Tuesday, October 21, 2008 - B.C. and Calgary edition

What's the vibe today . . .

Halloween crafty fun

by Keri Zingle

If your kids aren’t up for trick or treating, or you just want to get Halloween started a little early, plan a Halloween party at home. Set up some simple Halloween ‘stations’ and fill the kids’ treat bags full of Halloween fun! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Pumpkin decorating

Small sugar pumpkins are great for little hands to decorate, instead of carving. Each child at the party can adorn their own pumpkin with markers, paints, and decorating accessories. Start with googly eyes for the face, and then let the imagination go wild – try adding construction paper bat’s wings, a witch’s hat made of an egg carton cup, yarn or fun fur hair, a small paper crown, and so on.

Cookie decorating

Prior to the party, cut some sugar cookie dough into circles using the top end of a drinking glass. Add a small dough ‘stem’ at the top to make pumpkins. Make witch’s hats by cutting triangles of dough, and adding a rectangle brim. Have the cookies ready for decorating with coloured icing, candy-coated chocolate pieces, raisins, candies, and sprinkles.

The ‘shapely’ witch

Kids can practice their shape recognition while working on this fun Halloween craft. Provide black construction paper triangles and rectangles for hat top and brim, a large green circle for face, smaller circles for ears, and a green triangle nose. Assemble by gluing pieces onto a piece of construction paper, and then decorate with crayons or markers, googly eyes, yarn hair, and a small pom pom ‘wart’ on the tip of the nose.

Group Activity – witch’s brew

Gather the kids to help make a delicious witch’s potion. Pour apple juice and/or carbonated water into several cups – adding different colours of food colouring to each one. The kids can take turns pouring their cups of juice or water into the ‘cauldron,’ stirring to watch the colour change. Once all of the kids have added their part to the potion, add a pinch of spider’s eggs (raisins) and a handful of eyeballs (frozen grapes, cut in half). Chant the magic spell together: “I wish I wish with all my might, that I’ll have lots of fun tonight!” and then serve.

Keri is a mother of two and the owner of Craft Caravan. Craft Caravan sends fun monthly craft projects to kids, providing them endless entertainment.

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