Halloween Craft Ideas for Kids Junior Whirl

KIDS &FAMILY

Halloween Craft Ideas For Kids

Halloween is an enjoyable holiday for all, but particularly for children. Kids enjoy the opportunity to channel their whimsy and imagination, whether that involves choosing a clever costume or helping design the theme and scope of home decorations.

Parents, guardians and educators can channel the creativity inspired by Halloween into various craft projects. Crafts can not only keep children busy when the “I’m bored” lamentations inevitably turn up, but crafts also are a way to keep children off of screens. Plus, the items that children create can be used to decorate rooms in the house — helping to curb added expenses on commercial decor.

The following are some Halloween crafts children can make alone or with the help of older siblings and parents.

Jack’s slime

The toothy grins of jack-o’-lanterns can be seen just about everywhere come Halloween, and the bright orange color of pumpkins heralds the start of fall. What better way to say “Halloween is here” than with a craft that can be displayed and also played with? Slime is something that’s always a big hit with kids.

Here’s a recipe for slime, courtesy of The Best Ideas for Kids. ‰ 6 ounces of Elmer’s glue (substituting with another brand of glue

may not produce the same results) ‰ Orange food coloring to create desired hue ‰ 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda ‰ 1-1/2 tablespoons of contact lens solution (one that contains boric acid in the ingredient list, as that is what causes the chemical reaction to form slime) Optional 2 tablespoons of water added to the glue before the baking soda if you desire a stretchier slime ‰ Black felt or black construction paper, cut into the eyes and mouth of a jack-o’-lantern ‰ Small mason jar with lid

Decorate the mason jar using a bit of glue to stick the black paper or felt face pieces to the outside of the jar. Mix all the ingredients of the slime in a small bowl and pour into the decorated jar.

Paper Roll Treat Holders

Rather than discarding the tubes inside of paper towel or toilet paper rolls, let kids transform them into monster craft treat holders. They’ll be perfect for party favors or even to give out to neighborhood trickor-treaters. Cover the bottoms of the rolls with masking tape so treats won’t fall out. Paint the outside of the cardboard rolls and let dry. An alternative is to cover the rolls in colored paper for less messy fun. Then use markers or paper cut-outs to form faces of the monsters. Fill the rolls with treats, then stuff a piece of tissue paper in each top to add even more personality to the creations and hide the treats inside.

Ghostly leaves

Make a truly eco-friendly craft on Halloween, with ghosts made out of leaves, eliminating the need to use extra paper. Paint large leaves with white paint. On the narrow-most point on top of the leaves, paint black eyes and mouths. When completely dry, scatter on a table or sideboard for some scary fun, or use double-sided tape to stick to windows and doors. ((MC) 

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18 · SUNDAYSIGNAL

PUZZLES

OCTOBER 9, 2022 CROSSWORD TIME

SOLUTIONS

Opinion Unless otherwise stated, the views and opinions expressed are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Signal.

READER LETTERS Garcia Team Gets It

I remember a commercial that aired on television in the 1970s. An American Indian rows up to shore in a canoe and steps over garbage thrown there. He wanders a bit and ends up next to a highway. While standing there, a half-eaten fastfood meal is tossed from a passing car at his feet. He turns to the camera and a tear falls from his eye. The message is aimed at the person in the car. If you want a beautiful country, take responsibility. The commercial was from a private nonprofit called Keep America Beautiful. The message was “every little bit helps.” To solve a problem, you start with you.

This time of year, you see commercials for all the great things a candidate will do in Washington and all the horrible things their opponent will do. The 27th Congressional District has problems like homelessness, families struggling to feed their children and provide them school supplies, soldiers overseas away from family, families struggling to take care of their elderly, children in foster care, public parks full of litter and graffiti, and even litter on the sides of our roads. I follow Mike Garcia’s campaign on Facebook. Weekly, I see posts, not about politics, but about Team Garcia’s “Saturdays of Service.” On the weekend when we all were thinking back to 9/11, Mike’s people organized a blood drive and volunteers donated 50 pints of blood. That is enough to save up to 150 lives. I also found out that a recent food drive by the campaign yielded 3 tons of food for local families in need. Mike’s supporters and volunteers also did the following: • They put together 120 backpacks with school supplies for underprivileged school children. • Collected 450 pounds of food for our local sheriff’s stations. • Put in 100 hours at local animal shelters. • Collected $500 in donations for the Brittany Foundation, which rescues, rehabilitates, cares for, and places homeless dogs with families. • They raised $1,300 in donations for the Alzheimer's Foundation. • Provided 185 children in foster care with gifts.

