Halloween craft ideas for kids

Spooky Spiders

Looking for a creepy little craft? These spooky spiders are the perfect complement to your family's Halloween party or your home décor. In orange and black, these little arachnids are sure to make fright night more festive and fun. Get creative and use other colors as well!

What you need:

• Small pony beads
• Pipe cleaners (black and orange)

What you do:

1

For each spider, gather four pipe cleaners in a bunch. Bend the bunch in half and then tightly twist the section near the fold several times to shape a slender spider body.

2

Separate the pipe cleaner ends to create the spider's legs.

3

Slide a couple of beads onto each leg and push them up close to the body. Then bend each leg an inch from the body and slide a couple more beads up to the joint. Bend the legs again to create a second set of joints about 1 1/2 inches from first and slide on the final pairs of beads.

Boo-tiful Halloween Bracelets

The perfect accessory for any Halloween party, these gorgeously ghastly charms really make a statement! These are a great accompaniment to a witch costume or a fun and creative craft for a Halloween party. Making the charms will require help from Mom, but once assembled, they're easy for young crafters to string onto beading elastic.

What you need:

• Colored pencils or markers
• Thin jeweler's wire or craft wire (flexible enough to bend without pliers)
• Glue stick or glue dots
• Scrapbook paper
• Scissors
• Pencil (for drawing the charms)
• Beading elastic
• Pony beads
• Drop of craft glue

What you do:

1

For each charm, cut out matching pairs of miniature Halloween symbols, such as mini pumpkins or skulls (those shown here measure about 3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inches wide/tall). An easy way to accomplish this is to put two squares of paper back to back so you can cut out both at once. Then, your child can use colored pencils or markers to embellish the charms as she likes. You can even create candy corn by gluing strips of yellow, orange, and white paper together, as shown, and then cutting the shapes from it.

2

Cut a 2-1/2-inch length of wire for each charm. Loosely bend each length in half and twist the ends together a few times about 1/8 inch below the bend to form a small loop, as shown. Use glue dots to sandwich the ends of one of these little hangers between the two pieces of each charm. (Trim the wire ends with scissors if they are too long). Firmly squeeze together the two layers of the charm to make sure they are well adhered to the wire and each other.

3

Cut a length of beading elastic that is several inches longer than the circumference of your child's wrist. With each charm, slide a pony bead down over the wire loop so that it rests just above the charm. String the charms onto the elastic, spacing them apart with several pony beads. When the bracelet is the desired length, tightly tie the ends of the beading elastic together with an overhand knot, leaving a little bit of slack so the charms will dangle. Use a dab of glue to secure the knot, if needed. Trim the elastic ends about 3/4 inch from the knot and thread them back through the adjacent beads to hide them.

Creepy Cute Leaf Ghosts

Scare up a little fun by adding these haunted holiday decorations to your holiday table. You can even write peoples' names on them to turn them into place cards. Just coat the leaves with sparkly white frost and then draw on ghost faces!

What you need:

• Silk leaves (found in craft and department stores)
• White fabric paint
• White or silver glitter
• Paintbrush or foam brush
• Scissors
• Waxed paper
• Black permanent marker

What you do:

More great holiday ideas

A Pinterest Halloween: Easy DIY decorations
Free printable Halloween party pack
Free Halloween pumpkin carving design templates