Fun and Festive Fall Crafts: Leaf Rubbings, Dancing Scarecrows, and Pinecone Turkeys

Gr 2–4—Each of these slender volumes is introduced with a story about the season from Chinese, Hawaiian, Abenaki, or Greek tradition, followed by a scientific explanation and some information about holidays and typical activities. Unfortunately, the myth is the best part of the book. There are a few inventive crafts (a snowman rod puppet with a working mouth, baby birds made of modeling clay and clothespins), but most of the eight projects in each volume are old chestnuts (tie-dye, paper masks, pinecone turkey). Materials rely heavily on craft store purchases—craft foam, Styrofoam balls, modeling clay—and instructions, while verbose in places, gloss over details in others ("Sculpt a base for the snow globe from air-drying clay and let it harden." Young crafters will need help copying and enlarging the templates provided for many projects. Though these crafts are lackluster overall, they might be good for classroom use.