Halloween is fast approaching, which means that the time for pumpkin carving, ghost stories and candy bonanzas is drawing near! If you’re looking for ways to get your little ones in the Halloween spirit, below are some fun, simple and very inexpensive craft ideas to kick off the upcoming Halloween holiday with a bang (or “boo!”).
1. Puffy Hanging Ghosts (from Thriving Home)
Draw several simple outlines of ghosts on white construction paper, and then have your toddlers cut them out with safety scissors. Using school glue, affix cotton balls to cover the entire ghost cutout. Now using black construction paper, cut out circles for eyes and crescents (or other shapes) for mouths, then glue them on in the appropriate places as well. Attach string to the back of each ghost, so that you can hang them around the house.
2. Spooky Pumpkin Spiders
All you need to make your spooky pumpkin spiders are some fake lightweight mini-pumpkins, black pipe cleaners, and some dried black-eyed peas (or any other small lentil). Your toddler can tape or glue eight pipe cleaners to the underside of the pumpkin (four on each side, of course) to make the legs for the spider. After that, they can glue a cluster of black-eyed peas onto the front of the pumpkin to mimic the multiple eyes of the spider. You can place these spooky spiders anywhere around the house for decoration, but don’t be surprised if they become part of your toddler’s imaginative play sessions!
3. Spider Web Plates
This clever craft comes courtesy of Anne Lily Design. Using a single hole puncher, punch holes around the edges of a black round paper plate, and then allow your child to thread white yarn in and out of the holes to create a criss-crossed weblike design over the surface of the plate. Your toddler can then apply foam spider stickers to the finished product in whatever configuration they see fit. Not only is this craft a fun way for your child to flex their creative muscles, but it’s also a great way to help them develop their fine motor skills as well.
4. Fun and Yummy Pretzel Skeletons
From HGTV design professional Kim Stoegbauer comes this fun and delectable Halloween-inspired treat that your toddler will have just as much fun eating as they will have making it. Here’s what you’ll need:
* White chocolate covered pretzel knots and sticks* Large marshmallows* Some 6-inch lollipop sticks* A black marker with food-safe ink
Start off by “impaling” a large marshmallow on a lollipop stick, sliding it about halfway down to form the midsection of the skeleton. Now stack three white chocolate pretzel knots on top of the marshmallow to create the skeleton’s rib cage. After that, top off the lollipop stick with a large marshmallow to make the head of the skeleton. Now break the white chocolate pretzel sticks in half and push them up into the underside of the midsection marshmallow to make the legs. After that, break a white chocolate pretzel knot in half, and hook the curved pieces of the knot into the top pretzel knot on the rib cage stack; this will form the skeleton’s arms. Once all of this is done, use the black marker to draw whatever fun expression you want on the skeleton’s marshmallow head. This fun craft will keep your little one occupied for quite a while, and they’ll be more than happy to make several of them, so that they can devour them later!
The above crafts are really only a handful of ideas just to get you started. You can discover more Halloween crafts for kids than you can shake a stick at by checking out the countless Halloween craft boards on Pinterest. Now you’ve got all the inspiration you need, so let the spooky times roll!
