Halloween Lantern and Wind Sock

Easy Paper Craft for Kids is a Fun and Spooky Decoration

Oct 19, 2009

Halloween Lantern Wind Sock, Suzanne Pitner

This Halloween craft idea for kids combines the style of a Chinese paper lantern and a wind sock to create a unique project.

Bats and pumpkins and spiders, oh my! Kids love to make spooky paper crafts for Halloween. This one is challenging enough to interest older children, and is still easy enough to adapt to younger ones. All that is needed is paper, glue, and string.

Craft Items Needed

To make a large Halloween lantern windsock, use a 12” x 18” sheet of construction paper. A smaller one may be made using a 9” x 12” piece of paper.
One additional sheet of paper in a contrasting color for border and cutouts.
Thin string, such as embroidery thread or baby weight yarn.

Create the Lantern Template

The first step in this project is creating a simple template for cutting. Fold an orange piece of construction paper in half the long way. Using a ruler, draw a one-inch border parallel to the cut edge. Make one-inch lines across the paper, perpendicular to the border. (See the picture at the end of this article.)
Open up the paper and lay it flat. Glue Halloween cutouts of bats, ghosts, spiders, and/or pumpkins to the side of the paper that has no lines marked on it. Glue three to five cutouts on the paper.
Fold the lantern again so that the lines are showing. Cut along the perpendicular lines, starting at the folded edge and ending at the cut edge. Open up the paper and lay it flat. Punch five holes in the bottom of the lantern.

Add the Halloween Cutouts with String

Punch holes in five more Halloween cutouts. Place a string through the cut out and then through the lantern hole. Tie a knot in the string. Do this for all five of the cutouts, varying the lengths of the strings.

Staple the Contrast Border and Lantern

Cut out a one-inch border in a contrasting color of paper. Staple or glue the border in place along the cut edges.
Bring the ends of the lantern together and staple the top and bottom. If needed, crease the center fold so the lantern bulges outward. Punch two holes in the top edge and add a string for hanging the windsock.

Now the Halloween lantern windsock is ready for hanging.

Smaller children may need the lines on the lantern template drawn for them. Older children who know how to use a ruler can draw the lines themselves. Younger children may also need help tying the strings to the lantern and the cutouts.

Under no circumstances should a candle ever be placed inside this paper lantern windsock. The article Halloween Lantern Easy Craft explains how to make a candle holder out of a glass jar and tissue paper. It also explains how to make Halloween stencils.

It’s possible to get creative with this Halloween project. Use black construction paper for the lantern, and glue white ghosts or orange pumpkins on it. It can also be decorated with Halloween themed stickers or glitter. For a full picture of the wind sock, click on the fifth picture below, and the entire craft project can be seen.

The copyright of the article Halloween Lantern and Wind Sock in Holiday Kids Crafts is owned by Suzanne Pitner. Permission to republish Halloween Lantern and Wind Sock in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.