Eight year olds are about ideal for Hallowe'en creativity. A bit of wit, a bit of gruesome and just plain fun.
I started my paper mache last night. While my five year old loves tactile and messy crafts, I do not love having to rework his work to make it usable. Way too much paste my son, way too much paste. The laughs and "this is so oozy, this is so gross" comments while he's smiling are worth it. The clean up, not so much.