If you’re looking for some fun Halloween crafts to do with young children this month, have no fear. We have a few easy projects recommended by local moms.

Kayla Vigliotti has worked in early childhood education for more than 15 years. Now that she has two little ones of her own, Vigliotti gets to have craft time with her own children – well, at least with the older one for now.

“We love craft time,” she said. “My 3-year-old loves anything crafty and loves to help, so he is right there in the action.”

Vigliotti is currently a stay-at-home mom – she just had her second child two months ago – but when her sabbatical ends, she will go back to work as a children’s pastor at Creative Church in Hardeeville.

The Bluffton mom plans to work on five Halloween crafts with her 3-year-old son, Luca, this month. The first one is a Spookley the Square Pumpkin craft, modeled after the children’s book character.

The Vigliottis will create their own square pumpkins, using construction paper, glue and googly eyes. First, they will cut small squares out of orange paper and larger squares out of black. The black squares will be the background for each pumpkin, and they will glue the small orange squares all over the black square.

Then they will cut leaf shapes out of green paper and stem shapes out of brown paper. Finally, they will glue the leaves and stems on the pumpkins and top them off with googly eyes.

“My son loves (crafts),” Vigliotti said. “He begs to do more.”

A retired elementary school teacher, Regina Kriz of Bluffton hasn’t had a little one around for many years, but she has fond memories of making Halloween crafts with her daughter, who is now 21, and with her former students as well.

Ghost pops were one of her favorite easy crafts to make with small children. All you need for this craft is a Tootsie Roll lollipop, a tissue, a small, narrow piece of orange or black ribbon and a black marker.

First, wrap the tissue around the lollipop, gathering the tissue at the base, and tie it with a piece of ribbon.

Draw three black dots for eyes and a mouth, and voila! You have a ghost pop that is perfect for handing out to trick-or-treaters or for unwrapping and enjoying yourself.

The best part is taking time to do something creative with your children, and making the spooky holiday not so scary.

Amy Coyne Bredeson of Bluffton is a freelance writer, a mother of two and a volunteer with the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance.