Three Easy Outdoor Halloween Crafts to Make with Kids

Halloween is a perfect time to add outdoor decorations to your home. Depending on the age of your child, your crafts can vary from simply ghoulish to more trick than treat! Here, you will learn how to create three easy outdoor Halloween crafts that are sure to put your whole neighborhood in the mood.

Outdoor Crafts #1: Trash Bag Ghosts

Trash bag ghosts are an easy and adorable addition to your Halloween craft list. Each one can be tailored to look like a member of your family or you can let your kids be as unique and creative as they want.

Supplies
* White, kitchen-sized trash bags
* Newspaper
* Black permanent marker
* White string
* Any additional accessories that you want

When making your ghost as an outdoor Halloween craft, you can make it as big or small as you like. First, take a trash bag. This will be the main one that you fill with newspaper. If you do not have any type of filler paper on hand, you can fill the "head" of your ghost with more white trash bags. Simply wad them up into balls and keep adding to them until you get the size you like. This is a great job for the kids.

Next, you can tie a string around the head of the neck or you can tie a knot with the trash bag. Then let your kids create a face with the black magic marker and add any additional accessories or touches. For some of your ghosts, you can cut slits in the outside trash bag to create some ghostly movement in the wind. Otherwise, tie a string to the top of your ghost and hang outdoors. Halloween is known for ghosts and goblins and your kids are sure to get noticed for theirs.

Outdoor Crafts #2: Cardboard Tombstones

Your cardboard tombstones will be the perfect addition to your outdoor Halloween crafts; and, it is as easy as 1, 2, and 3.

Supplies
* Cardboard
* Spray or poster paint
* Paint pens

First, take your supply of cardboard and cut out the shapes of your tombstone. They can be square, rectangle, or rounded on the top. You may want to do this step without the kids. Next, paint the front of the tombstones black or gray. Then with your paint pen (preferable white, which is easy to see on Halloween night, but black works too), write your epitaph on your tombstones. To place them outdoors, you can prop them up with a cardboard stand or you can use any sort of stick to hold them in place. Let the kids decide where to place the decorations.

Outdoor Crafts #3: Decorative Pumpkin Pots

As summer comes to a close, search stores for terra cotta pots that are going on sale or clearance. Although the small planters will work, the big, fat ones look more like pumpkins.

Supplies
* terra cotta pots
* paint pens
* stick or bark from a tree
* floral wire, a silk leaves

To create an outdoor pumpkin decoration is very easy. First, turn the pot upside down so that the opening is facing the ground. Then, let the kids paint faces with any color of paint pen. Make it funny, cute or scary, but make it your own! Once the pumpkin is painted to perfection and has had a chance to dry, you can begin to add some of the other decorations.

For this part, you can make it as easy or hard as you want. For an easy choice, just let the kids find a wooden stick in the yard or nearby area that will fit the opening of your hole in the top of your terra cotta pot. Then, wedge the stick into the top so that it looks like the stem, or stump, of a pumpkin. You can also use a wooden dowel or spool instead of a stick.

Then, you can either stop there, or you can add some green floral wire and a silk leaf to make it look like the vines of a pumpkin. These outdoor Halloween crafts are not only cute and easy, but they last year to year. To preserve them for longer lasting use, spray the pots with acrylic spray once they are complete. Now, they will last outdoors through many Halloweens to come, which leaves you time to come up with more easy crafts for your kids.