There are many things children get excited about during this festive time of year. Along with the promise of costumes and candy of course, are the craft projects. We’ve gathered a few ideas for those parents, caretakers, and educators with young children. Make sure to warm up some cider or hot chocolate and settle in for an afternoon of fun.
To begin, tape a placemat size piece of contact paper to the table. Make sure the sticky side is up. Give the red and yellow tissue paper to your toddler and let them tear it up as he or she wants and stick it on the contact paper, how much and wherever they choose. When they have placed all the strips they’d like and smashed the pieces flat, cover it with another piece of contact paper and then cut into pumpkin shapes that are completely covered in the tissue paper. You may use a piece of green construction paper to make a stem. Finally, tape their masterpiece on the window to see what happens when the sun meets the colors of the pumpkin. Ask them to name the colors they see. Did the overlapping red and yellow pieces make orange?
This activity begins with a walk in the great outdoors. Take your little ones out and have them pick up leaves that have recently fallen off the
trees. Be sure to bring a bag with you to collect as many leaves as they would like. Once home, demonstrate how to stick self-adhesive googly eyes on to the leaves. Then take a black marker and draw a nose, mouth, ears, and perhaps even hair on the leaf. Now it’s their turn! Name the features as they draw them to help your child with naming body parts. This simple craft is as much about creativity as it is about developing their fine motor skills.
Thank you, Hands on as We Grow for these two great ideas! Check out more on their on their list of The 22 Simplest Fall Activities for Toddlers.
It is as easy as one can of pumpkin and corn starch. Simply scoop the pumpkin puree into a large mixing bowl and stir until it is smooth. Add in
and knead enough corn starch to get the desired playdough texture, roughly two cups. Add drops of water if the dough gets too dry. You can also add a dash of pumpkin pie spice to give it that
holiday scent! Then plop in on wax paper, perhaps get out some cookie cutters and let your little makers, roll, pat, and sculpt. And don’t worry if they “accidentally” get a little in their mouth- it’s all edible! Thank you Pre-K Pages for the recipe.
Crockpot Applesauce
Try this simple recipe that is both delicious and nutritious! Here a couple of older friends show us how cook the apples up right!
Community Resource
If you are interested in more activities like this, connect with Child Care Resource Center to find one of their playgroup, story time or other family-friendly offerings.