Remind children that ghosts are just regular people playing pretend.
While adults may not find cartoon pictures of Halloween ghosts frightening, these images can give preschoolers nightmares. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old often have many fears, and their active imaginations can make a person in a ghost costume seem like a very real threat. Art projects can help preschooler get used to these images and make them seem less scary.
Ghost Mobiles
Use ghost projects to teach children about feelings. Give each child four traced ghost shapes and help them cut these shapes out. Pass out art supplies and ask children to decorate each ghost's face with a different feeling. To help children choose faces, ask them to look into mirrors while they make happy, scared and angry faces. Once children have drawn faces onto their shapes, punch a hole in the top of each ghost and tie on a string. Tie the other ends of the strings to a clothes hanger to finish the mobiles.
Painted Shirts
Children will be proud to wear their own decorated ghost shirts. Ask each child to bring in a plain white t-shirt. Spread out each child's shirt, placing cardboard inside the flat shirt to protect the paint from seeping through to the back. Help children trace eyes and mouth onto their shirts using a pencil, then let each use a sponge paintbrush to fill in the shapes with black fabric paint. When the paint dries, help children put their shirts on over their clothes and lead a Halloween parade through the school hallways.
Paper Bag Ghosts
Create simple hanging ghosts out of paper bags, newspaper and paint. Give each child a paper bag and a few sheets of newspaper. Show children ball up the newspaper and place it into the bottom of their bags to create the ghosts' heads. Close the bags with rubber bands and fan out the opening of the bag. If the bags you're using aren't already white, children must paint their bags white. When the paint dries, children can paint on faces using black paint. Poke two holes in the top of each ghost's head and feed a white yarn loop through. These ghosts can be hung in your classroom, or you can send them home with children.
Ghost Puppets
Children can have fun and laugh about ghosts when they turn them into a puppet show. Cut foot-high ghost shapes out of thin cardboard and give one to each child. Help children paint their ghosts white and add decorations, then invite a few students at a time to put on a puppet show for their friends. Have children crouch behind a bookshelf, hold their puppets up and act out a Halloween story. Give children some starting ideas. For instance, they might pretend that the ghosts are afraid of Halloween or that they're trying to choose Halloween costumes.
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