8 Ghost Footprint and Handprint Halloween Crafts for Kids (Easy Keepsakes)

Every October I pull out a little folder of Halloween footprints from when my kids were babies. Tiny white ghost feet, a lopsided handprint spider, a pumpkin made from a fist that is now twice that size. I cry a little. Every year. These ghost footprint keepsakes and handprint crafts are the best kind of Halloween activity: 15 minutes of mess, and a memory you will keep forever.

Here are my 8 favorite Halloween handprint and footprint crafts for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, plus how to keep the paint off your couch and how to save them so they last.

Heads up, some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share supplies we really use at our kitchen table.

Supplies you will need

• Washable, non toxic paint. This Easy Playhouse washable paint set wipes off little feet and hands without a fight. White, black, orange and green cover almost every craft here.
• Heavy paper. Black and orange Sunworks construction paper, or cardstock if you want it to last longer.
• Markers for faces and labels. We love these Crayola Super Tips washable markers.
• Glue sticks for googly eyes and cut outs. These glue sticks are our classroom favorite.
• Googly eyes, a paper plate for paint, baby wipes, and an old towel. Trust me on the towel.

1. Ghost footprints (the classic)

Paint the bottom of your little one’s foot white, press it heel down onto black paper, and lift straight up. Once it dries, the heel is the ghost’s head and the toes become its wavy tail. Add two black eyes and a little “boo” mouth with a marker. Do both feet side by side for a ghost couple. Write “BOO” and the date underneath.

2. Handprint spider

Paint your child’s hand black (skip the thumb), and press it on orange paper. Turn the paper and do the other hand, overlapping the palms so you get eight legs. Add googly eyes once dry. Bonus giggles if you add a little web with a white crayon.

3. Fist print pumpkins

Paint the side of a fist orange and stamp it down. It makes a perfect pumpkin shape! Add a green thumbprint for the stem and draw jack o lantern faces with a black marker. Stamp a whole pumpkin patch across one page for a sweet family piece.

4. Footprint Frankenstein

Paint the foot green with a black stripe across the toes for hair. Stamp it toes up on white paper. Add eyes, a stitched mouth and two little bolts on the sides with a marker. It is silly, and somehow it looks exactly like your kid.

5. Handprint bat

Paint both hands black and stamp them with the thumbs overlapping in the middle. The fingers become wings and the overlapping thumbs make the body. Add little white triangle fangs and googly eyes.

6. Fingerprint ghost family

Perfect for older toddlers who are over getting their whole hand painted. Dip a finger in white paint and press it on black paper to make tiny ghosts. Add dot eyes with a marker. Make one ghost for every person in your family (and the dog, obviously).

7. Candy corn handprints

Paint the palm yellow, the middle of the fingers orange, and the fingertips white. Press it down with fingers together and point it down like a candy corn. Super cute, and it makes a great class party craft. Room parents, it is a winner for the Halloween class party.

8. Salt dough handprint keepsake

This is the one I tell every new mom to do. Mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt and about 1/2 cup water into a soft dough. Roll it about 1/2 inch thick, press your child’s hand in, and cut around it with a butter knife. Poke a hole at the top for ribbon. Bake at 250 degrees F for 2 to 3 hours until hard, then paint it white with little ghost eyes, or orange like a pumpkin. Seal it with clear varnish and it will last for years.

How to paint little hands and feet without chaos

1. Strip them down. Diaper or old tee only. Paint and Halloween pajamas do not mix.
2. Use a brush, not a dip. Brushing paint on gives you a cleaner print and less mess.
3. Do feet while they are buckled in. A high chair or bouncer is your best friend for baby footprints.
4. Have wipes open and ready before you start. You have about four seconds.
5. Try two or three times. The first print is rarely the keeper. That is normal.

How to save and display your keepsakes

Let prints dry flat overnight, then write your child’s name, age and the date on the back. I keep the best one each year in an 8×10 shadow box frame that comes out with the Halloween decor. Line them up over the years and you have the sweetest growth chart ever. For the rest, slide them into a page protector in a binder labeled “Halloween.”

Turn them into gifts for grandparents

Grandparents go absolutely wild for these. A few of our favorite ways to share them:

• Halloween cards: fold cardstock in half, stamp a ghost footprint on the front, and write “Have a BOO tiful Halloween, Grandma” inside.
• Framed prints: pick the best fist print pumpkin patch, trim it, and pop it in a simple frame with a ribbon.
• Salt dough ornaments: make two at once, one for your tree and one for theirs. Tie them with orange and black ribbon now, then switch to red and green in December.
• A yearly tradition: send one print every October. By the time your kids are in grade school, Grandma will have a whole wall.

Include a little note with your child’s age on the back. Ten years from now, nobody will remember whose tiny foot that was without it.

More Halloween fun for little ones

• Easy Halloween paper plate crafts for toddlers
• Halloween sensory bins for toddlers
• Trick or treating with toddlers
• Halloween activities for kids around the KC metro
• The Sideofglam Halloween hub and Browse by Holiday

Which one are you trying first? Share your little ghost feet in the comments and tell me how old your babies are. I love seeing them.

So glad you are here.
xo, Pam