Typically I do general fall decor and it stays up from September to Thanksgiving. But the boys are starting to go crazy over Halloween stuff, so I decided to give it a go this year. Since they love it so much, I’m using their crafts as decor.
Playdate activity + instant decor for mom + kid pride after their work displayed = Halloween happiness.
Crafts: Monster and spider kits from Michael’s.
Age range: 3 to 5 years. It would probably work for older kiddos as well, but that’s just the ages of our kids who did the field test.
Little Monsters craft was a big hit. All I did was separate the stickers and the boys did the rest. The majority were self-adhesive stickers so that was key. It kept them busy for an hour. Beautiful.
The spiders were a little more complicated for them. We tried with glue, but it took a long time to dry so I ended up just finishing them with hot glue. They did love playing with them afterward, and my oldest slept with his that night (insert “crying-eyes-laughing emoji” here).
My best tip: Set up the craft beforehand. I’m sure my elementary school teacher friends are chuckling right now, “Of course you set up the craft in advance!” Yeah, that’s why I taught high school.
I assumed the boys would want to play first and I would be casually setting up the craft while chatting with my friend Rachel. And when there was a lull, I would say, “Hey, let’s work on a craft, guys.” Pretty good plan, right?
Ha! Of course they were crazy excited and wanted to work on the craft right.that.second and there was grabbing mayhem, fighting and running with supplies, a couple tantrums and other various fun behavior resulting from impatience. You know what I am talking about…And then I started to sweat because none of that was working with my Type-A personality.
At one point all the boys (including the 20 month old) revolted against the craft set-up and ended up out front. During their retrieval, the baby took advantage of that time to dump her banana puree everywhere (In my delirious state, I also thought I was going to be able to feed her breakfast before craft), which delayed craft set-up even more. Then when the boys finally settled down and I could focus on the set-up, the baby was having slap-happy fun in the toilet.
So, yeah, set it up the night before. Other than that, it was a bit hit once we got going!
I took the opportunity to throw in that this is NOT Frankenstein, but Frankenstein’s monster. It’s never too early to prepare for high school English!
The littles…well, they just wanted to do some baking. Little stinkers.
I asked them to give me their best monster pose.
Next post: How I used these cute little monsters and spiders on my mantle.
p.s. I know I need to post the nursery reveal. I will do that soon!
You paint quite the picture of our playdate drama. Lol. The Littles are too much. A is so intense in the one pic. Hot glue! Good idea. Great memories. Love you!