Autumn Fun For Children

When my children were little I did my best to create a fun filled environment for them. Just being a young couple starting out, we didn't have extra money to go all out purchasing items to decorate for the seasons. Decorating on a "tight budget" became my mission. 

I purchased things like leaves, scarecrows, and pumpkins for the windows. Children love having decorations on their windows. Your children can make their own pumpkins for their windows out of orange poster board ($1 at the Dollar General). You can purchase a pack of markers and have them color features for the pumpkins. I used sticky tack and would put the pumpkins on the kitchen cupboards (you can purchase removable sticky tack at stores like Target). You can also use decorations on bathroom & bedroom mirrors & doors. 

Of course children love to pick out their own pumpkins. This is a great way to add some flare to your home. There is nothing like carving pumpkins and roasting the seeds with your children. You can purchase a decal kit for your pumpkins at a craft store; the Oriental Trading Company has a kit for just $3.18.

This is a real simple craft to do with your children. Use a small laundry detergent container, orange and green paint applied using a sponge, green construction paper to make the leaves, sponge orange and grey paint to give the leaves a wilted look, black and white paint for the face, brown paint to make the lid resemble a stem, a bow made from raffia, and green or brown  pipe cleaners to add flare to the stem. 

This is a picture my daughter painted as a young girl and I purchased a picture frame on clearance for $1. 

Another fun activity with children is getting them involved in making treats for Halloween. You can air-pop popcorn, melt orange chocolate wafers, coat the popcorn and place in festive bags. This is a very inexpensive treat that goes a long way. 

These candy molds from Pat Catan's Craft store are a  simple way to involve the children in making some tasty treats to give out to their friends. I like these cupcake holders because they have cute picks to make them extra festive. 

A real simple way to make a nice treat, purchase pretzel sticks, melt chocolate wafers & peanut butter wafers, use a tablespoon to drizzle a layer of the melted peanut butter first and then drizzle a layer of the melted chocolate. Trust me, your children, grandchildren, or friends will love it. 

Hope you enjoyed these little tips. Make some memories and  have some fun, children don't stay little long.