Quick crafts with kids: Simple Halloween skeletons

Do you have extra cotton swabs on hand at your house? Those plus some glue and black (or any color) construction paper are pretty much the makings of a super simple skeleton craft for kids of most ages.

Here's the skinny on the skeletons my grandsons made in less than 20 minutes Saturday morning, inspired by this crafty post from Spoonful.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Several cotton swabs

glue (not a glue stick)

 white paper

black construction paper

black marker for drawing skeleton faces

WHAT YOU DO:

Put some glue in a small container that's easy for the child to dip into with the cotton swabs .

Dip each end of one cotton swab into the glue and place vertically on the black construction paper.

Add more cotton swab bones for legs and arms.

(Note: Two swabs per leg and arm make for a more accurate skeleton... ya know, the kind with elbows and knees. But does it matter if Mr. Bones can't bend his arms or legs? Not one bit.)

Don't feel like adding legs or arms? Do whatever you feel like doing... which may be swirling glue in spots around the paper just because it's fun to do when you're two.

At some point in the process — it doesn't matter the order — freehand draw a skeleton skull on the white paper. Cut out and glue in place.

Cut cotton swabs in half for the rib bones, to be glued horizontally on each side of the first swab placed on the paper.

Cut both ends off one swab for feet. Cut the remaining stick — and another stick — into "fingers" to be glued at the end of each arm.

Use the black marker to draw a spooky or silly face.

Explain to your brother why you drew the face the way you did.

Appreciate your work.

Even if it's work Gramma and your brother helped you do.

That's it!

Want another quick and easy Halloween craft? Try these Simple Spooky Spiders Bubby made last Halloween.

Today's question:

What's most prominent in your Halloween decor — skeletons, ghosts, zombies or pumpkins?

Halloween fun: Simple spooky spiders

Doing projects together are one of the primary orders of business when I visit Bubby and Mac, as I did this past weekend. I like to have most of the items with me in my Grandma Bag, so I set out last week to accumulate ideas and came across this spider craft on Pinterest.

After tweaking just a tad, it turned out as easy and inexpensive as could be. Plus, our simple spooky spiders had just the right amount of creep factor to make it festive fun for four-year-old Bubby.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Rock bodies — one per spider, about silver-dollar size

Wiggly eyes

Long pipe cleaners/chenille stems — four per spider

Black marker/Sharpie for drawing mouths, if desired (Bubby desired)

Craft glue

Hot glue gun and glue, for use by adult only

WHAT YOU DO:

 1. Glue desired number of eyes on spider bodies, using craft glue.

2. Line up four pipe cleaners per spider...

...then twist together a few times in the center to connect them.

3. Give twisted legs and rock bodies to an adult (preferably a grandma) to attach legs with hot glue on bottom center of rock body, glopping the glue at the spot legs are twisted together. Let dry a few minutes before next step, to ensure legs are good and stuck and glue is no longer hot.

4. Use black marker to draw spooky—or smiley—spider mouths on each spider, if desired.

5. Bend each spider leg into creepy crawly position.

6. Sit back and appreciate your handiwork.

Mac, at 16 months, didn't care much about creating his own spider, which was fine with me as I'm pretty sure there'd be more wiggly eyes in his mouth than on the spider. He did, though, get quite a kick—and harmless scare or two—out of the completed spiders Bubby placed among his "collection of scary things" on the living room window sill.

Simple. Spooky. Success.

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

One of my favorite Halloween projects to do with kids is _________. (Links are welcome!)