This adorable Toilet Paper Roll Ghost craft is such an easy project for little ones to make this Halloween! It only uses a few simple supplies and makes an awesome Halloween activity!
HALLOWEEN GHOST CRAFT FOR KIDS
If you need a quick project for your home or classroom that kids can make with just a few simple supplies, then this ghost craft is perfect!
Ghost crafts are so much fun for kids to make at Halloween, and they turn out so cute! This toilet paper roll ghost craft is one of our favorites because it’s easy to make for little hands of all ages, and the supply list is super short.
We love ghosts during Halloween! We make ghost STEM structures, make Lego ghosts, and even do fun fizzy ghost science!
TIPS FOR MAKING THIS GHOST CRAFT
- Toilet Paper Rolls. If making these with a classroom, send home a note a few days in advance of making these ghost crafts to have parents send in a toilet paper roll or two so you don’t have to save them all up yourself.
- Skip the Painting. If you don’t want to paint this ghost craft, you can use white construction paper and a piece of tape to cover the toilet paper tube instead.
- Tissue Paper. If you don’t have paper streamers (find them for a dollar in most party sections or at the dollar store), you can also use white tissue paper in its place.
- Glue. If you want to skip the glue, you can use tape or staples to hold on the streamers and yarn hanger instead. This can make your craft a little quicker since you won’t need to account for dry time.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE HALLOWEEN STEM PACK
HOW TO MAKE A GHOST WITH A TOILET PAPER ROLL
SUPPLIES:
- Toilet Paper Roll
- Paint (we used acrylic paint) or White Construction Paper
- Yarn (about one foot per student)
- White Crepe Streamers (Three 12″ sections per student)
- School Glue, Tape, or Staples
- Paintbrush
- Black Marker
TOILET PAPER ROLL GHOST INSTRUCTIONS:
STEP 1: Each student will need a toilet paper roll, a black marker, three paper streamers about 12″ long, a piece of yarn about 12″ long, school glue or a glue stick, white paint, a paintbrush, and a paper plate.
Make sure all the little pieces of toilet paper are removed from the roll. You can either do this in advance for kids or can have them use their little fingers to do it themselves if time allows.
VARIATION: If you want to skip the painting, you can also cover the toilet paper roll in white construction paper. This will require a little more prep from you in advance unless you want students to cut out the squares. We chose to paint, so the following steps will follow that tutorial.
MESS FREE TIP: To make this project as easy, and mess-free as possible, we suggest giving each child a paper plate to paint their toilet paper tubes on. If using in a classroom, have students write their names on their paper plates to help keep these ghost crafts separate while drying.
STEP 2. Paint the toilet paper roll white with a thin coat of paint. Have students hold the tubs from the inside to make it easier.
We used acrylic paint for this Halloween craft. It’s inexpensive, dries quickly, and easily washes off surfaces and little hands.
Remind students that if they paint with big thick globs of paint, it won’t dry quickly. It should take just a few minutes for the paint to dry.
STEP 3: While you wait for the paint to dry, you can cut the three strips of crepe paper streamers. Cut each strip about a foot long. You can also cut the yarn you will need for the top of the ghost too. We recommend cutting the yarn to about 8″-12″ in length.
We used white streamers and yarn, ut you could easily use grey, black, or even fun Halloween colors too! White looks the most ghostly, and it was easiest to have one color with a classroom of kids, so it’s what we used.
If you already prepped and cut your yarn and paper streamer pieces in advance, you could use the drying time to read a fun Halloween-themed book, or to do a fun ghostly bubble science experiment!
STEP 4. Once your paint has dried, it’s time to attach your streamers to the toilet paper roll! Use school glue, or glue sticks (glue sticks dried faster and worked best for our younger students) to attach the three streamers to the inside of the end of the toilet paper tube.
The paper strips may overlap a little on the inside, and that’s fine.
SPEED IT UP: If you want to speed this craft up a little, use tape instead of glue to attach the streamers to the rolls.
STEP 5. After the glue is dry, it’s time to draw a face on your ghost craft! Use a black marker (or black paint) to draw on a scared face for your ghost.
If you want, you can also have the kids use googly eyes for the eyes and have them draw on the mouth. This will add a little more time to your craft, so keep that in mind if choosing that option.
If you’re doing this ghost craft for preschool, this is a great time to talk about emotions and how we express them!
STEP 6: To finish your toilet paper roll ghost craft, you need to attach the yarn to the top of the ghost. Use school glue, tape, or a stapler to attach the yarn. We used school glue, but you could use the other options if you wanted to cut down on drying time.
Do not use a glue stick for this. It doesn’t hold well enough to keep the fuzzy yarn on the tube.
When your ghost craft is finished, this is what they will look like! It’s always so fun to see how each student made their ghost different with the eyes and mouth!
These are great to act as ghost wind socks in the wind or in front of a fan. Kids love holding onto the strings and racing around the room with their ghosts!
This is such a fun Halloween craft for younger kids or even older ones! It’s easy to do with a big group of kids, or works well with just one or two kids as well!
MORE FUN HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES
- Use marbles to make this bat painting
- Halloween handprint art is easy to make
- Try a black cat zentangle
- Use playdough to make these Picasso pumpkins
- Create a 3-D Halloween papercraft
- Make a Kandinsky Halloween watercolor painting
Printable Halloween Art Project Pack
Everything you need is included in this Fall Art Project Pack. Just add art supplies! Perfect for kids of all ages to enjoy with a variety of techniques. Whether in the classroom, at home, or with groups, there is a fantastic variety of art activities to try!
Find all the instructions and templates necessary for over 40 art projects this Fall.
Apples, pumpkins, leaves, Halloween, and Thanksgiving!
Explore process art, STEAM, and even famous artists with these very doable art activities that won’t break the budget or the time you have available!
