Fun Fabulous Friday

 

Entertaining your kids can become expensive, especially during the long summer months when they are out of school. However, no matter what age of children that you have there are some cheap and easy ways to keep them entertained.

Summer Reading Programs

Our library as well as many others across the nation offers a summer reading program. The program encourages children to visit their library, read, and earn points. Every time they earn ten points they receive a prize. At the end of the summer they receive a new book. This is a great way to keep your children reading all summer long.

Parksimages

Take your kids to the park! Even when it is hot outside you can take the kids to the park and let them have a water balloon fight or water gun fight. This is a fun way to entertain them that is relatively free and can last all afternoon.

We have several parks around here that have creeks running through them. Let the kids play in the creek. As a mom of two boys, creeks are my best friend. I can watch from above and they enjoy finding all the critters that live there.

Public Pools

The public pool is not my favorite place in the world, but it is a place that every child enjoys no matter what age. We are pretty lucky to have two great public pools within a few minutes of our house. We bring our own drinks and snacks and the cost of admission is just a few dollars. If you are going to be visiting the pool often consider buying a pass as it can save you some money.

Neighborhood Activities

If there are several children in your neighborhood organize activities with the other adults and children. Plan a water balloon fight, have a picnic in someone’s backyard, or simply let the kids get out and play with each other.

These are just a few activities to get the summer started. Have a fun and fabulous Friday!

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Make It Monday – Fun Kids Crafts for Summer

The summer is officially here and most schools have let out. As a parent, one of the most difficult things is to try to keep the kids entertained on a day to day basis. Here are some ideas for some cheap and fun crafts to do with your kids this summer.

Fairy Pots

This is a great garden decoration that the whole family can get in on.

Supplies:

  • Clay Pot
  • Potting Soil
  • Flower/Succulent Plant
  • Dollhouse Miniatures
  • Super Glue or other Strong Adhesive
  1. Smash the clay pot so that one side breaks off. You can use a hammer or simply smash it against a stone step or other hard surface.
  2. Fill the pot with a few inches of potting soil. Take the broken pieces and arrange them in the soil however you like. I made mine into stairs.
  3. Add your plant to a side of the pot and continue to fill the pot with soil.
  4. Decorate the pot with doll house miniatures. These can be purchased at Hobby Lobby and other craft stores. You can use whatever type of theme that you like. You may also want to sprinkle some glitter on the decorations for a little sparkle.

Bottle Banks

Teaching kids to save money is something every parent wants to do. Here is a cute idea for creating a fun bank that they will want to put their money in.

Supplies:

  • Quick dry tacky glue
  • 1 liter bottle any color
  • Decorations such as pom poms, felt, googly eyes, glitter, etc.
  • Craft knife

Do It Yourself Bottle BanksUse a craft knife to cut a quarter inch slot on the side of the bottle. This will be where the money is put in. Next, allow your children to decorate the bottle however they wish. Wooden balls make great heads if the child wishes to make an animal bank. You can paint the ball the desired color and use felt for the rest of the body. Just let the kids be creative and make the bank their very own.

Do you have any crafts planned for your kids this summer? If so, which ones? Let us know in the comments below!

 

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Make it Monday: Fun Fall Crafts for Kids

Here are a few fun fall crafts to make with your kids during the cooler days of fall.

Apple Print Paintings

If you kids are anything like mine they love to paint. This craft is quite simple as all you will need is some paint (tempera works best), some apples, and some paper.
Instead of using paint brushes to paint with, let your children use apples as their brushes. Place different colors of paint on paper plates or some type of flat container that a sliced apple will fit in to. Slice the apples in quarters, halves, and different shapes if you want to be really creative. I have used an apple slicer that cuts the core out of the middle of the apple and this becomes a great roller for painting. The great thing about this project is that it is simple and allows your kids to explore a different way to make art.

Contact Paper Fall Collages

This is a fun activity that will leave you with beautiful works of art to hang in your windows. For this project you will need:
• Nature items such as leaves, small twigs, grass, acorns, etc.
• Contact paper
• Tape
• Scissors

Tape a piece of contact paper with the sticky side up to the table. Let your kids stick whatever nature items that they want on to the paper. When your kids are finished, simply put a second piece of contact paper over the top. You can make these collages as big or as small as you want them. You can even cut the paper into different shapes. I like to punch a hole in the top of the collage and tie a string to it and then hang them in the windows. You can simply tape them to your windows as well. The sun shining through looks fabulous.

