Children are often introduced to ghosts as part of a half-heard bedtime story, or as part of a parent’s carefully crafted scare strategy to make them eat their veggies fast at the dinner table. Whatever the spark, the first reaction of a child is never fear but curiosity, followed by a flurry of questions.
You can use this curiosity to introduce them to our Printable Ghost Templates. Colouring and decorating these templates will help them make sense of this abstract concept. It will also help them channel their curiosity into constructing their own versions of these imaginary friends: a mischievous friend hiding behind the curtains, a shape-shifting blob to scare their sibling with, or a craft project that’s coloured in, decorated, and redecorated however they like.
Printable Ghost Templates: See what’s included
Ghosts, with their round heads and trailing bottoms, hold a special place in the innocent minds and hearts of children, before they turn morbid and creepy as we become adults. That is why childhood is the right time to fill them with the memories of tracing, colouring, and decorating these ghost shapes with a variety of our Printable Ghost Templates.
Template 1:Dotted Tracing ghost
Our Dotted Tracing Ghost template is for young hands that have just started to hold their pencils and are learning to develop motor skills. Kids can trace the dotted ghost with a pencil and then fill it with crayons, small cotton balls, glitter, or anything that catches their fancy. They can also, with the help of an adult, cut out the outline with scissors and place it on their art wall as a proud accomplishment.
Template 2: Design your own ghost
Our Clean, Faceless Ghost templates are meant to provide a blank canvas for kids to express themselves without inhibitions. They can give these blank templates the happy face of ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’, or turn them into scary ghosts straight out of the Ramsay movies. You can also use these templates to help kids compare opposite expressions like Happy and Sad, Smiling and Frowning, Surprised and Bored, and so on. The kids can design their own patterns and costumes on them and use them in craft projects like an ‘Expression garland’ or as gift tags.
The faceless ghost can also be used as a writing prompt. Kids can be asked to draw an expression of their choice on a ghost and then spin a story about why the ghost is feeling excited, sad, happy, or tired. To help your child get more interested in the joys of writing, you can also try our Printable Children’s Book Page Templates.
Template 3: The Classic, Smiling ghost
The third template captures two solid-outline ghosts with small, oval eyes and a neat, closed smile. Too many details might make some pre-schoolers uncomfortable, and thus the thoughtful simplicity of these templates will help them colour in a more confident and relaxed manner. The gentle curves in the ghost outline will also help kids practise their curved lines.
We also have our Printable Fish Templates to help your kid practise more of the curved lines as well as get a crash course on marine life.
Template 4: The Goofy ghost
Our fourth template is a pair of wide-eyed, Goofy ghosts. It may seem similar to our classic, smiling ghost template, but its bigger, rounder eyes and fuller smile give it more personality and flair. Our Goofy ghost looks like it is ready to burst into laughter, and its welcoming persona can attract even the grumpiest of kids to the drawing desk.
That is why it’s perfectly suited to be the lead character on your Halloween decorations and posters, or at a friendly horror party you might be planning.
If you want to turn up the spooky level, you can also have a karaoke night featuring horror-musical songs as part of your pre-Halloween celebrations. Check out our Printable Karaoke Invitation Templates in case you decide to have one.
Template 5: Spooky, flame-edged ghost
Our fifth template is better suited to slightly older kids who want to go all in with the Halloween scare. The spooky, flame-edged ghost, with its sharp-angled eyes and jagged, toothy mouth, makes the colouring slightly more complicated and thus helps you upgrade your kids’ colouring skills as they grow older. Once coloured in, these flame-edged ghosts can be used as part of horror-themed decorations. Alternatively, they can be used alongside the friendly-faced ghosts to add a bit more range.
You can also add some drama to the decor by painting the edges with glow-in-the-dark paint. Once the lights are out, the restless souls will come alive in the dark and fire up your child’s imagination!
Wrapping up
Our Printable Ghost Templates will help you cope with kids’ insatiable thirst today for mystery, drama, and a curious quest for the unknown. They can spend hours colouring and decorating the various ghosts in the templates to bring to life their own vision of what life beyond would mean.
In the meantime, you can grab yourself a cup of coffee and check out our Printable Silly and Fun Websites List Sheets to both kill time and relax your mind.