A ghost wearing a cowboy hat? Now that’s a Halloween costume kids can have some fun with! This cowboy ghost disguise craft turns a friendly ghost into a little sheriff, complete with a cowboy hat, bandana, vest, and shiny sheriff’s badge. Preschoolers through 2nd graders can make their own in about 25–30 minutes.

And why stop at one costume? Our disguise a ghost project ideas have even more funny ways for kids to hide their ghosts in plain sight. It’s especially fun to see how completely different the same little ghost can look in another disguise!

Collage of completed Cowboy Ghost Disguise Crafts featuring cowboy hats, bandanas, vests, belts, and star badges.

Good To Know

Themes: Halloween, disguise a ghost project
Activity: Kids disguise a ghost as a cowboy by cutting out the printable pieces and gluing them together to make the finished craft.
Template: Includes a free printable cowboy ghost disguise craft template with the ghost body, cowboy hat, bandana, vest pieces, belt, and buckle.
Ages: Preschool through early elementary
Time: 25-30 minutes
Skills: Fine motor skills, scissor skills, hand-eye coordination, creativity, following directions, and gluing

Hide the Ghost as a Cowboy Idea

Kids can decide what kind of cowboy their ghost will be. Maybe they’ll choose a bright red bandana and a brown hat, or go with a blue bandana and a different colored vest. The big eyes peeking out above the bandana make the whole thing even funnier. And that little gold sheriff’s star? It’s such a cute finishing touch!

While kids are busy getting their ghost ready for the Wild West, they’ll also get practice with cutting and gluing. Lining up the clothing pieces and placing the smaller details helps build fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination without taking the fun out of making a Halloween costume.

Our printable template makes it easy to get started without having to draw all those cowboy pieces yourself. Just gather some paper, scissors, and glue, and kids can have their own ghost sheriff ready for a Halloween classroom display or to take home.

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Supplies

Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Star stickers
Cowboy ghost disguise template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Directions

Start by printing the template, then gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this cowboy ghost to life!

Hands holding a printable Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft template featuring a ghost dressed in a cowboy hat, vest, bandana, and belt.

Take the belt piece and glue it across the lower part of the ghost. Line it up horizontally so it stretches from one side of the ghost to the other.

Hands gluing the belt piece across the bottom of the ghost for the Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft.

Grab the belt buckle and glue it onto the center of the belt. Kids can practice finding the middle as they decide where to place it.

Hands gluing the buckle piece onto the center of the belt for the Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft.

Find the two vest pieces and glue one onto each side of the ghost. Line them up so they frame the center of the ghost and leave the belt buckle visible.

Hands gluing the two vest pieces onto the sides of the ghost for the Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft.

Glue the bandana across the ghost, just below the face. Line up the top edge around the ghost’s neck area, with the pointed section facing down and the tied end sticking out on the right side.

Hands gluing the bandana piece around the ghost’s neck for the Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft.

Now it’s time to give this ghost its cowboy look! Glue the hat onto the top of the ghost’s head, positioning the bottom of the hat just above the eyes.

Hands gluing the cowboy hat onto the top of the ghost’s head for the Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft.

Grab a marker and let your child add cheeks to the ghost’s face. This little detail is an easy way for kids to personalize their cowboy ghost and make its expression even more fun.

Hands adding details to the ghost’s face with a marker after attaching the cowboy hat, bandana, vest, belt, and buckle.

Finally, glue the star onto the upper part of the vest on the right side of the ghost. Once it’s in place, your little cowboy ghost is ready for some Halloween fun!

Hands gluing the star badge onto the cowboy vest for the Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft.

Who knew disguising a ghost could be this much fun? Kids can build fine motor skills, practice following directions, and get creative as they put together their cowboy ghost.

Keep the Halloween fun going with the related crafts and activities below. Parents and teachers can mix and match these ideas to create themed lesson plans, classroom centers, or an afternoon of creative fun.

Hands holding a completed Cowboy Ghost Disguise Craft with a cowboy hat, bandana, vest, belt, buckle, and star badge.

Halloween Books for Children

Room On The Broom: This has to be one of our favorite Halloween books of all time! The story follows a witch and her cat as they happen upon some animals who help the witch. There’s danger, mystery, and friendship in this adorable children’s story.

The Good, The Bad, And The Spooky: Halloween is the Bad Seed’s favorite holiday, but when he can’t come up with the perfect costume, he decides trick-or-treating should be postponed for everyone! Kids will love following his funny quest to find a show-stopping costume before the big night. With plenty of humor and Halloween fun, this is a great seasonal read for fans of The Bad Seed and the Food Group series.

Ten Timid Ghosts: This is a fun countdown book about a witch who moves into a haunted house where 10 ghosts already live. The witch scares the ghosts out one by one until they devise a scheme to get her out of their house. This Halloween children’s book is good for kids who love rhyming stories!

A completed Craft showing two Cowboy Ghost Disguise Crafts with cowboy hats, bandanas, vests, belts, and star badges alongside craft supplies.

Halloween Make-and-Create Ideas for Kids

Monster Name Craft – A monster with teeth that spell out a child’s name? That’s a pretty funny way to practice spelling! Kids create a silly three-eyed monster and arrange the letter teeth inside its big mouth. They can even choose their monster’s colors, so no two have to look alike.

Haunted House Paper Bag Craft – Who wouldn’t want a haunted house with little ghosts peeking through the windows? Kids turn an ordinary paper lunch bag into a spooky house, complete with a roof and Halloween decorations. The tiny ghosts hanging around the house make it especially cute, and kids can decide where to put them.

collage image of Halloween Make-and-Create Ideas for Kids

Crayon Ghost Disguise Project – Ghosts can dress up as crayons, too! Kids get to choose their favorite color and give their ghost a matching crayon hat and wrapper. Imagine a whole classroom of ghosts disguised as different colored crayons. That would make such a fun Halloween display!

Halloween Mummy Craft – Wrapping a mummy is half the fun, especially when kids get to cover it with strips of masking tape! They can choose their mummy’s color and add a friendly face once it’s wrapped. The overlapping bandages give it a fun look, and kids don’t have to worry about making every strip perfectly straight.

Halloween Printable Activities and Worksheets

I think kids will get a kick out of these ghost connect the dots pages! They’ll follow the numbers to reveal a friendly ghost, including one wearing a witch hat and holding a broom. Once they’ve connected the dots, they can color their Halloween character however they like. It’s a fun excuse for a little counting practice.

Scissor practice gets a lot more interesting when there’s a witch’s broom to follow! These Halloween cutting practice worksheets let kids cut along different paths, including a winding line that follows the broomstick. There’s also a funny monster matching activity where kids have to find the correct bodies for the heads. Much more entertaining than cutting plain strips of paper!

After reading about a pumpkin who’s different from all the others, kids can make one of their own with these Spookley the Square Pumpkin activities. I especially like the torn paper version because kids actually get to rip up orange paper on purpose! They glue the pieces onto a square pumpkin shape, creating a textured Spookley inspired by the story’s message about being yourself.

Candy corn makes letter practice a whole lot sweeter, even without the actual candy! These candy corn worksheets include a letter C maze where kids have to find their way through the correct letters. There’s also a page where they trace paths to a candy corn character, which is a fun option for kids who are still working on pencil control.

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