Nutty Boats

I have two boys who love water. This activity is perfect for them as it involves making boats out of walnut shells. For this project you will need:
• Small twigs
• Clay
• Walnut shells
• Leaves
• Thread
The trickiest part about this project is that you need an intact half of a walnut shell to create the boat. To open up the walnut without breaking the shell insert a flat head screwdriver into the end at the seam and follow the seam around slowly prying the shell apart.
For the mast and sail take a needle and thread and tie a leaf to the small twig. Place a small piece of clay inside the walnut shell and place the twig inside it. Get out a bowl of water and let your kids race their new boats.

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Fun Family Activities for Fall

Fall is just around the corner and with it comes cooler weather and gorgeous scenery. This is the perfect time to take your family outdoors to enjoy the wonderful season that is fall. Here are a few fun family activities that you may enjoy.

Leaf Rubbings

Go outside and gather some leaves and bring them inside to make rubbings. All you need is some paper and crayons and you can create unique collages from the wonderful patterns of the leaves. You can also glue the leaves to heavy paper or cardboard and make a beautiful fall collage.

Hiking

This is the perfect time to visit a state or national park in your area. Take a picnic and go for a walk on one of the trails. Enjoy the wonderful colors of the trees and the beautiful weather. You can take a book about different types of trees and try to point out the different types of trees throughout the area. Take a basket along and let your child gather rocks, leaves, twigs, and other pieces of nature. You can use these items to make a wonderful collage or other work of art.

Fall Festivals

Fall is the time of harvest and this typically is a wonderful time of year to go to the fall festivals that are taking place throughout the area. Festivals are a fun way to see another part of your state. There are many activities at these festivals that are usually reasonably priced. Many offer free music and great food.

Waxed Leaves

One of the best ways to keep the colorful leaves of fall around for a long time is to dip them in wax. This project can be done with older children. For this project you will need:

• About ¼ pound of paraffin wax
• 2 clean cans, one needs to be smaller than the other. We used a 28 ounce can and a 13 and ½ ounce can.
• Newspaper
• Wax paper
• Leaves

Directions:

Place a piece of the wax in the smaller can and place the can inside the larger can. Add warm water to both of the cans, filling to about a half an inch below the smaller can. The wax will float to the top when it melts. Simmer the water on medium heat until the wax fully melts. Do not let the water come to a full boil. Remove the cans from the stove and place them on a piece of newspaper. Hold the leaves by the stem and dip them into the wax. Lay them on the wax paper to harden. These leaves can then be used to decorate a table for fall or to create a wonderful centerpiece or other art project.

Fall is a wonderful time to simply get outside and enjoy the weather and the beautiful colors. It will not be long and winter will be upon us and enjoying the outdoors will be limited to short amounts of time.

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Summer Craft Ideas

Keep the Kids Occupied this Summer with these Fun Summer Craft Ideas!

When summer rolls around, it doesn’t take long before the kids run out of things to do. This is especially true when the temperatures hit the triple digits, as even the swimming pool can take a backseat to an air conditioned house. For those of you looking for some fun crafts that the kids will enjoy (and you will, too!), here are a couple of crafts that I’ve done with my boys this summer that we’ve all really enjoyed.

Sun-baked T-Shirts

Sun-baked Designs T-shirt

Materials:
• White t-shirt (you can buy a pack of hanes t-shirts for just a few dollars)
• Cardboard
• Flour
• Measuring cup
• Spray bottle
• Squeeze bottle
• Fabric spray paint

Instructions:

  1. Place the cardboard inside of the t-shirt. This helps keep the paint from bleeding through to the other side. Mix one cup of flour with water until it has the consistency of mustard. Pour the flour mixture into the squeeze bottle.
  2. Have your kids draw a pattern on to the t-shirt using the flour mixture. You can use stencils if you have little ones that have yet to develop those fine motor skills necessary for the design that they would like.
  3. Place the shirt outside and allow it to “sun-bake” or otherwise dry in the sun for at least a couple of hours. The flour should become hard.
  4. Once dry, spray the shirt with the fabric paint and allow it to dry. Once the shirt is dry, have your child peel off the flour to reveal their design. Read the directions from the paint manufacturer and wash the t-shirt accordingly.

