations

Cut around the outside of the wreath, then remove the centre to make a ring. Cut out your chosen pumpkins, leaves and Halloween shapes.

Younger children may need help with the centre of the wreath and the more detailed pieces. An adult can make the starting hole in the middle so children can cut towards the inner outline.

4. Arrange your decorations

Before reaching for the glue, lay the pieces around the wreath.

You could start with a layer of leaves, then add pumpkins and spooky characters on top. Let some pieces overlap or poke out over the edges for a fuller wreath.

Encourage children to move things around until they’re happy with their design. They don’t have to use every piece.

5. Glue everything in place

Lift each decoration, add glue to the back and press it onto the wreath. Make sure overlapping pieces are attached securely, then leave the wreath flat while the glue dries.

6. Hang up your Halloween wreath

Tape a loop of ribbon or string to the back and hang your finished wreath on an indoor door or wall.

It’s a cheerful way to decorate a bedroom door, brighten up a Halloween party or add something handmade to your autumn display.

Easy ways to make this craft your own

Make a pumpkin wreath: Choose your favourite pumpkin faces and arrange them among orange, yellow and red leaves.

Go a little spookier: Add ghosts, a spider and a bat to the spiderweb base. Purple, black and green make a great Halloween colour combination.

Keep it autumnal: Use the leaves and berries with one of the branch bases for a decoration you can enjoy throughout autumn.

Make it together: Let younger children do the colouring and choose where the pieces go while an adult helps with cutting. Older children can take on the whole project and experiment with patterns and layers.

A little learning while they craft

This activity gives children a chance to practise colouring, cutting and glueing, as well as deciding how to arrange their decorations.

There’s plenty to chat about as you work, too. Which pumpkin looks surprised? How many ghosts will fit around the wreath? Can they make a repeating pattern with the leaves?

Keep it relaxed, though. The fun is in creating something of their own, whether that means carefully coloured leaves or a wonderfully crowded wreath of Halloween characters.

Download your free printable Halloween wreath

Ready to get crafting? Download the free Halloween wreath printable, choose your favourite base and enjoy an afternoon of colouring, cutting and sticking.

I’d love to hear which decorations your children choose. Will it be a wreath full of grinning pumpkins, friendly ghosts or colourful autumn leaves?

Whether you’re planning an end-of-term classroom activity or looking for something to keep little hands occupied during the summer holidays, simply print the worksheets and gather a few pencils and crayons.

What’s Included?

The four-page PDF contains two summer activity mats and two accompanying answer-key pages. The children’s worksheets are black and white, ready to complete and colour.

Across the two mats, children can enjoy:

• A summer word search: Find ten words, including sun, swim, sand and wave.
• Summer riddles: Read the clues and work out the answers.
• A maze: Follow the twisting paths to find a way through.
• Odd-one-out puzzles: Decide which picture doesn’t belong.
• A counting challenge: Search the page and count the seaside shapes.
• Spot the difference: Compare two tropical island pictures.
• Picture patterns: Draw the summer object that comes next.
• Word scrambles: Rearrange letters to make summer words.
• Word tracing: Trace “crab”, “picnic” and “beach”.
• Colouring and noughts and crosses: Add colour to the pictures or play a quick game with a friend.

With several activities on each sheet, children can choose where to begin and work through the puzzles at their own pace.

A Little Learning Alongside the Fun

These summer worksheets offer opportunities to practise familiar skills in a playful way. The word search and scrambles encourage children to look closely at letters and spelling, while the picture patterns and counting challenge give them a chance to use early maths skills.

Tracing, colouring and navigating the maze provide pencil practice too. The spot-the-difference and odd-one-out activities also make useful conversation starters: ask children what they noticed and why they chose their answer.

Younger children may enjoy completing the picture activities with an adult, while more confident readers can tackle the word puzzles independently.

Easy Ways to Use Your Summer Activity Mats

Keep a few copies ready for a rainy afternoon, pack them with pencils for a holiday, or set them out for a quiet activity after a busy morning outdoors.

In the classroom, try them as a morning starter, an early-finisher activity or part of a summer-themed lesson. Children can work individually on the puzzles, then pair up for noughts and crosses.

There’s no need to finish everything in one sitting. Choose a favourite activity, take a break and return to the rest later.

How to Get Started

1. Download the summer activity worksheets PDF.
2. Print the two activity pages in landscape orientation, using “fit to page” if needed.
3. Put out pencils, crayons or colouring pencils.
4. Keep the answer pages nearby to help check the puzzles.

For reusable puzzle practice, slip a worksheet into a wipe-clean pocket and use suitable dry-wipe pens.

Download Your Free Summer Activity Worksheets

Ready for some summer puzzle fun? Download your free summer activity worksheets, grab the colouring pencils and let children get started with their favourite challenge.

This free printable Ocean Alphabet contains 26 creative cut-and-paste pages—one for every letter from A to Z. Children can colour the large letter-shaped creatures, cut out their eyes, fins, tentacles and other features, and then paste everything together.

