• Have some fun with a skeleton.Charles Nesbit/Lifesize/Getty Images
  
  Whether you're looking to stir up some creepy Halloween fun, teach about human anatomy, or both, use skeletons as the inspiration for your next round of kids' craft projects. Be inspired by both the fascinating structure of the human skeletal system and its campy macabre horror connotations for wearable or decorative craft items.
  
  

Skeleton Gloves

• Transform basic black gloves into skeletal hands to accent costumes. Use an acrylic white fabric paint (the kind that comes in a squeeze bottle) and paint the bone shapes onto the backs and palm of the hands while they're spread flat on your work space. For added effect, use a glow-in-the-dark paint to make bones that will show up in the dark while the gloves themselves disappear.
  
  

Skeleton Suit

• Make a full skeleton-suit costume in the same manner as the gloves, using a black body suit, or tight-fitting pants and long-sleeved shirt. Lay the clothes flat on a large sheet of corrugated cardboard to paint. Complete this costume craft with skeleton face-painting, using glow-in-the-dark stage makeup.
  
  

Skull Beads

• Make basic skull beads using either white polymer clay or white earthenware (air-dry) clay. Roll clay into small balls. Form the bottom of the jaw by pressing an edge flat against your work surface. Draw the shape of the eyes, nose and teeth using a toothpick. Run the toothpick through the bead from the jaw to the crown of the head. Bake the clay or let it dry before filling in the facial features with black acrylic paint.
  
  

Pipe Cleaner Skeleton

• Form a miniature, flexible skeleton from white pipe cleaners. Create a basic stick-figure shape, then fill in the rib cage area with shorter lengths of pipe cleaner.Top off the skeleton with a polystyrene ball head, or a large skull bead.
  
  

Bone Assembly

• Have children assemble a paper skeleton from its component parts for a craft that's also a biology lesson. Print the individual bone sections on card stock, complete with labels for the major areas, such as "femur" or "rib cage." Give children a completed model to use as their guide while they work out which parts go where and fasten the pieces together using a glue stick.