Halloween Kids Crafts - How to Make a Halloween Handprint Spider

Halloween is a time of fun costumes, candy and ghost stories. And what would it be without spooky decorations? Scary stuff hanging around the house sets the mood for the holiday much like decorated trees and mistletoe set the mood for Christmas.

Spiders aren't supernatural creatures like ghosts or goblins, but they are pretty scary. Yet they are not too scary for the little ones. Plus, spider crafts provide an opportunity to learn about living things.

Here is a cute and fun spider decoration for preschoolers to make. In fact, it's easy enough for even toddlers to do with a little assistance. It makes a great decoration to put on your front door or window to greet trick or treaters!

What You Need

*Card stock or construction paper (any color but black)
*Black tempera or poster paint
*Paintbrush
*Googly eyes
*Glue

Instructions

1. Using the paintbrush, paint your child's palm and all fingers except the thumb with black paint.

2. Have your child press his or her hand down firmly on the paper.

3. Paint the child's other hand in the same manner.

4. Have your child press that hand down on the paper, overlapping the first handprint and making sure the fingers are across from the ones in the original print. This will form the spider's body.

5. Have your child use the paintbrush or his or her fingers to paint any areas of the spider's body that are not filled in. Let the paint dry.

6. Glue on googly eyes. Let dry.

Tips

Cover the work area with newspapers. This project could get messy!

If you prefer, you could use black construction paper and a different color of paint.

If you want a spider cutout, trace the child's hand (minus the thumb) onto a piece of construction paper. Place the other hand so that it overlaps the first handprint, trace all but the thumb, and cut around the edges. Glue on googly eyes, punch a hole in the top, and hang up with a piece of string.

Your child might like to use paint in a different color to add a mouth and/or nose.

To really make the spider stand out, let the paint dry completely and embellish with glitter glue or metallic paint. Or you could glue on some pom poms or stick on some stickers.

To add to the educational aspect of this project, find a book or website that has lots of pictures of different kinds of spiders to look at with your child. Then encourage him to make a spider that looks like his favorite one.

Have fun with this, one of the many Halloween Kids Crafts! You can also go and have a look Easy Pumpkin Painting.

Kids Halloween Crafts - Halloween Beaded Jewelry

Kids Halloween Crafts - Halloween Beaded Jewelry

Kids love dressing up in full costume for Halloween. Remember, very important, that the perfect costume isn't complete without the right accessories! Why not make some beaded jewelry to finish the look? This is one of our really fun Kids Halloween Crafts.

1. Beginners Halloween Beaded Crafts:

There are plenty of simple beaded jewelry pieces that do not require a great deal of skill. You can whip these up in no time, and they can add lots of punch to your costume (or even an everyday outfit). You don't even have to go by a pattern if you don't want to.

Here's what you'll need to make a simple beaded bracelet:

• Elastic thread
• Medium sized beads
• Scissors

This is what you have to do:

• Cut a piece of elastic about 10 inches long.
• Tie a knot in one end large enough to prevent the beads from falling off.
• Then add beads as you like, either randomly or in a pattern that you like.
• Once you've added enough beads to make the bracelet the right size for your wrist tie the ends together and cut off the excess string.

You can find lots of Halloween themed beads at your local craft store or online. Bat, ghost, and skull beads are great for making fun Halloween bracelets. You can also use this technique to make beaded necklaces. Just decide how long you want your necklace to be, and use a piece of elastic that is 2 to 4 inches longer than that.

2. For The Older Ones - More Advanced Techniques

a. You can also make some nice Halloween pieces by doing bead weaving:

This is often done on a loom, but it can be done by hand as well. It can produce a flat, fabric-like piece, or a three-dimensional piece. Bead weaving requires certain stitches and knots, but it's not that difficult to learn.

Bead weaving is a general term that encompasses a number of beading techniques. Some more specific types of bead weaving include beadpoint, bead embroidery, bead crochet, and needleweaving. All of these can be used to create great Halloween jewelry. Bead weaving is great for making spider earrings and pendants.

b. Another beading technique is wire wrapping.

This involves placing beads on jewelry wire and bending the wire into decorative shapes. Certain tools are required, including a flush cutter, round nose pliers, and bent nose pliers. There are also other tools that are used to do certain techniques and to make wire wrapping easier.

Wire wrapping is great for making bracelets, earrings and pendants. You can use all sorts of fun Halloween beads to make a bold and unique piece. Why not make a matching set?

3. Beaded jewelry can add some splash to any Halloween costume.

It's also great for wearing anywhere you want to show your Halloween spirit but can't wear a costume. You don't have to be an expert to create nice pieces. All you need is some elastic thread, beads and your imagination to get started.

Doing Kids Halloween Crafts is a fun way to spend time with the kids and keep them safe at home.

For more Halloween crafts visit Fun Kids Crafts and Halloween Crafts

If you are looking for a very good e-book with kids crafts for all occasions I can strongly recommend the e-book Fun Kids Crafts.