October is my favorite month and it is not just because it is my birthday. I love the apple-picking, the leaves turning colors, butternut squash, and of course, Halloween.
And nothing says Halloween quite like a glowing Jack-o-Lantern. My daughter made hers with some left-over tissue paper and a glass baby-food jar.
We love crafts, especially ones made from natural or recycled materials but I’ll admit…we take shortcuts sometimes. Especially when I’m hosting a play date, I buy some craft kits from Oriental Trading company. I like their sun-catchers but we always have left-over tissue-paper squares. This craft was a fun and easy way to use up the extra materials.
Materials:
- Glass Jar (Baby Food or Jam)
- Orange Tissue Paper or Crepe Paper
- Black Construction Paper
- Glue + Water Mixture
- Tea light
Instructions:
- Mix glue and water (about 50/50) and spread on the glass jar.
- Paste on squares and continue to add glue mixture until the jar is covered.
- Draw and cut out a jack-o-lantern face from the black construction paper.
- Coat with a thin layer of glue mixture and let dry.
- Add a tea light.
Variations/Modifications: Instead of a tea light, you could also create a candle with melted wax and a wick.
Educational Experience:
- Language Arts: Introduce the term “translucent”.
- Science: Describe the effects of candlelight as opposed to electric lights. Research the invention of the electric lights and the use of candlelight prior to its invention.
- Arts: Explain color blending and secondary colors with younger children.
- History: Examine how immigrants bring cultural traditions with them to their new homelands and how those traditions sometimes change. Research the origin of the “jack-o-lantern”.
Extensions:
- Literature: Read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and discuss the role of the jack-o-lantern head.
- Arts and Crafts: Carve real Jack-o-Lanterns from pumpkins.
- Emotional and Social: Talk about how changing the features of your jack-o-lantern transforms it from playful to scary to angry, etc.
More Pumpkin Crafts from Other Sources:
- Paper Bag Pumpkins (at Little Elephants)
- Mod Paper Pumkins (at Hostess Blog)
- Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkin (Real Life Kids’)
- 3-D Paper Pumpkin
Shared at:
Love the lantern! We’ve done similar projects decorating jars with tissue paper, but I never thought to make them seasonal. Love it & will definitely add to our repertoire!
I love your new site! What a great idea to teach through arts and crafts, I like how you have added the educational tips in the craft instructions, brilliant idea!
Good night, HAPPY HALOWEEN! A little late..!
We need a pumpkin carving contest for this site!
I love all of the additional ways to use this as a learnIng/teaching experience.
Jack-o-Lantern Candle Craft | Naturally Educational
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