Crafting Kindness: Holiday Kits for Kids in the Hospital (Halloween Edition)
This time of year is always so fun for our family. We have lots of traditions and family to celebrate with. We are truly blessed. Recently I have been thinking about how to help my kids show more gratitude for all they have and all that they are able to do. Although they are young and the ability to be empathetic isn’t really there just yet, it is never too early to start practicing thinking of others. So I reached out to a few hospitals in the area to see what kids who are hospitalized there might be in need of. Of course they had a wish list which is a great resource if anyone else is looking to do the same. If I had older kids I think I would have just opted to buy something and have my kids drop it off at the hospital. But I really wanted them to have more time to think about the people these gifts would be going to. After chatting more with the Child Life Specialist at our local hospital, she mentioned that craft kits are always great around the holidays. This year that is what we are going to try. For Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas this year, my family will be assembling craft kits for children who are hospitalized over the holidays and may not have the luxury or health to be celebrating their family traditions this year.
We dropped off the Halloween craft kits the Monday before Halloween so the kids would have time to do some of the crafts before Halloween passed. I am waiting to hear back from the Child Life Specialist at the hospital to hear how it went and what could be improved. But until then, I thought I would share some of the fun crafts we dropped off! I know it might be a little late for you to do these Halloween themed crafts for this year, but they will be here on the blog to reference for next year!
Halloween Stress Ball
Our kids loved making these. And they were pretty simple! Although they did create a small mess. We used a funnel to spoon flour into the balloons. If you don’t have a funnel, you can cut the bottom part off of a plastic water bottle and use the spout as a funnel! We only had one funnel so I used the water bottled and it actually worked better than our funnel! We used a sharpie to put the faces on the balloons after they were filled and tied up.
Paper Chain Skeleton
We didn’t end up having time to make this one, but it is on my list to make next year! It looks so fun and I bet the kids would love it! You can check out the instructions on this blog here!
Candy Corn Collages
Even my 2 year old was able to do this one! The whole family sat together and chatted while we tore the construction paper into small, finger-tip sized bits. Then we just applied glue stick to one section at a time and stuck the paper to it! It held up really well!
Candy Pot
This activity was fun, but I was hesitant about taking it to the hospital because I wasn’t sure what candies if any that the kids there would be allowed to have. And I also was not aware of any food restrictions of outside food coming into the hospital. So I’m not sure if the kids actually got to enjoy them but it was still fun and looked cute! These pots are cheapest at Dollar Tree. They are cheap at Walmart too and a little bit bigger.
Swirly Ghost
The swirly ghost craft takes some scissor skills so it may not be for the preschoolers. But it is good practice and they are fun to hang from the ceiling with string! I will link the blog here for you to grab the free printable!
Mummy Man
Download the template here. Use the template to cut out the shape on a black poster board. Tape some white yarn to the back and wrap the mummy until it is how you want it to look! You can tie the yarn to itself when you finish or tape it. It could be fun to add some googly eyes too!
Q-tip Skeleton
This blog has a variety of printable skeleton faces that you can use instead of trying to draw one. Other than that you just need glue, construction paper, q tips, and some scissors!
Sorry it is a little late for this year, but come back next Halloween for some fun, simple craft ideas!
