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.

A corn husk doll is a traditional doll made by Native American children and also children of Colonial families in early America. No facial features are painted on the doll, also called the “faceless” doll.

The Native American legend says that the Creator made the first corn husk doll to help watch children while the parents were busy gathering food and doing other adult activities. The doll had a beautiful face and the power to walk and talk. One day after a rain, the doll saw her reflection in the water. She was so beautiful that she spent all the day gazing at her reflection in that pool of water instead of caring for the children and the Creator punished her by taking away her face and her ability to walk and talk.

To make your corn husk doll you will need cleaned and dried cornhusks. You can save your own the next time you buy corn from the farmstand and dry them in the sun or you can purchase them at craft stores.

You will also need:

*Twine or string
*Scissors
*Pipe Cleaners (optional)

1. Soak the dried cornhusks in warm water until they are bendable and soft.

2. Take six husks and arrange them with all the tips at one end and all the large ends at the other. Tie a string around them a about an inch from the top of the large ends.

3. Trim the large ends with scissors to make them straight and even.

4. Holding the cornhusks by the knotted end, turn down the corn husks over the knot to form the head.

5. Tie another length of string at the “neck”.

6. For the arms, take a pipe cleaner and roll another of your husks around it to make the arms. Tie the ends with string at the “wrists”. This will make the arms poseable. An alternative method is to take three strips of husk and braid them to make the arms.

7. Slide the arms between the husks under the neck knot.

8. Tie another string below the arms for the waist.

9. Take two thinner husks and tie criss-crossed across the chest and back and tie at the waist to form shoulders.

10. If this is a boy doll, divide the husks hanging down from the waist into two and tie with small strips of husk at the ankles, knees and hips to form legs. You can use pipe cleaner here too, to make the legs poseable.

- or-

If this is a girl doll, take some more husks and tie them at the waist to form a full skirt.

11. Tie small strips of husk around the neck and waist to cover the strings.

A quick gift for teachers or grandparents or for a favor at your Halloween party. All you need is some orange tissue paper, glue, a paintbrush, a black permanent marker and a glass jar.

Cut or tear tissue paper into stips. Paint a layer of glue onto the outside of a clean, glass jar. Place strips of paper over the jar onto the glue. If you want to make a layered texture, repeat the process by applying a little glue to the existing paper and placing more strips of paper. Stagger the strips in subsequent layers to enhance the textured effect.

Using a black marker, draw a jack o’lantern face on the jar. Fill with candy corn or other holiday candy.

There are only two more weeks to Halloween. The time leading up to it is exciting for children, the anticipation second only to that of Christmas.

To keep little hands busy until they can get them on that Halloween night candy, here are some crafts that are fun for kids and require only occasional parental supervision. From macaroni skeletons to windsock ghosts, this site has spooky ideas for kids of all ages. Check out the costume ideas for great spooky looks kids can create themselves. Also fun are the games and “rancid recipes” but the ghost stories might be too ghoulish for young children.

Halloween is Here.