Spiders, Skeletons and Bats! Halloween Fun for all ages.

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Halloween doesn’t have to be scary, and it can be a lot of fun with homemade decorations.  There are fun and easy ways to make your own spiders, skeletons and bats and use them to decorate your home or classroom for spooky fun.

Spiders:

One easy way to make spiders is with black construction paper.  You will need (per spider): one sheet of black construction paper, scissors and glue (eyes are optional).  Cut four strips from your paper, about the width of your pinky, or a child’s pointer finger.  You can cut from either the long or the short side of the paper – just decide if you want long or short legs on your spider.  From the remaining paper, cut an oval for the body (the bottom of a hand sanitizer or shampoo bottle is a good size) and a smaller circle (cap from toothpaste or tube of lotion is a good size) for the head.  Center the leg strips along the oval and glue them on the underside.  Then glue the head on the other side of the body.  Bend your legs up from the body, and down halfway to the end of the leg strip (forming almost a triangle) and your spider should stand up on its own.

Another easy way to make a spider is to use a pom-pom as the base.  You will need (per spider): one pom-pom, four pipe cleaners, two pieces of string or yarn and glue (eyes are optional).  Take your four pipe cleaners and a short length of string and tie the pipe cleaners together in the middle.  Fan out the pipe cleaners and bend them half-way between the tied center and end.  Now you have eight legs.  Glue the pompom to the center of the legs (on the string you used to tie them together).  Glue or tie the other piece of string around the body of the spider.  You can add eyes if you like.  Use for table decorations or hang from the second string.  Experiment with different colors for the body and legs and have fun! 

Skeleton:

One easy way to make a skeleton is to use cotton balls and cotton swabs.  You will need (per skeleton): one piece of construction paper, one cotton ball and 28 cotton swabs, glue, scissors and a marker.  First, draw a face on your cotton ball.  Set aside for the marker to dry.  You will add it to the skeleton last.  Cut six of your cotton swabs in half.  Set aside to use for ribs and arms.  For five of your cotton swabs, cut off both ends.  You will not use the middle.  Set aside the ends to use on hands and feet.  You will need six groups of two swabs glued together.  These will be shoulders, hips and legs.  Use three swabs glued together to make the upper body.  The two outer swabs will be even.  The end of the middle swab will be half way from the end so that it overlaps.  Glue your upper body to the construction paper.

Glue one of your groups of two perpendicular to each end of your upper body (glue to the cotton).  Now you have your upper body, neck, shoulder and hips.  Glue two of your remaining groups of two to each end of your hips to make legs.  Then glue the remaining groups of two to each of the legs for the bottom section of the leg.  Take four of your “ends” and glue two to each leg to make feet.

Now make your ribs by taking four of the swabs you cut in half and overlap the stick so that the swab sticks out of each end.  Then space them along the upper body and glue down.  Take the last two swabs that you cut in half and line up even, swab to swab and glue one to each swab end of the shoulders.  Glue your last two swabs to the end of at the elbow.  Take your six remaining ends and glue three each to the bottom of your arms to make hands.  Now glue the cotton ball to the top of your neck, and your skeleton is complete.

Bats:

A more advanced craft is a balloon bat.  You will need (per bat): one balloon, one pipe cleaner or twist tie, glue or tape, and black and white construction paper (string or yarn for hanging is optional).  First, blow up your balloon about half full, so it is not stretched to the max.  If you blow up the balloon too much, it is easy to pop.  Twist a small section (about 1/3 of the balloon).  Secure the twist with one your pipe cleaner or twist tie.  Now the body of your bat is complete.  Out of the black construction paper, cut two small triangles (for ears), two small circles (for eyes) and two wings.  To make sure your shapes are the same size, fold the paper in half and cut two at a time.  Out of the white construction paper, cut out two ovals (for eyes) and two small triangles for teeth.  Tape or glue the black circle on the white oval and tape or glue the eyes, ears and teeth onto the smaller section of balloon.  Then glue the wings onto the larger portion of the balloon.  You can tie a string to your pipe cleaner or twist tie if you wish your bat to be hangable.  You can also use craft foam instead of construction paper.

Have a fun and safe Halloween from www.ColoringBook.com .