| Crafts Halloween Candy Holder
This is a great craft that the children can use to go trick or treating with, or you can use it as a decoration, and more. Take a large can (coffee can, spaghetti sauce can..) and wash thoroughly, making sure to remove all outside paper and stickiness. Paint the can with one coat of white paint and let dry. Then paint the can with a coat of orange paint - let dry. Then either with black paint, or a black marker draw the face of a jack-o-lantern on the can. Punch two holes into the top edges of the can on opposite sides. (Use a hammer and nail) Tie string or twine to make a handle. Wise Owl Cut an owl from brown and tan construction paper. Make eyes from orange and yellow pieces of construction paper. Tear up small pieces of newspaper and glue to the chest area for a mottled feather look. A Fistful of Ghosts With a flick of the wrist, a handprint becomes a ghost! Make a paint pad from a folded, wet paper towel and white paint. Press the little finger side of the hand onto the pad and then onto background paper with a bit of a swish. the little finger makes a head and the bottom of the hand creates the ghost! Spider Pin 1 Black pom pom ball, 1 smaller purple pom pom ball, 2 pipe cleaners cut to make small spider legs, 1 safety pin. Glue the two pom pom balls together. Glue the eyes on the smaller pom pom. Hot glue gun the legs on the bottom of the larger pompom... Shove the safety pin through the bottom and you have a cute little spider pin. Various Art Ideas Place 1 teaspoon vinegar and a cup of water in a bowl with several drops of selected food coloring. Place pumpkin seeds in the solution. Stir, then spread on paper towel to dry. These can be used for counting, art, etc. Make a pumpkin patch picture. Encourage the children to paint a piece of brown construction paper with glue. Provide cotton balls for the children to roll in a pan of dry orange tempera paint. Supply green yarn for the children to twist among the pumpkins for a vine. Provide a cutout of a ghost on black construction paper. Using a paintbrush, brush water onto the paper. Give the children white chalk to use on the cutout. Spatter paint a cutout of a white cat with black paint, using a toothbrush and a stick. Provide orange pumpkin cutouts and black cutouts of jack-o-lantern eyes, noses and mouths for the children to glue on their pumpkin. Snip small snips around the edge of a paper plate. Have children paint the plate black. Allow to dry. Knot a length of white yarn. Insert into a slit so the knot is to the back of and up against the plate. Pull the yarn across the plate and up through a different slit, to make a spider's web design. Continue until the yarn runs out. Slip a plastic spider ring on the yarn before pulling through the one final split. Knot the yarn on the back of the plate. Have the children step barefoot into white tempera paint and place on black paper to make a footprint. Allow to dry and trim loosely around the footprint outline for display. Add eyes and you have a ghost! Just paint with orange and black paint! CLOTHESPIN BAT Paint a old fashioned clothespin black. Glue wiggle eyes on the head. (the rounded part of the clothespin). I folded a small amount of black felt using the fan fold. Now slide the folded material into the end of the clothespin.The felt will become the wings. I'm sure this could be done with black paper instead of felt. Hang from the ceiling. SPIDER MOBILE Cut one black pipe cleaner into 4 pieces. Push all 4 through one black bead, centering the bead on the pipe cleaners. Bend legs to look like a spider. Make several spiders hang them from yard on a 4" ring. Use loose cotton to spread a web-like haze over the top of the ring. TISSUE GHOST Cut a round circle out of white paper about 3 1/2 diameter. Draw on a ghost face on the circle. Now take a white kleenex & find the center. Pick it up by the center. You will have a shape the looks like a point . Put some glue on a orange piece of paper & place your tissue. Now glue the round face on top of the kleenex. GHOST WINDSOCK Use White construction paper and white crepe paper. Add scary eyes and nose arms out of black construction paper HANGING PUMPKIN Paint 2 paper plates orange. Lay one on top of the other and staple 3/4 of it leaving a small area to the top, add a green stem and hang with green yarn. Add eyes nose and mouth. We did it with Black foam shapes. You could use almost anything COTTONBALL GHOST PIN Pull one cotton ball into a ghost shape and glue two glow in the dark eyes to it. Use a looped peice of masking tape to attach to clothes. Or glue ghost to felt and add pin. SCRAP PAPER JACK-O-LANTERNS On black paper, draw a circle and paint it with glue. Tear scraps of orange paper into small pieces and arrange on glue. Add torn scraps of yellow or black paper for eyes, nose and mouth. CLOTHESPIN GHOST Paint wooden clothespin white and make two dots for eyes with marker. Glue sleeves to the body. SHAPE WITCH White paper. Paste on orange (circle) moon, 2 black (triangles) one for body and one for hat, one white circle and yarn for hair, add facial features. TUNA CAN SPIDER Paint tuna can black. Hot glue 4 legs (orange) to each side of the can, use orange rickrack for a mouth, wiggle eyes. Punch a hole in top center of can and hang from ceiling. ANOTHER SPIDER Cut two bodies of a spider. For the legs, cut narrow strips of black Crepe paper, spread with paste and roll. Lay the rolled legs across one shape. Glue the other shape on top of the legs. Attach a string through the middle of the body and hang. Triangle Witch Materials: Contruction paper scissors crayons or makers glue Any misc. that you choose to use Cut a six inch isosceles triangle from black paper. Cut a smaller (about 2") triangle from lighter colored paper (I like light green or orange) for the face. Cut a skinny 1/4" by about 3" strip of black paper for the hat brim. Mount the large black triangle point up on light colored paper or drawing paper. Glue