I'm going to make some heads out of paper mache, but not a full skeleton. Thnking about it, I think I could make an entire skeleton, but the work would be crazy for something destroyed in the first rain or snow.
Paper mache is relatively easy to do whatever. I would suggest
this book as a great guide to making stuff. They really talk to all the points of working with paper and cloth in making shapes and then in how to paint the stuff. It tells you many tricks to know to get good results.
20 kids?!?! Aye carumba!
A tip for the tombstones. The more you screw it up by gouging and scraping the better it can end up looking. I need to get some dirt to level around so they look more set in.