Here’s a free printable Thanksgiving ebook I found for you to share with your preschoolers.
It includes Thanksgiving coloring sheets and activities, along with a fewideas of how to make time for you on the big day, and even some know-how for how to cook that big bird.
Here’s the link to download your own copy to print out and enjoy with your own preschoolers.
I just found this link to Halloween printables for preschoolers.
You’ll want to review them first and decide which ones you want to use with your preschoolers tonight. They’ll love the Halloween finger puppets and the Pumpkin Maze!
You may want to print the Halloween picture frame and votives as a treat for yourself. 
These ghosts are spooky and delicious too! One year we make these as gifts for my son’s preschool friends. If you plan on giving lollipops to your trick-or-treaters this year, this is a fun way to decorate them ahead of time.
What you need for each ghost:
lollipop
tissue
tape
marker
What you do:
Cover the lollipop with the tissue so it looks like a ghost’s body. Secure the tissue in place with a piece of tape.
Draw a spooky or a happy face with the marker.
Enjoy!
These tissue ghosts are so simple to make and yet so cute! You can make just one or create a whole row of ghosts to decorate your window for Halloween night.
For each tissue ghost you will need:
2 tissues
twist tie
marker
What you do:
Crumple one tissue into a ball. This will be the form for the ghost’s head.
Cover the ball with the other tissue so the tissue hangs down like a ghost’s body.
Secure the tissue in place by wrapping a twist tie under the ball to form the neck.
Draw a face onto the head with the marker.
Have fun drawing different expressions and hanging them up for everyone to see!
by Tracy Zdelar
Don’t let the economy bum you out when it comes to having fun. Saving money should always be in fashion anyways. Get creative and think outside the box to spice up life. If you haven’t had to get creative before, now is a good time to start. Look for “free community” opportunities for fun times!
Earlier this year we made a purchase from a furniture store in the Akron area and became a “past customer”. This furniture store sent out flyers recently to their “past customers” inviting us to a free Fall Festival at their store. Details of the night included finger-food dinner from “their” cafe- (yes, this furniture store has a cafe), a free gift (choice of a pumpkin or a floor rug), a little bit of Halloween fun for the kiddos (trick or treating for candy) and if you were making a non-refundable purchase that night you could play musical chairs and get a chance to win up to $5000 off your purchase that night!
Other frugal ways to have fun:
~ While the weather is still nice, give the kids some paper lunch sacks and go for a walk. Have the kids pick up whatever looks interesting (and safe) and put it in the bags. Or, give them a list of things to hunt…a scavenger hunt! Acorns, gold leaves, pine cones, strange rocks…etc..
~ Teach them how to rake leaves. If they are young enough, they might actually “believe” it is fun!
~ Have a s’mores cookout on the grill or over the fire pit in the backyard. Get a bag of marshmallows, a box of Hershey bars and graham crakers. Just toast the marshmallows and stick between to crackers with a chocolate bar. You can also do this in the oven broiler. (Stand by and wait so it doesn’t burn!) Just put your crackers on foil, top with marshmallows- when those are toasty take out of oven and place your chocolate on top and eat! Okay, let it cool first.
~ Pick out different leaves, bring in the house, lay wax paper or plain white paper and use a crayon to color over to bring out the shape of the leaves.
~ Make a craft with your souvenirs you gathered from your nature walk.
Spending time with your family or friends is the key, isn’t it? That alone doesn’t have to cost money. So get busy thinking. You’ll be surprised to find the simple things you can do for “free” that may just net you “priceless” memories in the future!
Tracy Zdelar lives in Canton, Ohio and is a graduate of Liberty University with a bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies. She’s enjoyed (more and less) working in a variety of fields from being a small newspaper “high school” news writer, fast food, management, teaching, and case management in the health care system (just to name a few). She now, like many moms, desires to work from home. This has been a journey in and of itself. Tracy has earned extra income from home by being in direct sales, offering childcare, selling on Ebay, and affiliate marketing - sometimes simultaneously .
