Tricks To Treat The Kids

Between carpools, school events and hurried dinners, parents may feel they spend a lot of time with their kids. But it's important to schedule some time dedicated only to play.

During an appearance last season on The Early Show, Freddi Greenberg, editor-in-chief of Nick Jr. magazine, said creating holiday crafts together provides a special bonus: being able pass on family traditions and explain why these holidays are celebrated in the first place.

Halloween is a particularly good choice because kids love, love, love the holiday. Children get a thrill from wearing a costume and becoming someone else. Also, during this spooky time of year, it seems that the whole world is engaging in fantasy play; it's fun for kids to see the adults playing along as well.

Here are some crafts featured at The Early Show's Halloween party last season:

Eyeballs
The first craft is an edible one, Rice Krispy Treat Eyeballs. Gross, right? Perfect for kids! Parents make their normal Rice Krispy Treat recipe, add a little green food coloring and form the mixture into small balls. Together, kids and parents use icing to make the eyes look bloodshot, adding a piece of candy for the pupil.

Candy Bowl
Crafts that can really build kids' self-esteem are those in which there is no right or wrong; anything a child turns out is perfect. An example is this Halloween candy bowl.

Parents hollow out a pumpkin. Kids create a jack-o-lantern face with candy, attaching it to the pumpkin with a glue gun. Line the pumpkin with cellophane and fill with trick-or-treat goodies.

Halloween Tree

Doing a craft together also gives Mom and Dad a chance to help children develop small motor skills. There's lots of tracing, cutting and ribbon-threading involved in making this Halloween "tree" which can be displayed by the front door or used as a centerpiece.

Hollow out a pumpkin and anchor a branch inside with florist foam or a similar substitute. Then let kids go crazy making ornaments for the tree. Greenberg suggests giving kids cookie cutters shaped like bats, cats and rats to trace and then cut out to form ornaments. Then, they can decorate with crayons, glitter or anything else that catches their attention. Punch a hole and thread a ribbon through the ornament to hang on the tree.

Witches

Unlike many other family activities, crafts are something kids of all ages can do and enjoy equally. Kids can work side by side but at their own pace. Our last two crafts show how one craft can be adjusted for a younger and older child.

For the older child - a double decker witch. Attach a small pumpkin to a larger one with wooden skewers to form the witch's head and body. Roll black construction paper to form a hat for the witch and bunch any material around the pumpkin's base for a skirt. Decorate the hat and face.

Older children can do all of these steps.

Younger children need to stay away from the skewers, but they will still enjoy decorating hats and creating faces on the small pumpkin. Have them write the family's names on the hat and use these as place cards for Halloween dinner.