5 Spooky Arts and Crafts Ideas
Halloween isn’t far away, so it’s time to start thinking about how you can mark the occasion! Aside from dressing up and going trick or treating, spooky arts and crafts are a great way to get into the spirit of Halloween and, better yet, they also boast an educational benefit for the children taking part too. Arts and craft projects will boost their creativity and imagination, as well as strengthen their fine motor skills and dexterity! So, here are five spooky ideas to create with the children this Halloween…
- Paper rats and spiders
A simple but effective Halloween craft is to get some black paper and draw an outline of scary animals using a white pen. Ask children to draw spiders, rats, mice and any other little critters they think are unpleasant. Then, ask children to carefully cut around the outline, before popping a piece of blu-tack or double sided sticky tape to the ‘scruffier’ side of the cutting. You can fit the paper animals to the bottom of walls, along staircases or anywhere else where they’ll be sure to give an unsuspecting passer-by a little fright!
- Pasta skeletons
If you don’t have a well-stocked stationery cupboard right now (…and could do with filling up your basket with an online supplier such as this one!), why not raid the food cupboard instead? Dried pasta is actually the perfect thing to use if you fancy making pasta skeletons, like these. All you’ll need is a black paper and glue so that you can stick the pasta to something, using different shapes and varieties to make a grizzly rib cage or a ghoulish skull!
- A talking pumpkin
Know what’s more frightening than a carved pumpkin? A carved pumpkin that talks! Carve a spooky face (helping children if they’re too young to safely wield a craft knife on their own), and then cut a lid off the top of the pumpkin. Place a baby monitor or Walkie-Talkie in the pumpkin before fitting the ‘lid’ back in place. The kids can then put on their scariest voices to seemingly bring the pumpkin to life! If you still want to illuminate the pumpkin as well as give it a voice, use a set of LED lights instead of a flame.
- Toilet roll mummies
If you want to try a Halloween craft that’s cheap, simple and, best of all, suitable for really young children, why not give toilet rolls mummies a go? Save your empty toilet rolls before coating them in a thin coat of glue using an old paint brush. Then, stick on pieces of white tissue paper (the more haphazardly the better) so that the mummy starts to look ‘wrapped’. Next, take a length of pale cotton string and wrap it round the mummy a few times before gluing the ends into place (something small children might need a little help with). Finish by sticking on a pair of goggly eyes. This craft is excellent for refining fine motor skills in young children, and is low cost too.
- Ghostly footprints
A craft that’s suitable for very young children who perhaps don’t have the motor skills to attempt the ideas above is a set of ghostly footprints to be turned into a footprint ghoul… All you need to do is put a piece of black card on the floor before gently lowering a child’s foot into an ice cream tub containing a small amount of white paint. Ask the child to place their foot on the black paper, helping them roll their foot inward so that their instep creates an impression on the page too. Then, wait for the footprint to dry before using a black marker pen to help them draw on two ghoulish eyes and a scary open mouth!
Article written by Naomi Webb