Forget paper and plastic bags, pillowcases, and those expensive store-bought trick-or-treat bags. The well-dressed trick-or-treater has a better container for storing her candy. This jack-o'-lantern jug is very easy to make, even for pre-schoolers, and kids of all ages will have fun creating their own versions of it.

Ages: 3 and up (children 5 and under will need adult supervision while cutting).

• Plastic gallon-size milk container
• Hot, soapy water
• Safety scissors
• Orange paint (poster or watercolor)
• Black construction paper or black paint
• White glue

Soak the empty milk container in hot soapy water for approximately 20 minutes. This will not only help clean the inside, but it will also help remove any ink or labels on the outside and make the plastic softer and easier to cut.

Cut off the top two inches of the container and discard.

Paint the container thoroughly with the orange paint. Set it aside to dry.

While the paint is drying, cut out a jack-o'-lantern's nose, eyes, and mouth from your construction paper. When the paint on the jug is dry, glue the jack-o'-lantern's features to the jug and allow the glue to dry overnight. If you have black paint, you may paint the features on your jug instead.

Tips: You can use fluorescent orange paint, which can be found at art supply and paint stores, to make your jack-o'-lantern more reflective while your child is trick-or-treating.

Hosting a Halloween Party? Want to have the neatest Halloween treats on the block? Then put your kid to work making these scary lollipop treats. Not only will he enjoy making them, but they're sure to be a hit with all the trick-or-treaters who knock at your door.

Ages: 3 and up.

Materials needed:

• Pipe cleaners
• Lollipops (Blo-Pops and Tootsie Roll Pops work best)
• White tissue paper
• Orange or black yarn
• Felt-tip pen or permanent marker
• Safety scissors

Wrap a pipe cleaner around the stem of the lollipop a little below the candy so a few inches of pipe cleaner extend out to make the ghost's arms. Bend the arms up about 45 degrees.

Cover your lollipop with the tissue paper. Cut off a 3-inch piece of yarn, wrap it around the tissue paper, and tie it into a bow at the base of the candy, just above the pipe cleaner. (This is a perfect opportunity to teach your pre-schooler how to tie bows.)

Using a felt-tip pen or permanent marker, draw a scary face on your ghost. Have your child try to make each ghostly face different and scarier than the last.

Tip: If you have orange tissue paper, make jack-o'-lantern lollipops instead. You won't even need to use the pipe cleaners.

Here's a neat, creative undertaking for a school-age child. Making shrunken heads made from apples allows children to create all sorts of strange looking characters. So if your child turns out to have an aptitude for sculpting, she may want to do this project again and again.

Ages: 8 and up with adult supervision.

Materials needed:

• Apple (a big soft one such as a Red Delicious is preferred)
• Vegetable peeler
• Steak knife
• 2 dried cloves
• String or twine
• Darning needle
• 1/2 cup salt
• 4 cups water
• Large bowl

Peel the skin from the apple with your vegetable peeler and carve out a face using the peeler, the steak knife, or even your fingernail. After you've finished carving, stick the dried cloves in the apple to help define the eyes.

When you feel that the face is sufficiently eerie, thread your string through the needle and make a large knot at one end. Poke the needle through the bottom of the apple and work it up through the core to the stem. Pull the string through the apple until it stops at the knot.

In a large bowl, combine the water and the salt. Soak the apple in the saltwater for two days. This will draw some of the moisture out of the apple and replace it with salt. When this is complete, hang the apple in a bright, warm indoor area, being sure to keep it away from floors, walls, and counters — you don't want an army of ants making a trail to your shrunken head. As the head shrivels and darkens, the details of the carving should become more pronounced. The apple should be done drying in 7 to 10 days.

Tips: Use tempera or watercolors to paint facial details and yarn to make wigs for your shrunken head. To preserve a head indefinitely, an adult can spray it with two coats of clear shellac.

Caution: Be very mindful of your children as they're sculpting their apples. Make sure they always cut down and away from themselves and that they hold their apples tightly while carving. They should also cut slowly and never try to force any blade into an apple.