And, a group spent Martin Luther King, Jr. Day beautifying a neglected park in the Antelope Valley.

Team Garcia gets it. Having a great country, state, district or city starts with us. Like Iron Eyes Cody’s character in the old commercial, I get sad when I see things broken. I also understand what the ad was saying. Don’t wait for the guys in Washington to fix things. Mike understands this very well. To solve a problem, he starts at home in our district. Oh, and I think the American Indian character in the commercial would smile, instead of crying, if he knew that Mike and his supporters also collected 70 bags of trash from roadsides and parks on three separate occasions.

Paul Oberlander Castaic

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ETHICALLY SPEAKING

Things I Know for Sure

Is anyone else finding it hard to know what we can know for sure? Perhaps it is the explosion of ways to gain information that is making certainty uncertain. Who’s telling the truth? Who actually has the truth to tell? And who can be trusted not to shave the unlikeable edges off the truth?

Or maybe it is the vast number of broken promises and failed assessments that make it hard to trust the myriad assertions being thrown around today. As I see it, things aren’t going well in too many areas of life. But, apparently there is no agreement on the why, how, or who we should look to for getting them back on track.

Or maybe we’re just suffering from a national malaise that is really the stuff of “long COVID” given the fact that almost all of what was proclaimed as certain during the pandemic has turned out to be anything but.

If you’re like me, you’d just like to have a good dose of reality, or certainty. You know, a simple list of what you can know and count on for sure. So, as your humble servant columnist, I am here to rescue you from the puddle of muddle by stating things we all can know for sure.

First, I am sure the sun will come up tomorrow, and it isn’t just because a cute little girl named Annie sang it so. I have history on my side. What I mean is that, regardless of what ups and downs come our way – and right now it seems the downs are downright winning! – I know tomorrow will come with a set of new challenges and chances. This also means that each day is a gift, wrapped in a unique set of 24 hours that we will never encounter in exactly the same way again. We simply must take tomorrow by the lapels and make it useful, beneficial and excellent. So when tomorrow gets here, remember, as someone somewhere once said, “Yesterday was a canceled check, and tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is cash … spend it wisely.”

Second, I am sure that the greatest things in life are loving and being loved. Yep, you can take that to the bank, or to dinner. Your choice. At the foundation of every life is a desire to be loved, to be recognized, to be valued and cared for, and provided for and protected. To be loved is the most essential need we have as humans and yet, you won’t find it represented in our genetic code. The desire – in fact the need – to be loved can’t be accounted for by purely naturalistic, chemical processes but it is real and vital just the same. But just as necessary is the need to love. History proves it in every generation. A key component in being human is the desire to pour out our love on someone else. We long for it, and are capable of loving with consistency and intensity even if that love is unrequited. Amazing. Just as certain as is sunrise tomorrow is the unquenchable need we have to love and be loved.

Third, I am sure when the sun comes up tomorrow, we’ll all be a day older. That’s just another way of saying I am sure time will keep going, keep marching on, with all the consequences its march will bring. And you can count on time bringing change, and change bringing new challenges, successes, disappointments, and tragedies.

Lastly, I am also sure that, despite my best intentions, I too often fail to live up to my own best standards, let alone the standards of the God who has created me, loves me, and has provided me with so much in this life. And, for me, that means I feel a daily accountability to be better, take advantage of both what is left of today, and what can be done with tomorrow. It means as well that I have a model of what it means to love, because God has always been demonstrated in great sacrifice. It also means I know how wonderful it is to be loved, as his love for me is mediated through my wonderful wife, family and friends. So, as the grains of my life’s hourglass continue to fall, I know this for sure. With all the sadness, brokenness, uncertainty and tragedy this world continues to produce, I’m actually wonderfully blessed, and I intend to live like it!

What I know for sure makes me remember that my life is good despite the world around me. I only hope what you know for sure brings you life and peace, certainty and gladness, both love and satisfaction, and most of all, the hope-driven energy to make the most of today, and – should God provide it – all that makes up tomorrow.

Local resident David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church. “Ethically Speaking”

appears Sundays. 