It is a brilliant combination of alphabet learning, colouring and hands-on crafting. Print the complete pack to create an underwater alphabet display or simply choose the letters your child is currently learning.

Free Printable Ocean Alphabet

Every page in the pack features a large uppercase letter cleverly designed to look like an ocean animal, plant or underwater object.

Children can use the small coloured picture at the top of the page as a guide or ignore it completely and create an ocean creature in their own choice of colours. After colouring, they can cut out the separate features and arrange them on the main letter.

Some letters become recognisable sea creatures such as a starfish, seal, fish, jellyfish, seahorse, pufferfish, hammerhead shark or crab. Others have been transformed into wonderfully imaginative underwater characters.

By the time children reach Z, they will have created an entire alphabet of aquatic friends.

What Is Included?

The free printable PDF contains:

• 26 Ocean Alphabet craft pages
• One uppercase letter from A to Z on each page
• A large ocean-themed letter to colour
• Separate eyes, fins, tails, tentacles and other features
• A small completed colour example on every page
• Bold outlines that are easy to colour and cut around
• A different underwater design for every letter

Each letter is printed on its own US Letter-sized page, so you can print the whole alphabet or select individual pages.

You Will Need

• The free Ocean Alphabet printable
• A printer
• White printer paper or lightweight cardstock
• Crayons, colouring pencils or felt-tip pens
• Child-safe scissors
• A glue stick
• Optional coloured paper for mounting the finished letters

Lightweight cardstock makes the completed letters sturdier, particularly if you plan to cut them out and use them in a classroom or bedroom display.

Ordinary printer paper is absolutely fine if children will be completing the craft directly on the page.

How to Make the Ocean Alphabet Crafts

1. Choose and Print a Letter

Download the printable and select the letter you would like to make.

You might begin with the first letter of your child’s name, work through the alphabet in order or choose whichever sea creature catches their attention.

2. Colour the Ocean Creature

Colour the main letter and all of its separate features.

Children can copy the little coloured example or design a completely new creature. There are no colour rules under the sea, so rainbow crabs, spotty sharks and purple jellyfish are all very welcome!

3. Cut Out the Pieces

Carefully cut around the eyes, fins, tentacles and other individual parts.

Older children may be able to do this independently, while younger children will probably need an adult to help with some of the smaller or more detailed pieces.

4. Arrange the Features

Before reaching for the glue, place the pieces on the main letter and experiment with their positions.

This is where children can add their own personality. Moving the eyes closer together can make a creature look surprised, while turning a fin or tentacle in a different direction can change its pose completely.

5. Glue Everything in Place

Once your child is happy with the design, glue the pieces onto the letter.

Leave the page flat until the glue has dried. The completed craft can remain on the sheet or the whole letter can be cut out and mounted onto coloured paper.

Fun Ways to Use the Ocean Alphabet

Make an Underwater Alphabet Display

Create several letters at a time and add them to a wall or noticeboard. Use blue backing paper and decorate the space with bubbles, waves, shells and strips of green paper seaweed.

When the alphabet is complete, you will have a bright underwater display that children helped to make themselves.

Spell Your Child’s Name

Print the letters needed to spell your child’s name and turn each one into a different ocean creature.

Mount the finished letters onto a long strip of blue card to create personalised bedroom art or a sign for the classroom.

Create an Ocean Alphabet Book

Complete each page, then place the finished sheets inside a folder or display book.

Children can add a word or sentence to each page, such as “A is for an amazing starfish” or “C is for a curious seal”.

Staple or bind the pages together to make a personalised alphabet book.

Use the Letters for an Ocean Topic

These printable crafts work beautifully alongside learning about oceans, sea creatures, habitats and marine conservation.

Choose a letter, make the creature and then find out a few facts about the animal it resembles. Where does it live? What does it eat? How does it move?

Create a Letter-of-the-Week Activity

Print one page each week and use it as part of your regular alphabet learning.

Say the letter name, practise its sound and think of words that begin with it before starting the craft. Display each completed letter so children can see their alphabet collection grow.

Learning Benefits

The Ocean Alphabet is more than a collection of colouring pages. Each craft gives children opportunities to practise:

• Uppercase letter recognition
• Letter names and sounds
• Fine motor control
• Pencil and crayon control
• Scissor skills
• Hand-eye coordination
• Positioning and spatial awareness
• Following a visual example
• Creativity and independent decision-making
• Ocean-themed vocabulary

Picking up, turning and positioning the smaller pieces also helps strengthen the hand muscles children use for writing.

Ideas for Extending the Activity

Add Lowercase Letters

Ask children to write the matching lowercase letter beside their completed craft.

Think of Ocean Words

Can your child name an ocean animal or object beginning with the featured letter? Some letters will be much trickier than others, which is all part of the fun.

Give the Creature a Name

Invent a name beginning with the same letter. Your A creature might be called Alfie, while the J jellyfish could become Jazzy Jelly.

Tell an Underwater Story

Choose three finished letters and make up a story featuring all three creatures.

Where do they live? What adventure do they have? Is there treasure involved? In our house, there is nearly always treasure involved!

