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Celebrate Fall

Outdoor Party Ideas for Kids
By Maureen Burns

This time of year, trips to the apple orchard or the pumpkin patch are at a premium as kids and parents scramble to squeeze in some fun before the winter weather. Penny Warner, author of Kids’ Outdoor Parties (Meadowbrook Press, 1999), suggests a way to “open the doors to the great outdoors” by throwing a hayride party for kids.

Warner suggests these activities for your autumn frolic:

Hay Ride
Use the phone book to locate someone who hosts hayrides. Nearly every community has a rural area with a farm that offers this fun activity.

Harmonica Hayfest
Provide harmonicas to all the guests so they can play some tunes on the hayride. Teach the kids how to play a few simple tunes, such as “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” “On Top of Old Smokey (or Spaghetti)” or “Over the River and Through the Woods.”

Hayride Songfest
When the kids get tired of the harmonicas, let them sing songs as they ride around the farm or ranch. Bring along an inexpensive songbook for ideas and lyrics. You can also make photocopies of the words if you prefer the kids to sing on their own. Great songs for hayrides include “Old MacDonald,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Make New Friends.”

Hay Painting
Cover a picnic table with newspapers. Give each guest several sheets of white paper. Set out poster paints and sprinkle the table with hay. Have the kids paint their pictures on the paper using the hay as brushes.

Scarecrow
Gather some old clothes, accessories (such as eyeglasses, hats, gloves, scarves and jewelry) and lots of hay. Divide the group into teams and have each team create their own scarecrow. Consider using pumpkins for the heads.

Refresh your rosy-cheeked guests with this fabulous fare:

  • Have a picnic on your hayride with easy-to-eat sandwiches, chips and canned drinks.
  • Make Chocolate Haystacks for dessert. Melt chocolate chips in a small pot, pour in shredded wheat cereal and cover with chocolate. Heap spoonfuls of the concoction onto waxed paper. Serve when cool.
  • Give the kids trail mix for the hayride trail.

    “The great outdoors is the perfect place for hosting a children’s party, no matter what the season,” says Warner. “There’s plenty of open space, lots of natural decorations and the options for fun are limitless!”

    Autumn Crafts for the Nature-Lover
    By Donna Beadle

    With trees shedding their summer attire, fall is a wonderful time for kids to learn about nature by creating autumn arts and crafts. Fallen leaves, twigs, pinecones and other products of nature can offer hours of craft enjoyment while teaching children the wonder of the outdoors.

    “While enjoying the autumn colors on a fall walk, parents and children can collect leaves and twigs for easy craft projects,” says Trish Kuffner, author of The Arts and Crafts Busy Book: 365 Art and Craft Activities to Keep Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy (Meadowbrook Press, 2003).

    Here are two fall crafts that you and your child can create from Kuffner’s “Nature Arts and Crafts” chapter:

    Leaf Art

    Materials Needed:
    Glue and liquid tempera paint or food coloring
    Thinned colored glue
    Paintbrush
    Two equal-sized sheets of waxed paper
    Colorful leaves
    Flowers, pine needles and other natural objects
    Glitter
    Hole punch and string

    Mix glue with paint or food coloring, or use colored glue thinned with a little water. Paint the glue onto one sheet of wax paper. The paper should be well coated with glue. Have your child stick colorful leaves onto the paper. If you like, add other natural objects. Sprinkle glitter over the leaves. Paint glue onto the other sheet of wax paper, and then place it on the top of the first sheet. Press the sheets together, punch a hole near the top, then hang the picture with a string in a window.

    Twig Frame

    Materials Needed:
    Scissors
    Construction paper or gift-wrap
    Dry twigs
    Ribbon
    Cardboard
    Photo
    White glue

    Help your child cut cardboard and construction paper or gift-wrap rectangles about 2 inches longer and 2 inches wider than the photo. Glue the paper onto the cardboard. Break the twigs so you have two a little longer than the length of the cardboard and two a little longer than the width. Have your child glue the twigs on the edges of the cardboard so they cross at the corners. Glue the photo onto the center of the frame. When the glue is dry, tie a ribbon end to each end of the top horizontal twig and hang the frame to display. “As the weather begins to cool off this fall, your children will enjoy completing an indoor activity together,” says Kuffner.


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