Kids Love Halloween Crafts

Kids always have fun making crafts, especially holiday-themed crafts. Here are some fun Halloween craft ideas for your kids to make this year.

1. Trick-or-Treat bucket
Supplies: ice cream bucket, construction paper, markers, crayons, glue, glitter (any craft supplies)
Directions: Use construction paper to draw ghosts, pumpkins, scarecrows, etc. Cut out your decorations and glue them to the outside of an ice cream bucket.

2. Trick-or-Treat goody bags
Supplies: small brown paper bags, Halloween stickers, markers, treats (candy, pencils, erasers, bubblegum, etc.)
Directions: Decorate paper bags in Halloween themes using your art supplies. Put treats inside bags. Fold the top of the bag down and tape shut with a Halloween sticker.

3. Tiny pumpkins
Supplies: acorns, orange paint, and green paint
Directions: Lay acorns on a sheet of newspaper. Paint the bottom of the acorns with orange paint. After the orange paint dries, paint the top of the acorns green (for the stem of the pumpkin). Allow to dry thoroughly.

4. Spooky Spiders
Supplies: black construction paper, cotton balls or cotton stuffing, black pipe cleaners, small bowl or saucer, and a stapler
Directions: Using black construction paper, trace around a small bowl or saucer. (Cut out two circles per spider.) Place stuffing or cotton balls on first circle. Lay second circle on top of cotton stuffing and staple half-way around. Insert 3-4" pipe cleaners on each side, then staple the second half of the circles together. Bend pipe cleaners to make the "legs" of the spider.

You can also get fun crafts in the mail from Mrs. Lisa at MyVeryOwnMail.com - a very unique gift for kids!

These make great Halloween greetings or party invitations. Here's what you'll need:

* Construction paper (orange and black are good colors)
* Glue
* Scissors
* Markers

1. Fold a piece of construction paper in half to make a card shape.

2. Make a 2 1/2 inch cut perpendicular to the fold, about 2 1/2 inches from the edge. Make another 2 1/2 inch cut 1/2 inch from that one, and make two more cuts 2 1/2 and 3 inches from the other side. This will leave two narrow flaps in the card.

3. Open the card and push the flaps up into the inside of it. Close the card and press with the flaps to the inside so that they are creased.

4. Cut two ghosts, spiders, or other scary items out of construction paper. Open the card and glue each one onto the front of one of the folded flaps.

5. Glue another piece of construction paper to the outside of your card, taking care not to glue where the flaps are. Let dry.

6. Using markers, write a message on the card.

These are great additions to Halloween costumes, or just for playing pretend. You'll need the following materials:

* Paper plate
* Elastic
* Scissors
* Hole Punch
* Markers
* Glue
* Sequins, pom-poms or other embellishments (optional)

1. Use markers to decorate the back side of a paper plate. Be sure to make the eyes big enough to see out of.

2. Cut out the eyes.

3. Add embellishments if desired.

4. Use the hole punch to make a hole in each side of the mask, taking care to keep them even.

5. Cut enough elastic to secure the mask to the wearer's head, plus a couple of extra inches. Thread each end through one of the holes you just made and tie it securely.

Mosaic art using tiles is very popular nowadays and kids can even enjoy it! They can duplicate this popular craft using construction paper instead of tiles or glass.

Prior to gathering the children around the table, cut small squares of various colors of paper - orange, red, blue, yellow, white, black, green, etc.

On a piece of heavy stock, white paper, draw the outline of a pumpkin, Frankenstein or other Halloween character.

With a small dab of all-purpose glue on the back of each square, kids can mosaic their way to a uniquely creative masterpiece that can be framed and hung on the wall for many Halloween seasons to come.

This is a fun project that you may want to break up across a couple of days, so be sure to start a few days before Halloween. Mom, you can join in the fun as well and make a Halloween wreath of your own too!

Material List

Paper Plate (One per child/adult)
Scissors
Leaves
Glue Sticks
Orange Construction Papers
White Construction Paper
Black Construction Paper
Washable Black Marker
Black Yarn (optional)

Adult Preparation: (To Be Done Prior to Actual Wreath Making)

Cut the center from each paper plate prior to giving one to each child. These will be the base for the homemade wreaths.

Day 1: Grab the kids and head outdoors.

Gather as many fallen leaves of different shapes and colors as you can find. Once you've collected enough leaves to cover each paper plate, head back inside and glue them to the paper plates. You can glue the leaves to cover the entire plate, randomly around the plate or even as a border around only the edge, whichever you prefer. Once you've glued the leaves to the paper plate, leave the plates to dry for 24 hours or at least overnight.

Day 2: Creativity

Depending on how much time you have to complete this project you can have the children do the next step after the leaves have been glued on, while you're waiting for them to dry or you can make another day of it.
Let the children draw Halloween images on the construction paper. Here are some ideas for each color of paper:

Orange - Pumpkins (Use the black marker to draw the face on their pumpkins)

White - Ghosts, Mummies, Bones

Black - Cats, Witch Hats (You can use the yarn to put a tail on the cat and hair on the witches head if you'd like to put that under the hat)

Once the children have picked out and drawn which decorations they'll be using, carefully cut them out and paste them to the wreath.

Tip: Pre-placement (before gluing) will give the child an idea of what the wreath will look like once it is all glued together. When the children are happy with the way the decorations are placed, it's time to glue them to the leaves.

Again, allow the decorations to dry completely.

Day 3: Decorating Time

Congratulations! You've made your very own homemade Halloween wreath. Enjoy your child's creation by hanging it on the front door or his or her bedroom door for all your friends and family to see and admire.