the small triangle point down about 2" from the tip of the large one. Glue the strip of black paper across the top of the face to form the hat. The children go on to add arms, legs,faces, hair, brooms, pumpkins,etc. The children have a good time deciding how to finish them. GHOST PINS I went to a resale shop & bought a large white sheet for $3.00.I cut it up into small pieces to make ghost pins. To make the head of the ghost insert 2 or 3 cotton balls into the center of your material.Gather it up & tie w/orange yarn. Let the children draw on eyes & a mouth. I also show my group how to write BOO! Write the name of the child on the bottom part of the ghost. I buy those tiny brass colored safety pins to pins these on each child. I just tell the kids to have a parent remove the ghost from their shirt. Halloween Chain Orange and Black construction paper. Cut orange and black strips of paper, three to four inches long and one-half inch wide. Form a circle with one strip and glue or staple ends. Take next strip and loop it through first circle, again glueing or stapling ends. Continue on making as long as you like, alternating colors. Tombstones Styrofoam sheets Thick Black Marker Cut Styrofoam shapes into shape of tombstone. Write epitaph on Styrofoam with black marker. Prop up against doorways or walls. Eye Masks Inexpensive eye masks, Sequins, Feathers, Buttons, Dried beans. Have kids attach a variety of items on hand to the masks with glue to make their own decorated eye masks. Monster Masks Plaster of Paris bandage (available at pharmacies), Vaseline, Water, Cut strips of Plaster of Paris bandages about 2-inch lengths. Grease your face or friends face well with Vaseline (tie hair back). Dip strips into bowl of water, one by one, and squeeze out all water before applying to face. Repeat strip by strip, overlapping by about ½ inch. Smooth out the strips as you go. Leave breathing holes and eye openings. The entire process should take 10 to 12 minutes from Vaseline application until peeling off face. The mask will separate from face as it dries. In about 15 to 20 minutes the mask will be ready for painting and decorating as desired. Halloween table cloth White paper table cloth, Sponges, Tempera acrylic paint, Markers, Stickers, Halloween cutouts. On white paper tablecloth decorate with assorted shapes cut from sponges. Glue on Halloween cutouts or stickers. Creepy Spiders Crab shells, Black spray paint, Purchase crab shells at a local market. Spray paint black and use as decorations on Halloween night. Bone mobile Bone shaped dog biscuits, White spray paint, String Coat hanger, Spray paint dog biscuits white on both sides. Once dry tie together with string in a variety of patterns. Hang from coathangers or crossed dowels. Jack-o-Lanterns These are made just like the chinese lanterns are made (YOu know how you fold paper hot dog way and then make cuts almost all the way to the top (bout an inch from top) then when done, fold or bend the other way so it forms a cylinder (lantern) and glue. I do it with orange construction paper and then the kids cut out the face from black construction paper. I put a green handle or yellow like a stem on the top. Boo Mask Use the word "boo" to make a mask that a child can hold up to his face and remove when desired. Eyes look through the O's in BOO. Cut out of black paper. Add popsicle stick handle and colorful streamers on the side. Garbage Bag Ghost Large white garbage bag, Permanent black marker, Newspaper, Strong String Stuff one corner of a large white garbage bag with crumpled newspaper to form a head. Twist shut, folding other corner down and secure with string. Draw a face on the ghost with permanent markers. Let face dry. Cut bottom part of bag into 3-4" wide strips. Attach string to top of head with wide tape; knotting string so it doesn't pull out. Make lots and hang them indoors or out. *Parents please note: please be careful of plastic bags around small children. No one should ever put a plastic bag over their own or anyone else's head or use this craft as a "costume". Hand Print Bats Paint both hands and put side by side (Bat wings). Add googly eyes. Foot Print Ghost Paint foot with white poster paint, stamp on black paper and add eyes. Have the children cut out and hang from the ceiling for a cute decoration. (ceiling fan is always fun). Or add the following poem after stamping on black or blue paper for a Halloween Card: These two little ghosts want to say to you "Happy Halloween" and a great big BOO! Egg Carton Spiders Use cardboard egg carton, cut one egg holder out and paint black, insert pipe cleaner legs. Can discuss numbers 1-8. Trick or Treat Torches Using markers, draw the face of an animal, monster, or other disguise on a paper bag ( lunch bags work best). If desired, glue on felt ears and yarn or string for hair. Punch about 20 holes in the bag in random places so the light can shine through. Place the bag over the head of a flashlight, pulling it down about 4 inches ( be sure bag doesnt cover on/off switch), and secure it to the flashlight with string, tape, or rubber bands. Then Light up! Mystery Box Cut an opening about 2 inches high on one narrow side and another opening about 4 inches high on the opposite side of a shoe box. Decorate the box as you like with glitter glue, stampers, and markers. Have someone put objects into the box one by one through the large opening. The Guesser puts his hand through the small hole and tries to figure out what each object is by feeling it. Items to place inside box: Tarantula---Twisted chenille sticks Spiderweb? Coat string with a mixture of white glue and water. Let dry. Worms? Cook pasta Eyeballls? Peeled grapes or hardboiled eggs Mice or Mole? Fake Fur Teeth? Tines of a plastic fork Monster Hand 3cups of cold water, 3/4 cup cornstarch, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, green food coloring, and a disposable plastic glove. Stir ingredients together in a saucepan. Place over