This was a fun activity and a fabulous alternative to tie-dye! It’s also a whole lot less messy!

 

Splatter Painting

This is a fun outdoor activity that your kids will love.

You will need the following:

  • tape or pins
  • a large roll of paper
  • paint
  • containers
  • two drop cloths
  • rubber spiked balls

You may also want to supply gloves, markers and other craft supplies such as pipe cleaners and googly eyes.

Instructions:

This craft is really quite simple, but is not for the faint of heart as it is quite messy.

  1. First, take a drop cloth and hang it over the area you plan to place your paper on. This could be the back of your garage, house or fence.
  2. Tape or pin the paper to the first drop cloth.
  3. Place the other drop cloth below the paper, unless you don’t mind your grass being painted.
  4. Place the paint in the containers and put one of the balls in each container. Allow your kids to throw the balls at the paper, creating splats.
  5. Once the kids are done throwing the balls, allow the painting to dry. Once dry, your kids can decorate the painting with markers or other craft supplies. My boys chose to keep the painting just as it was.
  6. If you do not have a place to hang a piece of paper, you can simply lay it on the ground and put something heavy on the corners to hold it down. Let the kids drop the balls onto the paper. Instead of paper you may also use a sheet or old blanket. If you don’t mind washing off the kids, try laying the paper in the grass and letting them paint with their feet instead of their hands.
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

How to Save on Your Little One’s Birthday Party

Host an Awesome Birthday Party on a Dime-store Budget

Like any good mother, you probably want to treat your child to a fun-filled and exciting birthday party. Unfortunately, birthday parties can be very expensive, especially if you go all out and pay for the party to be held at a children’s party venue like Chuck E. Cheese’s. The good news is that there are ways to save money on your child’s birthday party without having to sacrifice any of the fun. Here are five ideas to help you save some cash and still throw an amazing, memorable party for your little one’s birthday this year:

1. Get your house ready.

As previously mentioned, you can save money by not throwing your child’s party at a party venue. So, throw the party at your house. Spend some time cleaning, and be sure to set up some activities and games for the kids to play in the backyard. They can have just as much fun, if not more fun, at your house than they could anywhere else, as long as you keep them occupied.

2. Find deals online.

Party favors, supplies, and decorations aren’t necessarily cheap, especially if you buy them from a party store, or if your child wants a themed party. Fortunately, you can find a lot of good deals on party supplies online. Just make sure you order them a few weeks before the party to make sure that they arrive on time. Sometimes saving money on the Internet means you have to wait a little longer to get what you purchased.

3. Bake the cake and make the food yourself.

Party food trays and birthday cakes bought from bakeries are unnecessarily expensive, especially when you consider that you can prepare, cook, and bake all the party food yourself. So, look up the recipe to your child’s favorite cake, and cut up some turkey and cheese sandwiches for the kids to snack on at the party. Birthday party food doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive. It just has to tide the kids over so they can focus on having fun!


4. Ditch the favors.

It’s unlikely that children will start crying at the end of the party because you didn’t give them any party favors. Party favors aren’t mandatory, and they’re an unnecessary expense. If you want the kids to be able to take something home with them from the party, consider letting them spend some time crafting as a part of the party. They can draw, paint, or make friendship bracelets, for instance, and then take what they make home with them.

5. Set a budget for the party, and stick to it.

All the tips above will save you some money on the overall birthday party expenses, but it’s probably a good idea for you to try to stick to some kind of budget as well. If you’re a thrifty mom, you already know that budgets are the key to financial success. So, setting a budget for your child’s party will help you evaluate all your expenses and guide your purchasing decisions.

 

[box_light]This is a guest post written by Lisa. Lisa is a mom and guest blogger who writes about child behavior, early childhood education, and even fun things like Super Mario party supplies.[/box_light]

 

Image courtesy of Joe Mud.

 

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This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Fun Easter Activities for Kids

Need Something Fun to Keep Kids Occupied as Easter Nears?

When it comes to Easter, there are plenty of fun and cheap ideas that you can do with your kids besides the simple tradition of coloring eggs. Here are a few cheap, easy and fun crafts that you can create with your children for Easter.