Add Craft Materials

Bring the designs to life with tissue-paper scales, wool tentacles, sequins, stickers, googly eyes or a little biodegradable glitter.

Only offer small craft materials to children who are old enough to use them safely and supervise the activity as appropriate.

Tips for Printing and Crafting

• Print only the letters you need to save paper and ink.
• Choose “actual size” or 100% in the printer settings.
• Use a glue stick rather than liquid glue to prevent wrinkled paper.
• Colour all the pieces before cutting them out.
• Store small cut-out pieces in a bowl so that they do not disappear.
• Mount finished letters on blue or turquoise paper to create an ocean background.
• Write the child’s name and the date on the back of each finished craft.
• Keep the small coloured example visible while children assemble the pieces.
• Allow children to change the design rather than feeling they must copy the example exactly.

Who Are These Printables For?

The Ocean Alphabet is ideal for:

• Preschool and early-years activities
• Reception and Key Stage 1 classrooms
• Home education
• Alphabet learning
• Letter-of-the-week activities
• Ocean and under-the-sea topics
• Summer holiday crafting
• Rainy afternoons
• Libraries and activity clubs
• Children who love sea creatures

Younger children can concentrate on colouring and positioning the pieces with help from an adult. Older children can cut and assemble the designs more independently, then use them as prompts for writing or ocean research.

Download the Free Ocean Alphabet Printable

These printables are offered for your non-commercial personal use only. Mass production is not permitted, including for non-profit purposes.

Please do not upload the PDF to another website. If you would like to share the Ocean Alphabet with other parents, carers or teachers, please link to this page so they can download their own copy. Pinning is welcome as long as the pin links back to this post. Thank you!

Add the free printable to your basket and then visit the cart using the orange menu at the top right of the page. Complete the checkout as normal—you will not be charged. The PDF will be available to download immediately and will also be emailed to you.

Dive into Alphabet Learning

This Ocean Alphabet is a lovely way to make letter learning creative, colourful and hands-on. Children can practise important early skills while building an entire collection of quirky underwater characters.

Whether you make one special letter or complete the whole A-to-Z set, we would love to see your finished ocean creations. Share a photograph on social media and tag Mum in the Madhouse so we can admire them.

Happy colouring, cutting and creating!

These free printable Monster Activity Mats are packed with puzzles, drawing challenges, colouring activities and early learning fun. They are a brilliant way to keep children entertained while encouraging creativity, observation and problem-solving.

Perfect for Halloween, a monster-themed party, classroom activities or a rainy afternoon at home, these activity sheets require virtually no preparation. Simply print them, put out some pencils and let the monster fun begin.

The Monster Challenge Activity Mats

Our printable pack contains two different Monster Challenge activity mats, along with an answer sheet for each one.

The activities include a fun mixture of drawing, colouring, counting, literacy and puzzles. Children can work through the whole mat or choose the challenges that appeal to them most.

The sheets can also double as monster-themed placemats. Pop one at each place during a Halloween party or monster-themed meal to keep little hands occupied while everyone waits for their food.

What Is Included in the Monster Activity Pack?

The four-page printable PDF contains:

• Two black-and-white Monster Challenge activity mats
• Two corresponding answer sheets
• Creative drawing and colouring prompts
• Monster-themed literacy activities
• Counting and graphing practice
• Visual puzzles
• Mazes and games

The bold black-and-white designs are easy to print and give children lots of opportunities to add their own colourful details.

Activities on the First Monster Mat

The first activity mat is filled with creative challenges, early literacy and counting fun.

Decorate Your Own Monster

Children begin with a large blank monster body that they can transform in any way they choose.

Will their monster have three eyes, rainbow fur, enormous feet or tiny wings? Add spots, stripes, teeth, arms, horns and any other wonderfully weird features that come to mind.

You could extend this activity by asking children to name their monster and describe where it lives, what it eats and whether it is friendly or fierce.

Match the Monster Emotions

Four expressive monster faces invite children to identify and write the emotions shown.

The answers are angry, happy, sad and silly, but this activity can also open up a useful conversation about feelings. Ask children what makes them experience each emotion and how they can tell what somebody else might be feeling.

Monster Noughts and Crosses

There are three mini noughts-and-crosses grids on the sheet, making this a fun activity to complete with a friend, sibling or grown-up.

Monster Word Search

Children can search for eight monster-themed words:

• Monster
• Fun
• Roar
• Eyes
• Teeth
• Hug
• Slime
• Fur

This is a simple way to practise letter recognition, concentration and scanning skills.

Counting and Colouring

Can your child colour exactly six eyes, eight horns and four pairs of monster arms?

This challenge combines counting with careful colouring and is a fun way to reinforce number recognition and one-to-one correspondence.

Help the Monster Find the Cookie

A hungry little monster is trying to reach its snack. Children must follow the correct path through the twisty maze to help it find the cookie.

Activities on the Second Monster Mat

The second sheet features observation, drawing, symmetry and early maths activities.

