Thursday, October 17, 2024
When Laura and her hubby headed to the lake last weekend,
Fall,
in all its glory, was on full display!
Meanwhile, Laurie and her Daughter A
spent an equally glorious weekend visiting long time mother-daughter friends
in South Dakota!
They even got out on the lake on a sunny, warm Saturday!
In Minnesota, this week marks the annual fall holiday for children of all ages!
Known as MEA, it’s a break from school for a few days!
Many of us GRANDS are spending time with our Littles!
Some of us are providing needed child care
while others are taking this opportunity to host
a GRAND getaway, a day at home or even a sleepover!
Of course, there are lots of parents and other caregivers
also wondering how to fill the time while keeping Littles busy…
especially during this spooky season!
This post has you covered!
We’re highlighting 3 NEW favorite activities and crafts
Each is spooktacularly simple…
quick to prep with few materials needed
So scroll away to see what activities might work for you and your Littles!
While the ideas shared in this post
are geared toward toddler and preschool/early elementary Littles,
we also know that many older Littles would have fun
with the projects described!
Look for GRAND TIPS throughout for a few of our suggestions!
This is a game that Laurie’s three-year-old Little D loves to play!
We think your Littles will love it, too!
Laurie made it easily with things she found around the house.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
• a box
• a plastic baby wipe container lid
• white paper
• a dice
• a black marker or crayon
• items to feed the ghost
(uncooked pasta, coins, paper clips, small blocks, even M&Ms are some ideas)
NOTE: I made my own die out of a cube as I only wanted to play with the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Older Littles can use a regular die.
I was lucky to have a collection of rubbery creepy crawlies available so Little D chose bats to feed to her ghost!
Why is a kindergarten teacher’s house so messy?
Because she saves everything!!
🤣
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1: Cover the box lid with black paper if you’d like (not necessary).
STEP 2: Figure out where you would like the mouth of your ghost to go and trace the opening on the ghost. Use a utility knife or razor blade to cut the hole. Glue the mouth (the baby wipe lid) to the ghost around the hole. (If you do not have a baby wipe lid, no big deal! Just use the plain hole, or cover it with a flap of paper!)
STEP 3: Time to play!
Roll the die! Then feed the ghost the number of objects that matches the number on the dice.
You can play with a partner or by yourself.
When you have fed your ghost the entire pile of “food”, open the box lid, empty the items and start all over! Little D played the game seven times when we first made it!
A Fun Side Note…
Little D discovered it was just as much fun to “Feed The Cat”!
And she got some counting practice in, as well!!
(What a cooperative cat!)
Laura and two of her favorite Littles
(her 4-year-old great niece and her first grade great nephew)
are headed to the lake this weekend.
She’s bringing the materials for this fun project!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• paper plates (1/child)
• string or yarn
• paper punch (or scissors)
• plastic spiders (optional)
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1: Punch holes (an inch apart) around the edges of the paper plate. If you don’t have a paper punch, you can cut 1/2 inch slits around the edge - either version works well! (Older Littles may be able to do this step on their own, but you will want to prep the plates ahead of time for young Littles.)
STEP 2: TIe one end of the string to one of the holes or tape it to the back of the paper plate. Then model how to create a “spider web” by lacing the string, as shown. There is no right or wrong way to do this - that’s the beauty of the project!
NOTE: To keep the string from getting tangled, start with a smaller length (2 feet or so). Once your Little has used that string, tape the end to the bottom of the plate and then give them another piece of string and repeat the process until your Little is happy with the result.
STEP 3: Add one or more plastic spiders to the web! We used plastic spider rings that easily attached to the string but you could make paper spiders and tape or glue them to the web, too.
For those of you with older Littles,
you'll find more detailed info for a similar idea from Small for Big.
Laura also went hunting in her and Hubby’s sock drawers
and found a few that could be donated for this project!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• white socks (we used old athletic ones)
• scissors (a sharp fabric one works best)
• string or twine
• napkins or paper towel
• sticks of wood (1 needed/ghost)
• a black permanent marker or googly eyes
DIRECTIONS
STEP 1: Starting at the ankle part of the sock, cut strips about halfway up the sock. Older Littles will be challenged as they cut through the material. Younger Littles will need your help!
STEP 2: Cut two small holes at the top (toe) of the sock and loop a string or piece of twine through so you can hang the sock ghost when done. Stuff the toe of the sock with a scrunched up napkin or paper towel.
STEP 3: Place the stick sideways into the sock and push it up (this stick will be the arms of your ghost).
STEP 4: Use the permanent marker to draw eyes and a mouth on your ghost’s face. (Younger Littles will need guidance with this.) You can also attach googly eyes (self adhesive ones or those you glue on with fabric glue).
Hang your sock ghost to decorate your ceiling or doorway
OR
have fun holding on as you run around with it and say, “Boooooo!”
Our Littles love this season and we love seeing the excitement in their eyes!
Do you have memories of favorite activities or projects
you’ve done with Littles over the years?
If so, you know that we want to know more!
Please share by commenting at the end of this post
OR
if you prefer, you can always reach out to us directly at ourgrandlives@gmail.com!
Don’t forget to subscribe to our OGL site
so you always know what’s up with us at Our Grand Lives!
And, if you are looking for ongoing fun,
where we add new activities and adventures every week!
You can also find us on Pinterest where we link up
many of our posts - past and present!
We’ll be back TOMORROW with one more activity,
an all time favorite classic that we’ve put our own GRAND spin on!
We hope to see you then!
Speaking of GRANDS,
if you know of anyone who may enjoy our blog, please share!
Meeting new readers is always a fave!
We’re off now to enjoy a bit more of this spectacular autumn weather…
God’s beautiful handiwork, indeed!
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Busy Monday from A Pinch of Joy
Senior Salon Pit Stop from Scratch Made Food for Hungry People
Thank you for featuring this post on your sites!
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You are just the most creative person! I'm getting a <a href=“https://www.rjbchemdry.com/carpet-cleaning-in-tampa-fl/“>carpet cleaning</a> this weekend and have been looking for ways to entertain the kids. So grateful I found your post when I did.
Laura, this post is one of my features for this week's SSPS, thank you so much for sharing with us! What a great bunch of activities!
These are some really cute and fun ideas!
What great ideas, I'll definitely pin to my Halloween page.
These craft and activity ideas are so fun! I especially love the Feed the Ghost. When my oldest was little, we made a cute friendly monster out of a tissue box, and we had a blast decorating it. I appreciate you sharing these fun ideas at The Crazy Little Lovebirds Link Party #60!
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds