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Do you love researching or designing complicated arts and crafts projects for your preschool to early grade school child(ren) that take longer to explain than to actually do the project?  Are you motivated by Pinterest worthy projects?  Do you have lots of extra free time and patience now that your entire family is home 24/7?

Great!  Then I am genuinely looking forward to drooling over your kids’ projects (pin away and send me your handle!), but alas, I won’t be joining you.  I love arts + crafts projects, and I look forward to the day when my kids and I will delve into more exciting and complex masterpieces, but today is not that day and this year is not that year. 

With my kids at ages three and six, I am looking for three things:

-          Simplicity

-          Short supply list

-          A boost to their hand/eye coordination

With Halloween just around the corner, I came up with a few ultra simple crafts to do at home to keep your spirits high (pun intended, you’re welcome).  I’ll be creating multiple sets of these projects, so they can do them on their own whenever they like.

Read on for inspiration on this back to basics approach.

Supplies you’ll need:

-          Orange, black, white wood beads (or plastic, but, you know, the environment)

-          Orange yarn

-          White cardstock

-          Glue (stick or liquid)

-          Hole punch (single hole is easiest)

-          Scissors

-          Printer or pen/marker

Halloween Wood Bead Necklaces

If you’re anything like me, you have roughly 50 homemade necklaces sitting in your dresser drawer right now.  Each one proudly gifted by your little with their sparkling eyes locked on yours until you place it around your neck and proclaim, “I’ll wear it forever!” 

Real talk- I legit love these necklaces and will rock them in public proudly, so I am pumped to soon have a Halloween necklace that screams “I HAVE CHILDREN!”

Supplies you’ll need:

-          Orange, white, black wood beads

-          Orange yarn

-          Scissors

If you want to bother with a clasp, that’s your prerogative, but I suggest going old school by tying off a bead at one end then letting your little monsters string up to their heart content.  Make sure it’s long enough to go over their neck and then tie the end off.

Beading is a great activity for littles as it develops their hand eye coordination, and allows older kids to work on patterns and hone their design aesthetic.

Minimalist with just a few beads?

Classic black and white with just a pop of orange?

The possibilities are endless, and when your child forgets about their work of art?  Just clip that string and deposit the beads back in your art supply storage for round 2 or more.

Pumpkin Yarn Drawing

Maybe accessories aren’t your thing and you and your kids prefer a 2-D modality.  No problem. 

Supplies you’ll need:

-          white cardstock

-          orange yarn

-          glue

-          printer or pen/marker

Download and print this Free Pumpkin Clip Art or go freehand with a pen or marker. This is as simple as it gets, and my kids have already taken a shot at it.  They went all extra on it with MARKERS and STICKERS, but just the yarn and glue goes a long way.  This is another great hand/eye coordination activity, and it’s fun to witness the different way kids choose to play it.

Some “techniques” to try:

-          cutting long or short strings and outlining the pumpkin

-          cutting shorter pieces to make Jack-O-Lantern faces

-          cutting medium lengths and making “swirls”

-          all of the above!

Ghost Stitching Card

Next up is a reusable craft, so you can get some mileage out of this one rolling into Halloween.  Download and print this Free Ghost Clip Art or take a shot and draw your own.

Supplies you’ll need:

-          white cardstock

-          orange yarn

-          hole punch

-          scissors

-          optional (large plastic needle)

I love a good stitching card.  They’re simple to make, reusable and offer little learners a fun project without any mess to clean up.  If you happen to have a large plastic needle hanging around, feel free to put that in the mix, but the holes are large enough and the yarn thin enough that you don’t really need it.  Encourage your bundle of joy to use different stich techniques to mix things up.

I would love to hear what you’re doing with your kids/yourself/SO/friends/family to make this Halloween season special. Drop a comment below!

With love,

Steph