Easy Weekend Activities

We have had to slow it way down here the past couple of days; illness has struck our house, yet again.  Without further adieu, here are some crafts that take minimal effort to set up or do.  Yet, the boys (and I) have had a blast!


Glass Jack O Lanterns


Supplies Needed:
cleaned out jars
Glue
Orange tissue paper
Black Marker
LED light...or something similar


We started this project by mixing a little bit of water into the glue.  I did not measure, but it was very easy to spread with a paint brush, yet still held the tissue paper onto the jar.  We also cut up some strips of orange tissue paper ahead of time, just to make it easier.  I am sure if you really wanted to work on fine motor skills, you could have your kiddo rip it.  However, I know if I have my kiddos rip tissue paper, it would be too small to use.  :)

Paint the jars with glue, and press the paper on.  Simple!  It does get messy, but it all washes off very easy.  I had my guys place the opening of the jar facing down, this way we could simply cover the LED light, and not have to place it inside the jar.

Once the jars are covered, set down and let dry.  Because our house was so cold this week, it took a bit longer than I thought for the jars to dry.  But in all fairness, we used A LOT of glue.  

Once dry, I had the boys decorate their jars with a black marker.  Each of them put on eyes and a mouth.  Next time we do this, I am going to have them do a thicker outline and drawing; you cannot really see their beautiful work that well when lit.  Place your jars over the tea lights, and ta da!  You have an indoor glass jack o lantern that will not rot.  Or be eaten by bears.  

Pasta Necklaces

Supplies Needed:
Rotini pasta
Gel food color
Rubbing Alcohol or Hydrogen Peroxide
Baggies
String



We decided to kick back and take it REALLY easy today.  Carter had a nasty fever going, but still didn't want to lie down the entire time.  I had it on the lesson plan for yesterday to make pasta necklaces, but I never made it that far in terms of actually doing it.  So, with Pierces help this morning, we dyed our own pasta some REALLY bright colors, and had a blast making necklaces together.

Place about a handful of pasta inside the baggie.  Place 1 drop of gel food coloring with a splash of hydrogen peroxide (that is what we used this morning instead of rubbing alcohol.  It worked perfectly!).  This is the part that Pierce LOVED.  Seal the bag and SHAKE the color everywhere.  He had one bag in each hand and was going to town.  A lesson learned; dried pasta is fragile.  If you shake too hard, it can break.  Oops!

Now since I was impatient and wanted to use the pasta right away, I baked it for about 5 minutes in a 250 degree oven.  It was not necessary, but again, I was impatient.  Once dry (and in our case cool), I tied one end of the string around a piece of pasta, and taped the other end to give the boys a better threader.  Not necessary to do either of those steps, but frustrated kids was the last thing I needed today.

And here was the fun part; making the necklaces!

Look at how bright the colors are!

This was why I taped one end; I did not want it to fray and get stuck in the pasta.

For Pierce, making the necklaces was the easy part.  So he focused more on making patterns (completely his choice.  I did not even think of that).  Carter focused more on being able to string the pasta on his own.  That was his major accomplishment for the day, and honestly, that is great!


To top off the day of doing next to nothing, I surprised the boys with a special Halloween bath tonight.  I used the rest of the glow sticks from camping, filled the tub with bubbles, hid some skeletons at the bottom of the tub, and put some spiders on floating pool noodle pieces.  They thought it was the best bath ever!

It certainly was not easy to keep the kids satisfied with being home.  Or rather I should rephrase that.  It was not easy to keep Pierce happy with being inside for an entire morning with a sick little brother and an exhausted, congested, mommy.  But, we all survived.  Now hopefully one full day of rest was enough, and this weekend we can enjoy some Halloween activities!

Have a great weekend everyone!