Of course it isn’t Halloween yet but I thought I would kick off the Halloween crafts early, since I need to slip in a few Thanksgiving crafts over the next month and a half. This is a great activity to do with kids and it gets them using not only their imagination but their own bodies as well. You can do this craft as an individual activity or as a group activity.

What you need:

• Sheet of Poster Paper (You can purchase this at stores like Scholar’s Choice, try to get a roll if possible)
• Drawing Pencil
• Tempura Paint
• Paint Brushes

Directions:

1. Cut out a sheet of poster paint that your child can lay flat on. Have him or her pose on the paper.
2. With the pencil, trace your child.
3. When they get up, square up the head with the pencil and erase the other lines that are not needed. Draw on the neck plugs and add any details you want to the drawing.
4. Mix up your Tempura Paint while your child is finishing up the drawing. Make sure to add a drop or two of dish soap to make cleaning easier.
5. Paint your Frankenstein monster any way you want to.
6. Allow it to dry and then tape it to your door for a Halloween decoration.

You can create all different types of monsters with this. Children love having their outlines drawn and if they are enjoying the outline drawing so much, why not grab a piece of chalk and head out the door to make chalk outlines on the sidewalk. If you do it on Halloween, you can use the outlines for your decorations.

Sirena Van Schaik

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Over the next few months, I will be sharing some Halloween crafts and some Thanksgiving Crafts.  Today is for Thanksgiving and it is a very simple craft that any child could do from infants up to school-agers.  You may change up a few things for each age group but that’s up to you.

What you need:

• construction paper (several different colors but make sure you have brown and green)
• large piece of construction paper (a fall color)
• glue stick
• scissors
• markers
• (optional: beads, sticker or anything else that can be glued down and has a Thanksgiving theme)

Directions:

1. Help your child draw out a Cornucopia in the brown construction paper.  Cut it out.  Older children should be able to cut it out themselves but you will want to do the cutting for them.
2. Draw out fruit and other items that you would like to put in the Cornucopia. Cut them out.
3. Have your child glue the Cornucopia to the larger paper (leaving enough room for the fruit on the page)
4. Glue down the fruit and other items inside the Cornucopia.  Don’t fix the fruit if it doesn’t land anywhere near or even on top of the Cornucopia. Remember art is an expression of self so it does not have to fit into the cookie cutter crafts.  If she wants to stick the Cornucopia under the fruit, then by all means, allow it. 
5. With markers, a pencil or a pen, have your child write something that he or she is thankful for on each piece of fruit.  You could have the child write it on a separate piece of paper that she folds and glues one side to the fruit to keep the “thanks” hidden until Thanksgiving or it can be there displayed to all.
6. Finish decorating if you are using optional items.

With younger children, you probably won’t put on things that they are thankful for but you can make it into an excellent cutting and gluing activity for them.

If you are not artistically inclined, you can always print out a Cornucopia to color with markers or to trace the outline onto the paper.  Below are a few sites where you can find printouts.

Cornucopia

Fruit

Veggies

Sirena Van Schaik

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For this activity, I am going to do the basic bubble painting activity that I have done with both my kids and my class.

What you need:

• A large container or cake pan
• water
• dish soap
• tempura paint (optional: you can use food coloring instead if you like)
• paper
• paper towel

Directions:

1. Fill the container with dish soap and water. You want to have a lot of suds for the bubble painting. Make sure to use warm water since cold water removes bubbles.
2. Place on the table in front of your child.
3. Have them choose colors to add to the top layer of the bubbles. I like to use squeeze bottles for this and I help my kids, hand over hand in applying the paint.
4. Place a sheet of paper onto the bubbles and press down on the back of the paper very gently.
5. Remove from the bubbles and pat off any excess soap or water.
6. Set to the side to dry and try another design with either the same bubbles and paint or with new bubbles and paint.

Sirena Van Schaik

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What you need:

• Ice Cubes (you can use simple ice cubes or freeze some with Popsicle sticks in them for holders)
• Paper (construction, card stock or mural)
• Powdered Tempura Paint of various colors (you can get this at any craft or art store and stores like Scholars Choice also offer it)
• Small dishes or shakers (if you use dishes, provide some spoons)

Directions:

1. Place a piece of paper out for the child to paint on.  (If you are using the sidewalk, skip this step.)
2. Place all the dry tempura paint in separate containers and the ice in a bowl by itself.
3. Allow the children to sprinkle dry paint onto their paper.
4. Have them pick up the ice cube and use it as a paint brush

The ice will melt and mix with the Tempura Paint making it turn into a liquid paint.  The children can move it around the paper to create designs or even start with a design and carefully melt the ice on the paint to make it into an actual painting.

Children really enjoy the cause and effect of this art experience and I find that it is a fairly clean activity, unless you are like me and always seem to spill the tempura paint yourself.

Enjoy,

Sirena Van Schaik

*The photo is a picture that my son painted with ice cube painting when he was two and a half.  He said it was a “Halloween Picture.”  Take a few moments and capture the idea behind the painting from your child’s words after they make the picture, it truly is amazing when you look back at it years later.*

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I would give you start to finish photographs but when I made my volcano I didn’t think to do that, since it was a few years ago but I will sign off with a few pictures of the volcano erupting.

What you need:

• a box lid or box cut in half. (this is for your base)
• Large piece of card stock or thin cardboard
• scissors
• paper mache paste (see Paper Mache Paste Recipe)
• strips of newspaper
• small plastic container (a margarine container works)
• paint
• masking tape

Directions:

1. Cut out a circle from the card stock and slice one side of it to the middle.
2. Make a cone from the card stock. Tape it to represent the height of the volcano that you want.
3. Cut off the tip of the cone so the margarine container can fit in it loosely (don’t go too snug or else the container won’t fit after you do the paper mache. I like to use a margarine container since you don’t have to use as much vinegar and baking soda for the eruption and you can just lift the container out to empty it.)
4. mount the cone to the base with tape.
5. Crumple up newspaper and tape it to the cone to create cliffs and ridges on the volcano.
6. Mix up the paper mache.
7. Cut or rip 1 inch strips from the newspaper and cover the volcano, make sure you leave the opening at the top.
8. Allow to dry completely once the entire volcano is covered. (This can take a few days depending on how wet the volcano was. Make sure to check the inside too)
9. Repeat paper mache and allow to dry completely each time. (You may have to do this 2 or 3 times)
10. When it is dry, paint it to look like a volcano. You can add some scenery, such as Pompeii like we did, although the paper buildings disintegrated after the 20th or so eruptions.
11. Erupt the volcano once the paint is dry.

To erupt the volcano, go to the post on Fun with Science: Baking Soda and Vinegar.

And now for the eruptions (in these pictures the “lava” is white but usually I color it with food coloring).

Sirena Van Schaik

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