1. Easter Egg Cards Painted with Shaving Cream

Supplies: Construction paper, toothpicks, paintbrush, a tray and shaving cream, acrylic or washable paints

Cut egg shapes out of the construction paper and set aside. Next, on a tray or your table, spray a large amount of shaving cream. You can then squirt as many colors of paint onto the shaving cream as you would like. You will then want to swirl the paint to create a marble effect. You can use the toothpicks, your fingers, a spoon, or whatever else you have on hand. Finally, press the egg shaped paper into the shaving cream and then lift. Scrape off the excess paint (a squeegee works well for this) and let dry. You will have a beautifully decorated paper egg that you can decorate your windows with or send out as cards.

2. Easter Shaped Sun Catchers

Supplies: Contact paper, tissue paper, yarn, glue

These wonderful sun catchers are easy to make. Take some contact paper and cut it into different Easter shapes. Eggs are the easiest, but if you are more creative perhaps bunnies, chicks, or baskets. Next peel the cover from the contact paper and cover with different colors of tissue paper. You can use construction paper around the edge to create a border. Once finished place an additional piece of contact paper on top and then punch a hole in the top and tie with string. You can hang these in the window and watch the sun shine through!


3. Paper Easter Egg Candy Holders 

Supplies: Patterned paper (or eggs from the shaving cream project above), markers or crayons, glitter, stapler, scissors, and candy.

This project is easy and fun and offers an alternative to purchasing plastic Easter eggs to hide. First, cut out the patterned paper or any paper that your kids have decorated into matching egg shapes. One of the eggs will be used for the front and one is used for the back. Place the blank sides back to back and staple the edges. Make sure to leave an opening and fill with candy. Then staple closed.

These are just a few crafts that you can create with the kids for a fairly low cost. Of course, the standard coloring Easter eggs and a fun egg hunt are also the perfect fun Easter activities for kids as well.

Have a fun craft idea that you’d like to share? Leave us a comment!

 

Image courtesy of flowersnthings.

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Love Board Games? Check Out the “Say Anything” Review and Flash Giveaway!

I recently had the chance to review a brand new party game called Say Anything, and let me tell you, this is one AWESOME board game!

Let me go over the details…

In terms of being a space saver, I have to give this game a good rating. The box is fairly light, small and easy to store. It’s also got a fun design and just enough information on the front to be a great conversation starter. I left it out on my end table and when my dad came by, he instantly noticed it and asked about it, mentioning that it looked like a lot of fun.

Yes, Say Anything is now scheduled to be played at Dad’s house this Christmas, so we’ll be getting a lot of use out of this game!

Anyway, back to the review…

Say Anything - What's Included

Say Anything - What's Included

Say Anything includes a deck of cards (each card has five questions), a selector wheel, a dry erase scoreboard, eight dry erase answer boards, eight dry erase markers, 16 selection chips and an instruction booklet. This game is recommended for ages 13+ (which I think is mainly due to the answers that some of the older players might give) and you can play with as little as three to as many as eight players.

Say Anything - Playing the Game

Say Anything - Playing the Game

The rules are pretty simple. One person picks a card (the instructions say that the shortest person starts, which we all got a kick out of because all of us girls had to stand back to back to figure out who was shorter) and chooses a question from the card to ask the other players. The other players must write down an answer on their dry erase board. Once everyone has written down an answer, the person asking the question has to pick one – but they can’t tell anyone who they picked yet! Instead, they dial the selector wheel to the color of the person’s card that they want to pick. Once they have selected their answer, everyone gets to vote using their selection chips. Once everyone’s chips are on the table, the person who asked the question can reveal their answer.


Scoring points is easy, too, and is as follows:

  • 1 point for having the correct answer
  • 1 point for each chip on your answer card (max of three points)
  • 1 point for having your chip on the correct answer (since you have two chips, you can actually get two points for this)
  • The person asking the question gets points for every chip present on the answer that they chose, up to three points.

Regardless of all of the above, the maximum points that any one player can receive in any given round is 3. At least I think that’s right – that’s how we played it!

Everyone Hugging GG (That's my grandma!)

Everyone Hugging GG (That's my grandma!)

