Halloween Crafts for Kids Part II
Which Came First: The Pumpkin or The Egg?
supplies: hardboiled eggs, vinegar, red and yellow food coloring, black crayons, seasonal basket, black or orange yarn.
Encourage your kids to use eggs the right way on Halloween by creating pumpkin eggs. Follow the same procedure as you would for dying easter eggs (one method: hard boil, dip in hot vinegar mixed with food coloringâÂ?¦). But instead of going for the pretty pastels and spring colors, mix some red and yellow to get orange. Have your kids make jack-o-lantern faces with black crayons on the eggs before they dip them in the orange dye. Dip, soak, and remove, cool. Put them in a basket filled with orange or black yarn, and you’ve got a cool and edible, if temporary, Halloween craft. (Take care of them as you would Easter eggs.)
The Halloween Tree
supplies: dead tree branch with many offshoots, sturdy pot of soil, yarn, white paper, scissors, crayons or markers, optional: other craft decorations. With cookie cutters or by their own devices, ask kids to cut white paper into small Halloween-themed shapes: ghosts, pumpkins, monsters, witches, each no bigger than a light bulb at most. Have them color each side of these cut-outs anyway they see fit. Pop a hole on the top and put yarn through them (black may be best) for hanging. What are you going to do with them now? Well, take an old branch from outside (your kids can help you look), preferably one with lots of tiny limbs, dust it off as needed. Take a pot of soil from a summer plant that’s no longer with you, and stick the limb in the soil so it’s firmly in place. Now, let your kids hang their handmade Halloween ornaments on the branches. Put it by the door to impress trick-or-treaters or use it as a fun centerpiece.
The Disguise-A-Guy Kit
supplies: construction paper (various), scissors, markers or crayons, glue, brass fasteners (optional); other craft decorations: cotton, yarn, string, cloth, etc. as desired. Here’s a great Halloween craft that can make a whole week kind of fun. With your kids, use several pieces of construction paper to create a “guy” – a head, a torso, arms, and legs. If you like, attach his “limbs” with brass fasteners at the joints to give him some mobility. Now, have your kids design costumes for your “guy” (or girl) to wear on different days. Kids can make hats and outfits from paper, mustaches and wigs from yarn, glasses from piper cleaner, and whatever accessories they like. Costumes don’t have to be strictly “Halloween”-ish. Your kid can turn your family “guy” into a princess, a punk rocker, whatever he or she wants to. For added fun, don’t let anyone see each other’s costumes; that way, every day, it’s a surprise what the guy is wearing.
3-D Cat on The Fence
supplies: white paper, crayons or markers, tinfoil, glue, Popsicle sticks, black felt and plastic eyes (optional) other decoration items as desired. Few things are more Halloween-ish than a Black cat sitting on a fence in the moonlight. Let your kids recreate this scene. Using popsicle sticks for the cross bars, have kids build a fence on their paper. Then, have them make one out of felt. (You may need to trace the pattern) or simply draw one with crayons or markers. Googly-eyes can add more three-d fun. Next, have them color in the backdrop however they like- scary house, dark sky, leaves on the ground; Then have them cut out a glowing moon – full or otherwise- from tinfoil and glue it into the sky. Your finished product will be a great-looking, one-of-a-kind Halloween landscape.
I’ll Take the “Treat”
supplies: markers or crayons, white paper, colored construction paper, scissors and glue, as desired. It’s Halloween, forget the black and orange: your kids have candy on their brains. Ask your kids to turn a plain white piece of paper into cross-section of the ultimate candy. (Cut a piece of candy in half to explain “cross-section”) They can simply draw in layers of cool filling using different markers or crayons, or they can cut and paste different colored pieces of construction paper to get the full effect. Ask them to design a label for their candy and give it a name, too, if they want.
Enjoy the fun and excitement of Halloween with your kids while rejecting all the crass commercialism by decorating your house and celebrating the season with some handmade crafts. Who knows what tricks your crafting kids have up their sleeves, but whatever they may be, spending quality time as a family will still be a treat for sure.
