Halloween Crafts Ideas for Toddlers

Why spend money on premade Halloween decorations when you and your toddler can work on your own special (and spooky) art projects? Making homemade decorations, toys, and paintings is a good idea for playdate, too, so don't be shy about inviting your child's friends over for an afternoon.. Here are a few scarily brilliant ideas for creating Halloween crafts with your toddler.

Pumpkin-Seed Art

What you'll need: pumpkin seeds, acrylic paint, plastic freezer bags, sheets of paper, child-friendly glue

• Save the pumpkin seeds from your pumpkin carving. Rinse them and let them dry.

• Put a little acrylic paint in a plastic bag and add the pumpkin seeds. Let your child squish the bag to cover all the seeds with a coat of paint.

• Lay the colored seeds out on a thin baking sheet or cardboard to dry. Take a few A4 or A5-size sheets of paper and have your child (or do this yourself) draw a big tree, some flowers, a dog, a dragon . . .

• Once the painted seeds are dry, let you child apply small bits of glue to the seeds and stick them onto the drawings. Hang the final product in a place of prominence!

Watch-out: Keep children under constant surveillance to avoid any choking hazard with the seeds.

Witch Hats

What you'll need: paper plate, construction paper, child-friendly scissors, tape, black paint, elastic string, sequins, stickers, ribbons

• To make the top of the hat, roll the paper into a cone shape and tape it shut.

• Cut wedge-shaped holes into the center of the paper plate. This will be the rim.

• Fold the triangular shapes in the center of the plate upward, and tape them to the inside (bottom) of the cone. You should now have the shape of your hat.

• Paint the hat black and let your child decorate it with ribbons, sequins, or stickers — whatever she likes.

• Cut a piece of elastic string to tape to the opposite sides of the hat (long enough to fit under your child's chin). Now take your scary little witch out on a quest for candy!

Ghost Footprints

What you'll need: washable white acrylic paint, sheets of paper, black thick tipped marker

• Have your child sit on a chair or a kitchen counter top.

• Coat his foot with white paint.

• Have him step onto the sheet of paper and make a good print of his foot.

• Use the marker to draw eyes and an open ghost mouth in the heel part of the print.

• If you make enough prints, you could either cut out the footprints and place them in a trail around the house, or make a poster to welcome trick-or-treaters at the door.