heat, and bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. Let it cool a few minutes until it can be handled. Have someone hold the glove open while another spoons the warm mixture into it, pushing the mixture down into each finger. Fasten the opening securely with a twist tie or duct tape. It can be used warm or cold, and keeps quite well. If you want a lumpy hand, mix just 1/2 cup of the cornstarch to the cold water at the beginning, and add the last 1/4 cup after the mixture has started to thicken over the heat. 1.) Take a big cardboard, and cut some shapes, triangles, circles ... out. Let the kids color the shapes and name them. Take the cardboard(where you have cut the shapes out), decorate it nice and hang it on the wall with contact paper. Put on the back of each shape and on the shape on the cardboard on the wall, some Velcro. That way the children will learn to name shapes, colors, and it's like a puzzle. Instead of shapes, you could also make some leaves, colored in different color and cut in different sizes. That way the children will learn color and "big" and "little" Or just make some pumpkins (Halloween) and write numbers in and make #1, the smallest and then all the way up to #10 the biggest......I'm sure they will love it!!!! 2). Make a fall lotto or Halloween lotto. Just cut some thick cardboard into little squares and color fall themes like " Leaves" "squirrels" or Halloween like" Pumpkin" "Ghost"...... It is a great thing to do with kids, at every holiday like X-mas, Easter, also. They will be so proud if they made there own game........ 3) Buy different kinds of nuts, let the children look at them, taste, smell...... Then name them, what tree they are from...... Let the children mix the nuts, and let them but the same nuts into the same plate, bowl.... At the end, draw a big Tree on a piece of paper, and glue the nuts on the tree... also, you could add some fall leaves........ 4) I don't know if you still do this, but we cut potatoes in half and made a stencil out of them. As I was little, I remember cutting just simple stuff like square and stuff like that on the potatoes. But it was lots of fun, and we had great "Potatoes" pictures Cat/Moon Mobile Foam or poster board scraps orange, black, & yellow yarn for hanging Hole punch 1.Cut a circle from the yellow for the moon (4" in diameter or whatever you want) 2.Cut a cats head from black & 2 paw shapes 3.Cut a bat shape from the black 4.Cut 2 pumpkin shapes from the orange 5.Glue the cats head to the top of the moon, overlap then glue paws on each side of head (cat looks like its peaking over the moon) 6.Punch a hole in the top of the 2 pumpkins & the bat.....also punch 3 holes in the bottom of the moon. 7.Cut pieces of yarn oh about 6" and tie one to the bottom of the moon (go through the hole) and then put the other end into the pumpkin.......so it hangs below the moon.....do the same with the other pumpkin & bat. 8.Punch a hole in the top of the cats head & tie a piece of yarn there to hang it up. Make black cats - Cut out cat shapes from paper. Paint the shapes with black paint and shaving brushes. Give the cats green eyes. Provide sheets, capes and masks for dressing up.- Cut out mask shapes and use paints and different collage materials to make them into monster masks.- Finger paint with black paint.- Examine fresh and dried pumpkin seeds under the microscope.- Draw a ghost shape with clear candle on white paper. Wash over the drawing with black water paint.- Make simple bat masks using black painted paper.- Pumpkin Leather This tastes a lot like a fruit roll-up, and it's fun and easy to make. 1 cup applesauce 1 cup Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix NOTE: You need to use Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix, NOT the solid pack pumpkin. In a medium bowl, mix the applesauce and pumpkin pie mix together. Spread out baking parchment on two cookie sheets. Spread the mixture on the parchment and bake in the oven at 140 degrees for 8 to 10 hours, or until surface is no longer sticky to touch. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Peel the pumpkin leather off the parchment and break into pieces. Store in zipper sandwich bags. This will keep a long time. Pumpkin Decorating Pre-cut some ears/eyes/nose/mouth/glasses/warts/etc. out of fun foam or just plain paper. Use school paste (not glue...get the actual paste) and apply to the pumpkin. Or, use permanent markers in a variety of colors to decorate. Or now they sell the tattoo style decorations for pumpkins. Make sure the pumpkins are clean and dry. Set them in the room to decorate to acclimate to the temperature before tattooing on. One package will usually do 5-7 pumpkins and cost around $2 a package. Haunted House (Gingerbread House) Pre-glue the frame of the house together with the paste listed below. Leave some of the frosting to use with the candy. (Cover it with a wet towel to retain moisture.) Use black licorice, Halloween candy/cake decorations to garnish. Buy the small goodie bag toys to place on their houses. Make sure you good graham crackers as the cheaper variety tend to break too easy. Have a supply of sturdy paper plates to hold the sculptures. Upside down sugar cones can become trees. Gummy worms can be snakes, animal crackers, tons of different ideas. Simply melt regular white sugar in a pot on high heat. Watch it carefully & don't be tempted to add liquid. After it has melted down for a while it gets stringy. Carefully dip the edges of the cracker in the sugar & stick it to another. Don't forget to anchor it down with frosting to the plate. Candy Corn Pumpkins Plastic sandwich bags (one for each child), adhesive-backed black felt, candy corn, orange and black ribbons. Fill each sandwich bag about 1/2 of candy corn. Tie the top with orange and black ribbons. Cut jack-o'-lantern features out of black felt and stick to the front of the bag. Nutter Butter Ghosts Dip the nutter butter cookies in melted almond bark