Quick and Easy Halloween Crafts for Kids

My 8 1/2 year old granddaughter spent the weekend with us and wanted to work on some easy Halloween craft projects. She's been doing various arts and crafts since age 4 and loves to sit down and get creative. We headed into my craft room and she went through my "extra's bin" and pulled out a few things to work on.

First up...the Jack Skeleton Hand-Painted Clam Shell (Seashell) that took a few hours to make as she had to let the paint dry in between the coats. We used really large clam shells that we collected from the beach last month and each seashell measures about 6" wide at its widest point.

If you're looking for more Halloween Hand-Painted Seashells and Clam Shell designs, you can find them over on my main blog called Two Classy Chics. We have a large Crafting with Kids section where you'll find all kinds of cool craft projects to do with the kids!

She painted on two coats of white acrylic paint, leaving each coat dry for about 30 minutes before proceeding to the next step. Using black acrylic paint she painted on two black colored eyes, a nose and a mouth. You can see the shape, size and placement by referring to the photograph Let the face paint dry for about an hour.

Take the painted clam shells (seashells) outside and lay them down on a sheet of newspaper or aluminum foil. Lightly spray two coats of clear acrylic sealer (glossy finish) on top of the painted design. Let dry for several hours. The sealer will protect the painted design and you can use your painted seashells indoors or outdoors.

The second project was a Hand-Painted Black Cat which is totally appropriate for Halloween. I had an unfinished cat wooden shape in my craft bin that I had picked up on clearance at a local craft supply store last year for about a dollar. I had never gotten around to painting it or decorating it.

For this...she took aluminum foil and wrapped strips of foil around the rope hanging cord to protect it from paint. She took it outside and laid it on top of two sheets of newspaper. She used black spray paint to paint the front of the cat. She waited an hour, flipped it over and painted the back side. Waited another hour (make sure it's dry) and brought it inside.

Take the aluminum foil off of the rope hanging cord. She used a white chalk paint marker and wrote the word BOO! on the front of the cat. She kept it really simple which I like! After that was dry, we took it back outside and sprayed a light coat of clear acrylic sealer on each side of the black cat to protect the paint. This cat now hangs on the back door over at her house as a Halloween decoration.

Both of these projects are great for older kids to work on and they don't cost a lot of money. If you don't have access to large clam shells, go out and find some smooth river rocks and paint your design on top of the rock. You can always find unfinished wood holiday theme'd items in the clearance bin at your local craft store after the holiday for cheap! Pick up a few shapes this year, tuck them away and let the kids paint them for next year.