When I was a preschooler, we practically lived out our local
library. We did the big summer reading
program and spent at least one afternoon a week at the library. We loved it so much. In the fall they would do these afternoon preschool
crafts. I don’t remember very many of
them, but I do remember we made this super simple preschool skeleton craft. It was AWESOME! All 5 kids in my family made one and we took
them home and hung them up until literally like 3 years ago.
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Why 3 years ago?
Well, my mom had a devastating Halloween box mishap. It started with a couple of
gourds that she kept that ended in a big molding stinky mess that ruined all her Halloween
decorations. Including all our childhood Halloween and fall projects she had kept over the years. It was a sad day for all of
us. And that meant no more hanging skeletons.
But lucky for me. I
remembered exactly how these cool skeletons looked and how we made them. Which meant I was able to recreate the template so that my own
children could make some and hang them up in our home.
It is a super easy craft. All you
need is a few pieces of black construction paper, white construction paper, a
scrap of orange paper and glue and you are set to go.
I have a free pattern for the skull and hands and feet for
you as well to download. That way you
don’t have to try and make it look amazing.
Also, my kids loved this craft and they cut out their own face, hands
and feet. I didn’t mind that the cutting
wasn’t perfect, that’s what makes it such a cute project. And they LOVED drawing their own faces on
their skeletons. They talked about all
the different faces from one of their favorite movies Coco. (Side note: If you haven't seen Coco, you need to. It is adorable and has a great message about the importance of family. Just saying.)
Easy Preschool Skeleton Craft
Materials Needed
2 pieces black construction paper - this is the pack I usually purchase and it will last us a while and has all the colors
2 pieces white construction paper
1 piece orange construction paper
Glue
Black Marker
Step 1
Print out the skeleton template. Just click and print. Super simple.
Step 2
Cut out 1 skull in white construction paper. Cut 2 hands and 2 feet in white construction
paper. You can cut the skeleton template
out of cardstock and have them trace it like a stencil onto the construction
paper. That way you don’t need to print
out more templates and waste paper.
Step 3
Take one piece of black construction paper and cut it into 4
equal rectangles that go lengthwise.
These will be for the legs and arms.
You want them to be long. It may
be easier to fold the paper in half and than in half again. That way there are lines to follow and cut.
Step 4
Cut out the bow in orange construction paper.
Step 5
Take the arms and legs and fold them accordion style like
you would a paper fan. This is probably
the hardest step for kids since it takes a bit of patience and hand-eye
coordination. You’ll probably want to
help a bit or at least give a little extra guidance on this one.
Step 6
Fold the final piece of black construction paper accordion
style. This will be the body of the
skeleton. Remember it doesn’t have to be
perfect.
Step 7
Glue the skull to the top of the accordion body. Glue the bowtie on. However, the bow can be used to make a bow on
the top of the skeleton head to make it a girl skeleton. (That’s what I did when I was little and I
thought I was pretty clever. True
creative from the beginning.)
Step 8
Glue the hands to the bottom of the arms and the feet to the
bottom of the legs. Make sure they use a
lot of glue so they don’t fall off after you store it and pull it out next
year.
Step 9
Glue the arms and legs to the back of the skeleton body.
Step 10
Make sure they write their name and the year on the back of
their skeleton so you can remember how old they were and how much fun you had
creating this preschool skeleton craft.
Step 11
Hang that skeleton up. They look great next to these fun Ghost Puppets.
***WARNING***
Now let me give you one warning about this craft. The best part is that you get to hang them up
each year to display for everyone to see.
However, at night when all the lights are out and you walk downstairs
and you forget that you have that awesome preschool skeleton craft hanging from
your ceiling, you might suddenly go into fight or flight mode. This is totally normal. It happens to the best of us, but just
remember….it is just a craft. Nothing to
alarm. Just pick a better spot to hang
it than right at the bottom of your stairs.
Can you see that I’ve had a run in or two with these hanging
skeletons before? Just imparting my “wisdom”
so you won’t end up in the same terrified boat as me.
I totally love this preschool skeleton craft. Obviously, since I’ve remembered for the last
20 some odd years. I was also excited to
do this craft this year because my kids really love the movie Coco. And they have gotten way into skeletons and
Dia de Muertos. So this was a super fun
project for them and they loved designing their own skeleton.
Do you enjoy Halloween? Check out all of our great kids crafts and Halloween projects.
