Young children especially love to do crafts and there is not better time to do them then at Halloween. The fun and excitement of Halloween will have your little ones excited about making pumpkin projects. Best of all these are all age appropriate crafts that do not require extensive crafting skills or expensive materials. They will all work well for an afternoon of crafting fun with your youngsters or they could be a classroom project. Here are some Halloween pumpkin projects for young kids-
Pumpkin Book-This easy to do craft will have your kids delighted about Halloween.
What you will need:
- Construction paper
- Orange
- Green
- Yellow
- Dried pumpkin seeds (from your real jack-o-lantern)
- Yellow yarn
Instructions for the project: Start by cutting two large pumpkins from orange construction paper and staple together on the left side (like a book). Next you should cut out a green stem and curly Q. Using the yellow construction paper cut out eyes, nose and mouth for a jack o lantern face. If you are doing this with your own kids you can on the first day clean out a pumpkin with them. They can help pull out the seeds and let them dry. You can also carve your pumpkin at this time. After the seed are dry you can take out the paper pumpkins and on the inside pumpkin glue the dried pumpkin seeds and orange yarn to show the inside of the pumpkin. After the glue is dry the children can then decorate the front of their pumpkin books by gluing on face pieces and the stem.
Lace up pumpkin-Lacing projects are a great craft for preschoolers and kindergarten children. The lacing gives them fine motor skill practice and they can practice tying knots and bows. This craft is easy to do with a fun result.
What you will need:
- Wool or ribbon
- Single hole punch
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Card stock, poster board or construction paper
Instructions for the project: You will need to have a pumpkin template or make one of your own. You can make your own by tracing a pumpkin onto a thick piece of cardboard (cardboard backs from paper pads or old cereal boxes work well). Then an adult must cut out this template. You can then allow the children to trace the template onto a piece of card stock or poster board (or construction paper). Have the kids cut out their card stock shapes (or you can have an adult do this prior to craft time). Then have the children make holes around their shape (about an inch or two apart). Give each kid a length of wool or ribbon. It can be helpful to wrap some scotch tape around the end of the wool to make it more like a shoe lace. Have the child thread the lacing through the holes. You can also have the children practice tying knots and/or bows to tie off in the center.
Optional: Let the children use glitter, paint or stickers to further decorate their completed project.
Pumpkin paper plate mask-This easy to do craft leave the child with a fun and safe Halloween mask. Part of the fun and ease of this craft is the versatility.
What you will need:
- Paper plate (whatever size) or
- Cardboard cut into a circle or
- Margarine or ice cream container lid
- Orange paint or
- Orange construction paper or
- Orange tissue paper
- Black paint, or
- Black construction paper or
- Black marker
Instructions for the project: Paint your paper plate orange or glue orange construction/tissue paper onto it ( you can rip 1 inch squares of construction/tissue paper and glue them on with a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 regular children’s white glue.) After the plate is completely dry glue on face (paper mouth and nose). Then you can add a paper stem and leaves. Then you can cut out eyeholes and taped on a craft stick handle.
