Fall Feats

Being the mom of two boys, I pride myself on the fact that while I can teach them to throw a football and design a fort, I can also get them (willingly) to do arts and crafts!  They really do love to do “projects” as my oldest son calls them with pretty much anything! It is a special time of the day or week that I love sharing with them.

That said, I always felt like the season of Fall, even beyond the other seasons, lends itself to so many great projects.  With leaves changing color, the holiday of Halloween, and great fruits like apples and pumpkins coming into season, the ideas are really endless. I am passing on two of my favorite crafts below. They are simple and fun for many ages.

Egg Carton Pumpkins
      ∙ Egg carton
      ∙ Orange acrylic paint
      ∙ Black fine point permanent marker
      ∙ Brown pipe cleaner
      ∙ Green felt
      ∙ Glue

        ∙ Scissors

1. Cut two cups out of the egg carton.
2. Glue the rim of one cup to the rim of the other cup. Allow the glue to dry.
3. Paint the entire surface of pumpkin shape orange. Let dry.
4. Using marker, design a face on the front of the pumpkin shape.
5. Poke a small hole in the top of the pumpkin shape. Cut a 1-inch piece of pipe cleaner and curl. Add glue to one end of the pipe cleaner and poke into hole in top of pumpkin shape. Cut two leaves from the green felt. Glue leaves to pipe cleaner stem.
 

Fall Foliage Placemat
      ∙ 2 Sheets of clear Con-Tact paper, placemat size
      ∙ Scissors
      ∙ Leaves
      ∙ Waxed paper
      ∙ Large book, Dictionary, or Encyclopedia
1. Gather some fall leaves.
2. Place each of the leaves between 2 pieces of waxed paper.
3. Place the leaves inside a large book to flatten them.
4. After the leaves are flattened, take them out of the book and remove the waxed paper. This may take a day to about a week.
5. Peel the back off of one of the sheets of clear Con-Tact paper.
6. Place sticky side up on your work area.
7. Arrange your leaves on the Con-Tact paper in any way desired.
8. Peel the backing off of the other sheet of Con-Tact paper and carefully place on top of the leaves.
9. You can trim around the edges or use decorative scissors to give it a different look.
 

Sites for reference and other ideas
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/fall_coloring_pages.htm -  Coloring Pages
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/famf0802_sf_autumn/famf0802_sf_autumn.html  - Many, many fall activities for different ages.
http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/thanksgiving.html - Adorable Thanksgiving themed basket for kids to make
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/fall/ - Cute crafts and great educational activities for young kids