Halloween Monster Kids' Peg Doll Art Activity

Your kids are all about crafting for Halloween. But, those super scary monsters aren’t exactly a great match for your preschooler. Neither are spooky spiders or ghoulish ghosts. That’s okay. These peg doll monsters are cutely creative—without any of the “Boo!” factor.

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Honestly, this kids’ art activity came from the fact that we had an awful lot of pegs sitting around. After making a batch of peg dolls with removable modeling clay hair (and simple pipe cleaner clothes), I just put the unused materials (pegs) away.

Now that it’s almost Halloween, those plain ‘ol pegs are getting some use. This art activity lets your child learn about colors (and color mixing!), explore the artistic process, get creative and create a totally usable toy.

 

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        Wooden pegs (peg dolls)

·        Tempera paint

·        Clear-drying school glue

·        Googley eyes

Here’s What to Do:

1. Pour the paint into pools on a palette. You can also use thick cardboard or do what I do and use wax paper. The wax paper is inexpensive (and you probably already have it in your kitchen) and provides a barrier in between the paint and your table. Use as many colors as your child wants. You can choose a rainbow of hues or just go with the primaries (red, blue and yellow) for a lesson in color-mixing.

 

2. Roll the pegs through the paint. That’s right—your child is just going to roll them! As she rolls them from color to color the peg dolls will get coated. What’s the result? A rainbow-like swirl. Let your little artist keep going until she wants to stop. It’s okay if the colors mix so much that they turn into a muddy brown or tan. The important part of this is that your child gets to have fun exploring the color-mixing process. And bonus, she’s also building fine motor skills too!

3. Let the paint dry completely.

 

4. Glue the googley eyes on. Your child can glue one pig eye on each doll’s head or glue a monstrous number of eyes all over the doll. Let the glue dry before your child plays with the dolls.

This also makes an easy (and creatively fun) addition to a kids’ Halloween party. Set up paint stations, hand out the pegs and let the kids roll away! If you don’t have to time during the party, make a few beforehand to hand out as favors or use as decorations.