As a special preview for MAKE's upcoming Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, we're giving away two copies of Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz, part of the Alex Rider series! Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. That's all you need to do to enter! Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 8th. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck! For a sneak peak at Eagle Strike, check out a sample chapter at MAKE.

This project came in as en entry for MAKE's microcontroller-themed Halloween contest, and is sadly ineligible for lack of use of a microcontroller, but they're the most impressive Where the Wild Things Are costumes I've ever seen. Kadijah Moss Guidry writes in:

Well we loved the characters so much and my twin daughters really wanted to be them. I went to work on it with cardboard, old fur coats, fur remnants , an old leopard costume from years ago, animal house slippers and my imagination. I have no experience or education in design or sewing but it came out great. It took about 1 week to do the first costume headpiece and about 3-4 days for the second headpiece. My daughters were very pleased and so was I. Everywhere we went we were stopped and crowds of people wanted to take pictures. No one could believe that these were made at home. Some people were so amazed they started to get emotional. It was kind of weird but I was flattered. My daughters were so proud of their costumes.

Howtoons is having a Halloween costume contest! The winning homemade costume will be immortalized in a Howtoon explaining how to make it for future generations. So dig up those photos of your fantastic costume and send them in by November 4th! (And, since it's always cool to dress in costume, check out their special Homemade Hero and Jet Pack costume Toons.)

This ultra super cute sock monkey kit is on sale now at the Maker Shed. Blue, or peach? How could anyone decide?

Corinne at Threadbanger shows us how to make a beaded tiara with simple supplies. This would make a great craft project for a kid's birthday party, and I'm very tempted to break out the beads and make my own. Like Corrine says, everyone deserves to let out their inner princess.

Here's a fun and simple project to try this weekend! Kristin from bookhoucraftprojects shares how to make magic water bottles with just a handful of supplies you likely already have on hand. It's these simple projects that tend to keep my kids occupied for hours. How about yours?

Sesame Street is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and Marie from Make and Takes created this cute Grover hand puppet in honor of her favorite character from the show. I think a little Super Grover cape to add when he's feeling heroic would be fun, too!

Even though we're just a few days away from Halloween, there is still time to whip up this fantastic owl costume. Ellen from The Long Thread shows you how over on Alpha Mom, and includes templates for the mask and feathers. I love it!

Instructables user craineum made these really incredible Yoshi and Mario costumes for his toddlers. You may remember him from last year's Mega Man costume. Those are lucky kids! I remember one year being Tweety Bird, and my mom made a similarly large mascot-style piece of headgear. Who needs peripheral vision when you've got candy?

More:

Mega Man costume looks powerful!

Brenda from Alpha Mom shares how to make this salt dough skull bead and paper mache marigold Day of the Dead Necklace for kids. The best part: the kids can help!

As a parent, I struggle daily to get my kids to help out around the house. I've tried a lot of methods, and have seen a lot of fancy chore charts. My favorite thing about this one from Lisa of ModEco Kids is the simple statement at the top of the chart: This is how I contribute to my family. It's such a great way to turn the typical parental "nagging" into the true show of how we can all work together. Nice!

Check out Stavro's tutorial for using things in your kid's wardrobe to make this really sweet gnome costume.

With Halloween a mere 2 weeks away, folks intending to make homemade costumes for the bambinos should get started if they haven't already. This week's flashback comes from the pages of Make: Halloween Special Edition, a collaboration between the editors of CRAFT and MAKE, our sister publication. This volume features all things Halloween, from costumes to makeup to party foods and haunted house projects. Though it was originally released in August of 2007, you can still pick up a copy at the Maker Shed. In this excerpt, Doree Tschudy walks you through the basics of creating character costumes for your little one.

Home-Ghouled Kids
Quick, cool character costumes for kids.
By Doree Tschudy

I want to be [insert name of character here] for Halloween!" This simple demand will send you either into a creative frenzy or into hiding until November 1st. Don't panic, it's easier than it seems.

