Grab some supplies from around the house to make this easy Halloween Kids’ puffy paint project. It’s the cutest ghost craft that any kid will have a blast making.
We had so much fun making this puffy paint project a few months ago, that we knew we needed to make something for HALLOWEEN! Today, we are creating ghosts, but you can use this same technique to create a puffy pumpkin, bats, spiders, etc!
This project is part of my kid’s craft camp project! Go here to see all the fun projects!
Supplies to make your own puffy paint
- Elmer’s school glue white
- shaving cream
- food coloring
- black paper or cardboard
- plastic sandwich baggies or piping bags
- mixing bowl
I’m not sure if the shaving cream brand matters- I just made sure it was white and not aloe or a scented kind.
I also used liquid food coloring and paste food coloring, and both worked so you can use whatever you have in your cupboard!
I used a couple of other things to add to my puffy paint pictures- like beads, googly eyes, glitter, or foam pieces. All optional, just depending on what you are making!
How to make DIY puffy paint
This recipe couldn’t be easier! It’s 1 part glue to 1 part shaving cream.
The hard part is that the shaving cream puffs up so it’s hard to tell how much is too much. I played around a bit, and really the puff paint worked even if it was too much shaving cream or less shaving cream! So just eyeball it.
I mixed it really well until I received the consistency I was looking for, which was similar to a frosting texture.
After you have it mixed, you can add in the food coloring!
For this project, I’m creating a ghost, so no food coloring is needed. You could add a dash of black food coloring to make a gray ghost or a spider or bat, or add orange food coloring for a pumpkin. You could also print my CAULDRON printable and then add some green or purple bubbling up!
If you want a lot of colors, divide it up into muffin tins and mixed the colors directly in there so the kids could use this when it was time to paint.
How to use the Puffy Paint
We also used piping or sandwich bags to draw with. You can add a spoonful of glue/shaving cream mixture into the bag.
Then snip off the corner so you can squeeze it out to “draw” with it. (just like when you frost a cookie or cake! )
You can tie a rubber band around the top to keep the puff paint all in one corner so it’s easy to push out! (If you have older kids, you might not have to do this!)
The Puff Paint will start drying as soon as it’s mixed, so you need to work fast so your kiddo can have plenty of craft time! The benefit of putting them in baggies is that they dry a lot more slowly!
Puffy Paint Ghost craft
Time to let the kids create their pictures! Using a plastic knife or puff paint in a piping bag, they can decorate their papers! If you need some tracing sheets- I have a bunch of fun Halloween themed tracing sheets for free here!
I just did a basic ghost shape!
We added the googly eyes last while the shaving cream glue mixture was still wet.
The puff will get larger as it dries and it will also smooth out a little bit. You can see the difference between the photo above and the photo below!
I let it dry about 24 hours and once it’s dry, you can press it and squish it.
I ripped up a piece so you can see what the inside looks like. It has a foam like texture to it.
Puff paint tips and tricks
It can get messy, especially when you have little kids helping, so put down a plastic tablecloth, newspapers, a table covering to make clean up easier!
The puff paint didn’t stain anything-but I also didn’t make my colors super saturated. Just a few drops of food coloring!
Save this Kids’ Puffy Paint Ghost craft for later
Too busy to get crafting today? No problem! Pin this post to remind yourself about this project later! Sharing my projects helps me reach more people, allowing me to continue sharing free content!
The BEST kid crafts and activities
and when I say kids, I mean kids of all ages!
- black glue art
- salt art
- hot rocks
- Yarn bracelets
- DIY window clings with puff paint
- Play dough activity mats
- Melted crayon art
- magic wallet
- Learn to make black scratch paper
- Melted Crayon Suncatcher
- Pressed Flowers Jar
- Bleeding Tissue craft
If you are looking for more fun kids’ crafts- my craft camp has two weeks full of fun projects that you will love to do as well!
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