As a wife and mother of two boys, Tracy now focuses on affiliate marketing, blogging, and promoting other WAHMs (work-at-home moms) as well as sharing her money saving ways, reviews and resources on her website http://www.HallofFameMoms.com
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Fall is full of wonder for preschoolers. If you live in an area where trees lose their leaves in preparation for winter, here is an outdoor activity that will help them enjoy and explore the falling leaves.
What you need:
1 large blanket
Yard or park full of leaves
Energetic preschoolers
What you do:
Lay the blanket on the ground and fill it up with leaves that have already fallen.
Everyone grabs a corner of the blanket.
Lift the blanket together.
Count to three. On “three” everyone throws up the blanket so the leaves fly up and come back down.
Try to catch the falling leaves!
by Rachel Paxton
Making placemats from fall leaves is a fun activity for kids of all ages. Even toddlers will have fun collecting leaves and creating their own placemat. For this craft you will need:
Roll of contact paper
Fall leaves
Scissors
This activity is very inexpensive. The only item you will have to buy is the contact paper, and you can pick this up for about $5 a roll. One roll will make many placemats.
Have your kids go out in the yard and collect some fall leaves. Have them look for a variety of colors and shapes. If the leaves are dry you can use them right away. If they are wet, let them set on a piece of newspaper to dry before you start the craft project.
Before you sit the kids down cut some pieces of contact paper into the shape of placemats. I used the width of the contact paper for the width of the placemat so I would only have to make one cut for each placemat. You will need two pieces of contact paper for each placemat. You can make the placemats any size you choose.
After the contact paper is ready, sit your kids down at a table and have them spread out the leaves in the center of the table. Give them a piece of contact paper with the backing paper removed. Let them arrange their leaves on the sticky side of the paper. After they are happy with the arrangement of their leaves, take another piece of contact paper and carefully lay it on top of the leaves so that the sticky sides of both pieces of contact paper are together. Carefully use your hands to smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles. You won’t be able to get them all out, but don’t worry, a few wrinkles will not be noticeable when you are done.
When you are finished you can use the scissors to trim around the edges to make sure they are all even and straight. This is an easy project that can be completed in about an hour. Remember the younger the child, the shorter their attention span, so if you are making very many you may end up finishing them yourself! My toddler boys spent about 15 minutes on theirs and they had a great time.
Don’t forget to proudly display your fall leaf placemats on your Thanksgiving table!
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
Photos of finished fall leaf placemats: http://www.crafty-moms.com/fall-leaf-placemat.shtml
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com.
Paper Plate Scarecrow Craft by Rachel Paxton
Kids love scarecrows, and fall is a great time to do scarecrow crafts with your preschool aged child. With a paper plate and some other items you may already have laying around your house, you and your child can create this scarecrow craft in no time.
Supplies needed:
Paper plates
Google eyes
Brown construction paper
Orange construction paper
Raffia
Red pipe cleaner
Craft feathers
Scissors
Rubber cement
Glue gun (optional)
Note: Many of the above items can be substituted with things you might already have. For instance, you can use felt or craft foam instead of construction paper, or straw or shredded paper instead of raffia. Your child could also draw the face with markers instead of gluing it on.
To get started, cut several pieces of raffia about 3-4 inches long. This will be the scarecrow’s hair. Next glue the raffia to each side edge of the plate, toward the top. The hat will cover the top edge of the hair. I chose to use hot glue for this step and did the gluing for my children. The hot glue works the best to get the raffia stuck on there quickly.
Next use the scissors to cut a hat out of brown construction paper. You can make any shaped hat your child would like. If your child is old enough to cut out a shape, draw the hat on the paper for him and let him cut it out himself. Then have your child brush some rubber cement on the back of the hat and glue it
on top of the scarecrow’s hair.
After you have the hair and hat in place, have your child brush glue where the eyes will go and have him stick the eyes on. Next cut a small triangle from the orange construction paper and have your child glue the nose on the scarecrow’s face.
