Easy Halloween Ghost Crafts For Kids To Make

Step 1: Gather the Leaves

It’s always a good start to a craft when you get to go on an autumn walk to gather your supplies. 

This is a fun way to enjoy the outdoors and find the perfect shapes for your ghosts. Use a bag to keep them safe on the way home. You may end up gathering more than you’ll need!

That’s just more for another project…

Sycamore leaves or leaves that give a natural head and arms shape are a great place to start.

If you don’t have leaves that are a good shape for ghosts, then find the largest ones and cut them into a ghostly shape. 

Don’t worry if the leaves have little holes in them. It just adds to the character of the ghost.

But avoid leaves that are too curled up. As they may tear if you try to pull them out straight. 

If your leaves are damp, dry them out before starting. To do this, sandwich them between paper towels and leave them to dry fully.

Step 2: Prepare the Leaves for Painting

Once your leaves are dry, they’re ready to paint.

It may be easier for children to hand paint the leaves with white paint. But for older children or adults, spray painting is the fastest way to make good progress.

For spray paint cans to work properly, you should spray horizontally to the object. Not with the leaves lying on the floor. That causes the spray can to drip and not work properly.

So, you need to create a background to attach the leaves to, for them to stay upright.

Scrap cardboard works perfectly for this. Use tape to secure the petiole (the handle bit of the leaf) to the cardboard.

You can also use double-sided tape (or a loop of normal tape) to secure the blade to the cardboard. This is so that it doesn’t flop over or move around against the force of the spray.

Step 3: Spray Paint the Leaves

Spray paint works best doing several light coats.

It can be tempting to go all out and cover them in one go. Resist the temptation! That just causes drips and thick paint.

Spraying a light coat keeps more of the veins visible which adds to the interesting shape of the ghost leaf.

You can respray the leaf within a few minutes. With this paint, it was touch dry within 30 minutes.

Step 4: Paint or Draw Faces

Once the leaves are dry, it’s time to bring them to life! Use a black marker or paint to draw friendly or spooky faces on your white ghosts.

Painting in a smooth line tends to give the ghosts a friendlier look. Creating more jagged lines, makes them feel a bit spookier.

I even played around with a smiling ghost, see that one at the end!

For younger children, you could use googly eyes for a cute touch. But make sure they’re small ones as the leaves are very light.

Step 5: Punch Holes for the String

A hole punch is a good way to create a clean hole in the top of each ghost.

You could also use scissors to cut a small gap. But the leaf is delicate so make sure not to tear it.

Having holes in the head allows the ghosts to hang nicely when attached to the garland.

Alternatively, you could put the holes through the arms which would line the ghosts all up evenly. However, there’s the risk of the ghosts flipping upside down over the string.

Step 6: Attach Ghosts to String

The final step is to simply add the ghosts to the string and gently thread them along.

Alternating between the larger and smaller ones is a nice way to add variety to the layout.

White string is a good choice as it blends in well with the ghosts. Twine would also work well for a more rustic feel.

Adorable Halloween Craft Ghost Garland