and place 2 mini chocolate chips on for the eyes while still wet. These turn out into real cute ghosts. Oreo Black Cats Materials: Oreo cookies, Red M&M's, Candy corn, Red licorice string, Black tinted frosting. Place the M&M's on the Oreo for the eyes use the frosting to glue them in place. Place the candy corn on the top of the Oreo to resemble ears use frosting to hold in place. Make a red licorice mouth and whiskers and attach with frosting. You can use a chocolate chip or a brown or black Mx for the nose and attach with frosting. Dryer Hose Pumpkins Supplies needed: Dryer hose, Orange spray paint, Green felt, Fake fall leaves, Tacky Glue, Green spray paint, Cone shaped styrofoam, Small wiggly eyes, Small black pom pom, Green pipe cleaners * Cut off section of dryer vent and make into a circle gluing the two ends together. (So you have a nice size pumpkin) * Spray paint the dryer vent orange (let dry) * Spray paint the Styrofoam green for the stem (let dry) * Curl the green pipe cleaner around your finger. Put a little glue on the pipe cleaner and place on top in center hole of pumpkin. Place glue on Styrofoam stem and press down into center on top of pumpkin. * Cut two green leaves out of felt and place on top of pumpkin. * Glue additional fake fall leaves to the bottom of the pumpkin (it then looks like it's sitting in a pile of leaves.) * Glue wiggly eyes to the black pom pom and glue on green leaf on top of pumpkin. Ghost Juice can lid, white spray paint. Spray paint the lids white. Provide the girls with hammers and nails, and have them punch four or five holes along the inside of the rim, trying to space them out evenly, if possible. Provide a rough piece of board underneath for the nails to punch through. Turn lid over and with the hammer, gently tap the sharp edges down. Safety first! Tear strips of white muslin or old bed sheets into strips and using a pen or screwdriver, push the end of the strip through from the front to the back. No need for gluing...the rough edges of the lid will catch into the material and it will stay quite nicely. Punch another hole at the opposite end (top) and attach string or yarn for hanging. Glue on huge googly eyes and you have a ghost! You can also use markers or paint to create ghostie features on the face. Halloween Little People Ghosts Materials needed: one empty 2 liter. bottle, two pieces of PVC pipe in 12 to 13 inch lengths, masking tape, one 6" styrofoam ball, Pair of toddler shoes, Pair of toddler pants, Square of white fabric roughly 24" x 24", Black felt for eyes, Small plastic pumpkin basket with handle, Holding the two liter bottle upside down, securely tape the PVC pipe to form legs. Wrap the tape around several times. Pull the pants of the legs and body securing with rubber bands at the "waist". Hot glue the inside of the shoes and insert the PVC pipe. Hot glue the Styrofoam head to the flat side of the upside down bottle. Hold in place until glue dries. The doll should be able to stand. If not, adjust the tape. Drape the square white cloth over the "head". Cut eyes from black felt and glue on. Sew the plastic pumpkin basket to the front of the ghost. Fake Hand Take a plastic glove that would have been in the first aid kit. Fill it about 2/3 full or slightly less with bird seed and tie the wrist part with a couple of good knots. paint red finger nail on the glove and you have a fake hand ready to set on the edge of goodie plates or in candy boxes whatever to give a fright. A Dangling Spider With an adult's help, use a ballpoint pen to poke a hole in the bottom of a film canister. Thread yarn through the hole, and make a large knot at the end inside the canister. For legs, cut four 7-inch-by-1/2 inch strips of felt. Spread glue around the inside edge of the canister lid. Place the legs on the lid (over the glue) so that their centers overlap in the middle. Squeeze glue around the open edge of the canister, then push it hard into the lid. Make eyes from paper (or use googly eyes), and glue them on. Hang your spider by the yarn or make him dance along the floor. If you've done this right, the film canister should be closed up, with the lid at the bottom and the legs between the canister and the lid. Cut out pumpkin shapes on large, white construction paper. Then have the children dip different shaped Halloween cookie cutters onto sponges that have orange or black paint on them. Stamp print with the cookie cutters. I use cats, pumpkins, and bats. Find a spider to observe for several days. Provide a large screen-topped glass jar accessorized with leafy shrub branches & a damp sponge piece. Feed the spider two flies or mealworms a week. Lightly mist the habitat with a plant mister once a week. Encourage children to describe the activities of the spider. Visit lots of farms and collect all kinds of pumpkins. Have a mummy day where we will go to our local Egyptian Museum & see real mummies -Wrap old dolls that are around 8 " high in white crepe paper for an art project. -- The Bat Cave You take an egg carton and write numbers on the inside of the egg cups. Then I cut the ring part off a bat ring and put it in the egg carton, close it, shake it up and when you open the carton have the child tell you what the number is. I usually take a paper and cover the top of the carton with a picture the children have colored. I have done this at Christmas with a jingle bell.