Try this fun and creative Halloween craft with your second grader to celebrate the spookiest holiday of the year. This activity helps build spatial awareness and allows your child to get creative when thinking in miniature! With just a few simple, household craft supplies you and your child can create a haunted diorama that is sure to be a hit.
What You Need:
- Shoebox
- White tissue paper
- White yarn
- Candy pumpkins and candy corn
- Spooky cut-outs from magazines: black cats, monsters, bats, etc.
- Glue
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Markers or crayons
What You Do:
- Help your child cover the shoebox, inside and out, with construction paper in the colors of your choice.
- Place it on its side, with the opening facing you. If you like, you can use the scissors to cut a window in the back and glue a full moon cut-out up to the window.
- Let your child draw in the backdrop of her diorama on the walls and top and bottom of the shoebox.
- Cover one of the candy pumpkins with a tissue, tie a bit of yarn underneath to hold in place and make a ghost. Have your child draw eyes and a spooky face on the head. You can repeat this process to make as many spooky ghosts as you like to hang in your diorama.
- Poke a hole in the corner of the ceiling to hang the ghost by the yard at its neck, tying a knot at the top to hold it in place. You can use the same method to hang bats and owls from the ceiling.
- Have your child glue spooky cut-outs inside and out. Be creative with the decorations. You can use more tissue and glue to create curtains around the window, and extra cardboard to make a frame for a spooky portrait. Your child can also rip up some tissue paper to make cobwebs.
- Create an eerie walkway with a row of candy corn, and pile mini pumpkins in the corner to lure in tiny trick-or-treaters.
When your child is satisfied with her creepy creation, you can display it in your home in a place of prominence. This project makes for a great Halloween decoration.
By Hannah Boyd
Hannah Boyd has two young children. She lives in New Hampshire.
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