Easy crafts with only a few simple steps and materials can be fun for kids while at the same time have some complicated kindergarten readiness learning. This Halloween ghost craft activity is suitable for toddlers and older kids.
To make this ghost, use a square of any color tissue paper. Who says ghosts have to be white? After all, we can’t see them so maybe they do come in rainbow colors. Let your child squeeze some scrap paper into a ball. Drape the tissue square over the ball, twist a pipe cleaner just underneath to make a head and hocus-pocus, there is a ghost.
The paper can be decorated before and after making the ghost. If there are sprinkles at your house, your child can squeeze some glue on to the paper square and sprinkle on a few. Tissue paper rips easily so adult hands may need to help with the glue. Sprinkle glue also works but may need to dry for awhile first. For coloring, crayons tear the paper, so markers or paint dabbers are better choices. Once the paper is ready and the ghost made, kids can add a few more details, like eyes and a mouth. Another bit of paper might be a hat or a cape. Stickers, feathers, yarn, goggly eyes, and other bits and pieces make all kinds of ghosts. (My apologies for these fuzzy photos. We were inside a barn at a community event.)
Learning is somewhat like a ghost, invisible that is. Colors are not as easy to learn as it appears. Think of how many variations there are for colors and how many different things can be the same color. Matching colors and names accurately is not easy. There are some wonderful words to use when we talk about ghosts, such as invisible, spooky, and scary. Ghosts do not just talk, they moan and groan, haunting dark, secret places. Imaginations go places too. Holding their ghosts, kids can fly, flit, and float all around and, of course, help tidy up. Can you see the fun and learning?
