HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween!

With the start of the school year almost upon us.....in no time at all it will be fall time and with that brings Halloween!  This is one of my favorite times of the year.  So many fun things to do.  Here is a pic of my son, years ago, with a few of his little friends out in the yard.  These ghosts were so easy to make and he loved going outside everyday to visit them :o)

To make them, I just stuffed some newspaper into plastic grocery bags.  Then stuck a short dowel rod into the bag.  Used some tape to tape the bag around the stick.  Cut some cheap white sheets I had bought at Goodwill in half.  Drew some faces and tied a white shoestring around their neck. Put them in the ground and tie their hands together.  Very simple...but cute!

You can also decorate your house and add little trick-or-treaters to your yard.   Make the ghost head like the ones shown above.  Use an old pair of your child's jeans and stuff with newspaper.  Attach the waist to the rod on the ghost.  Add an old pair of their shoes.  My son actually named this little friend (I can't remember the name) and he would run out and say "hi" every day after preschool.  I miss those days!  Wish he was little again.

BOOKS!

There are so many good Halloween books!

Here are a few we really like:

Big Pumpkin  -  Erica Silverman

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat  -  Lucille Colandro

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything - Linda Williams

I Like Pumpkins  -  Jerry Smath

Halloween Howl  -  Norman Bridwell  (Clifford Books)

Go Away, Big Green Monster  -  Ed Emberley

Scaredy-Cat Splat!  -  Rob Scotton

Click this link for pictures of Halloween books!

Halloween Activities 
There are so many art/crafts/ activities that I am just going to list everything here!

BIG GREEN MONSTER 
Give them a paper plate and have them color or paint it green.
Hang a picture of the monster close by and let them cut out colors and shapes to match the monster's face on the book.  You can tape a large craft stick to it for them to use as a mask.

Silly Shape Monsters

 Have some different shapes drawn on colored paper for them to cut out.
Let them use markers and scrap pieces of paper to add hair and other features to their monsters. 

Pop -Up Ghosts
 
Have each child cut out a ghost shape and tape it to a craft stick.
Use a black or orange cup or paint your own.  Add some fun Halloween stickers.
Carefully cut a slit in the bottom of your cup to place the stick down through.
Show kids how to pop the ghost up and say, "BOO!"  

Mystery Halloween Paintings

Before the children get there for the day, take a white crayon or a candle and draw secret pictures onto white paper.  Later, during centers, let them watercolor with some Halloween colors like purple, black and orange.  When they paint over the wax, the water will resist the wax and move away from the wax.....leaving a mystery picture for them to reveal.

Bat File Folder Game

Make a file folder game like the one above.  Glue on pictures of some mosquitoes, caves, moon, etc.

Cut out 4 bat shapes.  Laminate the folder and bats.  Attach 4 shoestrings to the folder as shown.

Have child move the bat along its string and eat the bugs.  Count each bug as it eats it.  Once they make it to their cave, have them find the correct number that matches how many bugs they ate and place it on the right cave.

Peek-a-Boo Ghost

Have some printout pictures of a boy and a girl.  Have the child tell you if they are a boy or girl.  Have them color the person (You may need to cut it out).  Also have a cut-out of each child's head.  Glue the person and their head onto black paper.  Have them cut out a ghost shape and use a black marker to trace around the inside edge.  Glue just the top part over the person so they can flip the ghost up and say BOO!

CREEPY WITCH

Paint a green face shape or cut from construction paper.  Look through magazines and find the facial features you want.  Cut orange hair strips and crinkle them. Add the black witch's hat.

 Paper Plate Lacing Web

Color a small paper plate black.  Use a hole punch around the plate. Tie a plastic spider to the string and tie that end to the plate.  Keep lacing the string until you have created a wed for your spider.  You can undo it and lace it all again.

 Bat Mask

Have children color a bat mask with black, gray, or purple crayons.  You might have to cut the bat shape out or can let them try.  An adult should cut out the eyes so the child can see through.  We used glue and let them pick a glitter color to decorate around the eyes.  You can attach a string where it shows dots, but we like to use large craft sticks because a lot of kids do not like the strings.

