Little Elephants: Kids Crafts and Fun Activities

Pumpkin carving party

THIS is how we prepped for Maggie's Ninth birthday party. The family (minus Tor who conveniently napped through it all), got into production mode with Dad at the helm, cutting out the tops, and the rest of us scoop, scoop, scooping for a good hour.

On Sunday we had 11 pumpkins ready for her friends to carve, and all Tomas and I had to do was provide the tools (kits purchased for a couple bucks at our supermarket), some snacks (including home-toasted pumkin seeds) , and a cake. Other than that, the girls completely entertained themselves; something this mama could get used to!

This was probably the easiest party we've ever thrown, PERFECT for a gaggle of nine and ten year old girls.

Paper bag pumpkin

This is an easy Halloween project for young ones, and another winner from our school's Harvest Festival. All you need is a paper lunch bag, some orange paint, a bit or string and a scrap of green paper.

Fill your bag with whatever scraps are overflowing from your recycling bin (as ours usually is, unfortunately). Tie shut with string looped through a green paper leaf (easy to cut out), and paint bright pumpkin orange.

Sit back and admire your handy work :-)

If you're feeling mighty ambitious, you can paint on a Jack O'Lantern face with black paint after the orange has dried.

Halloween cupcakes

So yeh... I know this is a perfect example of why I should only ever take pictures during daytime hours, and in natural light. Problem is, I really wanted to share this as an example of planning one thing and ending up with something different that the kids still love.

Maggie and I originally thought we would decorate these birthday cupcakes with fancy pumpkins. When we tested out the orange icing we discovered that controlling the dispenser was way more difficult than either of us imagined (yes, a slight exaggeration, but it really was hard).

We ended up with these cheery squiggles that were seasonal and fun. I'm sure her classmates enjoyed them every bit as much as if we had expended much more time and effort :-)

& yes, my *baby* just turned 9!

Halloween jewels

[Cross-posted on Scholastic.com]

About a year ago I discovered a fun craft that can be customized to make lovely seasonal gifts. It has the added benefit that you can use recycled elements (which warms my green heart), and is very easy for kids to do on their own with minimal parental interference.

This time around I used some stickers that my son got with his latest Mathmania mailing. To make these sweet treasures you'll need craft glue, glass gems (available at most craft stores and florists), and pictures to glue them on. When they're completely dry you can glue strong magnets to the backs of these to make gorgeous, home-made refrigerator magnets. My daughter made some as gifts for her teachers last year and they were a huge hit.

To make your own:

Pick your images, and check that they fit nicely under your gems. Pause to admire the magnifying effect. Squeeze out a good dollop of glue on to the back of your gem.

Place over your image. It's very wet, so you'll have plenty of time to align to your satisfaction, even if they slide a bit while drying.

Set aside over night so they dry completely. In the morning cut out your gems and admire your work.

If you make these with your kids, we'd love to see pictures, so do add a link in your comment so we can enjoy your handy-work!

It's Birthday Season!

In the middle of all the back-to-school and work hullabaloo, my kids have reminded me (quite forcefully!) that birthday season is here. The boys celebrate in September, and Maggie's is in October. As I started to write this post (last week!) the olders were busy making invitations for Bjørn & Tor's party (very loudly) ... because of my wacky week, I ended up sending email invites.

I find party planning a heck-of-a-lot easier when there's a theme or primary activity. It helps keep me focused. Another thing I do (don't laugh) is sketch out a schedule for the party that usually looks something like this:

• Free play time until every one is here and settled in
• Organized activity (usually a craft of some sort)
• Outdoor games
• Cake!!!
• Open gifts
• Clean-up

I try to get everything lined up so cake is about 1/2 an hour before the end of the party.

The boys' party will be at a local park where the kids can run around and burn off their cake-fueled energy. I'm thinking I'll have to refer to some of my more outdoorsy-type activity books for inspiration this time around. My latest purchase, A Boy's Treasury of Things-to-do might have just the thing I'm looking for. I'm thinking kites ... but that might be just a bit too ambitious...

I really like sending kids home with something they've had a hand in creating. One thing I do know for certain is that this time around I'm going to have a hard time beating last year's party favor of hand-painted t-shirts!

I'd love to hear your party ideas! Any suggestions?

Another holiday come and gone

The Fourth has come and gone, and while I loved (almost) every second of it, though I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. That much fun-fun-fun is exhausting!

You can catch some of our photos from the Chili Cook-off here.

Today will be all about doing nothing. Well... we'll probably be doing a bit of cleaning (funny how things get very messy when you aren't even home), and we'll definitely take a dip in the pool.

Happy 4th of July!

Before the Fireworks, originally uploaded by VeroC.

Canada day has just passed, Bastille day is coming up, and here in Palo Alto we started celebrating the 4th a day early with fireworks over at Stanford University.

Today will be all about chili cook-offs, jump houses, and cold watermelon.

Hope you are having a wonderful day, wherever you are :-)

Happy Mother's Day!

I am a lucky, lucky Mama today. I woke up to the most delicious breakfast in bed, served up by my four favorite people in the world. Breakfast was accompanied by some lovely gifts: pottery, cards, a votive candle very much like the ones I blogged yesterday!), coupons for clean rooms, and good behavior, and the sweetest "appreciations" -- scrolls of paper tied with colorful ribbons reminding me of the reasons I am special :-)

What more could a tired Moma ask for?

I know you've noticed the over-the-top gift from Tomas; my very own iPod Nano in the funkiest green! It's harder than I thought to pick "just" a thousand songs!

My littlest guy gave me the biggest reminder of what today is all about. For me, it's celebrating the fact that I am the one who is the luckiest of all since I get to be their Mom, and I need to remember to cherish every moment. Little T took a tumble mid-morning and needed three staples to the back of his head. He took it like the true little Viking he is -- with a lusty yell, and a glare for the doctor. He's fine now, and resting.

Happy Mother's day to all my fellow Momas!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Last year the children in B's class drank a magic potion to make 'em Irish for the day. This was the brain-child of uber-crafty-mom Doree -- who consitently comes up with the BEST ideas that always trump anything the rest of us schlubs can imagine.

It did eventually wear off.

I had a poster made of the kids with their green tongues all hanging out, and gave it to their teacher. She gave it back 'cause it freaked her out so :-)

Happy New Year!

Wishing a very Happy & Prosperous New Year to all my friends who celebrate the Lunar New Year!

新年快乐