Halloween ghosts, bats and monsters to make

Welcome to another Wacky Workshops project – celebrating Halloween.

What is it about Halloween that gets our imagination so excited?

Is it because Halloween is the one occasion it’s considered really cool to show off your creativity?

Is it because we like to be scared? Some would argue that by dressing up as our fears we are embracing them.

Is it because Halloween is the one night you can look and act as anything or anyone and be accepted and not judged?

The Halloween celebration is not as big here in Australia as it is in other countries, such as the USA, but its popularity is growing all the time.

For kids, it’s just a great excuse to get dressed up in their favourite character’s clothes and eat yummy lollies. Oh, and make fun crafts.

This week’s projects include a scary mask, a bat you can hang outside, a surprising little Halloween ghost and a tiny scarecrow.

THE SURPRISING HALLOWEEN GHOST

SUPPLIES

• Foam coffee cup
• Large paddle pop stick
• Foam ball
• Crepe paper
• Glue
• Black marker
• Box cutter

METHOD

These little ghosts are the same as the ones we made last week for the Halloween haunted house, but without the wire.

• Simply wrap the crepe paper around the foam ball and twist at the neck to form the ghost.
• Use the marker to draw the eyes and mouth.
• Use the box cutter to cut a slit the same width as the paddle pop stick in the bottom of the coffee cup. Make sure you don’t make the slit too big!
• Glue one end of the paddle pop stick to the inside of the ghost’s crepe paper ‘body’.
• Put the other end of the paddle pop stick through the slit from the inside of the coffee cup.

You can now make the ghost pop up from the coffee cup and surprise people by pushing on the paddle pop stick.

WEATHERPROOF BAT TO HANG ON YOUR OUTSIDE TREES FOR HALLOWEEN

SUPPLIES

• Empty and clean plastic soda bottle (mine was a 1.25-litre bottle)
• A black sock – adult knee high
• Black foam sheets
• White foam sheet or white plastic milk bottle
• Large foam ball
• Large googly eyes
• Weatherproof glue – I used liquid nails
• Fishing line

METHOD

• Cover the bottom half of your bottle with a black sock.
• Push the foam ball onto the top of the soda bottle. Use glue to secure it.
• Pull the sock over the foam ball securing in the centre of the head, but leaving the sides open to form ‘ears’. Your bat’s head and body should be covered by the sock now.
  
• Wrap fishing line around the bottom end of the body and tie so that there is a length of the line coming out.
• Secure with a dot of glue.
• Cut bat wing shapes in foam sheets to match the size of your bat’s body.
• Add glue to the wings to secure them the middle of the body.
• Glue googly eyes to the bat’s face.
• Cut little triangle shapes from the white foam sheet or plastic for the bat’s fangs and attach with glue to the face.

• When dry, hang your bat upside down from the nearest tree.

SCARY HALLOWEEN MONSTER MASKS

This one is great as there are no rules to put limitations on imagination.

SUPPLIES

• Boxes large enough to fit over heads
• Box cutters to make eye and mouth holes in boxes
• Random bits of paper, tissue, foil dishes, cardboard rolls, stickers, feathers, pipe cleaners, pom poms – whatever the imagination allows!
• Glue
• Paint – optional

METHOD

• Cut eye and mouth holes in the box
• Paint, if desired
• Glue anything on anywhere – this is YOUR design!

TINY SCARECROW

SUPPLIES

• Straw
• Fabric
• Wooden chopstick
• Wooden paddle pop stick
• Foam ball
• Small fabric flower  *
• Drink bottle lid  *
• Hessian  *
• Rubberband  *
• Stapler
• Glue
• Scissors
• Wire Tie

METHOD

• Use the tie wire to tie the paddle pop stick horizontally across the chopstick a few centimetres (about an inch) from the top.
• Use more tie wire to attach straw across the paddle pop stick and also vertically from the paddle pop stick to form ‘legs’.

• Cut trousers and shirts shapes from the material and then attach to the scarecrow using a stapler.

NB: You could sew but the stapler is faster and easier and more practical when working with children or people with disabilities.

• Now that the body of your scarecrow is done you can decide on a head style.
• STYLE 1 – glue the foam ball to the centre of the flower, then glue on the googly eyes and stick foam ball on top of the chopstick.

• STYLE 2 – Cut a circle from the Hessian that is bigger than the bottle cap.
•   Cover the cap with glue then put the Hessian on top and secure with the rubber band.
• – Turn the cap over and glue the straw to the inside, then glue foam ball to straw
• –  Glue on googly eyes and put foam ball on the chopstick.

Which one do you prefer?

Want some more Halloween craft ideas? Check out my easy spooky art project, mummies and monsters, apple head monsters and how to make a mandrake.

Check out my Pinterest Halloween board for more inspiration.

Happy crafting and have a gleeful week, Tamuria