- Larger/Smaller Pumpkins Review the concepts of "larger" and "smaller". Using pumpkin flannel board cut outs have the children order the pumpkins from largest to smallest. Ask the children to sort the pumpkins according to size. Torn Paper Ghost Tear out some small square shapes from white paper. Paste the shapes onto a piece of black paper to feature a ghost. Can add facial features. Wiggley Eyed Pumpkin Make a pumpkin (with orange construction paper) with a pair of triangle shaped eyes that are cut out. Then cut a vertical slash on the outside of each eye not too close to eye. Guide a piece of paper through one slash, behind the eyes, and through the slash next to the other eye. With the strip centered behing the eye holes, draw a pair of eyes on the strip through the holes. Move the strip back and forth to make the eyes wiggle. Another way to make spider webs is to put yarn in liquid starch. Have the children place them on a styrofoam tray in shapes of speider webs--spreading out the yarn or making circle, etc. When it dries, it peels off the tray and is hard enough, usually, to hold its shape. You can hang them up. I also have them make a spider to put in the web. Paper Plate Ghosts For one ghost: 1 uncoated plain paper plate 9" in diameter (the least expensive available) Scissors, black marker, crayon or paint, Pencil, 1 length of monofilament fishing line, upholstery carpet thread or elastic thread, Paper punch, reinforcement, Glue or cellophane tape, Optional: Glow in the dark varnish or glitter paint, etc. to embellish On the back of your paper plate draw a 3" circle in the center with a line from the edge of the circle out to the edge of the plate on one side only. Inside the circle use the pattern to draw the head and arms. Cut along each drawn line leaving it uncut and still attached 1 3/4" opposite the cut to the center. Cut along the lines forming the arms. This will leave the head already cut out. Form a cone with the plate bringing the cut toward the center overlapped to form the skirt of your ghost. Anchor using glue or clear cellophane tape. Punch a hole at the top of the head and place a reinforcement around the punched hole. Tie your fishing line or thread through the hole and knot. This will be used to hang your ghost. Draw the eyes and the mouth of your ghost with your black pen, crayon or paint. Using the option you can decorate the skirt of the ghost with glitter, glow in the dark paint, etc. Varied sizes of ghosts can be made using circles cut from white poster board or paper plates. Changeable Pumpkins Cut out a pumpkin shape for each child including cut outs for eyes, nose and mouth. Cut pieces of paper that are the same width as the pumpkins and have kids paint, color, glitter glue etc. Adhere a strip of paper to the back of the pumpkin to form a slot for the piece of decorated paper to fit through. When dry put the paper through and pull slowly to have different faces! Yummy Smelling Pumpkins On a piece of paper draw, or have children draw, pumpkin shapes with glue. Sprinkle orange jello over the top and you have a yummy smelling pumpkin to take home. Pipe Cleaner Spiders Provide the children with pipe cleaners to make spiders. Have the children twist the pipe cleaners together to form a body and legs. Discuss how many legs a spider has. Balloon Jack o Lanterns Blow up an orange balloon and let the child use a black marker, stickers, or finger paint to create facial features. Ask the child how does the jack o lantern feel? Paper Plate Jack o Lanterns Have your child paint a paper plate orange. When dry, have the child glue on pieces of black construction paper for the facial features. These pieces may be cut with scissors or torn, depending on your child's ability level. For older children, try using glue to form the facial features and sprinkle glitter, or various items (i.e. buttons, beans, noodles, pebbles) on the glue. Pumpkin Puppets Each child should cut out a pumpkin shape from orange construction paper. Then either cut out facial features, or color them on with a black crayon. Paste to the bottom of a paper lunch bag. Then add a green construction paper stem. Sponge Painted Ghosts Cut out or buy ghost shaped sponges. You will need black construction paper and white tempera paint when showing the child how to dip the sponges in the paint and press on the paper to make ghost prints. Spider Paper Plates Use a smaller and larger paper plate to make these spiders. Staple the smaller plate onto the larger plate, as if the smaller plate will be the spider's head. Have the child paint both sides black. Then add black streamers for legs and white construction paper for eyes. Hang them from the ceiling. Pumpkin Seed Art Collect pumpkin seeds from inside a pumpkin. Let them air dry and have the children use the pumpkin seeds to make a collage. Pumpkin Seed Shakers You need: dried pumpkin seeds from inside your pumpkin, two paper plates (for each child) and a stapler. Have the children put some seeds on one of the paper plates (bottom side down). Next, have them place the other plate on top of the first plate (bottom side up). Help the children staple their plates together with the seeds inside. Let the children paint, use markers or crayons to decorate their shakers. Fingerprint Pumpkins Have the children make orange fingerprints on a piece of paper. Use a non-toxic orange ink pad. Show the children how to use one finger at a time. Use a green pen to draw stems on the paper and draw vines to connect some of the pumpkins. (You can do this for younger children or have older children draw the vines and stems themselves.) Fingerprint Spiders Have the children use a black non-toxic ink pad to make fingerprints on a piece of paper. Have the children draw on eight legs on their fingerprints to represent spiders. Pumpkin Seeds Save the pumpkin seeds from a pumpkin. Boil 2 cups seeds in 1 quart water with 2 tbls salt for 10 minutes. Drain the seeds and toss them in 1 tblsp of butter. Spead the seeds on a baking pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Stir frequently. Pumpkin Faces Provide the children with many different pumpkin faces. Ask the children which pumpkin is happy? How does this pumpkin feel? How does that pumpkin make you feel? Cheesecloth Ghost Materials Cheesecloth White sugar Warm water Bowl Black and white felt for eyes (or purchase google eyes) Scissors, aluminum foil, small jar or bottle Instructions: Make a mixture of about 2 cups warm water with 1 cup white sugar. Stir to dissolve. While sugar is dissolving make a form to make your