Fingerprint Bats
Paint both of a child's hands with black washable paint. Have child link thumbs together, keep fingers together and press both hands firmly onto a sheet of white or orange paper. After paint dries, the child may cut around the bat shape and add additional decorations (glitter, wiggle eyes, a small pom-pom nose, etc.)

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Ghost Lollipops
Give each child a Tootsie Pop, Blow Pop, or other large spherical lollipop, a 12-inch square of white cloth (preferably cut with pinking shears), 12 inches of black or orange yarn, and markers. Drape cloth over lollipop. Tie with yarn at the base of the lollipop. Draw features with markers.

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Glittery Ghosts
Lay a sheet of waxed paper on a flat surface. Draw an outline of a ghost using thick white craft glue, then fill in outline with craft glue. Sprinkle with glitter and allow to dry thoroughly. (The larger the ghost, the longer it will take to dry.) Once ghost has dried, peel off waxed papers. Add facial features with markers. Ghosts will cling to windows, file cabinets, and other smooth glass or metal objects.

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Magic Ghosts
Draw and color ghosts on heavy white paper using white crayons. (Younger children may use a white crayon to color in the outline of a ghost. Click here for a pattern.) Use a small sponge and very thin (watery) tempera paint to paint over the paper. Watch the ghosts magically appear.

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Midnight Mosaic
Tear orange or white construction paper into small squares (less than 1/2 inch). Paste torn bits of paper onto black construction paper to create a Halloween picture. Simple designs include a jack-o-lantern (create mouth, nose, and eyes by allowing black construction paper to show through), a witch's hat, a haunted house, or a ghost.

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Paper Chain Skeletons.
Cut white paper into 3/4-inch wide strips. Use strips to make five paper chains -- two long (about 30 inches) and three short (about 18 inches). Use one short chain to form the torso, two short chains to form the arms (attach to the top link of the torso), and the two long chains to form the legs (attach to the bottom link of the torso). Place both hands on a sheet of white paper and trace around them. Next, place both feet on a sheet of paper and trace around them. Cut these out and tape them to the ends of the arms and legs. Finally, cut out an oval shape and draw a face.

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Paper Plate Jack-O-Lanterns
Give each child a white paper plate (the cheap kind -- not styrofoam, plastic, or the "leakproof" variety). Direct them to color the entire plate pumpkin orange. Encourage them to color until no white is showing. Cut and paste facial features. (Click here for patterns.) Add a brown construction paper stem and a green construction paper leaf at the top. Display jack-o-lanterns on a vine made of green twisted paper ribbon.

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Pumpkin Prints
Carve chunks of pumpkin into various shapes (circles, triangles, squares, crescents, etc.) Give each child a blackline image of a pumpkin printed on orange paper or a pre-cut orange pumpkin. Let children dip pumpkin shapes into thinned black paint and use pumpkin pieces to stamp a jack-o-lantern face on their pumpkin.

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Spider Web Painting
Put a piece of black or dark blue construction paper inside a box lid. Dip one or more marbles in white paint, then drop marble(s) into box lid. Tilt box lid repeatedly to roll marbles on paper and create a web design. Remove paper from box lid and allow painting to dry thoroughly. While paint dries, children may color and cut out a spider. (Click here for pattern.) Add wiggle eyes if desired. Use a piece of yarn to attach spider to web painting.

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