Fall into Fun

Sometimes it is hard to remember that most of the world has quite dramatic seasons with our perennial good weather, but yesterday, September 22, marked the beginning of fall. In honor of the season, here are a few fun craft ideas to get into the fall spirit! 

Edible Fall Foliage

Do your kids love to play with their food? This will give them a creative reason to do so! 

Start by gathering pretzels and various kinds of cherry tomatoes. Have your child arrange them in different ways to resemble a tree with it's foliage changing colors. Fun for the kids, and at the end they will have a healthy snack to feast on! 

Carrots, peppers, and asparagus also work well for this craft! 

These Craft-Stick Scarecrows were borrowed from LittleFamilyFun.com--- they are not only easy to make, but super cute! Here's what you will need:

• craft sticks
• felt
• googly eyes
• tacky glue
• cardstock
• marker

To make them, cut out the hat, hair, and nose from the felt in different colors for a nice contrast. 

Cut a square out from the cardstock to glue the sticks onto. 

This will keep them sturdy and locked together. 

Glue the hair on first, and then the hat. Lastly, glue on the googly eyes and nose, and draw a mouth on with the marker. 

Paper Bag Fall Tree

Borrowed from pikadillycharm.blogspot.com, this festive tree will add a hint of fall to any room. 

You will need: 

-brown paper bags

-scissors

-glue

-paper (in fall colors)

To make the tree, cut the bag into half inch strips. Start at the opening and cut halfway down the bag. Open the bag and stand it up.

Hold the base of the bag with one hand and twist the middle of the bag to create the trunk of the tree.

Twist two of the bag strips together to create branches. 

Rip strips of colored paper into tiny pieces and glue them all over the branches of the tree. Enjoy your new tree! 

Should your child have a cell phone?

Now that school is back in session, if your child doesn't already have a cell-phone, he is probably asking for one. Everyone else may have one, but does that mean your child should as well? Possibly.

Here are three reasons your child should have a cell-phone:

Emergencies: If there is an emergency and your child needs to get a hold of you, or you need to get a hold of your child, having a cell phone on hand is the easiest way to ensure you are able to contact each other when needed. Be sure to have emergency numbers on speed dial on your child's phone, and talk to them about when the appropriate times to use these numbers are.

Communication: Chances are you aren't able to spend as much time with your child as you might like to, with work and school being what it is. Cell phones allow your child to communicate with you throughout the day and also provide an easy way to inform each other of changed plans or other things that come up. Whether informative or a simple I love you, being able to communicate with your child on a regular basis will bring your family closer together.

GPS: GPS tracking features are a great way to keep tabs on your child's whereabouts for their safety. The majority of cell phone providers have family locator options on their plans, allowing you to always know your child's GPS location.

Does this mean you should just give your child a phone? Not necessarily. Talk to them about your expectations for them in having a cell phone, such as tying an allowance to it, and restrictions such as how many texts they are allowed to send. You want the cell phone to be a tool for communication, not the only means they use to communicate.