Next cut a red pipe cleaner in half, have your child shape half of it into a mouth, and then have him glue it on the scarecrow. Last but not least, have your child place some glue on the end of a feather and have him slide it under a corner of the scarecrow’s hat.
That’s it! Your preschooler will be so proud of his scarecrow, he won’t be able to wait to show it to everyone!
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For
scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family
memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com.
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
I promised you some easy craft ideas you can do with your preschooler. Here are some that are good for older preschoolers, and also toddlers.
Parents of very young preschoolers (1 -2 yrs) often wonder how they can do crafts with their children. Those little people have a lot of energy, but don’t crafts with your toddler can be a lot of fun for both of you, and help your toddler learn how to follow instructions and develop hand-eye coordination. When you work with toddlers, you’ll need to adjust your expectations. They have short attention spans and they’ll need a lot of adult help.
Here are two craft ideas that are fun and easy to do with preschoolers of any age.
Craft Stick Puppets
Puppets are fascinating to toddlers. Creating their own puppets is easy, and it’s lots of fun. All you really need are some craft or popsicle sticks, construction paper, safety scissors, markers and glue.
Help your toddler cut animal shapes out of construction paper. He can draw faces and other details with washable markers. Glue the stick to the back of the shape, let dry, and he’s ready to put on a puppet show. If you want to make more elaborate puppets, try cutting shapes out of foam. Glue on a pom pom for the nose, and add some googly eyes.
What I love to do with these, is help the toddler tell a simple story with the new characters she just created. Or read a favorite story and have the toddler’s puppets participate.
Paint with Pudding
Kids love to fingerpaint, but it’s so messy. And there’s also the concern about them eating the paint. Even if the paints are nontoxic, it can make cautious parents uneasy. The solution? Let them paint with pudding!
You don’t need different flavors to make different colors. Just use one serving of plain vanilla pudding, divide it up into small portions, and add food coloring to create various shades. Give your child a paper plate to use as a canvas for his masterpiece. When he’s done, he can eat it with no worries.
If you’re working with older toddlers or preschoolers, you can even help them mix the pudding. My kids loved that!
Tomorrow I’ll have some more easy craft ideas for you and your preschoolers.
This craft is so easy even your toddlers can do it… and it’s so much fun everyone else in your family will want to do it too! This is an activity our family does together every year. We have fun decorating our family room wall with colorful turkeys. 
Below you’ll find instructions on how to make the Thanksgiving handprint turkey craft. We do ours a little differently. We use construction paper and make the turkey’s body by tracing our shoes. Then we trace several of our handprints to make the feathers. It’s hilarious to see my teenage son’s size 13 turkey on the wall!
This is a nice craft to hang onto, so you can see how much your children have grown each Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Hand Print Turkey Craft by Rachel Paxton
These hand print turkeys are an easy craft for your kids to make for Thanksgiving. They are easy enough for toddlers and preschoolers to help make, but even older children will enjoy tracing around their hands to make this fun turkey craft.
Supplies needed:
Brown felt
Colorful craft feathers
Google eye
Red pipe cleaner
Scissors
Black permanent marker
Rubber cement or craft glue
We chose to make our turkeys out of brown felt. This is just one of many options, you could also use brown craft foam or brown construction paper.
First, use the black permanent marker to trace around your child’s hand on the brown felt. Next cut out the hand tracing. For younger children, you will have to do these steps for them.
Next turn over the piece of the felt so any permanent marker markings are on the backside of the felt.
The thumb of the handprint will be the turkey’s neck and head, so have your child use a little glue to attach a google eye where the eye should go.
Cut a small piece of red pipe cleaner for the turkey’s beak, approximately 1/2 inch long. Fold the cut piece in half and have your child glue it beneath the turkey’s eye.
Next have your child brush some glue on each of the other fingers, and then have him press down one feather on each finger.
That’s it! A quick, easy Thanksgiving craft that will be sure to please your child. It’s also a great way to preserve your child’s small, adorable hand that will be bigger next year.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, gardening, organizing tips, home decorating, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com
