Activity Description: Scouts create colorful coffee filter ghosts that glow with light and decorate for Halloween.
- Fulfills Step 2 of GSUSA Brownie Art and Design badge requirements
- Fulfills Step 3 of GSUSA Junior Art and Design badge requirements.
Info Needed: Different colors can show different feelings, like happy, sad, or calm. Colors also help us see and understand what things are, like a green tree or a blue sky. Using colors in art helps make the pictures more interesting and tells a story.
Items Needed:
- Coffee filters
- Washable markers
- Black oil paint marker
- Water
- Battery-operated tealight candle
- Baking sheet
- Plastic water bottle
- Eye dropper
- (Optional) Diluted food coloring or liquid watercolor paint
- (Optional) Paper towels for cleanup
Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 45–60 min):
- Decorate the coffee filter (10–12 min)
- Flatten the coffee filter on a baking sheet or protected surface.
- Use washable markers to color the filter with bright, blendable colors.
- Draw a ghost face near the center using a black paint marker.
- Shape the ghost on a bottle (5–7 min)
- Place the decorated coffee filter over a plastic water bottle.
- Gently shape it to look like a ghost.
- Add water to blend colors (5–7 min)
- Use an eyedropper to drip water onto the coffee filter.
- Continue until the whole filter is damp and colors begin to blend.
- Let the ghost dry (20–30 min)
- Leave the ghost on the bottle to dry completely.
- Drying time depends on how wet the filter is.
- Light up the ghost (5–7 min)
- Remove the ghost from the bottle once dry.
- Place it over a battery-operated tealight to make it glow.
- Display and enjoy (Optional – 2–5 min)
- Set up your ghost on a windowsill, table, or porch.
- Make more ghosts in different colors to create a spooky group.
- Try using them in the Scout Ghost Lights Story
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