When we sit down to do artwork or a craft with our seniors, we don’t always know what we’ll end up with! Our end products are not always perfect…but our mantra is “It’s not about the product, it’s about the process”. We’re OK if the end product isn’t beautiful, as long as we had fun getting there.
But sometimes, magic happens. With the right staff member gently guiding, with a photo to go by and all the right tools, sometimes it just comes out right. This week, our Pumpkin Family project came out just right.
This great looking project was simple…with most of the supplies purchased at the Dollar Tree. We used the following supplies:
- Craft Pumpkins (from Dollar Tree and Joanne Fabrics)
- Pumpkin Carving Tool (Dollar Tree)
- Florist Foam (Dollar Tree)
- Wire cutter (in your tool box…or purchase at the Dollar Tree!)
- Permanent Markers – Black, Silver, Red
- Artificial Fall Flowers (from Dollar Tree)
- Artificial Silver Holiday Flowers (from Dollar Tree)
- Sparkly Pipe Cleaners (from Joanne Fabrics)
- Baby Pacifier (Dollar Tree)
- Foam Visor (Dollar Tree)
- Purple headband (Joanne Fabrics)
Here are the easy steps:
- With the carving tools, cut a circle around the pumpkin stems (about 4 inches in diameter for the smaller pumpkins, 6 inches for the larger). Discard the tops.
- Using permanent markers, create the faces. We used black for most of the project, but layered in red and glittery silver for the braces on one of the smaller pumpkin.
- Cut the florist foam in half, insert a block into each pumpkin.
- Cut the flowers into individual stems. Cutting the wires is a little hard, and may require either a strong man in the group, or a staff member to do the job.
- Insert the flowers into each pumpkin to create lovely arrangements. We used fall colors for all of the pumpkins, then added silver flowers to the fronts of the Grandma and Grandpa pumpkins.
- Decorate. We created wire “glasses” for one of the small pumpkins with sparkly pipe cleaners. Grandma’s earrings were made with twirled pipe cleaner also. Grandpa got the visor…after it was labeled “#1 Grandpa”. Grandma got the purple feathery headband. Baby got the pacifier.
These are currently on display at our front door, and they are a hit with all ages!! The children in our center especially enjoy the baby pumpkin with a binkie.
This is our first posting of activity ideas for an intergenerational center. We have activities that involve just our seniors, activities with just the children, and activities that can be enjoyed together. Subscribe to our blog for future ideas.
Happy Intergenerational Halloween!