It is amaz­ing how quick­ly depart­ment stores move all of the Hal­loween items out and bring out Christ­mas lights, wrap­ping paper, reli­gious items, dif­fer­ent sized San­ta Claus­es and orna­ments. Oh, and who can for­get about the start of Christ­mas music at the begin­ning of Novem­ber? I love Christ­mas, but for the longest time, I’ve been con­fused about why depart­ment stores do not ded­i­cate space for Thanks­giv­ing. Thanks­giv­ing is a hol­i­day that sym­bol­izes the impor­tance of gath­er­ing with oth­ers to give thanks. Before we begin to hang a tree or wrap presents, it is impor­tant to give thanks to our friends and fam­i­ly mem­bers. Spend­ing time togeth­er is a great way to give thanks to each oth­er.

Why not include a few crafts and a sci­ence exper­i­ment as part of your cel­e­bra­tion? Read on! You’ll find a few tips on how you can involve the entire fam­i­ly in each craft project.

Craft 1: Giv­ing Light to Leaves

The chang­ing of leaves is the sign that autumn has arrived. For this craft, you will first need a lunch bag. Go out­side and spend time walk­ing around look­ing at all of the fall­en leaves. Ask ques­tions like, “what do they feel like?”, “what col­ors do you see?”, or “are they smooth or rough?” Grab a few larg­er-sized leaves and put them in your lunch bag. Head on indoors. Gath­er the fol­low­ing:

Sup­plies

• The leaves you brought in
• Glue ($2.28 for two, priced online)
• Tis­sue Paper (Could be no cost if you have some left over from wrap­ping presents, $10.43, priced online)
• Waxed Paper (Could be no cost if you have it in your kitchen, $2.94, priced online)
• Crayons (Could be no cost if you have them at home, $5.04 for a pack of 12, priced online)
• Scis­sors (Could be no cost if you have them at home, $4.50 per one, priced online)
• Twine ($3.50 for one roll of twine, priced online)

Total esti­mat­ed cost: $28.69 if you need to buy every­thing new

Steps

1. On a sheet of paper, tape down a leaf and work with your child to trace the leaf’s out­er shape. Remem­ber, the shape does not need to be per­fect. Just like snowflakes, all leaves do not look the same.
2. Help your child cut the leaf pat­tern out.
3. Work with your child to tear dif­fer­ent col­ors of tis­sue paper and put them in a pile.
4. Glue the leaf pat­tern on wax paper and help your child cut around the leaf to make a leaf shape.
5. Put glue in the mid­dle of the leaf.
6. Work with your child to glue the tis­sue paper pieces to the mid­dle of the leaf.
7. Let it dry.
8. Glue twine on the back of the leaf and find a win­dow to hang it from
9. Wait for the sun­light and be amazed.

Con­nec­tions

1. Con­nect the leaf project by first read­ing the book, Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
2. Show them a book with the types of trees to help them learn how to iden­ti­fy the type of leaves they find out­side. I sug­gest Trees, Leaves, & Bark by Diane Burns.
3. Dis­cuss: “when I look at my leaf this is what I see, what do you see?”
4. Talk with your child about the col­ors that the sun­light is shin­ing through.
5. Talk with the child about the shape of the leaf.

Craft 2: The Tube Pump­kin

Jack-O-Lanterns are a sym­bol for Hal­loween, how­ev­er, pump­kins are also a sta­ple at a Thanks­giv­ing table. From pump­kin pie to pump­kin bars, pump­kins are an impor­tant ingre­di­ent for Thanks­giv­ing din­ner. Pump­kin-themed crafts are also a fun way to cel­e­brate the Thanks­giv­ing hol­i­day. This craft is called The Tube Pump­kin because all you need is a paper tow­el tube to make the pump­kin shape.

Sup­plies

1. Paper tow­el tube
2. Orange and green paint (Could be no cost if you have them at home, cost, $2.32 for one, priced online)
3. Plain white paper
4. Paint Brush (Could be no cost if you have them at home, cost, $7.96 for a pk of 10, priced online
5. Tape

Total esti­mat­ed cost: $10.28 if you need to buy every­thing new

Steps

1. Help your child make a pump­kin shape using a paper tow­el tube. I found it best to bend one of the ends of the tube inward.
2. This will act as a stamp.
3. Pour some orange paint on a plate.
4. Take the paper tow­el tube and dip it in orange paint.
5. Place the paper tow­el tube on the paper to make your pump­kin shape.
6. Help your child paint the pump­kin using a paint brush.

• It is impor­tant to note that if your child decides to use a dif­fer­ent col­ored paint besides orange that is just fine. Allow­ing for cre­ativ­i­ty is impor­tant.

Con­nec­tions

1. Read the book, The Run­away Pump­kin by Kevin Lewis before you do the craft.
2. Ask them what oth­er things are also orange (or what­ev­er col­or they used to cre­ate their pump­kin).
3. If you have a pump­kin at home and it is cut open, have them smell it and describe what they smell.
4. Con­sid­er roast­ing and eat­ing the pump­kin seeds. Talk about how seeds grow into plants.

Apple Vol­ca­noes,
a Fall Sci­ence Exper­i­ment

Apples are also impor­tant to a Thanks­giv­ing menu. From apple pie to apple crisp, apples are a crunchy delight. This fall sci­ence exper­i­ment uses apples, not for bak­ing, but for sci­ence.

Sup­plies

1. Apples, any kind will do (Could be no cost if you have them at home, cost for 1 apple is $.076, price from Wal-Mart).
2. Bak­ing soda (Could be no cost if you have it in your kitchen, cost for 1 store brand box, $0.98, price from Wal-Mart).
3. Dish soap (Could be no cost if you have it at home, cost for small store brand dish soap, $3.75, price from Wal-Mart).
4. Food col­or­ing (Could be no cost if you it in your kitchen, cost for 1 box of Wilton food col­or­ing, $3.19, price from Wal-Mart)
5. Knife

Total esti­mat­ed cost: $8.68 or free if you have the items on hand

Steps

1. Use a knife to cut a small hole in the top of the apple about half way down.
2. Place the apple on a cook­ie sheet with a rim or in a cake pan.
3. Have the kid­dos put a cou­ple spoon­fuls of bak­ing soda in the hole.
4. Add a drop of dish soap to the bak­ing soda for a foami­er reac­tion.
5. Add a drop of food col­or­ing.
6. Pour vine­gar into the hole of the apple and wait to be amazed!
7. Search on YouTube for apple pie vol­cano to view the exper­i­ment.

Con­nec­tions

1. Pair this activ­i­ty with the sto­ry, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. Read the sto­ry before the exper­i­ment.
2. Ask your child what col­or apple they enjoy the most.
3. Ask, “are apples chewy or crunchy?”
4. Ask, “do apples grow in the ground or on a tree?”
5. Ask, “why do you think the apple began to fizz?”

Cel­e­brate fall! Give thanks! Have fun!