October is Halloween time, and with small lunch bags, glue sticks and markers, kids can make their very own Boo! Puppets. The first thing toddlers must do is choose what type of character they want to create. They can make a spider, an animal or even a classic horror movie monster for their puppet. The kids start by drawing the characters and coloring designs on their lunch bags. With adult supervision, the kids can draw even more designs on construction paper, cut them out and use glue sticks to place them on their Boo! Puppets. Always make sure to keep a close eye on the kids when using scissors and glue.
With the many different-colored leaves falling from trees during the autumn months, October is an ideal time to make a leaf collection with a toddler. Take the child outside for a walk through the neighborhood or a park and have him choose many different-colored and -shaped leaves for his collection. Once you return home, take the leaves and sit down with some paper and glue sticks. Carefully assist the toddler in gluing the leaves to the paper. Once the glue is dry, place another piece of paper on top of the leaves and have the toddler color all over the paper on top of the leaves. Have him lay the crayons on their sides so they will better create the outlines of the leaves. This leaves the toddler with two pieces of artwork, the first being the leaves decorating the paper and the second the child's masterpiece of tracing over the leaves.
While walking through the neighborhood or park with a toddler, have her create her own nature bracelet. Wrap a piece of tape around the toddler's wrist, sticky side facing out. Make sure it is loose enough to slide it on. Have the toddler discover and find treasure for her bracelet. Ideas include colored petals and leaves that she can immediately stick onto the tape bracelet. She will find and create her own bracelet, making it unique to her personality.
Large pumpkins provide adults with a fun craft for every Halloween. Toddlers can join in on the fun by decorating their own mini-pumpkins. These are less expensive and are small enough for the kids to handle. Make sure to wash the pumpkins with a cloth before starting. The kids will use paint, markers and sharpies to draw the faces on their mini-pumpkins. Always make sure the kids have adult supervision when using paints and markers for arts and crafts. Help the toddlers create construction-paper cutouts for more designs as well as paper or felt hats to place on the head of the pumpkin to finish it off.