ghost. I used a small jar covered with aluminum foil in the shape of a ghost. Once sugar has completely dissolved soak pieces of cheesecloth in mixture. Remove and drape over "ghost form". Keep layering until you have about 3-4 layers of cheesecloth over the entire form. Allow to dry a minimum of overnight. May take longer. Once dry remove form from underneath. Your ghost should be quite firm. Decorate with eyes, nose, a hat or whatever you choose. Spiderwebs I put a large, white paper plate in a pie tin. Have the children dip acorns into black paint and roll the acorns around. This makes it look like a spider web. Have the children do a thumb print with black paint somewhere on the plate and add 8 tiny little squiggly lines to the thumbprint to make a spider. If I want to create a different type of spider web plate, I use the large, strong Styrofoam type plate. Cut tiny slits all around the outside of the plate. then have the child zigzag black yarn every which way across the plate (hooking the yarn between the slits on the outside of the plate.) This creates the spider web. Attach a small, plastic dime store spider. Read Raffi's There's a Spider on the floor. Also, I have the children sit in a circle and I play the Raffi record (song with same title as the book) and I use a spider puppet to act out the words on the record. THEY LOVE THIS! For a Halloween Wreath - I cut out shapes of Pumpkins and Ghosts. Then the kids designed the faces on all. Then we stapled them on the a paper plate that the center was cut out. It made an adorable wreath. You could use any shapes for Halloween. Punch a hole at the top and thread a loop of orange yarn through it to hang. Yarn Pumpkin You need a round balloon, orange thread and white glue Cover your work area with newspaper. Inflate a ROUND balloon and tie it closed. Wind a large amount of orange yarn or heavyweight crochet thread around your hand. Squeeze white glue all over thread. It should coat the thread. In one hand, hold the thread end and the knot of the balloon. With your other (thread-covered) hand, wrap the thread around the balloon, unwinding it from your hand as you go. If you need more yarn, repeat the steps. The effect should appear airy and open. When done, set the balloon in a cup. When the glue has dried, pop the balloon. (Overnight or several hours) An orange thread pumpkin will be left. To make a stem, glue green paper onto an empty thread spool. Glue the stem on top of the pumpkin, pressing down a little. For vines, bend green chenille sticks around threads on the pumpkin then wrap the ends around a pencil. Cut facial features from felt. Glue them on the pumpkin. Glue Ghosts Have a child draw a ghost outline on a piece of waxed paper, and then have them fill in the outline with white school glue. Dry overnight, and then have the child add facial features. Place on a string and you have a spooky ghost necklace. We have a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. This is simply our wagons filled with some hay. We painted paper bags to look like pumpkins and the children got to go to the pumpkin patch to pick their pumpkins. We also made a pinata the shape of a candy corn. This was lots of fun for the children however the paper mache' is messy. For art we gave them pieces of construction paper to make a candy corn. We had some who could do it and some very interesting looking candy corns. This can help you determine their developmental level.- Another art project was button spiders. The children loved this one. You simply take a four hole button and chenille stems(pipe cleaners) run the pipe cleaners through the holes and twist them they look like spiders. We used red and orange buttons with black and brown pipe cleaner. We also discussed how some spider can be poisonous.- Monster Mush Begin your story like this: There was a monster who lived in a rotting, crumbling, haunted house. He ate frogs for dinner. One Hallowe'en, he was out at a monster party. On his way home, he was crossing a swamp when a huge storm came up. The monster drowned. Since then, parts of the monster's body have floated on top of the swamp each eerie Hallowe'en. We are going to pass them to you! This huge monster once could hear. Now he no longer has an ear. (Pass apricots.) All the frogs had a surprise When they bobbed past the monster's eyes. (Pass grapes.) None of the frogs dared to linger When they saw the monster 5 floating finger. (Pass carrot.) Through the swamp without a care Drifted the monster's slimy hair. (Pass corn silk or spinach.) When the monster took his swim All these maggots jumped from him. (Pass rice.) The swamp was filled with the monster's veins. They rise to the surface when it rains. (Pass spaghetti.) The frog-eating monster never smiled Until he had his teeth all filed. (Pass corn kernels.) When into the swamp the monster was flung, His teeth clamped down and he bit off his tongue. (Pass banana.) At our Halloween Party I get dressed up as a witch and make the following brew as a group activity. Recipe: 2 - 12oz. cans frozen grape juice ("snakes blood") 1 - 48oz. can apple juice ("bat spit") 1 - large bottle gingerale ("magic potion") 1 - small tub of semi frozen orange sherbert ("pumpkin innards") A few plastic spiders (optional) I put each of the ingredients in clear jars with labels and pictures of the supposed ingredient (ie. snakes blood, bat spit etc.). I always let the children smell the jar contents before putting it in to reassure them. Often they will say -"that's just grape juice" etc. but they seem to enjoy the pretend element. When putting in the ginger ale I make them stand back because obviously it foams up. Everybody has a turn stirring up the brew. Last year I purchased a plastic black cauldron and put our punch bowl inside. It even made it more effective. Keep the plastic spiders in a jar as well and shake it a few times and pretend they are alive and crawling around. This recipe not only looks great, it tastes good and