Halloween Crafts for Kids

Every child wants to get spooky at Halloween with creepy decorations, chilling costumes, ghostly food and bloodcurdling pumpkins. Halloween has grown in popularity over the last few years and can be a very expensive celebration. Make it more fun and more economical by taking the chance to enjoy some exciting holiday crafts.

Pumpkin Carving

Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without that favourite of kids crafts, pumpkin carving. With the rise of trick or treating, the pumpkin glowing at the window has come to signal that the festive callers will receive a warm welcome.

By its very nature, pumpkin carving needs to be supervised extremely carefully, part of the activity involves a sharp knife. Some kids crafts must be adapted accordingly but this shouldn’t take away the fun. Children can get things started by using a pen to sketch a face onto the pumpkin. Eyes tend to be triangular with an upside down triangle for the nose. Mouths can be menacing or plain comical, leave it up to the children to come up with their own ideas.

Start by cutting a disc from the top of the pumpkin and letting the children dig in carefully with their spoons to scoop the pumpkin into a hollow. Save the flesh and seeds as they can be turned into delicious soup or a healthy snack.

When the pumpkin is hollow, it’s up to the grownups to finish off by carving the face out using the drawn face as a guide. When this is done, add a tea light and admire the shining example of kids crafts!

Spider’s Web drawings

Try these striking spiders’ webs. Start with a piece of black paper. The drawing will be made using a web of PVA glue. Younger children may be more confident using pencil guidelines first. Draw five lines which intersect at the centre, it’ll look rather like a Union Jack.

Now beginning at the centre, draw a series of lines that join the five spokes with circles that get larger and larger as they reach the edges. Make the lines wavy and you will see that gradually, a clever web pattern is created.

Once the children are happy with their efforts, cover the glue lines with a snowstorm of glitter. Shake away the excess sparkle and there’s the stunning spider web.

Handy Bats

To create a spooky bat, start by painting an empty toilet roll black. Draw around hands on black paper and cut out the shapes, you will probably need about four hand shapes to do the job. Now stick the hand shapes to the side of the tube to create bat wings! Add a pair of googly eyes and maybe some menacing red fangs for the perfect Halloween bat.

Simple Costumes

Children love Halloween costumes, especially if there’s a party to enjoy or a spot of trick or treating to do. Halloween costumes shouldn’t be perfect but should showcase the effort and inventiveness of kids crafts. Try these simple ideas:

• Cats wear dark clothes, maybe leggings and a polo neck with a feline eye mask and pipe cleaner whiskers. Finish with black gloves and a fluffy tail made from a black scarf tucked down the back of trousers.
• Witches or wizards need a cloak made from a bin bag spangled with paper and glitter stars. Top it off with a hat made from a cone of thin, black card and sparkly decorations.
• Ghosts are easy with a white sheet cut to length and holes for eyes and mouths. Trim with tinsel or even have a go at tie-dying with grey or black dye. Kids will love being these cute little ghosts!

Children are irresistibly drawn to Halloween kids crafts. It’s easy to go to the shops and buy everything you need but that’s no fun. Give it a try and enjoy some 'frightening' experiments and holiday crafts with the children.