by Tracey Lund

Created on: October 31, 2009   Last Updated: November 03, 2009

Fall is one of the most memorable times of year. The leaves change color before falling to the ground, the weather becomes cool and crisp and the holiday season can be felt approaching. This is the time of the year that the heart warms and family moments are stronger than ever. There are many ways to build a tangible reminder of these moments or even just allow your children to express their creative natures.

One crafty option for parents with young children only requires construction paper, pencils, scissors and crayons. With these materials at hand you and your children can make your own autumn decorations to be hung in the windows or around the home. When adding feathers, children can create their own turkeys. To make a simple design of a turkey, encourage children to trace their hands, the fingers being where the feathers belong.

Another treat that is also affordable requires acrylic paint, your choice of colors, rigatoni noodles and some string. The parents can pre-paint the noodles or allow children to paint their own. When the noodles have dried, it is time to string them up and, Presto! The children have their own necklace to celebrate.

Other fall crafts can be just as affordable. This is a classic craft that is very easy to do. With red, brown and orange construction paper, cut out one inch wide strips, lengthwise, from the paper. Glue the ends of one strip together, hold until dry, then loop another strip through, closing it at the end as well. Continue in this pattern until you have a paper-chain garland long enough to hang up in a special space.

For parents of older children consider buying beads to make autumn bracelets or suncatchers for your children to paint and hang in the windows. The older the children, the more specific their taste will probably be. It may be a good idea to take them along to a craft store and plan together to do things that all will enjoy.

Another cool autumn art, that is fun for all ages, involves taking your children on a walk at the local nature center, or another woodsy area, to scout for fallen leaves of different shapes and sizes. Once you have gathered a substantial collection, bring them home and put them under a piece of plain white paper(like printer paper). Use colored pencils or crayons to color all over the paper, getting a perfect imprint of the leaves. When finished with this project, a little bit of laminate around the leaves can create beautiful wall hangings, place mats or bookmarks.

All of these crafts can be done with items many households already contain or that are inexpensive to purchase. No matter which crafts suit you and your family's needs best, however, you are bound to create lasting memories and strengthen family relationships.

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