Category: Arts & Crafts

Paper Bag Pumpkins

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Pape Bag Pumpkins (9)

Here’s a classic toddler Halloween activity that never disappoints: easy pumpkins made from brown paper lunch bags!

Use sandwich-size brown bags for this project, not larger ones. First up is stuffing them with tissue paper (or any similar material like old newspapers). “Can I make a ball?” Veronika asked after watching me do the first one, and she was a big helper wading up pieces and stuffing them into the bags.

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Once they were about two-thirds of the way filled, I secured each top with a rubber band and twisted tightly so they resembled pumpkin stems.

Time to paint! Veronika couldn’t wait to get her hands on orange paint and paintbrushes, and helped smear all over the bags.

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I wish we’d had more orange paint (or a thicker acrylic) for a better coat to hide the writing on our paper bags, but at least we achieved a mostly orange look!

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You can also paint the stems a deep brown, but since the bags were already brown, we skipped that part.

Once the paint dries (which takes a while!), add pumpkin faces with black marker.

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I made a traditional jack o’ lantern face, and Veronika added her own toddler interpretation.

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These make a fun addition to your Halloween decor!

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Galactic Art

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Galactic Art (7)

Travis isn’t as interested in simple arts and crafts as when he was younger. So I love when I can still find ways to pique his interest, and I thought this quick craft might fit the bill. It involved a novel tool to paint billions of stars in a made-up galaxy: an old toothbrush!

I showed him how to dip the toothbrush in a plate filled with white paint, then scrape his finger along the bristles so little speckles of white jet out.

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Pretty soon we had a whole Milky Way!

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Next we needed to add planets to our galaxy. We definitely weren’t going for an exact replica of the Solar System here, but did have fun rounding up a pile of items that were circular to trace, aiming for a variety of different size circles.

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One of those items happened to be a glitter jar, so then Travis insisted our galaxy needed glitter! Once the planets had all been glued down, we made a thick stream of white glue and sprinkled the glitter over this. Tap off any excess into the trash.

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The glitter sort of eclipsed those original speckles of white “stars” we’d made with the toothbrush. But oh well, Travis was so engaged and happy with the process that I was happy, too.

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Sparkly and Googly Eyed Pumpkins

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Sparkly Googly Pumpkins (8)

We had three mini pumpkins that were just begging to be decorated. And this craft will cater perfectly to your toddler’s messy instincts!

I set out little cups of glue and a few filled with large sequins and wiggle eyes, and placed these all on a craft tray. The idea was that the tray would contain most of the mess.

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Well, Veronika had other ideas. Before we even started, she began transferring sequins from cup to cup and then dumped them all over the floor. (“Well, that’s a mess,” said big brother Travis!).

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This didn’t deter us one bit! I showed her how to spread glue on the pumpkins with a paintbrush. Once they were good and sticky, we could liberally apply the sequins.

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I thought she might want to dump them on, but Veronika loved carefully applying one at a time!

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The wiggle eyes added fun and slightly kooky character.

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Needless to say, we made a mess, but we had a blast.

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Note: Because the sequins could be a hazard for wildlife, I recommend displaying these particular no-carve pumpkins indoors.

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Spaghetti Mobiles

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We started the day with some messy food fun! This activity makes for great sensory play, plus nets you a cool piece of artwork at the end.

I cooked up a big batch of spaghetti (although in retrospect I didn’t need a full package), and set it out in front of Veronika. She was immediately thrilled to dip her hands in.

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She was even more excited when I set out three paper plates and poured a little glue in each. We tinted them red, blue, and green with all-natural food coloring.

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I showed her how to dip a few strands of the spaghetti in one of the colors, then transfer to a foam tray (like the kind some vegetables are sold in at the supermarket).

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Continue to dip and layer, helping your artist “arrange” the strands of spaghetti. Veronika loved talking about the colors as she worked!

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When she started tossing big piles of spaghetti that weren’t covered in colored glue on top, I knew it was time to set the mobile safely aside to dry. But she wasn’t done yet!

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She loved picking up big handfuls of the spaghetti and making them go “splat!” At one point I saw her trotting off toward the playroom with a huge handful, and quickly redirected her to the kitchen.

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We were out of glue, but we could still add more food coloring to the spaghetti on each paper plate. “It’s pink-y! It’s blue-y!” she said of each pile with delight.

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Meanwhile, back to the glued spaghetti:

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As long as your child hasn’t piled it on too thickly to dry properly, you’ll be able to stretch it up off the tray once the glue has dried, thread yarn through, and suspend it from a hook. A rather novel piece of modern art!

No Carve Nature Pumpkins

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No-Carve Nature Pumpkins (10)

It was a brisk fall morning, perfect for one of our nature walks to collect treasures. This time, I specifically kept my eyes open for items that we would be able to later glue onto pumpkins. We came home with sticks, leaves, pine cones, and acorns. I had hoped to spot some maple keys, but didn’t see any.

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I arranged all of our treasures onto a craft tray, and Veronika loved sorting through the items.

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As she simply explored with all her senses, I arranged the items with more purpose to see what would work where on each pumpkin as facial features.

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Our first orange fellow soon had acorn eyes, a stick nose, a leaf mouth, and a big branch of multiple leaves for hair.

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He was soon joined by a second orange friend, this one with acorns for eyes and nose, leaves for mouth and ears, and a fun little pine cone headdress. I tucked a few leaves behind the pine cone so it almost looked like one of those fancy fascinator hats!

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Veronika was clearly delighted when she saw that our pumpkins now had eyes, noses, and more.

