Easy Scarecrow Fun For Busy Grandparents and Grandchildren

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Scarecrows are a favorite part of our harvest season festivities, have you noticed? Whether it’s cute country clipart pictures, fun scarecrow wall hangings, or our beloved stuffed scarecrow I bought decades ago, they are definitely abundant in my home and on my blogs. One of our favorite scarecrow traditions? Making our own, of course. Care to join in the fun?

I have to confess. While there are loads of wonderful and very well crafted scarecrow directions online, these are ultra-simple and “minimalist”! What with staying busy with all the Sandwich Generation issues I juggle, and not being extremely gifted in crafting (hence my favorites ALWAYS being fun and EASY crafts for kids AND seniors), if they weren’t simple, we’d never do them. Therefore, you will find these easey peasey. And the nice thing is, with scarecrows. ANYTHING goes. And that’s one of the best things about them – besides the fact they look so very adorable.

First we gather the vital necessities:

1. Newspapers – if you don’t have enough, check with your neighbors. My grandson’s neighbor was our life saver for our project this year.
2. BIG safety pins – LOTS. Usually I make do with the mixed groups and a bit older ones and they were always a bit hard to use with the bulkier material. This time I splurged and bought a big pack of new and big safety pins and it made a lovely improvement.
3. Shirts, pants, socks, gloves if you want hands (we didn’t this year, but have in past years) – any size and shape. Over the years, we’ve used adult sizes, kid sizes, and in between. Even baby clothes work fine and look very cute, indeed.
4. Something for the head.* My first time was with papier mache and it does look well when done right. Mine was “not so right” and downright messy. Fun memories but we’ve never done it again. Other options include:

• White pillow cases – these tend to be pointy but if you put a big floppy hat on it works fine
• White garbage bags – these also tend to be pointy but if you put a big floppy hat on it works fine
• Round plastic pumpkins that are used for trick or treat holders – THANK YOU to Googie’s Place, which I found via one of my two favorite grandparent linkys, Family Home and Life, for this fun idea (My other favorite grandparents linky – Grandma’s Briefs, of course. 🙂 )
• Round material pumpkins that are used for trick or treat holders – my new favorite, courtesy of Dollar Store this year. We stuffed one with newpaper, attached it easily with safety pins, and he looked cute – with AND without the hat.
• NOTHING – Thanks to the educational virtues of Disney World and Scooby Doo movies, two of my grandkids are very familiar with “the Headless Horseman.” They opted to make their own scarecrows “Headless, Horseless, Horsemen.” 🙂 The third grandchild started with the cute pumpkin head and eventually took it off and followed suit. 

Stuff everything with newspaper. They will be lighter and fluffier and the newspaper will last longer if you crumple individual sheets. But my grandsons will assure you that grabbing a whole section is faster, funner, and easier.

Attach the shirt to the pants, the pants to the socks, etc. – all by safety pins. Finish by adding the head and, if desired, a hat. And voila, a very happy harvest-y scarecrow to greet your Sandwich Generation family and friends as they come to the door. Hopefully no matter how fast our grandkids grow, they’ll always enjoy the fun memories of Scarecrow-making times together. We certainly will! Happy Autumn Bliss AND Happy Pink Saturday where PUMPKINS are the theme for the day and my cute pumpkin head scarecrow is just the ticket for that.

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