Step2

A beautiful feature of autumn is the leaves falling to the ground. Naturally, children can play around in the piles of leaves. However, there are many other ways to utilize the leaves during the autumn months.

Foliage Friends: Help your children pick out a bunch of leaves from the yard. They can glue the leaves onto a piece of paper and draw different shapes to resemble animals or other creative images that appear in their minds.

Leaf Bracelets: Gather up some string and create a leaf bracelet. You can poke holes in the leaves to string them together!

Leaf Crown: Your children will be the kings and queens of fall with the leaf crowns. Again, poke holes in the leaves and string them together. Or you can even glue the leaves together and attach string to just the ends to create the leaf crown.

Leaf Drawings: Collect leaves from the yard and cut them in half. Glue the halves of the leaves that have been collected onto a piece of paper. Suggest to your kids to draw the other half of the leaves next to the original leaf.

There are endless amounts of crafts you and your kids can create with leaves. What activities have you done that involve leaves?

The 2012 Summer Olympics start tonight! There are many ways to get the kids excited about the Olympics. Here are some fun facts, creative crafts, and delicious recipes in order to get the whole family excited about one of the most talked about sporting events of all time!

Fun Facts:

There are two great websites full of fun facts that your kids will find interesting and intriguing.

Here are some fascinating facts from Project Britain:

• London hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948 (and now in 2012!).
• 205 nations will take part in 300 events at the Olympic Games in 2012.
• London is the biggest city in Britain and in Europe.
• The tallest building in London is the Canary Wharf Tower.
•  Some of the most important people from countries all over the world visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Get Set also has some great facts that the kids will enjoy:

• The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the biggest peacetime event in the world.
• The Ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece thousands of years ago.
• More than 1500 years later, a young Frenchman called Baron Pierre de Coubertin decided to create the modern Olympic Games.
• The last Olympic Games were in Beijing, China, in August 2008.
• In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece.

Creative Crafts:

We found a fun kid-friendly craft from the 2008 Beijing Oylmpics. Help your children create an Olympic Torch and run around the house or outside pretending that they are the runner that lights the torch for the Olympic Games!

The kids will love making the torch and watching the torch being lit on television tonight. They will be a part of the action!

Olympic Recipe:

No celebration is complete without a delicious treat that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Have your children help you create an Olympic cake.

Flossie Crums has a delectable recipe for a vanilla sponge cake designed with Olympic rings made of M&Ms. Choose a flavor of cake that is a family favorite.

Enjoy the 2012 Olympics! We’d love to know the fun activities you have planned for your family to celebrate this summer’s Olympic Games.

There is no better way to bring in the holidays than getting the kids excited by creating arts and crafts themed around the 4th of July. Better yet, it is even more fun to include them in baking some yummy treats in order to make them feel they helped plan the celebration.

July 4^th Arts & Crafts

Arts and crafts projects can be messy. So when deciding a project, make sure you focus on a project that does not require a lot of materials and is not tedious. Either take the project outside or designate an area inside, such as an art desk, to complete the project. The faster it is to create the craft, the better because the children will not become bored. The same goes for making delicious food.

Here at Step2, we discovered an arts and crafts project from FamilyFun Magazine, which will be a ton of fun for the kids. The Patri-botic Centerpiece will be the perfect centerpiece at your July 4^th party. You could even place it at the kids’ table. It is a cute idea because the kids can create the face they want on their robot and take pride in making a helpful centerpiece for their party guests.

Additional holiday arts & crafts:

Patriotic Pinwheel  (Kaboose.com)
Firework Favors (Spoonful.com)
Fourth of July Windsock (Bhg.com)

Holiday Recipes

Baking with the kids is always a fun activity (but keep kitchen safety in mind when including the little ones), especially when it is a sweet treat they can enjoy. Everyone loves ice cream during the hot summer days. We found a fun recipe for Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes on Grandparents.com. These cupcakes are served in an ice cream cone, but it is actually a cupcake!

Have your little one assist in stirring the batter or adding the sprinkles. If your little one is too young to assist you in the kitchen, bring their play kitchen into your kitchen so they can “pretend” bake alongside you.

Additional holiday treats:

Berry Bliss Rocket Pops (Familyfreshcooking.com)
Flag Cake (Recipe.com)
Crispy Cheese Stars (Familyfun.go.com)

Have a great 4^th of July! If you decide to do a project or baking activity with your children or grandchildren, send some pictures to thestep2team@gmail.com and we will share them on Facebook!

Check out more craft ideas and recipes on the Step2 “Creative Crafts” Pinterest board.