AJ complained last night that we didn't have any Halloween decorations outside, and so he decided to make a ghost. Assuming he wanted something 3-D, I started looking around for a styrofoam ball that could be wrapped in tissue paper. AJ, meanwhile, had a much simpler vision. He drew a ghost on a piece of paper and cut it out with scissors. Ta da!
The story could have ended there, but then AJ noticed the styrofoam ball I had at last dug out from the bottom of the bucket of craft supplies. Suddenly his mind started racing with possibilities. I showed him how to wrap tissue paper around it to create a ghost.And that was the last I touched it. AJ's imagination went into overdrive.
It was about that time when Sydney looked over and noticed her brother was having fun and getting to use scissors and tape. So of course she had to join us and make a ghost of her own. With no other styrofoam balls available, I taught her how to ball up old newspaper for stuffing. (Sound effects are key. You must say "crumple, crumple crumple" as you do it.) She decided her ghost needed to be a girl, and so I tied it off with a pink pipe cleaner and then let Sydney take it from there.
Behold - their finished masterpieces:
AJ created "Beetlejuice." He's never watched the movie, but apparently has seen posters or pictures or something. To him, Beetlejuice represents the perfect Halloween cross between a skeleton and a ghost - a little spooky, but not too scary. Using additional tissue paper and about a half a roll of tape, he added arms, a bow tie and hat. He then cut a hole in a piece of paper so that "Beetlejuice" looks like he's climbing out of a grave. Note the tombstone, the colored grass and (it's hard to see) the brown dirt right around the edge of the grave. He even added birth and death years on the tombstone. Talk about detail!
On the opposite end of the detail spectrum, Sydney's friendly, girl ghost needed hair. Of course. Sydney found another pink pipecleaner and asked me to help her tape it on. Impatiently she waited, eager to color in eyes and a mouth. After that it was sparkly sticker time. I counted ten flower shaped stickers at the point I first asked if I could take a picture.
"Not yet, Mom, I'm not finished," was her reply.
(It was hearing his sister's desire to add more decorations that prompted AJ to determine he needed to color in some dirt .)
At last they finished and agreed to let me take their pictures. If you're curious about AJ's body language, it's supposed to be crying, "Help! Beetlejuice is trying to get me!"
Sydney was quite disappointed that bedtime arrived before she had a chance to make a boy ghost to accompany her creation. Now you know what she'll be doing tonight.
So we never did resolve the original complaint of no outside decorations. I actually do have some, but have just been too lazy to dig them out. Perhaps AJ's next craft can involve making a ghost out of something more weather resistant. I can't wait to see what his imagination can do to enhance a white plastic garbage bag.
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