As Thanksgiving approaches children are taught in school about the first settlers and the first Thanksgiving. Give them an insight into the colonial period by making simple dip candles.

You will need:

* Wax or other old candles to melt down

* Wick

* steel washers

* double boiler or a coffee can and a cooking pan

* coffee can full of cold water

* candy thermometer

* sticks

Melt the wax in your double boiler or place it in a coffee can in a pan filled with about three inches of water. Use a wire rack under the coffee can to avoid it being too close to the heat source. Heat the water in the pot on the stove. Be careful not to use a high heat. Use your candy thermometer to measure the temperature of the wax. 180 degrees is optimal. Do not let the wax reach temperatures over 220 degrees or it could burst into flame.

Cut your wick a few inches longer than you want your candle to be. You can use a steel washer tied at one end for weight or use a steel nut. Tie the other end of the wick to a stick so that your hands can’t accidentally come into contact with the hot wax.

When your wax is hot enough, dip the wick into the wax and pull it straight out again. Let the wax cool and harden on the wick. Dip the wick again and pull it straight out. This way you will be adding the wax in layers. As the layers get thicker with subsequent dippings, you can dip the candle in the pan of cold water to harden it faster. Continue to dip the candle until it is the desired thickness. Candles are then hung up to harden completely.

When your candle is done, you can use a sharp knife to trim the bottom end to make it even and flat. Trim the wick to about 1/4 inch.

You have made your own dipped candles, just like the pioneers of yesteryear!

When I was very young, someone (I don’t remember who) taught me how to make a paper dart. It was only much later that I realized that the design I’d been taught was different from everyone else’s paper darts. Instead of being the usual trangular shape, mine was a complex thing of triangles and rectangles. And, in my entire lifetime, I have never met anyone who makes darts the way I do. But it is such a good flyer that I have stayed with it and never learned how to make those triangular things.

And now I have decided to share my secret knowledge with the world (oh, you lucky people!). Here is how to make a completely different paper dart.

Fold a reasonably clean and flat piece of paper (any size, as long as it’s not square) so that a top corner meets the opposite edge, as in Step 1. Then fold it out again and do the same with the other top corner. Then unfold it and you should have something that looks like step 2, with creases where the lines are drawn.

Take the top corners of the paper, one in each hand, and pull it towards you, at the same time pressing in on the sides with your free fingers. You might have to encourage the very tip of the paper to fold correctly but it should look like Step 3 as you’re doing it. Then press it down flat so that the new folds become permanent.

At the base of the triangle you have created, grab an outer corner and bend it towards the centerline of the paper, again folding it flat when the edges line up, as in Step 4. The drawing shows the left side treated in this way while the right remains to be done.

When you have completed both sides, grab an outer of corner of one of the two triangles just created and fold it in to the center line again, as shown in Step 5. Repeat on the other side. Then fold the tip of the triangle towards you and down so that it covers the top of the triangles - as in Step 6.

Now fold the paper inwards along its center line, shown by the dotted line in the drawing. If you have been reasonably accurate with your folding, all the edges should meet and the sides be equal. All that remains is to fold out the wings along the line shown in Step 8, squash the folds flat so that they retain their shape, and you have a unique paper dart. It should look like this:

The great thing about this design is that you can alter its flying characteristics by forcing the wings into better profiles and perhaps even making small cuts to create ailerons and a tail. Have fun!

Make a Thanksgiving Wreath or Candle Ring with a few simple supplies and a lot of imagination.

Materials
* wooden craft ring 12″ size
* pine cones
* cranberries
* plastic or fabric ivy from the craft store

You can spray paint the craft ring gold or paint it hunter green or any other color you like. Hot glue the ivy around the ring. Then using your hot glue gun, place pine cones and cranberries around the circle. You can also add some sparkling beads or any other fanciful item you can think of.

For a wreath, it’s a great idea to make a bow out of ribbon to attach to the top or bottom of the wreath. If you like, you can also place this on your table with a pillar candle in the middle for a centerpiece. If you plan to light the candle, be sure it isn’t too close to the ring for safety and employ all the usual candle safety rules.

In many regions, fall is nearly over. That is, most of what there was to fall, has fallen. Now comes the job of gathering together all those dead leaves. Kids love to rake leaves into a big pile for jumping into, moms and dads with gardens might put them in the composter, others bag them up for the day they pick up the yard waste and in some communities you can still burn leaves.

But if you want to keep the kids busy outdoors in the fresh fall air, another idea is to use the leaves to make a scarecrow. The materials needed for the main body are simple:

* An old pair of pants or overalls, jeans or strong material

* An old button-down shirt, plaid flannel is traditional but any cotton shirt will do

* Some elastic bands

* Safety Pins

* Old boots or shoes

Wind elastic bands around the ends of both pant legs and at the cuffs of the shirt sleeves. Have the kids fill the pants with leaves. When the pants are stuffed full, tuck the shirt tails into the pants and attach with safety pins. Use at least two or three front and back and one on each side to keep your man together. Then they can start stuffing the shirt through the neckhole.

The head can be done a few ways. Some use a pumpkin for a head, but it may lack support. Another way is to draw a face on a pillowcase and gather it around a medium size air-filled play ball. This year the kids and I stuffed a plastic shopping bag with leaves and tied it up. We used a stick for support, long enough to go down the shirt and into the bag to hold it straight up, a neck if you will. Then we used a halloween mask fitted over the bag for the head and face. Ours is a jack o’lantern mask but any mask will do. Imagine how scary having Frankenstein sitting on the porch will be for the trick or treaters.

After the main construction, you can get creative with the shoes and other accessories. Your scarecrow can even sit in a chair holding the bowl of Halloween candy. Or use sticks to pose him standing in the yard. Put stuffed gloves on the ends of the shirtsleeves to give him hands. Let the kids be creative in making the scariest scarecrow in the neighborhood.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.