Ghastly Ghosts Halloween Craft

Turn simple white paper bags into a ghostly battalion that will haunt your hallway all October long. This quick craft works for even the youngest preschoolers.

Materials Needed

• White paper lunch bags
• Black construction paper
• White tissue paper (optional)
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Black marker
• String or yarn for hanging

Directions

Step 1 — Make the Ghost Body: Stuff each white paper bag loosely with crumpled newspaper. Gather the open end and tie it off with string, leaving enough string to hang the ghost.

Step 2 — Add the Face: Cut two oval eyes and a round O-shaped mouth from black construction paper. Glue them on the front of the bag to make a surprised ghost expression.

Step 3 — Create Flowing Arms: Cut strips of white tissue paper or white streamers about 8 inches long. Glue several strips to each side of the bag to look like wispy arms blowing in the breeze.

Step 4 — Hang Your Ghosts: Use the string to hang your ghosts from doorways, trees, or ceiling hooks. They sway and float beautifully!

Make a Ghost Family

Make a large ghost (Mama), medium ghost (Papa), and small ghost (Baby) using different bag sizes. Write names on the backs for a personal touch.

Display Ideas

• Cluster three ghosts together on a branch
• Line them up along a fence
• Tape them to windows from the inside so they glow at night

These ghosts make wonderful Halloween decorations and are gentle enough for preschoolers who find some Halloween imagery too scary.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Inspect all candy before children eat it — look for wrappers with holes, unusual coloring, or anything homemade from strangers.

• Some preschoolers find Halloween frightening rather than fun. Never force participation — offer alternative celebrations (costume parade, pumpkin decorating, a special movie) without pressure.

• Halloween is one of the richest sensory experiences of the preschool year — costumes, textures, sounds, lights, crowds, smells, tastes. Children with sensory sensitivities may need abbreviated participation.

• Pumpkin carving is a science project: discuss the anatomy of a pumpkin (seeds, walls, flesh, rind), save seeds for roasting (cooking!), and discuss decomposition over the weeks following.

• Post-Halloween, sort candy together: a math activity (count, sort by type, compare quantities). Then allow the child to choose their daily candy ration from their sorted collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I handle Halloween if my preschooler is afraid?

Halloween fear in preschoolers is common and completely valid. The holiday involves darkness, costumes that change faces (frightening if you can't tell who's behind them), and strangers — all legitimately anxiety-producing for preschoolers. Accommodations: limit exposure to scary decorations, trick-or-treat in daylight or at the first hour of evening, stick to familiar neighbors, allow the child to stay in costume or not (their choice), and have an exit plan. Never mock the fear or force participation. A preschooler who trick-or-treats at three friendly neighbors' homes and has a good experience is better positioned for next year than one who was forced through a full neighborhood circuit in tears.

What Halloween costumes are most appropriate for preschoolers?

The most developmentally appropriate preschool Halloween costumes are: comfortable (no restrictive breathing or movement), non-scary (the child's own costume shouldn't frighten them in the mirror), vision-unobscured (masks are problematic — use face paint or no mask versions), weather-appropriate (warm layers underneath), and child-chosen (a child wearing their own choice is far more comfortable and engaged than one in a parent-chosen costume). Animals, superheroes, favorite book characters, and community helpers are perennial preschool successes.

Related reading: See also our healthy eating during Halloween season and our pumpkin science experiments for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 💬 Vocabulary & Storytelling — The rich vocabulary of Halloween — haunted, mysterious, transformation, legend — and the storytelling occasions it creates expand language range and narrative thinking in a culturally rich context.
• 🔬 Science Exploration — Exploring a pumpkin — discovering seeds, examining the flesh and rind, tracking its decomposition after carving — is a hands-on biology and decomposition science lesson in seasonal disguise.
• 🤝 Social Skills — Trick-or-treating requires initiating interaction with unfamiliar adults, saying expected phrases, and offering thanks — practicing the social scripts that community interaction and manners development require.
• 🎨 Pretend Play & Imagination — Embodying a character in costume is high-level pretend play — requiring imagination, role maintenance, and perspective-taking that develops narrative thinking, language, and theory of mind.

Questions to Ask Your Child

Use these open-ended prompts to extend the learning during or after the activity:

• "What was the hardest part? What made it tricky?"
• "What would happen if we made the rules a little different?"
• "Can you teach me how to do your favorite part?"
• "What would you add to make this even more fun?"
• "What did you notice while we were doing this?"
• "How would this be different if we played it outside?"

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these questions. The goal is to keep the conversation going, model curious thinking, and give your child practice putting their experience into words.