Crafts with the Girls

I am always on the look out for little craft activities to do with the kids.  Some days I do take the time to make some elaborate craft item, which can take more time to prep than to actually put together (that is the teacher in me), but other days, like today I try to find something quick and simple.  While at WalMart yesterday, the girls and I decided to see what Halloween things were already stocked on the shelves ~ hard to believe that Halloween is quickly sneaking up on us.  We ended up buying both girls their costumes.  Hayley, my four year old, is going to be Jessie from Toy Story and Emily, my two year old, is going to be Minnie Mouse.  As a Disney fanatic I can say, I was quite excited they both chose Disney characters.  In addition to the costumes, WalMart also had a lot of Wilton Halloween supplies out.  As you may have noticed from previous posts that I really love Wilton cake decorating and candy making materials.  In this section, I found our quick craft for today a candy necklace kit. 

Both of my girls where their dress jewelry all the time, so I figured this would be great.  Not only did the kit come with enough materials for 8 necklaces, but it was only $3!  You can't beat that.  This morning when we took the kit out of the box, what was even better was that each necklace was in its own little bag, so I did not have to do any sorting or organizing.  I just took one bowl for each girl and poured one bag into each bowl.  Ta - Da!  The craft was all set up.

Hayley picked up the ability to string the candy beads pretty quickly.  Emily, being only two, needed a little assistance to get started but then was able to do a few on her own.  Of course, her attention span is a little shorter than Hayley's, so as soon as Hayley was done her own, she then helped finish up Emily's.  The funniest part was that neither one of the girls even thought the beads could be candy.  They were so proud of the necklaces, they wore them while we went to pick Joey up from school.  When Joey saw the necklaces, he said, "You made candy necklaces without me?"  That was when the girls realized they were candy and began munching away.  It was a good thing I made one for Joey and brought it along because all three kids ate their necklaces before getting back home. 

So if you are looking for a quick, fun little activity that really helps the kids develop their fine motor skills, here is one for only $3.  We'll be making them again tomorrow, since Hayley discovered the 5 leftover packages that we haven't put together yet and has asked no less than ten times if she can make another necklace!