Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

Kid’s Co-op: Acorns

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It’s Kid’s Co-op time! Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

Last week there were so many fun ideas linked up to the Co-op.  Outdoor fun, indoor fun, cooking fun, and lots, lots more. This week I’m focusing on acorns. I love acorns, but for some reason I can never find any in my area. We have plenty of oak trees, but there seems to be some sort of acorn fairy that gathers them all up before I can get to them. If anyone knows where I can find some, please let me know. Thank you, thank you!

Anyhow… if you do happen to have a plethora of acorns, here are some fun posts full of ideas. Have fun for me!

 

Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk shares seven fun ideas in their Acorn-palooza.

Now it’s time for you to share all the fun you’ve been having! Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts’ blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!

 

Creative Family Fun Nights: Spooky Stories

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Halloween is drawing near and it’s a great time to have a bit of spooky family time.

Don’t worry, this is not planned to give your kids nightmares, just to have a bit of Halloween fun with the family.

This night can be as simple or elaborate as you want. I chose simple. So grab a spooky story, a flashlight, and shadow puppets. It’s time to have some fun!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

I chose the story The Teeny-Tiny Woman. It’s a fun ghost story that’s not too scary. It’s a traditional folk tale, so there are many different versions of the story and you can probably find one at your local library.

I’ve also included a list of other spooky stories at the end of this post. You’ll want to pre-read the stories you choose, so you know whether or not they will be too scary for your kids.

After selecting the story, I drew some simple shadow puppets on black construction paper. I drew a teeny tiny woman, a ghost, a grave, and a bone.

Choose characters or items that are in your story. Since these will be shadow puppets, your drawings don’t have to have much detail.

Cut the puppets out and then tape crafts sticks to the back. It really is that simple.

If you want your puppets to last a bit longer, you can laminate the paper and hot glue the sticks to the back.

Once the puppets were made, it was time for the fun.

We turned down the lights and shined a flashlight on an empty wall.

The girls took turns using the puppets to act out the story while I read aloud. We used our best spooky voices and ended up giggling most of the time especially when our heads got in the way.

Spooky stories can be a lot of fun!

Grab a spooky story and have some fun!

Some other {not so} spooky books:
The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest
Ghosts!: Ghostly Tales from Folklore by Alvin Schwartz
Where’s My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi
In the Haunted House by Eve Bunting

What is your favorite spooky tale?

Halloween Word Search

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Lizzie has recently discovered word searches.

Maybe she’s seen me work so many of them, that she wanted to try them out herself. I don’t know, but once she tried them, she was hooked.

The only problem I’ve found is a lack of word searches suitable for the Kindergarten/1st grade crowd.

So, I did what I always do and created my own.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

This word search is simple and she had no problem working it.

The words are easy to recognize and are only located horizontal and vertical.

I created it based on a Halloween theme, since we’re so obsessed with Halloween lately.

Would you like a Halloween word search for your kids? You’re in luck! Just click on the link below and print out your own copy!

Do you like to play word games? If so, what are your favorites?

Please feel free to print and share as many as you would like. If you would like to share online, please link to my blog post and not the document. Thank you!

*Note: The word search is on Google Docs. If you have a problem downloading and printing, please let me know. If you would like me to email you the PDF, please let me know your email address (either via comments or email) and I will send it to you. Have fun!

Get Crafty: Candy Corn Wreath

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Candy corn is a favorite around our house.

We love how it looks and we love how it tastes, which is why Lizzie challenged me to come up with a candy corn craft she could do. (Yes, my 5-year-old does give me craft challenges!)

After a lot of thought and a bit of trial and error, I can up with this candy corn wreath made from paper plates.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Paper plate
Yellow paint
Orange paint
Ruler
Scissors
Tape

The first step is to paint. We painted on the bottom of our paper plate. We left the center white, painted a thick orange circle around it, and then painted the edges yellow. Your plate will look like a candy-corn-colored bulls-eye.

After the paint is dry, turn the plate over and make your cutting lines.

I drew lines across the plate, dividing it up as I would cut a pizza. You’ll want it divided into 8 wedges.

Once you have all your wedges cut out, your bulls-eye will become 8 pieces of candy corn.

Turn your candy corn pieces to the backside and arrange them in a circle, pointed sides out. Overlap the edges and use your tape to connect them together.

When you’re done taping, turn it over and you’ve got a fun candy corn wreath.

Voila, candy corn wreath challenged completed! I wonder what Lizzie will come up with next?

Kid’s Co-op: Fun Costumes

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It’s Kid’s Co-op time! Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

Last week there were so many fun ideas linked up to the Co-op.  Outdoor fun, indoor fun, cooking fun, and lots, lots more. This week I’d like to share some fun costume ideas I found on last week’s link-up.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Atkinson Drive shared a cute no-sew shark costume.

 

 
Lessons Learnt Journal shared this adorable Very Hungry Caterpillar costume.
 
 
And Pi’ikea Street shared this fun squid mask.
 
 
Now it’s time for you to share all the fun you’ve been having! Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts’ blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!