OctoberCraft Fun

-by Angelina Coble, Education Staff

Matsay the Museum Coyote dressed as Little Red Riding Hood to give out candy

This October I had the opportunity to plan the fun Halloween crafts for our second OctoberCraft event.  It was the first event I have planned here and it was a lot of fun- for both us and the kids! After visiting for two and a half hours one girl said "It feels like I've only been here 15 minutes!" We had 7 activity stations spread through the museum:

What's better than game pieces you can eat?

Halloween Bingo: A tasty twist on traditional Bingo, the kids got to fill their playing cards with candy
corn.  What's more fun than being able to eat your game pieces?

Foam crafts: The kids were able to put together foam Halloween decorations like pumpkins, ghosts, and frogs, then decorate their costumes, bags or other crafts!

Mason Jars with volunteers

Mason Jar Lanterns: One very popular craft was decorating mason jars.  The kids used glue, tissue paper, and a little paint to make decorative lanterns.  At home an electric tea light will make them shine, and several kids used them during the event to store Halloween candy!

Making a clay spider

Clay: The art of getting your hands dirty!  Everyone enjoyed using their creative skills to sculpt skulls and other figures and, after their masterpieces dried a bit they got to add paint.

Stringing acorns for necklace

Acorn necklaces: The older kids especially liked this activity where they made necklaces and bracelets by stringing colorful beads and acorns together in great combinations.

Dia de los Muertos workshop: Bob Diaz, from El Centro Sears, once again came out to do a wonderful workshop exploring the tradition of Dia de los Muertos.  Kids and adults both discovered more about a holiday they thought they already knew, and made colorful masks for their loved ones.

Shaahuk!

Shaahuk: If you thought Monopoly and Sorry! are competitive games, you should try this!  Shaahuk is a traditional Kumeyaay game where you have to be the first to get your game pieces around the circle representing the Milky Way.  The game was a big hit, children and their parents got very competitive trying to win.  One of the rules of the game is: if a player lands on an occupied space the first player gets sent back to the beginning. So you can see how the game can build up tension!

We had over 76 people come out on Sunday- many in costume!- for our event.  The reason we are able to host these events is thanks to the help and support of our board members, volunteers, and enthusiastic visitors.  We hope to see you all out again for next year's event!  A big thanks to all of you who made this event possible!

Next time you stop by the museum, don't be afraid to challenge me to a game of Shaahuk.  regardless of what anyone else tells you, I still consider myself the reigning champ!