I like holidays and I’m always ready to dive in and make them fun for kids and thus, very involved for me. But Halloween was never my favorite. I thought Halloween decorations were either gross or silly and could not imagine why I’d spend any time or money on them.
And then I had a little boy. And later, two little boys. And now we do up Halloween. Not over the top, but we do plenty.
If you’re just remembering to buy Halloween candy (like me), or you’ve already done all your spooky projects and can’t get enough, here are a few super-easy, cheap, and last-minute Halloween projects to do with your kids.
Pumpkin Mummies
Easy, fast, and adorable. Get some small pumpkins, googly eyes, and a roll of bandages. (The ones I bought were self-adhesive, making this project even easier.) My then-four-year-old had no trouble bandaging his pumpkin himself, then we just glued on eyes and drew a mouth. Pumpkins done and with no cutting, scraping, or stitches! I got my bandages at Target and big eyes at Michaels.
Juice or Milk Box Mummies
Combining two things kids love: tape and juice boxes. (And I always love a googly-eye project.) Again, super fast and super simple: Wrap up your juice or milk box with white duct tape and glue on some eyes. Remember to remove your straw first and leave the straw hole uncovered. We taped the straw back on with Scotch tape. I made these with my nieces for a party, and they’d be fun in a lunchbox on Halloween too. We found it easier to wrap (and more realistic) if we tore the tape into narrow strips lengthwise. You can get colored duct tape anywhere lately. I got mine at Menards.
Glow Ghosts
Am I the only mom with a stash of glow sticks? Sometimes they are just what’s needed to make something fun or distract from a turf war over the Lego table (and we’ve already discussed my dollar-bin addiction), so I often have some around. Find your glow sticks and get a pack of white balloons. Blow up balloon and hold it shut. Draw on ghost face. Crack glow stick and put inside the balloon. Tie off balloon and you have a glowing ghost! Wait til evening on Halloween to do this; they don’t last long.
Votive Mummies
Yes, this is a variation on a theme, but they are still cute. Find some old jars (or use your votive holders, it’s not permanent) and get out your bandages again. This time I used foam-type bandages (much less expensive at Walgreens) and they stuck nicely to the glass and themselves without any glue. Wrap jar, glue on eyes, and drop a votive inside. They look cool lit and took five minutes to make! My older son really had fun making them and I had to keep finding him more jars.
Milano Ghosts
These are Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies, dipped in melted white chocolate or almond bark and piped with eyes and a mouth. That’s all. Cute, fast, and the first thing gone at the party.
It’s clear I like mummies, googly eyes, and decorations that are white. But another thing these projects have in common is that the are edible or temporary or disposable. In other words, you don’t have to store them. (Which is great, because two bins of Halloween stuff is enough, enough I say!).
Happy Halloween!
In addition to being temporary and disposable, the other awesome thing about these projects is that they are reasonably attractive and would Halloween-up your house without making it look garish or too kid-like. The all-white palette helps unify the projects if you wanted to use them at a Halloween party.
The Milano ghosts kind of scare me. Look at them again — just staring at you in horror. They just beg you to bite off their heads.