 Haunted House

Have kids color a printout of a haunted house.  Lots of our kids could cut their own house out and an adult cut open the windows and door.  Have them glue onto a black piece of paper.  Glue their picture inside the door and let them add monster stickers or draw their own monsters in the windows.  Add a moon and Boo! 

Can you match the skeleton puzzle?

Buy some cardboard decorations you see in the store.  Or print two skeletons off your computer.
Leave one whole and cut the other one into puzzle pieces.  I laminated mine so they don't rip as easily.
Lay one on the table and see of the child can make a matching skeleton with his pieces.

 Pumpkin Numbers

Place a set of cards, numbered 1 -10 on a pile.  Have some kind of Halloween counters available.  I used little Jack-o-Lanterns that snap onto white string lights.  Have the draw a card, say the number and place that many pumpkins onto their number strip until they match that number.

 Halloween Lacing Cards

You can find different lacing cards for holidays or you can just print out your own pictures and laminate.
Use a hole punch around the edges and let the kids lace away!

  Candy Corn Hands

Paint student's hand with the colors shown above and press onto paper.  These would make a cute border around a bulletin board for fall or Halloween.

 
 Mr. Pumpkin Head
 
This is played like Mr. Potato Head.
Have a laminated pumpkin  at a table and a supply of laminated facial features and maybe hats and things.
Let the children create funny pumpkin people using the pieces.

  Halloween Wreath

You can use cut out pumpkins and ghosts or foam shapes, etc.  Have child arrange their pumpkins and ghosts in a pattern and then glue their pattern onto a paper plate which you have cut the whole center out of.

Cute decoration for them to display on their door at home.

 Cardboard Halloween Puzzle

I bought one of those printed cardboard decorations for your windows and doors.  I glued it onto a thicker piece of cardboard to make it more sturdy.  Then I cut out the puzzle shapes.  I used a file folder and traced each piece so the kids had something to match the pieces to.  I drew just a couple of the features of the puzzle to get them started.  Have them put the puzzle together on the file folder grid.

 Make Your own Halloween Find-It
 
 I filled a clear plastic bottle about half to 3/4 the way full with oatmeal.  You can use sand, rice, corn.....whatever you want.  Then I added googly eyes, orange poms (pumpkins) little Halloween erasers, spider rings, ghost shapes, etc.
Let the children move it around and shake it and see how many items they can find.  Keep a list of how many of each thing you have and maybe they can check them off as they find them.

 Sand Table

Use and assortment of Halloween toys, rings, erasers, googly eyes, etc to place in your sand table for the kids to find and sort into groups.  They can also pattern with these.

Play-Doh  

Use things like cookie trays, Halloween candy molds, and stamps in your Play-doh or use stamps to create pictures and stamp patterns .

 Pumpkin Toss

 Use plastic pumpkins and an assortment of rubber bats, mice, and spiders.

Try to stand back and toss as many items as you can into the pumpkins.

Who gets the most? 

Marble Roll a Web! 

 
This picture is from prekinders.com

Lay a piece of black paper in a shallow cardboard lid.   Squirt a couple drops of white paint on outer edges.
Place 4 -5 marbles in the lid and gently move the lid around and make the marbles roll through the paint and create a web.  Once dry, cut out a web shape and tie a white string down with a plastic spider attached.

Cookie Cutter Collage 

Use cookie cutters to dip into paint and press onto paper to create a neat Halloween collage.

 Rice Crispy Spider

Create this creepy treat with Rice Crispies and shape into a spider shape.  Add some purple tinted coconut to his back to make him hairy.  Add candies for his facial features. Enjoy!

 More Ideas (Without Pics)
1.  Print out pieces to use with the story "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Bat"
You can use them with a flannel board or just let kids re-tell the story with them

2.  Use foam pieces or wallpaper to cut out the pieces of the book,
"There Was an Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything".
Use on flannel or to retell. 
The kids could also make their own to take home and retell to parents. 

3.  Color some glue with orange paint.  Draw a pumpkin shape onto wax paper.  Let child fill in the shape with the glue.  While it is wet, add small black construction paper eyes and mouth.  Then you can sprinkle orange colored sand over your pumpkin.  Once dry you can use hole punch  and make a pumpkin necklace.

I could go on and on with more Halloween things, but I hope this is enough to get your started on some ideas!
Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!