Encourage kids to take part in celebration preparations by letting them make a cheerful centerpiece.
Get kids involved in family get-togethers by having them design and create a fall centerpiece for the table. Be prepared for something rustic and colorful rather than chic and sophisticated, and let kids run with their ideas. Take a walk together in the park or countryside to collect natural materials such as pine cones or leaves and grasses to decorate homemade centerpieces.
Pumpkins
Instead of using hollowed-out pumpkins as jack-o'-lanterns, turn them into flowerpots to create colorful and unusual centerpieces. Kids will enjoy digging out the centers of pumpkins, filling them with compost, and then planting fall flowers such as pansies. An alternative to planting real flowers is to use florist clay inside the pumpkin to hold either silk flowers or homemade paper flowers.
Turkeys
Collecting pine cones is an activity that kids enjoy during the fall. Turn pine cones into turkeys with the addition of a brown pipe cleaner and a few small brown feathers that are available in craft stores. Cut off a 3-inch piece of pipe cleaner and glue it to the top of a pine cone. Bend the top over so the pipe cleaner is roughly in the shape of a question mark to form the head and the beak. Glue three feathers to the bottom (the wide end) of the pine cone so they stand up as tail feathers. Glue the turkey to a paper plate and arrange grasses around it like a nest.
Jars and Bottles
Large jars such as canning jars, or pickling bottles, are ideal containers to use as centerpieces. Fill them with pine cones, or potpourri and berries. Tie a ribbon around the neck of the jar as a finishing touch. Jars also give a rustic homemade appearance when used as vases to hold silk flowers, long-stemmed grasses, or corn heads for a fall centerpiece.
Imitation Candles
Candles are common items in a centerpiece. If you don't want kids to play with real candles, make imitation candles with cardboard tubes and yellow tissue paper. Cut the cardboard tube to the height you want for your candle and paint it with acrylic paint in whichever color you like. Cut yellow tissue paper into a square and push it into the top of the cardboard roll so one corner sticks out like a flame. Glue or tape the candle into the center of a paper plate, then glue pine cones around the edge as decoration.
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