We're talking quick and dirty here, costumes to last a day or two. (Making an elaborate character for FanimeCon? Sorry, it won't be covered here.) Remember your audience: kids love a homemade costume, and if they have a hand in making it, mistakes magically disappear.

Let's say your son wants to be Boba Fett this year. Sure, you could spend $40 on a licensed costume, but where's the fun in that? You might find a sewing pattern, but what if you can't sew? I'm here to help. Fire up the hot glue gun, put on a pot of coffee, and let's go!

By Ed Troxell, photo intern

Looking for some entertainment that kids will love? Try sand art.

I not only work as a photo intern at MAKE and CRAFT, but I also run my own magazine. Well, on top of that I work in the afternoons at an after-school day care center.

Every Wednesday -- it's our long day because the kids get out of school early -- we try to come up with a craft project they'll actually want to do. If you've ever worked with kids, you know that when it comes time to do arts and crafts not everyone jumps at the opportunity to get started. However, this simple project turned out to be one of our best yet: it keeps kids entertained while allowing them to be creative.

How-to:

Halloween Doodle Embroidery
by Vickie Howell

If you're like me, you pretty much start celebrating Halloween by about September 15th. Skulls, witches, bats, and ghosts make me smile like a kid at Christmas (no disrespect). Instead of keeping the visions of pumpkins dancing in my head, though, I prefer to sew them onto cloth. Join me won'tcha, by downloading my doodles and partaking in a little stitch witchery of your own. Happy Halloween!

How-To: Make Monster and Alien Feet
By Dave Simon

Where I work we cannot have elaborate costume festivities. Only one item of clothing can be "Halloweenish". For instance, one year your hat can be the costume, then another year the shoes you wear can be the costume. I intended to be a duck, and wanted to make the flippers. I took an old pair of foam shoes and carefully sprayed expanding foam around them so that I could carve them. They looked good as craggy monster feet, so instead I painted them as is, with gnarly toes and all. My daughter was always borrowing them so I made a pair for her for her third birthday. She loved them in pink and purple. (Monsters can be pretty, you know.) This Halloween, we'll be making some alien feet for my son.

Amy of Let's Explore recently revisited some of her fall projects from last year, and I'm so glad she did. This felt scarecrow game is adorable! I could see a snowman version or a kids-getting-dressed-for-winter version, too!

Each player starts by putting a scarecrow face on the felt board. Then, take turns spinning and adding clothes to your scarecrow. If you land on the crow, a sneaky crow flew down and took one of your pieces - choose one to take off your scarecrow! First person to complete the scarecrow wins!

Nikki of WhiMSy Love shares four quick and easy crafts to make with simple craft foam. As a mom with school-aged kids, I can see those pencil toppers becoming class gifts ....

Tali of Growing Up Creative has started a new series on her blog called Eco Kids Craft, that focuses on kid-friendly craft projects with recycled materials. Her first project shows how you can turn simple cardboard tubes into striking wall art.

Howtoons has announced the winner of their Top Chef Ice Cream contest, and it's a delicious-sounding Earl Grey ice cream recipe. (The best part about making ice cream the Howtoons way is that you don't need an ice cream maker; it's a great technique to use with kids.) I like the suggestion for espresso chocolate chips for extra caffeine action. (Or if you are making this with kids, maybe not!)

Kids Yoda Costume
By Susan Beal

Making a fun Star Wars-inspired costume for your baby or toddler can be an easy October craft project leading up to Halloween. I made this Yoda costume in less than a week of naptimes (with a few weekend hours for fittings here and there) for my 18-month-old daughter Pearl. The hardest part by far was getting good pictures of her in the full head-to-toe ensemble during its trial run — she's speedy these days!

I used an Empire Strikes Back Yoda action figure for inspiration, and carried him around the fabric store to loosely match fabric colors to him and his outfit. The central piece, a simple brown robe, is altered from an adult T-shirt, and the other elements (a hat, snake, belt, and walking stick) are all quick sewing projects using basic templates. You can adapt this costume to fit a baby, toddler, or preschooler by changing the size and scale of the robe and accessories.