Complete the Monster Symmetry

Half of a monster has disappeared!

Children can use the visible half as a guide and draw the missing side. This activity encourages careful observation and introduces the idea of symmetry in a creative, accessible way.

Do not worry if the finished monster is not perfectly symmetrical. Wonky monsters have far more personality!

Colour the Monsters

The large monster characters in the centre of the sheet are ready to be coloured. Children can use traditional Halloween shades or invent an entirely new monster colour palette.

Try bright felt-tip pens, colouring pencils or crayons. Spots, stripes and patterns can make each creature look even more unusual.

Spot the Difference

The two monsters may look identical at first, but there are several differences hiding between them.

Encourage children to look carefully at the monster’s face, body and cup. They can circle each difference as they find it and then check their answers using the included answer sheet.

Create a Monster Graph

Count each type of monster scattered around the page and record the total on the graph.

This introduces children to collecting information and displaying it visually. They can compare the columns to discover which monster appears most often and which appears least often.

Draw the Monster’s Food

What does a monster eat for dinner?

Children can fill the giant plate with their own imaginary monster meal. It might contain eyeball soup, slimy spaghetti, wriggly worms or something surprisingly ordinary like beans on toast!

This is a lovely prompt for imaginative drawing and storytelling.

You Will Need

• The free Monster Activity Mats printable
• A printer
• White printer paper or lightweight cardstock
• Colouring pencils, crayons or felt-tip pens
• A pencil for puzzles and writing
• An eraser
• A clipboard or hard surface if using the sheets away from a table

No cutting or gluing is required, which makes these activity mats particularly useful when you need a quick, low-mess activity.

How to Use the Activity Mats

1. Download and Print

Download the free PDF and print the two black-and-white activity pages.

The mats are designed in landscape format. Select landscape orientation and “fit to printable area” in your printer settings if necessary.

2. Set Out Some Supplies

Provide pencils and colouring materials. If several children are taking part, place everything in the middle of the table so they can share.

3. Take on the Monster Challenge

Let children complete the activities in any order. Some may head straight for the maze or word search, while others will want to design their monster first.

4. Check the Answers

Two answer sheets are included at the end of the pack. These provide solutions for the emotions, word search, maze, symmetry picture, graph and spot-the-difference puzzle.

The creative activities do not have a right or wrong answer—the sillier the monster, the better!

Make the Mats Reusable

If you would like to use the activity mats more than once, laminate them or place each sheet inside a reusable dry-wipe pocket.

Children can complete the puzzles with dry-wipe pens, erase their answers and start again. This is especially useful for classrooms, waiting rooms, after-school clubs and activity stations.

You could also print the mats on slightly thicker paper and use them as disposable placemats at a monster-themed party.

Learning Through Monster Fun

Although these sheets are designed to be entertaining, they also offer plenty of opportunities for learning.

The activities can help children practise:

• Counting and number skills
• Letter recognition and spelling
• Fine motor control
• Pencil control
• Visual discrimination
• Symmetry
• Graphing and comparing quantities
• Emotional vocabulary
• Problem-solving
• Creativity and imaginative thinking

The mixture of challenges means children can move between focused puzzles and open-ended drawing without the activity beginning to feel like formal schoolwork.

More Ways to Use the Monster Activity Mats

These printable mats would be great for:

• Halloween parties
• Monster-themed birthday parties
• Classroom morning work
• Early finishers
• Indoor playtimes
• Home education
• After-school clubs
• Rainy-day activities
• Restaurant entertainment
• Long journeys
• Screen-free quiet time

For a party, add a mat to each place setting with a small bundle of crayons. You could even hold a competition for the funniest, friendliest or most colourful monster.

Download the Free Monster Activity Mats

These printables are offered for your non-commercial personal use only. Mass production of the activity mats is not permitted, including for non-profit purposes.

Please do not upload the PDF to another website. If you would like to tell others about this free resource, please share a link to this post so they can download their own copy. Pinning is welcome as long as the pin links back to this page. Thank you!

Add the free printable to your basket and then visit the cart using the orange menu at the top right of the page. Complete the checkout as normal—you will not be charged. The PDF will be available to download immediately and will also be emailed to you.

Have a Monstrously Good Time!

These Monster Activity Mats are easy to prepare, fun to complete and full of opportunities for children to learn as they play.

Print them for Halloween, save them for a rainy afternoon or use them to keep young guests entertained at your next monster party. Just watch out for any hungry creatures searching for cookies!

We would love to see your children’s finished monster creations. Share a picture on social media and tag Mum in the Madhouse so we can admire them.

Happy monster making!

This Halloween Hub is your go-to guide for all things spooky, crafty, and fun. Whether you’re looking for a quick printable activity, a DIY costume, or an easy recipe to make with the kids, you’ll find it here.

