I poke around the ether quite often for holiday inspiration. I love to gather ideas from Martha Stewart, Better Homes & Gardens, Danielle :), and the likes. But often, those are not the kinds of crafts little kids can help with.
This season, I wanted to focus on things I could do with my kids. One day while Henry and I were playing with scissors at the white table, we just started piecing together jack-o-lantern faces from shapes we'd cut. In an instant, my mind was flooded with all kinds of cut-n-paste ghouls we could create together.
Next thing we knew we were excitedly cutting big orange circles, little green stems, snaggle-toothed smiles, and finally, we were gluing. Henry loved the messiness of the glue. I loved the synergy of our combined creativity. Over the next few weeks, we made additional spooks out of paper, glue, and a little bit of washable paint. We had so much fun concocting ghoulish forms - monsters, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns and scary black blobs. We laughed about the faces Henry made with his clumsy brush strokes.
When we'd amassed a nice little collection of frightful faces, I hung a length of twine from the fireplace mantle and Henry helped me attach our creations with mini clothes pins.
I couldn't love a Martha masterpiece more.
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Another fun activity we did together was a Halloween scavenger hunt. We just did it one morning while Lily was napping. Henry went into his room while I hid half-a-dozen clues -- inside a shoe, in the oven, tucked inside a library book...They lead him to a little Halloween DVD I had picked out at the beginning of the month. When he found it, we watched it together. It was a fun way to create excitement and a memory around a simple gift.
Hope you've filled the month with Halloween magic - and if you haven't, there are still a few days to squeeze in some simple fun!
5 comments:
I am impressed with Henry's craft skills! If I give James a pair of scissors he ends up with a piece of confetti!
Those monsters, ghouls, and jack-o-lanterns turned out darling. What a fun project, Em.
I have seen several five dollar Halloween DVDs at Target that I know would be a fun addition to our small collection. The scavenger hunt is a perfect way to make an event out of five bucks! :) Well done.
that banner is adorable!
joan: the cutting was done with close supervision and help. fine motor is definitely not our forte :)
but the more we practice, the more naturally it comes along.
i'm already brainstorming creations we can "clothesline" for other holidays...
xo
em
Well your mantle couldn't be cuter. I love the glow and home-made charm. Darling!
darling, darling, darling!
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