Crafts for Every Holiday

April Fool's Day: April 1

April Fool's Day is a good time to talk about practical jokes and about what kind of humor is appropriate. Whatever events you plan for the day, be sure to put the emphasis on comic surprises, not hurtful jokes at another's expense.

Here are other ways to add laughter to April Fool's:

• Collect riddles and jokes and make them into a book.

• Play role-switching games with your children. You be the child, while your children play at being the parents. Kids adore doing this and you may get some surprise insights into how you really sound to your kids (oops!).

• Make an April Fool's supper and let your child help plan it. Get creative and funny with food: Try mock-turtle soup or French-fried string potatoes made into birds' nests (with tiny potato "eggs"). Make foods into shapes that disguise what they are.

• Make a list of rainy day activities. Check your crafts box and make sure you've got plenty of materials for the rainy weather ahead.

Arbor Day: April 22

Arbor Day originated in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton, a pioneer who moved into the Nebraska territory and became concerned with the lack of trees. He began planting immediately upon arriving and, in his role as a journalist and newspaper editor, spread his enthusiasm and agricultural knowledge. Visiting Nebraska today, you'd be hard-pressed to see how it could have once been a treeless plain.

Make this a gardening day:

• Clean your tools and take an inventory.

• Plant a tree for each family member and give each a garden patch. Let your child decide what he wants to grow in his plot. (It helps to start small and try different things each year.)

• Take care of your trees on Arbor Day. Clean up around them. Decorate one with a bow and put out treats for the animals. Make a birdhouse.

• Plan your first picnic on Arbor Day, if weather permits. If not, pack for a picnic anyway and have it on a blanket on the living room floor. You can even make fake ants out of clay or paper.

Contact the National Arbor Day Foundation for more ways to celebrate: 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410; phone (402) 474-5655 or visit them at www.arborday.org to learn more.