is fairly nutritious. Spaghetti Cobwebs Materials: Cooked Spaghetti (cold) White glue Wax paper Have the children dip the spaghetti into the glue and arrange the pieces onto the wax paper. When the spaghetti dries, carefully peel the "cobweb" off of the wax paper. Hang from the ceiling. Pumpkin Seed Counting Cut a large pumpkin shape from orange poster board, add stem and green leaves. Cut from black paper, long two or three inch wide strips. Make these strips fit vertically onto the orange pumpkin but don't glue them on yet. Using a real pumpkin, let the children guess how many seeds they think are inside of the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin open and remove and wash the seeds while children watch. After drying on a paper towel let the children start gluing all the seeds onto the black strips of paper. Count the pumpkin seeds and then glue the strips onto the large orange poster board pumpkin. Hang on the wall with a sign that says OUR PUMPKIN HAD _______ SEEDS ! Bulletin Board Games 1. Reproduce as many ghost, bat and monster figures as there are windows and doors. Color and cut out the figures. 2. To reinforce alphabet skills, write a different lowercase letter of the alphabet on each figure. On the outside of each window and door, write a corresponding uppercase letter. 3. Have each child choose one of the figures and attach it inside the corresponding window or door. For older children, seasonal vocabulary words can be matched. 4. To reinforce math skills write a numeral from 1 to 20 on each figure. One each window or door draw a number of dots that corresponds to one of the numerals written on the figures. 5. Have each child choose a figure and tack it inside the window or door with the corresponding number of dots. HALLOWEEN SPIDER WEBS Black construction paper, white paper, a box, marbles, white yarn, white paint, felt pens, crayons, scissors, tape. Cut the construction paper to just cover the inside bottom of the box. Cut strings of yarn. 1.. Place a sheet of black construction paper in the box. 2.. Place three teaspoons of white paint on the black paper. 3.. Place two marbles in the box and tilt the box back and forth. 4.. Watch a web form as the marbles spread the paint into thin lines. 5.. Repeat with each child. 6.. After the webs are made, have each child draw a spider on a sheet of white paper. 7.. Color the spider and cut it out. 8.. Tape one end of a piece of yarn to the web and the other end on the spider. MATERIALS FOR EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE A skein of yarn. Discuss spiders and how they build their webs. Build a giant spider web! Tie one end of a skein of yarn to a heavy object in the classroom. Each child, in turn, takes the yarn and walks around the classroom wrapping the yarn around a stable object. When everyone has had a turn, look at the web. Pretend to be spiders. Walk carefully through the maze. Draw and cut out a giant spider from Construction paper. Throw the spider into the giant web. Pretend to be flies. Walk through the maze but stay away from the spider! While the children are waiting for a turn to build the web, have them sing: The Spider Web Song (tune: "Mary Had A Little Lamb)" Spin a web and catch a bug, Catch a bug, catch a bug. Spin a web and catch a bug Spin a shiny web. Catch a bug and eat it up, Eat it up, eat it up, Catch a bug and eat it up, And then go straight to bed! Use hand movements when singing this song. Point a finger and spin the other hand around it when singing "spin a web." Open your fist and close it in a catching motion when you sing "catch a bug." Bring your fingers to your mouth when you sing "eat it up." Rest your head on your hands for "straight to bed." Witch hats Black and yellow construction paper, sturdy paper long enough to fit around a child's head Cut a large triangle from black paper to form the hat. Add a yellow strip about one inch wide, about one inch or so from the base of the triangle for a hat band. Use the scraps of black (or use any color from your scrap box) to cut long strips for hair and glue to the base of the hat. Fit a one inch band of sturdy paper or light cardboard around the child's head and staple. Staple or glue the hat to the band. Pumpkins on a Fence Fence -Cut long strips from brown paper for the rails and a few shorter ones for the posts. Glue on to a background paper. Pumpkins - Cut circles from orange paper for pumpkins & glue them along the top of the fence. Draw or paste a different face on each pumpkin. Add a stem to the top. Add anything else you want to finish the scene. Pumpkin Fun The children finger-paint directly on our plastic topped table with orange paint. When the children are finished painting, press pre-cut paper (a large pumpkin shape) on each child's work to capture the print.. The next day when the pumpkins are dry, have the children glue on a stem precut from green construction paper - any place on the pumpkin is fine. The pumpkins look good displayed along the classroom walls. For vines, I use lengths of green curling ribbon to connect the pumpkins to each other by their stems and add leaves here & there. Two or three days before Halloween, the children decorate their treat bags, (white lunch sacks) with black, orange and green makers and Halloween stickers.- Halloween Sun catcher Pumpkin Patch Have the children stuff paper lunch bags with small pieces of crumpled up newspaper. Secure each bag with a twist tie, leaving about 1 inch of the bag gathered at the top. Have the children paint them orange on bottom, and green on top (or however they create them to be ) When the pumpkins are dried, string them all together with green yarn "vines" to make a "pumpkin patch". Looks great as part of a bulletin board, or science area. Pumpkin Match Cut out a bunch of jack-o'-lanterns with different faces, but making sure two are identical. Glue them onto white cardstock & laminated them. The children are then to find the matches. For younger children only make about 5 pairs, for the older kids make as many as you think the group could handle. BATS Bats and Halloween naturally go together. We like to learn a little about bats at this time of year. After looking at pictures of bats (there are over 100 different species of bats!) and reading Stellaluna, the children make bats using toilet tissue tubes. 