Halloween Crafts

Get hands-on with these fun and creative Halloween craft projects:

• Make Ghosts in a Jar for an easy decoration that glows with spooky charm.
• Create glowing Jam Jar Halloween Lanterns from recycled jars and tissue paper.
• Craft Clay Ghost Tealights that are perfect as little Halloween night-lights.
• Kids will love making a Pom Pom Spider that’s cute rather than creepy.
• Try Glue Resist Pumpkin Art for a fun and colourful seasonal artwork.
• Make keepsakes with Salt Dough Halloween Decorations you can hang up year after year.
• Decorate the house with Ghastly Ghosts Halloween Crafts that children will enjoy making.
• Add a festive touch with BOO Ghost Bunting to string up around the house.
• Surprise everyone with a cheeky Toilet Monster to add spooky fun to the bathroom.
• Use nature to inspire creativity with this Spider Web Craft made from sticks and string.
• Make a standout DIY Halloween Mummy Trick or Treat Bowl to serve sweets in style.

Free Halloween Printables

Perfect for rainy days or party activities, these printables are ready to download and enjoy:

• Colour and display Printable Halloween Candle Holders with safe battery tealights.
• Free Printable Halloween Wreath: Cut and Colour Craft for Kids.
• Make a 3D Pumpkin House with This Free Colour-by-Number Printable.
• This Spooky printable haunted house and village is perfect to make with the whole family.
• Fab fun with these free monster activity mats, perfect for eating out activity.
• Relax with Halloween Mandala Colouring Sheets that suit both kids and adults.
• Challenge your children with Free Halloween Maze Printables that come in different levels.
• Keep kids busy with Printable Halloween Word Searches featuring spooky-themed words.
• Brighten windows or parties with DIY Paper Halloween Lanterns in seven different designs.
• Hand out treats in a Printable Coffin Halloween Box – fun and functional.
• Let kids design their own cards with Printable Halloween Cards to Colour.
• Display Free No Trick-or-Treaters Posters if you want a quiet Halloween night.
• Download Cute Halloween Colouring Pages with pumpkins, ghosts and more.
• Encourage reading with Kids Halloween Colouring Bookmarks that double as craft activities.
• Share a laugh with Free Printable “Run Out of Treats” Posters to put up when the sweets are gone.
• Dress up characters with Printable Halloween Paper Dolls that kids can colour and play with.
• Explore letters with Printable Halloween Alphabet Puppets from A–Z.

Halloween Recipes & Treats

Tasty and fun recipes to make with the kids:

• Bake Vampire Bite Cupcakes complete with red “fang marks” for a spooky surprise.
• Create Spider Web Cupcakes decorated with chocolate webs.
• Build your own Haunted Gingerbread House for the ultimate Halloween centrepiece.

Costumes & Dressing Up

Last-minute costumes don’t have to be stressful:

• Try one of our 5 DIY Halloween Outfits that can be made from everyday items at home.
• Repurpose ideas from our DIY World Book Day Costume Ideas – many of them double up brilliantly for Halloween.

Family Halloween Activities

Enjoy Halloween together with fun family ideas:

• Our Spooktacular Halloween Activities for Half Term round-up is packed with fun things to do.

Why We Love Halloween

For us, Halloween isn’t about being scary – it’s about being silly, creative, and spending time together as a family. Whether it’s carving pumpkins, colouring in a printable, or baking cupcakes, these little traditions are the things our boys remember most.

So dive into the hub, pick a craft, print an activity, or whip up a spooky snack – and have a fang-tastic Halloween!

These free printable 3D pumpkin houses combine colouring, number recognition and paper crafting in one wonderfully autumnal activity. Children simply follow the colour key, cut out their finished house and assemble it to create a freestanding pumpkin home.

They are perfect for a cosy afternoon at home, an autumn classroom activity or a little screen-free fun during half-term.

Free Printable Pumpkin House Craft

The printable pack contains three different pumpkin-house designs. Each one has its own doors, windows, roof and delightful seasonal details, including leaves, flowers and tiny lanterns.

Children can follow the numbered colour key to recreate the finished examples, or choose their own colours and make a completely unique pumpkin house. Who says pumpkins have to be orange?

Once coloured and assembled, the houses make lovely autumn decorations. Arrange several together to create a miniature pumpkin village for imaginative play or display them on a windowsill, bookshelf or seasonal nature table.

What Is Included?

The free six-page PDF contains:

• Three black-and-white 3D pumpkin-house templates
• A different colour-by-number key for each house
• Three completed colour guides
• Clearly marked tabs to help with assembly
• Plenty of charming details for children to colour

Each black-and-white page makes one complete pumpkin house.

You Will Need

• The free printable pumpkin-house PDF
• White cardstock or thick printer paper
• Colouring pencils, crayons or felt-tip pens
• Child-safe scissors
• A glue stick or double-sided tape
• A ruler for making neat folds, if desired

Cardstock will produce the sturdiest houses, but ordinary printer paper works too. If you are using felt-tip pens, allow the ink to dry before folding so it does not smudge.

How to Make a 3D Pumpkin House

1. Print the Template

Download the free printable and choose one of the three black-and-white house designs.

Print the page in landscape orientation. Select “actual size” or 100% in your printer settings so that the pieces and tabs remain correctly proportioned.