Now, my grandmother is the queen of board games, so I knew that if I was going to give this game a good honest review, I had to take it to her house for family game night. As soon as I set it down on the table in front of her, she picked it up, read everything on it and started laughing. She couldn’t wait to play it!

My Brother, Kyle, and His Girlfriend, Stephanie

My Brother, Kyle, and His Girlfriend, Stephanie

So, as soon as my brother and his girlfriend arrived, we arranged ourselves around the table and started reviewing the instructions. It seemed pretty simple until we actually started playing. We started off right. I asked the first question, everyone answered by writing down an answer, I picked one using the selector and everyone voted. Great start!

Then, we got confused. Well, I got confused. The scoring totally threw me off, especially when everyone assumed that I had memorized where their chips were and started removing them before I could get the first round of scores wrote down. So, fair warning, tell everyone to leave the chips where they are until the scorekeeper gives the okay.

The dry erase boards for scoring and answers were awesome! Simple to use, easy and quick to clean. I hope they keep that quality after lots of play, because this game is certainly going to be a new favorite with my family. My favorite part about them is that you don’t have to throw a ton of paper away every time you play. One piece of paper towel is really all you need – or even a dry cloth for that matter. Much more Eco-friendly.

My lovely nieces!

My lovely nieces!

The questions are a riot. Some of them are funny, which is great for those of us who have a good sense of humor. As mentioned above, this is probably why younger children are not advised to play this game, but my nieces and my son heard all of us adults having so much fun in the dining room that they begged us to play. Of course, we let them. We just kept our answers more kid-friendly. My son is almost three, so he was our official answer board cleaner, which was fine with him. That’s all he wanted to do anyway!

My Son - Yes, that's a boy!

My Son - Yes, that's a boy!

For our family, this game was full of laughs and we also really enjoyed the fact that it really is anyone’s game. The scores were so close each round – we actually ended up with three winners! How great is that?

If you want to learn more about Say Anything, you might want to check out this video about how to play Say Anything.

You can also check out the NorthStarGames website at http://www.NorthStarGames.com, find and like NorthStarGames on Facebook or follow them on Twitter for the latest happenings, including the hottest new games and where you can purchase them first!

Think that Say Anything would be a big hit with your family and friends? You can nab it at Meijer, Barnes & Noble, Target, Toys-R-Us and Go the Game Store right now! I’ve gotta tell you, I know my family members would love to find this game under the tree this year – or next for that matter!

You can also win this game right here at Moms Living Thrifty, although we can’t promise that it will make it to you by Christmas.

This giveaway is being run with Rafflecopter, so if it doesn’t show up, try refreshing the page or checking back in a few minutes. [Read more...]

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

When was the Last Time You…

I watched in horror yesterday evening as yet ANOTHER baby’s body was found. Poor little Tyler Dasher. It made me want to go hug my baby for dear life and never let go. However, it also got me thinking about life.

I know, I know, it doesn’t seem like there’s enough time in the day to do all of the things that we used to take the time out to do or that we want to take the time out to do, but there are many of those things that we really DO need to be doing. That said, I’ve put together a list of things that I now plan to do more often. I already do a lot of these things regularly, but I’d like to do more of the things on this list a lot more frequently – like the actual activities.

In no particular order, here they are:

  • Take the time to read at least two books to my son every single day.
  • Continue to teach my children about stranger danger, defense and safety in all circumstances.
  • Sit down to dinner with my family at least twice a week (when we’re all able to be home at the same time)  – no television, no computers, no radio, no phones or other devices.
  • Go fishing and enjoy the peace and quiet of a calm lake on a crisp morning.
  • Build a snow fort in the winter and have a snowball fight.
  • Go sledding in the snow.
  • Build a snow man.
  • Make snow angels.
  • Pop some popcorn and have my kids help me make popcorn garland for the Christmas tree.
  • Make Christmas ornaments with the kids. There are tons of different types of materials you can use – get creative and have fun!
  • Dance in the rain with my baby – yes, my son, but my significant other is welcome to cut in =)
  • Park the car on the side of an old country road, a perfectly placed parking lot or field. Spread a blanket on the hood, lay down and watch the clouds or the stars.
  • Take a walk in the woods and collect all of the different leaves or bring the camera and take pictures of birds, bugs or animals.
  • Take five minutes for me. No children, no significant other,  no friends, no pets, no computer – just me. Yes, moms, we need this time. It’s okay to take it.
  • Never walk out of the house angry without still saying “I love you.”
  • Make a family video at least once a month.
  • Tell my family I love them before we take off in the car together.
  • Cuddle with my kids on the couch and watch a good family movie that THEY want to see and really pay attention.
  • Grab the bottle of bubbles and take the kids outside to blow them every chance I get.
  • Make walking the dog(s) a family event.
  • Call the kids off school and go do something fun. Not every week or every month, but maybe once every semester.
  • Pray with my children.
  • Build a blanket tent in the living room and camp out, play pirates, pretend it’s a princess castle or whatever your kid’s imagination says it is. Go along with it and enjoy childhood again.
  • Tuck my children into bed every night. I used to work nights and might have missed out on this if I hadn’t been laid off.
  • Have a family day at least once a week and let the kids decide what our family will do – within reason and budget.
  • Take the kids to an open parking lot or field, sit my son on my lap and let him drive (steer). Let my stepdaughter drive more often (she has her permit).
  • Bake something special for my family at least once a week. I’m no Susie homemaker, but I enjoy sweet treats and so does my family, so it’s easy for me to do this at least once a week. The smiles and the “oohs and ahhs” I get also make me feel great about doing it. You know what’s even better than that? Letting the kids decorate whatever I bake. Cookies, cakes, brownies – a little icing, powdered sugar or sprinkles can go a long way to making my kids happy.
  • Make time to let the kids “help” with household chores while they are still interested in helping. My stepdaughter has definitely lost interest, but she is still required to participate.
  • Always say “please” and “thank you.”
  • Never pass up the chance to tell each member of my family how much I love them.


I’m sure that there are thousands of other things that I could jot down here if I tried, but I’m going to leave it at this because I feel that it’s enough of a challenge for me to make sure I do all of these things regularly – along with my other daily tasks of motherhood!

Remembering how special these little things were to me, as a child, makes me want to do them even more for my kids and family. With the holidays getting closer and so many people struggling financially, it’s more important than ever to be thankful for the little things that we enjoy every day. I may not have a lot of money, but I have my family and that’s what is most important to me.

Do you have something you’d like to add to this list? If so, please comment!

 

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Get a Jump-Start On Halloween: Songs and Crafts

Halloween will be here before you know it. Planning ahead isn’t only for teachers and the ultra-organized among us. If you want to get a jump-start on Halloween, you might begin by thinking ahead about crafts and songs. Crafts require some pre-planning for getting your materials together, and learning new songs can take a few weeks, too, if your kids enjoy music.

Here are a few crafty ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

  • Pumpkins: Whether you plan to paint them or carve them, you can already find pumpkins in the store. They make a nice front porch decoration until you’re ready to turn them into jack-o’-lanterns.
  • Milk Jug Ghosts: This craft features milk jugs, so now is a great time to begin saving them up. When you’re ready to turn them into ghosts, simply draw faces on one side using a marker and then cut out a space in the back where you can insert a candle or other light source. These will look great on your porch and light the way for your trick-or-treaters.
  • Trick-or-Treat Bags: Your kids will need bags for their treats anyway; making them together ahead of time can be fun. One idea is to take a gallon zip lock bag with a zipper close, and tape decorations on the outside. You can cut pictures out of a magazine or create your own images. Create a handle out of thick yarn; staple it to the bag. Check and see if your local library has a die-cutting machine; if so, that can be a great source for letters or shapes to decorate with.
  • Q-tip Skeletons and Ghost Suckers: For decorations around the house, take black construction paper and use tape or glue to create skeletons on them out of Q-tips. Use a white crayon to create the head. Another good craft for home or for handing out on Halloween is to take tissue paper or Kleenex, wrap one around a dum-dum sucker, and tie it on with string. Draw a little face on it, and you’ve got ghost suckers.


If you aren’t familiar with any Halloween songs, here are a few ideas for you to look into:

  • “Five Little Pumpkins Sitting On a Gate”
  • “Pumpkin, Pumpkin On the Ground” (to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle”)
  • Ghostbusters theme song
  • Songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas

Have fun brainstorming!

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page