We held our Halloween party last Saturday. It was a beautiful fall day for such a grand party!
It ended up having a ghost theme. (I really did not plan it that way. Really. I did not!)
Two grandchildren wore ghost costumes. The other two were Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen. What a challenge to get them all to hold still at the same time to take this picture!
They made cotton ball ghosts. Using a white crayon, I drew a ghost shape on a piece of black construction paper. The grandchickabiddies stretched out cotton balls and glued them onto the construction paper.
While it might be a challenge for someone to recognize their end product as a ghost, the kiddos had fun making them.
We made more ghosts by wadding up some material into a ball, covering it with more fabric, tying a string around it to create the head of the ghost, and then drawing a face on it.
We made more ghosts out of empty toilet paper rolls.
I cut out pieces of white construction paper that fit around an empty toilet paper tube. The grandkids taped the paper on the tube.
Then, they drew a face on their ghost. I cut crepe paper streamers that the kiddos taped around the bottom of the tube. What an easy craft for them to do!
However, I think the flying ghosts were the hit of the party. (At least I had a riot. I think the grandkids enjoyed them, too!)
I ordered white plastic film canisters from Amazon. (You might be able to find these at a local craft store. I did not check it out. It was much easier for me to just order them online. Lazy bones, eh?)
I drew ghost faces on them and gave each grandchild a canister.
Then, I broke an Alka Seltzer tablet in half. I put one half piece in the canister with a little bit of water. I hurriedly snapped on the lid. The grandchild put the ghost canister on the ground with the cap side down.
(Please, I ask you, Dear Reader, why in the world didn’t I move the garden hose out of the way for this picture? Shesh!)
Then we waited for the magic to happen.
The Alka Seltzer started bubbling, bubbling, bubbling. The pressure built up until — POP! The canister flew into the air leaving the cap on the ground.
The ghosts flew over 20 feet high. It was so fun to watch them fly up and then crash to the ground.
Do you know how hard it is to capture an exploding film canister as it shoots into the sky? That’s why I don’t have any pictures of it. Just some of the grandkids waiting for the ghosts to take flight.
While it would have been fun to have a ghost themed treat, I didn’t make any.
I made pumpkin pudding.
I simply made instant vanilla pudding. Since it is yellow in color, I added a few drops of red food coloring until I got the desired orange color.
I drew pumpkin faces on clear plastic cups and put the pudding in the cups. Since the grandchildren don’t eat an awful lot, I only filled the cups half full of pudding. (For adults, you could fill the cup to the top.) Even though the cup was only half full, I was still pleased as punch at how they turned out.
Then, I made spiders.
I got round pretzels, Skittle candies, and mini chocolate frosted donuts.
I carefully cut the pretzels into pieces for the legs. (Use a sharp knife instead of a butter knife. It works better.) Push the pretzel pieces into the donut to form the legs.
Push the Skittle candies in the donut to make the eyes.
Serve your spiders to your little guests. They will love them! (The adults will, too.)