2. Colour by Number

Use the colour key in the corner of the page to colour each numbered section.

Colouring pencils are especially good for the smaller windows, leaves and decorative details. Felt-tip pens create wonderfully bright houses, but children may need to take a little extra care around the numbers and outlines.

The completed pages at the end of the pack can be used as handy colour guides.

3. Cut Out the House

Carefully cut around the outside edge of the template, remembering to keep all the sections marked “Paste”.

Younger children may need an adult to help around the roof points and smaller tabs.

4. Fold the Template

Fold along the straight lines between each wall panel. Gently crease the roof sections and folding tabs as well.

Running a ruler along each fold can help to create crisp edges, but take care not to cut through the paper.

5. Assemble Your Pumpkin House

Bring the sides of the house together and glue the side tab inside the opposite wall.

Next, fold the roof into shape and secure the tabs marked “Paste”. Hold each join for a few moments while the glue begins to grip. Double-sided tape is a brilliant option if you have children who find waiting for glue to dry almost impossible!

Once everything is secure, stand the house upright and admire your tiny pumpkin creation.

Why We Love Colour-by-Number Crafts

Colour-by-number activities are calm and satisfying, but they also give children lots of opportunities to learn through play.

This printable can help children practise:

• Number recognition
• Colour matching
• Following instructions
• Fine motor control
• Hand-eye coordination
• Scissor skills
• Folding and spatial awareness
• Patience and concentration

Building the finished house also introduces children to the idea that a flat shape can be folded into a three-dimensional object, making this a lovely little STEAM activity too.

Ideas for Using Your Pumpkin Houses

Create a Pumpkin Village

Make all three designs and arrange them together. Add a path made from brown paper, tissue-paper leaves and a few pinecones to create an autumn village.

Add Battery-Operated Lights

Place a small battery-operated tealight beside or beneath the finished house to create a cosy glow. Never use a real candle with a paper craft.

Encourage Storytelling

Ask your child who lives inside their pumpkin house. Is it a mouse, a fairy, a tiny witch or perhaps a family of friendly autumn gnomes?

They could give each resident a name and write a short story about an adventure in the pumpkin village.

Make a Halloween Display

Add cotton-wool cobwebs, paper bats or friendly ghosts to turn the houses into a not-too-spooky Halloween decoration.

Try Your Own Colour Scheme

The numbers are there to guide children, but there are no colour police in our house! Try a white pumpkin with a purple roof, a rainbow house or a wonderfully sparkly version decorated with metallic pens.

Tips for Successful Paper Houses

• Colour the house before cutting and folding it.
• Use lightweight cardstock for a sturdier finished model.
• Score folds gently with a blunt tool for cleaner edges.
• Glue one section at a time rather than trying to assemble everything at once.
• Use double-sided tape if you want the joins to hold immediately.
• Let children personalise their houses with stickers, glitter glue or drawn decorations.
• Ask an adult to help with cutting and assembly when needed.

Download the Free Printable Pumpkin Houses

These printables are offered for non-commercial personal use only. Mass production is not permitted, including for non-profit purposes.

Please do not upload the PDF to another website. If you would like to share the activity with friends, families or fellow teachers, please link to this post so they can download their own copy. Pinning is welcome as long as the pin links back to this page.

More Pumpkin Fun

If your children enjoyed building these little houses, continue the autumn fun with pumpkin colouring pages, pumpkin life-cycle activities, paper-plate pumpkin crafts or a trip to the pumpkin patch. See all our pumpkin posts here.

These 3D pumpkin houses are cheerful, creative and just fiddly enough to keep little hands busy. Best of all, when the colouring and construction are finished, children have a wonderful model they can proudly display and use for imaginative play.

Now the only question is: who is going to live in your pumpkin house?

Happy colouring and happy autumn!

This free printable Leaf Spotter Activity Set is packed with simple ways for children to explore, identify and get creative with leaves. Just print the pages, pop on your wellies and head outside!

It is a lovely activity for autumn, but you can use it throughout the year to help children notice how leaves change with the seasons.

Free Printable Leaf Spotter Activity Set

The printable pack contains eight leaf-themed activities:

• A make-your-own Leaf Spotter frame
• A leaf scavenger hunt
• A “My Leaf Investigation” worksheet
• A labelled diagram showing the parts of a leaf
• A worksheet for labelling the parts of a leaf
• A guide to different leaf shapes
• A leafy fish craft
• A leafy butterfly craft

There is a nice mixture of outdoor play, observation, early science and crafting, so you can use the whole pack for a leaf-themed afternoon or choose one page whenever you need a quick activity.

Make a Leaf Spotter

The Leaf Spotter is such a simple way to make a nature walk feel like a proper expedition.

Print the page onto card, cut around the spotter and handle, then carefully remove the centre of the frame. Attach the handle with glue or strong tape and your little explorer is ready to go.

Children can hold the frame over the leaves they discover and compare them with the illustrations around its edge. See how many different colours, shapes and sizes they can find.