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They look quite jolly and happy on our patio. As with our recent pumpkin mask craft, this is a great way to decorate pumpkins a ways out from Halloween, since they won’t rot before the big night.

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Paper Bag Faces

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Paper Bag Faces (6)

We had a few extra paper bags from the grocery store lying around, so today Veronika and I had fun with them in two ways. You can turn a paper bag into a face… or be the face inside one!

Similar to a recent game with paper bag “blocks”, first I stuffed a medium-sized bag with crumpled up pages from an old magazine.

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Fill nearly to the top, then gather together the extra material and secure with a rubber band.

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I invited Veronika to come help draw a face on the bag. We added cheerful eyes and a big silly smile so the bag wouldn’t scare her.

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Kids will love saying hello to this new friend, or might want to pick it up and carry it around. Veronika almost seemed to think it was alive, asking it to sing songs with her!

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Now that she had a new friend, what would she think if she was the face inside the bag?

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After she scribbled on a second bag with marker, I cut out two big eye holes, then popped it briefly over her head.

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Boo! She thought it was silly for a few minutes, but then tired of it.

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But there’s no better season than Halloween to scare up some fun with an activity like this.

Sensory Pumpkin Decorating

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Sensory Pumpkin Decorating (8)

This activity is half sensory bin, half a way to decorate a pumpkin with your toddler without pulling out the carving knives. Which adds up to 100% fun!

I wanted an assortment of items to decorate our pumpkins, aiming for a variety of textures. I also wanted to stick to a white and black color scheme for Halloween. So in a shallow craft tray, I lined up: dried corn, black feathers, uncooked white rice, black birdseed, and white sesame seeds.

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You can mix and match based on what you have on hand, but aim for a nice variety of texture and size. Veronika immediately wanted to dig through the items in the tray with little plastic cups, so things didn’t stay in their “area” for long.

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But I loved watching her explore all the texture. She especially seemed to like those fluffy craft feathers!

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Meanwhile, I set to work making the first pumpkin for her. Add big dabs of glue to a pumpkin with a craft stick, working around the stem. I then sprinkled one of our sensory materials on each portion.

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These made a neat ring around the stem once I had finished, and now she could feel along them for a great sensory experience.Sensory Pumpkin Decorating (4)

I left the decorating of the second pumpkin entirely up to her. She poured the glue around the top in a full ring, then used her little plastic cup to scoop and pour.

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The end result was a neat mishmash of all the items.

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I loved that the sensory play was part of both the decorating process and the final product.

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String Painting

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String Painting (6)

We’ve used string to help spread paint lately, but for this craft, yarn actually becomes the bristles of a brush. These long wobbly “paintbrushes” are sure to delight any toddler. Just one note of caution: there is a high probability that paint is going to splatter! In other words, it’s an activity best done in an old t-shirt and diaper.

To make the brushes, I cut about 5 strands of yarn per brush, and taped them securely to the end of a craft stick. Your yarn can be all one color, but I have a multi-hued ball of yarn that gave us some fun rainbow pop.

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Place out a big sheet of craft paper and paints (Veronika requested yellow) and you’re ready to go!

At first Veronika was going to dip the handle end of her craft stick in the paint, but I quickly showed her how to dip in the strands of yarn instead.

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She loved it! The yarn creates beautiful stringy lines, and she enjoyed seeing the results of her work.

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As you paint, the yarn will start to clump together. This means you’ll get thicker lines, plus color mixing if you have more than one color of paint set out in front of your child.

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As with a recent pumpkin painting activity, Veronika sat in the middle of the paper while she worked, so I loved watching the string marks appear all around her.

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Needless to say, the yarn was fun for her to splat down on the paper, which sends drops of paint flying. But again, plan ahead, dress for the mess, and the messiness becomes half the fun!

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Pumpkin Fun with Washi Tape

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Washi Tape Pumpkin (8)

Here’s a great for even little kids to help decorate pumpkins, since there are no carving knives required.

I had a pack of decorative washi tape that’s been sitting around forever, so I pulled out all the rolls and broke off pieces of the various colors, arranging them around the sides of a craft tray.

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In this way, I figured Veronika would be able to grab a piece and stick on a pumpkin (we used white ones!) without constantly needing me to rip a new piece for her.

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Sure enough, she set to work right away.

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Through trial and error, we determined tricks for how best to washi tape a pumpkin. At first, the pumpkins were a little wet from having rinsed the dirt off, which meant the tape didn’t stick well. So make sure your pumpkins are dry!

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We also discovered that the edges of small tape pieces would curl up; long strips wrapped from stem to bottom worked best. At a certain point, I took over, but Veronika was an eager helper!

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This was a great even-a-toddler-can-do-it way to decorate pumpkins.

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Monster Headbands

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Monster Headbands (4)

Here’s a fun costume craft from Travis’s latest Highlights magazine, perfect for spooky dress-up in October! We made two of the four suggested versions.

To start, wrap craft feather boas around plain headbands from the drugstore. You can simply wrap the boas, or use hot glue or adhesive dots to secure at the ends for more security.

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Our first monster had three big eyes on top. Glue black felt pupils onto white ping pong balls, and hot glue on top. If you want the eyes further above the head (which we did not do), attach them to the ends of boa-wrapped pipe cleaners instead.

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For the second monster, we made one big cyclops eye. I glued a large piece of felt onto a thin piece of cardboard, with two pipe cleaners glued in between. Add two more colors of felt, followed by a black felt pupil. Wrap the pipe cleaners around the top of the headband to secure.

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Note: You could also use this method of felt-glued-onto-thin-cardboard to make horn shapes, too, another version that we skipped.

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Travis loved making silly monster faces.

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And we even had an appearance from Baby Monster!

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