Inexpensive Halloween Kids Crafts to Make
Making Flashlight Covers and Scary Paper Chains at Home
Oct 19, 2009
Parents who want to dress up their children's safety flashlights, as well as dressing their kids in Halloween costumes will appreciate these two homemade crafts. Easy-to-make and using lots of materials from around the house, these kids crafts will brighten a Halloween without breaking a budget.
Homemade Halloween Flashlight Covers
Many parents want their children to carry flashlights with them while Trick-O-Treating, but kids don't want their flashlights to ruin the effect of their costumes. Flashlight covers can be made to fit the Halloween holiday or to match the costume if necessary.
Materials Needed:
- A flashlight
- Tape
- Sheer paper – tracing paper
- Decorations – crepe paper, black sticker or paper cut-outs of Halloween shapes (bats, pumpkins, etc), ribbons, or other colored paper/paint to customize the look.
How to Assemble Your Flashlight Cover
Decorate the sheet of tracing paper as desired. Black cut-outs glued on will create a unique effect when the light is lit, or let the child paint their own design on the tracing paper
When everything is dry, wrap the paper around the top of the flashlight and tape securely to hold in place. When the flashlight is lit the light will not shine as brightly, but will shine through the paper for a spooky, Halloween-worthy look.
Use crepe paper or ribbons to wrap around the handle of the flashlight if desired to completely cover the base light from view. Crepe paper streamers can be cut to to hang down like fringe to cover the handle, if desired. Other children might prefer wrapping the flashlight handle in ribbons or scraps of fabric. Trick-or-treaters can try stretching out cotton balls to make it look as though it's covered in spider webs too.
Halloween Paper Chains
Like the old-fashioned paper-doll chains kids make in school, making homemade Halloween streamers uses the same paper-folding techniques.
Materials Needed:
- A long strip of paper 6-8" tall and as long as desired for each streamer. A roll of butcher paper works well because several long strips can be cut out.
- Marker to draw design
- Scissors
- Optional - Manila folder to cut out the template if parents and children plan to make more than one paper-chain streamer. A template will keep each streamer looking the same, so they can be taped together into a larger chain.
Fold the paper like an accordion and trace the Halloween stencil design on the top - remember that any design selected must touch the sides of the paper so the chain won't be broken.
Cut out the design, removing the paper from the top and bottom of the design, but leaving some uncut on each side of the paper.
Unfold the paper and the Halloween design should be a repeated element through the entire chain, connected at the intact sides! To make longer streamers just make multiple lengths of streamers and then tape the ends together so you can decorate an entire porch or room for Halloween.
For more Halloween craft ideas, including how to make All-Hallows Eve an educational experience for younger childred check out this Halloween Preschool Unit Study.
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