The printable includes maple, oak, elm, sweetgum, birch, chestnut, aspen, hawthorn, beech, poplar, rowan, sassafras, hickory, basswood, willow, holly and ginkgo leaves. Not every tree will grow in every area, of course, but the pictures are useful prompts for comparing the leaves available locally.

You could also take photographs through the empty frame and create a seasonal leaf gallery.

Go on a Leaf Scavenger Hunt

Give each child a copy of the scavenger-hunt sheet and head to the garden, park or woods.

They can tick each leaf as they find it or work together to look for the closest matches. Encourage them to look closely before picking anything up. Can they find a leaf with jagged edges? One shaped like a hand? A long, narrow leaf? A leaf with several smaller leaflets?

Remind children to collect only fallen leaves and to leave unknown plants, berries and fungi untouched.

Investigate a Leaf

Once you have collected a few fallen leaves, use the Leaf Investigation page to examine one in more detail.

Children can:

• Draw their chosen leaf
• Give it a name
• Record its colour
• Write where it came from
• Describe how it looks and feels
• Count its stems, edges and veins
• Explain what makes it special
• Make a leaf rubbing

To make the rubbing, place the leaf beneath the paper with its veins facing upwards. Remove the wrapper from a crayon and gently rub the side of the crayon across the page. The pattern of the leaf should gradually appear.

This is one of those wonderfully simple activities that still feels a little bit magical.

Learn the Parts of a Leaf

The pack includes a labelled leaf diagram introducing vocabulary such as the midrib, margin, tip, veins, leaf blade and petiole.

Start with the completed diagram and look for the same features on a real leaf. Older children can then try the labelling worksheet using the word bank, while younger children can trace the veins with a finger or point to the different parts as you name them.

There is no need to turn it into a formal lesson. A short conversation and a good look through a magnifying glass can inspire plenty of curiosity.

Explore Different Leaf Shapes

Leaves come in far more shapes than we tend to notice. The printable guide introduces lobed, cleft, acicular, linear, obovate, scale, sagittate and reniform leaves.

See whether your children can find anything similar outside. You could sort collected leaves into groups, arrange them from smallest to largest or compare their edges and vein patterns.

Do not worry if you cannot identify every leaf. Looking carefully, asking questions and spotting differences are the important parts.

Make Leafy Fish and Butterflies

When you return home, use some of your collected leaves to complete the leafy fish and butterfly pictures.

Arrange the leaves over the templates to make fins, scales, wings or patterns. Once everyone is pleased with the design, glue the leaves in place and add colour with crayons, pencils or paint.

Freshly fallen, fairly flat leaves work best. If the leaves are damp, leave them to dry before using them. You can also press them between sheets of paper beneath a few heavy books.

Bear in mind that natural leaves may curl and change colour as they dry, but I think that is part of their charm.

What You Will Need

You do not need much for these activities:

• The free printable Leaf Spotter Activity Set
• A printer
• Paper or lightweight card
• Child-safe scissors
• Glue or tape
• Crayons or coloured pencils
• A magnifying glass, if you have one
• A bag or basket for fallen leaves

Card is the best choice for the Leaf Spotter, while ordinary printer paper is fine for the remaining activity sheets.

More Ways to Play With Leaves

If your children still have a basket full of leaves, try using them to:

• Make a rainbow by sorting them according to colour
• Create faces, animals or funny little leaf people
• Measure and order them by size
• Count how many points or lobes they have
• Make leaf prints with washable paint
• Create a nature collage
• Thread sturdy leaves onto string to make a garland
• Compare green leaves with dry autumn leaves

You can also repeat the Leaf Spotter activity in another season and talk about what has changed.

Download the Free Leaf Printable

Download and print your free Leaf Spotter Activity Set below.

Please print as many copies as you need for your own family, classroom or group. Adult supervision is recommended when children are cutting out the spotter frame or exploring outdoors.

Then all that is left to do is pull on your boots, grab the printable and see what leafy treasures you can discover!

From quirky celebration days to national festivals and seasonal adventures, here are some brilliant ways to make memories this August.

Special Days & Celebrations

1st August – Yorkshire Day

Celebrate all things Yorkshire! Try traditional treats such as Yorkshire puddings or Yorkshire parkin, tea tasting, or a flat cap selfie session.

4th August – National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

Bake together or create your own cookie sundae bar with toppings and scoops.

8th August – International Cat Day

Make cat-themed crafts or read your favourite feline books. Got a cat? Plan a mini pamper session for your furry friend.

12th August – World Elephant Day

Learn about elephants and conservation with a craft or a nature documentary.

15th August – National Relaxation Day

Host a family spa day. Try DIY bath melts or bath oils, and finish with a reading corner.

19th August – World Photography Day

Give each family member a camera or phone and go on a photo scavenger hunt.

30th August – International Whale Shark Day

Explore ocean life through crafts, books, or an aquarium trip.

Festivals, Events & Adventures

Edinburgh Festival Fringe (7–31 August 2025)

Catch a family-friendly show, or create your own living-room performance at home.

Notting Hill Carnival (29–31 August 2025)

Make your own masks, dance to steel drums, or try Caribbean food recipes.

