Here is a great recipe for homemade Play Dough from Cooking on the Side and look at what they made with their homemade dough!

Is that a cheery snowman or what?  Have fun creating your own Play Snow creations this season!

When children work on art projects related to Thanksgiving Day, they receive several benefits. Not only do they have the opportunity to create, kids also learn about the history of Thanksgiving and can say thanks for the people and things around them. There is no need for elaborate crafts or expensive supplies. These Thanksgiving art projects from Karen Perkins at Celebrations.com start with basic items most little artists probably already have in their supply kit.

Thanksgiving Greeting Cards
You send cards for Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and maybe Easter. Why not Thanksgiving, too? It is the perfect opportunity for kids to tell a grandparent, older relative or special friend they are thankful for them.

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Be crafty on Halloween! Bring out your inner Dr. Frankenstein by baking a batch of Monster Cookies or crafting creepy Halloween cards for your friends and family.  Jeanne Benedict of Celebrations.com offers her tips to create glow-in-the-dark Ghost Pencil Pals, Halloween Cards and fun, festive cookies.

Craft: Monster Cookies

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Planning on picking apples this season?  When you get home have some fun with them and create Shrunken Apple Faces.  Peel your apples an use a small knife to carve faces on them. Make big noses and sunken eyes.  Place your apple faces on to a baking pan and bake on low for three hours, allowing them to shrivel up!  After you take them out, leave them to sit in a warm, dry place for a few days.  You can use rice and beans to decorate the faces, e.g. for eyes and teeth.

Spooky and cool and a great after the apple picking activity!

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Do your children love stickers?  I remember when I was a kid, a favorite activity was collecting, organizing, and trading stickers with my friends.  There were googly eyed ones, scratch-n-sniff, puffy, and regular ones too.  It was such a fun hobby.  Stickers are always fun and during the summer when school is out and you are looking for ways to keep the kids busy a great idea is to invite over your kid’s friends who also love stickers for an afternoon of fun.  For school-aged children, this should be easy on you too.

Ask your child to choose several friends to invite over for a Sticker Party.  If you would like to do an invitation, use heavy card stock and letter stickers to provide the details.

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If you are looking for some easy party fun that is budget-friendly and creative this spring or summer, look no further than a box of sidewalk chalk. When each guest arrives, provide him or her with several chalk sticks tied together with a ribbon. The party activities can take place around the chalk. For games and activities using this magic stuff, check out these ideas:

1. Check out this great article on how to make sidewalk chalk for the especially creative!
2. Draw a Hop Scotch pattern and play.
3. Draw a Tic Tac Toe board and play.
4. Make a sidewalk mural together.
5. If an outside wall is available, cover it with large sheets of butcher paper, and have the kids enjoy making graffiti art with their chalk.
6. Have the kids think up a small rhyme or poem together, and then write it out and illustrate it using the chalk.
7. Play Hangman.
8. Make a pattern with dots and have the kids connect the dots to make a picture.
9. Check out this FamilyFun.com Racing Rectangles game using sidewalk chalk.
10. Have the kids write their names with the chalk and decorate them as well.

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A fun craft to make this spring, particularly on May Day, is a tabletop version of the maypole. It is much more manageable to make than an actual, full-size maypole for your yard. This is an easy and a fun way to mark spring’s entrance with your kids either at an Easter party or birthday party. It is also fun activity to simply celebrate May Day with!