Halloween Crafts for Kids - Page 2

Pumpkin crafts

The orange gourd that graces the front porch of most homes this time of year has so much craft potential. This year try painting your faces. Use stencils and tape to cover spots that are to remain orange and paint the rest. This is an easy way for a child to create their own Jack-o-lantern from start to finish without having to use a knife.

Other pumpkin fun includes decorating them with glow in the dark paint. You can paint faces, stars or hand prints. Turn out the lights and watch them glow. You can also use paints to draw faces then top them with yarn for hair, sturdy construction paper for ears, ties, collars and ribbons.

Beyond faces, there is still more pumpkin fun. When you haven’t polluted the pumpkin’s flesh by burning a candle in it you can use it in your holiday baking. Pumpkin is fabulous and nutritious. Kids will love helping you use their creations to make pies or roasted seeds.

Sugar + water + cheese cloth = ghost?

This is true, and so much fun. To begin combine at least two parts water and one part sugar. (Tip: the sugar dissolves much better in warm to hot water.) Once the sugar is all dissolved put several layers of cheese cloth in it to soak.

Now it is time to prepare the framework for your ghost. Do this by blowing up a balloon to the desired size and affixing it to a glass, vase or jar of the height that you would like your ghost to stand. Now begin to layer the cheese cloth over the balloon. If you would like your ghost to stand on its own then be sure to leave long portions of the cheese cloth trailing onto the work surface to support it once it dries. Layer as many sheets of cheese cloth as you wish, more layers will look floaty and airy, while fewer layers will create a more spectral see through ghost. Add folds and bumps as desired by shaping the cheese cloth with your fingers.

Once you have the shape and thickness you desire let your creation dry it will take at least over one night. When the ghost is dry it will be very stiff. You can now decorate your ghost with eyes, lace, felt, patches and hats as you desire. To remove the balloon pop it with a pin and then pull the cup out of the bottom. Boo!

Frightening Felt

There are so many things you can do with felt, but a Halloween favorite has got to be finger puppets. To create the base use inexpensive knit gloves. Those tiny stretchy gloves work great. An alternative is to create your own base by tracing the fingers or hands of your child allowing a ¼ inch seem allowance and either stitching it together or using hot glue to stick two sides together. (Glue works best when only doing individual fingers.)

Once the bases are made use felt to create faces, clothes and shoes of your favorite Halloween figures. Ghosts, witches, pumpkins, mummies and Dracula are all fun. If you want to add a bit of pizzazz use googly eyes or yarn for hair.

Masks

This is the season of dress up, so why not create a mask? Use a basic paper plate, you know the kind that you have to double and triple up in order to hold potato chips. Fold the plate along the mid section and cut it in half. (If the plates are small then hold the plate to the child’s face before cutting. The cut should fall across the bridge if the nose.) A nice effect for fancier masks is to cut a higher spot in the middle for the nose then dipping down on the sides to cover the cheeks. Cut out the eye holes and use a hole punch to make a hole on each side where yarn or ribbon will be used make ties.

Now that the mask pattern is ready, let the kids decide what kind of mask they want, and turn them loose. They can use paper or crayons to create spots or stripes for animals. Feathers or glitter for birds and fancy party masks. Yarn and tinfoil crowns are great for a princess mask. The sky is the limit here and to think all you needed to add to your basic craft kit was a paper plate.

Halloween Crafts for Kids - Page 3