Tag Archives: snacks

I like to do crafts with my preschoolers, but sometimes I shy away.  There have been instances I pick projects that are too complex.  I end up making the craft while they sit and watch, yawn, and say, “Mom, can I go play?”  We have done a few things this fall that have been worthy of our time.  We have created some memories and fun traditions along the way.

Two of my mom friends and I all have kids around the same age.  Our oldest children are now in kindergarten or first grade at three different schools.  My daughter is in private school and her schedule is different from the public schools.  So we decided to do a Veteran’s Day party playdate since everyone was off school.  It was the perfect time to do so before the crunch of the holiday schedules.

We did the perfect craft…caramel apples!

We used honey crisp because they are tart and a good raw "hand fruit" apple, but you can use whatever kind you want.

 We started by sticking popsicle sticks in each apple.

After you dip the apple in the caramel, add M&M's, nuts, sprinkles--whatever you have in your baking cupboard

There are a couple different recipes I have found to make the caramel.  We unwrapped about 4o caramel squares, added a tablespoon of milk and put it all in a microwave safe dish.  After cooking in the microwave for a few minutes, I stirred it like crazy.  We quickly had to dip all the apples before the caramel hardened.  You can also use water and do it over the stove as well.

Of course my kid’s favorite thing about the whole activity was eating the extra toppings and leftover caramel.  We pulled the pretzels out of the snack cupboard and dipped them in the caramel.

Another Thanksgiving activity which can easily become a tradition is making a hand turkey table cloth.   I was excited to find this one on How Does She.

I used an old white queen sized bed sheet I have had for years.  I pulled out the fall colored acrylic paint I had in my craft cupboard.

I helped my children paint their own hands with a regular paintbrush.  The older two did not need as much help as a the two-year old.I set up the “Painting station” on a big piece of cardboard.  I actually had to make the brown paint because I was all out of brown.  I mixed red, blue, yellow, and green until it got to a nice fall looking brown color.

Then each child stamped their own hand turkey on the sheet.  I touched it up a little bit in places the paint did not reach.  Then they wrote their names.

I also wrote the year under each turkey because I think this will become a long-standing tradition.  Then they had to share what they were thankful.  My oldest wrote it out herself with a dark permanent marker.  I wrote out what the younger two shared.

Then I had my preschooler make Thanksgiving placemats.  A few weeks ago when the leaves were a bright vibrant red color, we gathered a whole bunch in a plastic bag.  We were actually in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  I pressed the leaves in books in the garage for about a week.

 Then my son glued them onto construction paper using a glue stick.

Then I used clear contact paper you can usually find in the kitchen section of department stores.  I put the contact paper over his leaf creations.

There you go!  Fall placemats for the Thanksgiving meal!

Posted by artoornstra in Arts, crafts, and games Tags: boys, creating memories, family time, friendship, kid's activities, kids arts and crafts, snacks