Recycled Bat and Pumpkin

Halloween is my favorite time of year! I have craft ideas I've been saving up all year long until October rolls around and we can finally pull them out. So far this week, we've made a little recycled vampire bat and a festive pumpkin that will make a great centerpiece for Thanksgiving as well.


For the pumpkin, you can use any size brown paper bag. We used craft paper that was used to pack some items that arrived in the mail. I balled up some of the craft paper and wrapped a square piece around it which I tied tightly at the top with a piece of yarn. I let my daughter paint the pumpkin and once it was dry, we used a brown chenille stem for the vines and some green construction paper for pumpkin leaves. I just pushed the tip of the chenille stems through the base of the leaves before curling the ends with a pencil.


The bat is made from a toilet paper tube. Fold the top of the tube in half to create a crease on each side, then fold the two top sides down into each other to make ear shapes. Paint the entire bat black. Once dry, you can glue on googly eyes or paper eyes or you can paint them on. We used red glitter and glue to make sparkly, spooky eyes. Little scraps of white paper glue on for the teeth. The wings are just hands traced on construction paper and cut out. You could also make some super cute owls the same way using brown construction paper and leaving the toilet paper tube unpainted.

Unintentional Art

I meet with a homeschooling group once a week in our area where kids from age 2 to around age 10 get together and do crafts, field trips and science experiments. This week, I had planned for us to make these cute hand print turkeys for Thanksgiving. We did end up with just one little turkey.

But of course the kids had other ideas. Why settle for turkeys? Why settle for just painting your hands? Instead, we ended up with a much more creative and fun child-led project! Afterward, the kids got to play in the water of the hose and the outdoor shower to clean off while the moms discussed how important it is not to fence kids in too tightly when doing art projects. After all, which are the kids going to enjoy and remember more, the day they made a project according to instruction or a day when they got to paint their bodies and play in the water?

Childhood: 1 Mindless Instruction: 0

Easy Printable "Give Thanks" Banner

Older kids can print out this beautiful Thanksgiving Day banner from At Second Street, cut it out and assemble it for Thanksgiving. If you use cardstock, the banner can be used again year after year. This is a great craft for older kids who may want to make something a bit more sophisticated than feather headbands and paper turkey napkin rings.