Halloween Craft For Kids-Funky Pumpkins/Jack-O-Lanterns

Funky Halloween Pumpkin Craft

As many of my fellow blogging mommas know, in order to actually have an awesome seasonal or holiday post out and floating around the internet in time for people to find it, view it, and make it useful; we have to get a head start and be planning WAY early!

Well, that is the plan...

I had been jumping around Pinterest, the web, and other blogs, trying to find a few great craft ideas for Halloween.

I have found several, but finding the time and getting my little actually interested in wanting to do them is another story.

We did manage to find one that she was pretty excited to get started on.

It was the using scissors part!

 I'm not sure if I should be proud that she does so well and wants to practice, or terrified that my new five year old has a scissor obsession?!?!

Anyway, the craft is a simple cut, decorate, and glue project aimed for toddlers and younger kids.

You can find the original post and give a shout out here to:

@LorieK~ ReadingConfetti

Funky Pumpkins

materials

• construction paper
• stick or bottle glue
• scissors
• old magazines or newspapers

optional decorations

• googly eyes
• beads
• pipe cleaners

You will need to take your construction paper and cut out "pumpkin"(orange) shapes and the stems(green), then glue stems to back of pumpkins

I worked on this part while she cut out eyes, noses, and mouths from magazines.

This seemed to keep her busy and also reduce her glue use. LOL

Once everything is cut out, we decided to see how silly we could make them. The point was to not "match" eyes, nose, and mouth that typically looked normal. The funkier the better...and cuter.

After you allow them to dry, you can glue to a solid sheet of construction paper or use them individually however you like.

A fun idea is to use them as cards for friends. Write a spooky message on the back and give them out.

Here are a few we made. They turned out so silly and the little really had fun deciding which eyes or nose to add to which pumpkin.

You can always use different colors or make your pumpkins into different shapes.

I hope you enjoyed our quick craft. Be sure to check out our other craft ideas

Fun Crafts

If you are looking for some spooky books for your littles, be sure to check out my post here

Halloween and Fall Books for Kids!

Enjoy and Happy Halloween! Be sure to share your ideas or post pics if you try our craft!

The Kindness Rocks Project~ Kid Edition

The Kindness Rocks Project
What is it anyway?

The mission is:
One message at just the right moment can change someone's entire day, outlook, life

It all started when Megan Murphy was walking along the beach looking for a sign. A message to help her decide what to do.
With a sharpie in her pocket, rocks all around her, and an idea, she decided to not wait for a message but instead...leave one. A message of kindness for someone to find.
You can find out more about the origins and her story over at the website.
THE KINDNESS ROCKS PROJECT

Our Kindness Rocks

The Kid Edition:

I really wanted to do this with all my kids and niece and nephew. We could all use a chance to be kind to others. I wanted to make this as kid-friendly as possible and still teach them the lesson I was aiming for.

My main approach was getting them to think of ways that each of them could be kind to someone.

The most popular answer was "I can share."

When you are age 3-7, that is a huge act of kindness!

Starting off I had already gathered and cleaned as many "good" rocks as I could find in our yard and garden.(Thankfully, when my husband roto-tilled, it turned up tons of rocks!) We used what we had and they were all different sizes and shapes.

I knew the kids would need some help and prompting to figure out what their "message" would be.

We talked a lot about ways we are kind and things that make us feel happy.

I love their answers. Everything from Spiderman to Mom's cooking.

They shared that they felt kind when we love each other and when they play with their friends.

We decided instead of just using words as a message, it was easier(and fun) to really let them paint and show what kindness and being happy means to them.

Sometimes it was a bright color, a pattern or a rainbow.

Some they made into food or a character they like. Some painted trees or nature.

I love how they are all so unique and personal.

Isn't that kind of the point? Shouldn't our Kindness rocks be personal?

I am so proud of them and how much they learned and shared.

Now we get to leave them all over. 

We have taken some to the lake and the park. Leaving them around a tree or by a shelter.

We have a whole coffee can full of our kindness rocks to leave around and share.

Here are some of ours we made

I hope you enjoy our

The Kindness Rocks Project~ Kid Edition

Be sure to check out the website and always

share your story.

DIY Kid Craft~ Kid Made Wind Chimes

What momma wouldn't love to wean down those piles, containers, buckets, bins, bags and drawers of leftover, saved up, and collected "craft supplies"?

I know for me, it is a daily task to keep all these treasures contained and...hidden from little eyes that think every button or googly eye is the best thing since sliced bread!

But, we do have those days that we can actually find a use, a purpose for some of our ever growing supplies.

I am totally not opposed to anything you can reuse, up-cycle and DIY!

We are a frugal family, so we use what we have.

Hint* This supply list I'm going to give you is completely just for suggestions. Use what you have and make it gorgeous!

Onto our craft...

Plastic Cup Wind Chime

For Kids

I will say this took a lot of my doing...My little is four years old and there are a few things she definitely couldn't have done by herself or unsupervised.

Supply list:

plastic cup(any size/color)

yarn, twine, thread

hole puncher

pipe cleaner(1 per wind chime)

beads(thicker thread needs bigger hole in beads)

needle(same as above, thicker yarn will need larger eye to thread)

embellishments-stickers, glitter glue, foam stickys, etc

Assembly:

First you will take your cup and puncture a hole into the bottom(small) for the pipe cleaner to go through. (Good luck mommas! PSA: the cup will collapse under pressure while you are puncturing!)

Twist an X with the pipe cleaner to join two ends. Insert into hole of cup.

This will be your handle or ring to hang your wind chime by.

It should look like this:

Next you will use your hole puncher to make 3 holes evenly spaced around the rim of cup.

Now lay the cup aside.

Cut your yarn/string the length you wish(we did 10, 12, and 14 inches) remember you'll need extra to tie both ends.

Tie one end off larger than your bead holes. a couple knots should do.

Start beading, leaving a couple inches to feed through punched holes and tie to your cup.

Make three of these. We did ours three different lengths.

After you have them all beaded, proceed to tie them to your wind chime through the holes in your cup.

Your wind chime is complete! Now you can always add any other decorations you'd like!

Aren't they just the cutest?!?!

I hope you enjoyed walking through our craft of the day!

What fun crafts have you tried?

Anyone know of a better, safer way or a tool I'm missing to get the hole into the bottom of the cup? LOL

That was the hardest part! Still fun though. Please share yours!

Be sure to check out all our other fun ideas we've been collecting over here: CoffeeWastedMomma's Crafty Stuff Collection