TODAY Food Club

Summer is over, and lower temperatures mean that kids are indoors more often. It's a good time for crafts, and it's hard to go wrong with them. If you don't know where to begin, start with custom greeting cards.

Custom Greeting Cards

Perhaps someone has a fall birthday, or you want to make cards for a thank-you, Halloween, Thanksgiving or just because. Fall offers images such as pumpkins, colorful leaves, rustic barns, jack o' lanterns, Halloween candy, witches and cornucopias. These are fun to draw or to stencil onto cardboard paper for a greeting card. You can also cut out cards in the shape of a leaf or pumpkin.

Leaf Letters

Take your child on a nature walk, and collect leaves that have fallen. Focus on the brightest colors, usually yellow, red and orange. Stick the leaves to sheets of contact paper, and attach another sheet to the top when you are finished (leave some space among the leaves for the sides of the paper to meet). You or your child cut out letters/shapes from the contact paper. Put the finished product on the sides of shelves or even on the wall.

Trees

This project also incorporates leaves (although they're fake) and contact paper. It also uses white glue and tissue paper along with branches from outside. Cut the tissue paper (fall colors, preferably) into squares. Use water to thin the glue, and put the glue into a dish. Let the kids wrap the tissue paper around their branches. Place the finished product into a vase or Mason jar for a lovely decoration. Nice bonus: Making it can keep the kids busy for hours.

Scarecrows

This craft uses toilet paper rolls. It doesn't have to be about scarecrows necessarily. Make black cats, witches or pumpkins (or anything, really!) instead. For a scarecrow, staple crinkled brown paper to one end of the roll to create hair. The child paints the bottom half and the top quarter of the roll with two different colors. They can use whatever colors they'd like, but traditional scarecrow hues are brown, orange and yellow. You can use googly eyes and/or felt for the eyes, nose or mouth, or have the child draw some/all of these elements.

Online Crafts

Children interested in technology can make greeting cards online in addition to traditional paper-based versions. Check out our custom greeting cards in which 20% of your purchase goes toward a charity of your choice (or your child's choice). Spend time with your child reviewing his or her favorite causes and goals, and identify charities that match them. Next, customize the card. Keywords to search with include "autumn" and "fall."