Earlier this month, I started a mini homeschool preschool curriculum with the girls. I am using the free materials and learning charts on ABCJesusLovesMe.com (which I HIGHLY recommend!) but I was a little bummed to see that there aren’t very many seasonal crafts.
Then that magical light bulb in my head went off – the one that I assume every first time homeschool mom experiences. The dawning realization of my flexibility and freedom with our school choice hit home. Who cares if its not in the curriculum! We cover the curriculum AND add fun and games and special interests! We are homeschoolers gosh darn it! We can make room for some fun seasonal crafts and lessons and excursions! Weeeeee!!!! *runs around in circles, clutching preschool craft supplies like a maniac*
So you guessed it. We are going nuts on the Pinterest-worthy autumn and Halloween crafts, and the girls are loving it! (Mom is having a bit of fun herself too, haha.) Here is a super easy and fun project to get little ones excited for Halloween:
Spooky Halloween Cotton Ball Ghosts
Here’s the directions for this fun and easy craft. Literally all of these items are obtainable at the Dollar Store.
SUPPLIES:
Cotton Balls
White sheets of paper
Black sheets of paper
Googly eyes
Kid safe glue
Pen or pencil
Scissors
A small bowl for tracing (if you suck at freehand like I do)
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS:
1. With a pen or pencil, draw a ghost shape on white paper. If you are art challenged like me and cant freehand a straight line to save your life, use a small bowl as a tracing guide for the ghosts head, then make random Pac-Man-esque squiggles the tail. Cut out the shapes with scissors.
2. With the black paper, cut out whatever mouth shape you would like. A perfect O, and oval egg shaped 0, a squiggly line. Whatever strikes yours (or rather, your toddlers) fancy!
3. Using the glue, apply glue to individual cotton balls and plop on the entire ghost outline. (Yes, it would be much faster to glue the entire ghost first, then just place cotton balls on top of the glue, covering the ghost shape entirely. But then your kiddo wouldn’t have the fun fine motor skill learning experience of doing it individually!)
4. Glue the googly eyes and mouth on top of the cotton ball ghost.
5. Hang your ghost in a spooky spot and enjoy!
Aren’t they cute?! And so easy to make too, making this craft perfect for 2 and 3 year olds! There’s something about cotton balls that kids love, and gluing is always a great learning experience for preschool ages.
I notice that Tessa and Thymes favorite crafts are the ones like this – the sensory activities which provide an avenue for learning muscle control and fine motor skills. Young children learn best when given the opportunity to explore materials at their own pace and fashion (with guidance and supervision of course) and with crafts like this one, it is okay for children to touch the glue and to feel the stickiness between the thumb and fingers and make a bit of a mess. Its all part of the learning experience!
Great idea for a Halloween craft, looks like fun! Thanks for sharing!
xxxx from Emily // http://www.diamondsanddachshunds.weebly.com
Sure thing! My kiddos had such a blast with this little project! <3
Wow! this is beautiful, I just learnt something new now and your kids are so cute. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.tessyonyia.com
I think they are quite adorable myself! hehe! Thanks for stopping by! <3
Aww the ghosts are adorable 🙂
Halloween is not our holiday, so sadly I have no craft stories to share.
Whaaaaat?! How can you not care for Halloween! It is pretty much my favorite! (After Christmas that is, haha..)
It’s not that I don’t care for it, it’s just not historically OUR holiday. Estonia doesn’t celebrate Halloween, it’s foreign to us. It has only become popular in the recent years, but we don’t have kids going around trick or treating. Just people dressing up and having parties sometimes. We do have two similar ones called Kadripäev and Mardipäev where kids dress up as funky looking beggars or animals and go around houses singing songs and wishing people luck.
The ghosts are adorable and so are your girls. That looks like a fun and easy craft for Halloween and a great way for the family to spend time together.
Thoughts in Progress
and MC Book Tours
Yeah, my husband tries to get in on the crafts and homeschool fun whenever he can, since he works during the day… the girls are always so excited to work with their
poppa!
Gingi!!!! Those ghosts are adorable, I’m making them with my daughter and niece today. Too too cute!!!!! And I am heading to ABCJesusLovesme.com right now! That’s for your insights.
Please let me know what you think of the site, I absolutely LOVE it, and the curriculum! My girls are having SO MUCH FUN with it, and learning SO MUCH!!
These are so adorable and fun, such a cute idea!
Thanks Christine!! <3 <3
Awww this is so cute.
xox
Lenya
FashionDreams&Lifestyle
Thanks Lenya! Thanks for stopping by! <3
Awe, these little crafts are so cute and I’m sure the kids have so much fun making them! Thanks so much for sharing, beautiful, and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!
XO,
Jalisa
http://www.thestylecontour.com
Yes, they actually play with these ghosts every day now, like toys! Haha! Score! (Better than crafts that get shoved in a drawer and forgotten, right?!)
Aw it’s so cuute! I love it. <3
Right?!?!? My kids loving them so much made me HAVE TO share!
That is such a cute craft!
Isnt it though?!
Those ghosts are too cute! Looks like y’all had fun creating them. Last year we printed out some bats and made a bunch of cutouts. Nothing fancy, but it was a lot of fun. We decided to keep them up year round lol. 🙂
That sounds like something to keep in mind! My daughter loves bats… she calls them eee eees (after the squeaking sound they make, haha!)
That looks like so much fun 🙂
It really was! Kiddos had a blast!
so fantastic diy
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have an happy weekend
kiss
For sure, I will go check it out now love! <3
These hand print ghosts are SO cute! I have all of the supplies at my house, I should do these with my daughter sometime this week before Halloween.
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
You should! And share photos!! I would LOVE to see that! <3
It looks so cool!!!
xx Karolina
https://ezerskyte.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks! It was super fun to make!
;D
Adorei essa ideia!
Ótimo domingo!
Beijo! ^^
Thanks for stopping by Amanda! <3 <3
Cutest ghosts diy. Such a creative and fun idea.
http://www.fashionradi.com
Thanks Radi! We had a blast making these!
This is such a cute craft idea
xo
http://www.laurajaneatelier.com
Thanks Laura! <3 <3 <3
I’ve done something like this but with handprints! It’s a Halloween crafting frenzy over here with the littles and birthdays back-to-back. A couple of weeks off and Thanksgiving will be up!
Yeah, there is pretty much no taking a break this time of year, is there? haha..
Those are very cute
Thanks sweetie! <3
This looks like a fun craft project for the whole family. It looks pretty easy to execute and everyone can add their own personality when decorating their ghost.
LaToya
http://www.toyastales.blogspot.com
Yeah, you can mix it up however you like.. super cute and fun!
Adorable! I like that this is super simple, fun to do, and that both the creating and the final creation can be part of playtime. I like that you’re working this into the school day in celebration of Halloween. Imaginative play and actually creating things with your hands are so integral to learning.
<3 Liz
http://www.withwonderandwhimsy.com
Exactly!! I am so happy my little ones are loving learning, and crafts like this makes it so easy!
Lovely post dear! Have a great week! xx
You too sweetie, thanks for stopping by! <3
That’s super cool! I love the idea!
xx
cvetybaby.com
Thanks sweetie! Have a great week!
This is SO sweet – what a brilliant fuss-free Halloween activity to do with children, great idea 🙂
aglassofice.com
x
Yeah, it was easy to put together, easy to clean up… will be doing it again! <3
I love these, a very good idea and it was lovely to see your two girls enjoying themselves.
The grandchildren enjoy craft sessions to, and this time of year is an excellent time to be creative.
All the best Jan
Oooo, what kind of crafts do you do with your little ones Jan? Share!!