Decorating Ideas with Kids

With a houseful of little kids, I don't have a lot in the way of knickknacks and glass. But I do have a family of little artists, so I like to encourage them to make their mark in our home. (Please no crayons on the walls!)

One very cool thing we do is make wreaths.

I buy a wreath base for each kid (littlest ones share a big wreath with Mommy.) I like the ones made with thick twigs (not filled with straw or grass). We can create it seasonally.

We take a walk in the fall and collect nuts, pine cones, stems with pine needles on them, lots of orange, red, and yellow leaves, and just anything that looks pretty. We decorate the wreath bases with these, then each child has his or her own creation.

For Christmas, we remove everything and start over (we can reuse some elements from the fall wreaths if we want). I buy ribbon, small ornaments, little decorative things from the fabric store. One big wreath that the little kids help me with can go on the front door. The others go up on the living room walls.

These can be changed with the seasons, and individual bought-from-the-store items can be reused year after year. The natural things, like leaves and flowers and berries, are a great reason to take a walk and explore the changes in the world around us as the seasons change.

This is one of our favorite activities, and really great that it works for kids of all ages.

Happy Halloween!

Ben & Jerry's Halloween Fun

Billy Bear's Halloween stuff

Here are some great Halloween costume idea websites:

Costume Idea Zone

Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas

Here is a website with some really great links, including a good section on children:

Live and Grow

And if you need help, the Volunteer Ministers are willing to help!

Volunteer Ministers Help Children

We're off to the Salvation Army today to find fun stuff to make Halloween costumes out of.

I like it when the kids create their costumes so much better than just buying them from the store!