1. Cover tubes with construction paper 2. Trace a circle for face and glue onto end, add pointy ears and features 3. Make wings from construction paper and glue onto tubes fold up and down along wings to resemble bat wings 4. Glue feet sticking out the back of the wings 5. Add string to hang HEARING Bats use their sense of hearing to help them find food, their ears are very sensitive. A bat can tell where and object or animal is by making clicking sounds that result in echoes. (echolocation) Bats can tell where trees and buildings are by using this system. That is how bats can fly in darkness without hitting anything. Hearing Experiment : *One child is the bat and 3 or 4 other children will make sounds. *Give the 3 or 4 children something to make a sound with like a bell, wooden sticks to click together, and a drum. *With the bat in the middle the other children position themselves around the bat. *Bat should close eyes *Each child should make their noise and the bat should walk over to that child and touch him. *Continue until everyone has a chance to be the bat. Did You Know? Did you know that bats have knees, elbows, wrists, and fingers? Bats use their thumbs and feet to hold food and hold their babies. Most bats eat insects. Some eat fruit, fish, or plants. Bats have sharp teeth to help them chew their food. Bats can be the size of a JELLY BEAN (bumble bee bat) or be as large as the fruit bat which has the wingspan of more then 5 feet! Bats live everywhere in the world except in the Arctic and Antarctica.- TRICK OR TREAT Â JACK-O-LANTERN JAR Use a large glass jar, the big fat pickle jars are best for this. paint the jar orange with poster paint, then add eyes and other features using black electrical tape. Put a candle in it and you have a pretty jack-o-lantern to set in the window. JACK-O-LANTERN JELLO Slice the top off an orange and scoop out pulp. Cut eyes, nose and mouth in orange so that it looks like a jack-o-lantern. Fill with orange jello. Halloween Clothes Grab Bag Gather up all kinds of clothing articles (i.e. hats, baggy shirts and pants, ties, dresses, shoes, etc) and stuff it in a duffle bag or large pillow case. Pass the bag around. Each person must take out one article without looking. Play some music and have everyone walk down modeling their item! Pumpkin Toss Similar to egg tossing. Use a small pumpkin per two players. The two people toss the pumpkin back and forth to each other, each time stepping back away from each other. The person wins who does not drop the pumpkin. Witch Hunt First design a witch on a piece of paper as a template (do not make it to big). Trace it onto black construction paper. Cut out 50 or more black witches and then hide them all over your house, classroom, gym, etc. For the party have everyone either individually or in pairs go in search of the witches. Turns off the lights! Make sure everyone or couple has a flashlight. The person or couple returning with the most witches wins. An art idea I do with the older children in to print up some ghost shapes. Place a piece of wax paper over the ghost shape and fill in the shape with white glue. Drop on some wiggle eyes and allow to dry. Peel the ghost off of the paper, punch a hole in the top and slip some cord through the hole. Create "spooktacular" critters by using products such as York peppermint patties, Mounds Miniatures candies or Reese's peanut butter cups as bodies. Then add Twizzlers candy legs, Pull-n-Peel candy whiskers and Reese's Pieces candy eyes. Use Hershey's Hugs and Hershey's Kisses chocolates, Hershey's Miniatures chocolates and Hershey's Nuggets chocolates to make 'jack-o-lantern faces on paper plates or placemats. Kids will love designing, then devouring, their personal creations! - Amazin' Fruit Gummy Bears and Scares candies add a frighteningly festive touch to cakes, cupcakes, cookies, edible haunted houses and other bewitching bites! -On a cold Halloween night , serve hot cocoa to keep trick-or-treaters warm. Top with orange marshmallows or whipped cream and orange and black sprinkles.- Hot Glue Spider Webs Materials: glue gun and glue sticks, Waxed paper, White embroidery floss, Pencil and paper Optional: silver or white glitter Draw several spider webs on the paper, place the waxed paper over the drawings and with your glue gun trace all the lines being sure that they meet and crossover at the intersections to give your web strength. Allow to cool completely and peel the web from the waxed paper. These spider webs can be hung using a soft thread like one strand of embroidery floss tied around the thickest point of the outer edge of your web. Option: Sprinkle with glitter while the glue is still hot and tacky. Cut out a ghost from white paper and we decorate them with cheerios and raisin for eyes, mouth and nose. Use cream cheese as the glue. Use black construction paper fold it in half, place the child's hand on the paper with his thumb at the fold, trace his hand, cut around the fingers, do not cut the thumb. Unfold the paper; you have will have a bat made from a handprint. For the older kids use empty coffee cans wrap them with green yarn until the can no longer shows, glue wiggly eyes, a purple nose made from a pom pom, tie purple yarn together to make hair add a black hat and you have a witch. For pumpkins do the same thing, use orange yarn to cover the can, make a green lid for the top add leaves, make the eyes, nose and mouth from black felt.- Halloween Make-up 1 T. white shortening 2T. cornstarch 1 tsp. white flour 4-5 drops food coloring (One tablespoon shortening mixed with 2 1/2 tsp. cocoa makes great brown) |