Halloween Craft: Ghosts from Feet

Cool fall weather got you stuck inside? Spend some quality time with your toddler or preschooler by doing this quick and easy Halloween craft with him or her. The end result makes a fun decoration to complement the rest of your Halloween decorations. The only supplies you need for this craft are construction paper, white paint, and clean feet. Optional supplies include chalk, glue, plastic 'googly' eyes, and glitter glue.

Start with construction paper in a dark color, such as black or purple. A darker background page will help your ghosts stand out more. You can encourage your child to decorate the paper with a spooky background scene, such as a graveyard under a full moon. Use your imagination! To stand out against the dark construction paper, use chalk to color in your background scene, or consider cutting out and gluing on shapes cut of other colors of construction paper. Make sure to leave enough room for your feet-ghosts.

The next step in this Halloween craft is the most fun. You need to cover the bottom of your little one's feet with white paint. The least messiest way is to use a paint brush to paint the bottom of their foot. Be careful, this tickles! This method produces a more transparent ghost. For a whiter, brighter ghost, put the white paint onto a paper plate so your child can step into the paint and more thoroughly coat their foot.

Once your child's foot is coated with the white paint, have them step carefully onto the dark construction paper you've decorated. You want their toes to be facing the bottom of the page and their heel at the top. Try adding a foot print of your own, too, for different size ghosts. Your toddler or preschooler will probably love the opportunity to paint your foot for you! Have your child stamp additional ghosts on other sheets of paper. Once dried, these extra ghosts can be cut out and used as Halloween cards, or can be hung up as decorations. Allowing your toddler or preschooler to cut out the ghosts with safety scissors gives them an opportunity to refine their fine motor skills.

After the paint has dried, add eyes to your ghosts. Glue circles made out of black construction paper or color them in with a black permanent marker. Of, if you have any plastic 'googly' eyes on hand, these add a whimsical touch to the ghosts. Use glitter glue to make your ghosts stand out even more.

Now, stand back and admire your work!