Summer Reading Challenge

Still going strong! Visit your local library and encourage the kids to finish their challenge. We have some fab bookmarks to download.

Perseid Meteor Shower (peaks 11–13 August)

Stay up late for a magical stargazing evening. Bring blankets, hot chocolate, and wish on shooting stars.

Local Fêtes & Flower Shows

Visit a nearby village fête, county show, or allotment contest. Look for face painting, crafts, and cake stalls.

Things to Try This August

• Create a DIY obstacle course in the garden or park.
• Try water balloon painting or sponge targets for a fun splashy game.
• Make pressed flower bookmarks – lovely for gifts or memory keeping.
• Go on a bee or butterfly walk and record what you spot.
• Host a backyard movie night – fairy lights + popcorn = magic.
• Pack a teddy bear picnic – dress up your cuddly crew!
• Try a no-spend day – visit the library, explore nature, or craft from your stash.
• Visit a pick-your-own farm for late-summer berries or sunflowers.
• Start a family time capsule – fill it with drawings, notes, or mementos to open next August.

Crafts to Match the Month

Get hands-on with creative makes that are perfect for summer:

• Tissue Confetti Photo Frame – great for summer memories.
• DIY Vanilla & Peppermint Lip Scrub – for your relaxation day.
• DIY Star Wars Soaps – for bath time fun.
• Magnetic Pin Bowl – great for budding sewists.
• Fingerprint Mugs – perfect for handmade gifts or keepsakes.

Final Thought

August doesn’t have to be packed to be meaningful. Whether you do one activity or many, let this Could Do List offer gentle inspiration for sunny days, rainy afternoons, and everything in between.

Don’t forget to download your free printable tick list below and keep it on the fridge or in your planner.

Looking for more monthly inspiration?

Explore our full archive of Could-Do Lists and seasonal crafts.

To celebrate, I’ve created a free printable set of FIFA World Cup 2026 mascot colouring pages, featuring:

• Maple the Moose
• Zayu the Jaguar
• Clutch the Bald Eagle

These are perfect for football-loving kids, junior fans, classroom activities, party bags, rainy afternoons, or keeping little ones entertained while watching the matches.

Why Are There 3 Official Mascots of the FIFA World Cup?

Usually, the FIFA World Cup has one mascot, but 2026 is different because it is being hosted by three nations instead of one. 

Each of the host countries has its own special mascot to represent its culture, wildlife, and football spirit:

Maple the Moose – Canada

Maple represents Canada and is a strong, creative moose inspired by the country’s famous maple leaf. He wears red and plays as the goalkeeper. 

Zayu the Jaguar – Mexico

Zayu is Mexico’s mascot, a powerful jaguar that symbolises strength, agility, and cultural pride. Jaguars have deep roots in Mexican history and ancient civilisations. He wears green and is the striker. 

Clutch the Bald Eagle – United States

Clutch is the USA mascot, a bold bald eagle representing courage, leadership, and unity. He wears blue and plays in midfield. 

I love that FIFA has chosen three mascots for the three host nations—it makes this World Cup feel even more inclusive and exciting for children.

Free FIFA World Cup 2026 Mascot Colouring Pages Printable

This printable pack includes:

• 1 page of Maple to colour
• 1 page of Zayu to colour
• 1 page of Clutch to colour

These make a brilliant activity for:

• football-themed birthday parties
• classroom World Cup celebrations
• homeschool sports topics
• screen-free afternoons
• family football watch parties

Fun Ways to Use These Colouring Pages

Here are some fun ideas to make the printable even more exciting:

Pick Your Favourite Team

Ask children to colour the mascot that matches the country they think might win.

Match Day Activity Station

Set up colouring pencils and football snacks during family watch parties.

Create Your Own Mascot

After colouring, challenge kids to invent a mascot for England, Wales, Scotland or their own local team.

Turn Into Decorations

Finished pages make fun World Cup bunting, posters, or fridge art.

Why Football Colouring Activities Are Great for Kids

Football colouring sheets are great because they help children:

• develop fine motor skills
• improve pencil control
• build concentration
• feel involved in major sporting events
• learn about different countries and cultures

With three mascots from Canada, Mexico, and the USA, it’s also a lovely way to talk about geography and world cultures while getting excited about football.

Download Your Free FIFA World Cup 2026 Mascot Colouring Pages

Simply print the PDF at home on regular paper or card.

These printables are offered for your non-commercial personal use only. Mass-production of these free printable coloring pages is not permitted, even for non-profit purposes. Please do not upload the FIFA World Cup Mascots coloring page Prinables to other sites – instead, if you want to let people know about these freebies, post a link to this page. Pinning is okay as long as the pin links back to this page. Thanks!

These also work brilliantly as:

• travel activities
• classroom wet play printables
• football club fun sheets
• summer holiday boredom busters

More Football Fun for Kids

If your family loves football activities, pair these with:

• Design a football kit.
• DIY football piñata
• score prediction sheets
• DIY mini football table game
• football colouring pages