Painting Some Pumpkins :)

 

When there’s (finally!) a bite of fall in the air, pumpkins start popping up everywhere!  There are so many cool lessons to enjoy involving pumpkins, such as those linked here: https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2020/10/we-are-scientists-pumpkin-exploration.html and https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2012/10/pumpkin-fun.html

For some Art interest, there is nothing like simple process painting for the little ones. Before their hand-eye coordination is fully developed, it’s still fun to work with paints to get that squishy feeling - either with hands, brushes or even sponges or other objects. 

Let them cover a paper with paint however you choose and after the page of orange painting dries, you can use thick cardboard stencils (cereal boxes?) cut in large pumpkin shapes to help them make lines and start to cut out their pumpkins! 

Make sure they’re on board with cutting into their artwork - modeling the process first will help them understand. Decide how to display - hanging by some yarn, taped on the wall or window, stuck on the fridge? 

Of course, kitchen sponges cut in the shape of pumpkins would be fun - your kiddos can print a whole field of pumpkins and fill in with drawn vines and leaves. 

Apples, cut in half, give a nice pumpkin shape, when dipped in paint and printed. Try using apples that are not super edible to avoid food waste.

Not looking to get out the paints - or need a quicker craft? Try large orange ink pads and spongy pumpkins to get a similar effect. 

Sometimes, though, you just want to paint on an actual pumpkin! We got the markers out for this one - fun was had by all! 

Choose your own craft, or do them all! 

Have fun! 

Pumpkin Day Feelings!

There are LOTS of great Halloween and Fall Read-Alouds! I’ve written about a few of them before (see https://makeearlylearningfun.blogspot.com/2013/10/great-halloween-reads.html?m=0 ) and there are so many more, but I wanted to show off a little board book that is a current favorite with the preschoolers over here :) 

IT’S PUMPKIN DAY, MOUSE! by Laura Numeroff is at first glance a cute, simple little book with great illustrations by Felicia Bond. 

But, as you turn the pages, you’ll see so many different emotions being shown through the pumpkins’ carved faces. Ask your kiddos how the pumpkin is feeling as you do a picture walk through this book. Talk about when they’ve ever felt this way. How about if a friend looked sad or mad … what could you do?

Big emotions like mad, sad, scared, surprised are represented here …. Even silly! You can use this book to make your own little flip books with some blank pumpkin shapes and have your littles fill in some emotional faces - simple lines that will help them show feelings, like the emoticons they are so used to seeing everywhere.   

 Use some small mirrors to have them try to see their own faces showing these emotions. The more they become familiar with naming how they are feeling, the more insight you might get during a difficult time when they are having trouble regulating their own emotions. 

Sometimes kiddos who are easily overwhelmed by noises and emotions, find Halloween a little scarier than the rest of us. This may help them sort out their feelings, as well. 

Of course, it’s also just FUN to read this book - it’s a simple and quick read with a cute ending and sometimes we just like to read for pleasure, too :) 

Have fun! 

 

“Creepy Math” with Crawly Manipulatives

 

Math is magical when you do it with fun, touchable objects in the classroom or at home. Seasonal things like plastic spiders and pumpkin erasers are fun, but so are simple things like bottlecaps or buttons. It’s all about the sensory element and interest factor 🕷

“Hide” the objects in a wrapped tissue box to make them extra special ~ there’s something about reaching in and grabbing that makes it spine-tingly fun! 

You can teach how to use tally marks for counting by pulling each item out and simply tallying first, one by one, showing how to cross at 5. Then switch to grabbing handfuls, tallying and comparing. So many early math skills here ... practice forming the numbers while you’re at it! 🕸

  

Making tens and counting can be done with seasonal ten-frames, seasonal objects - or both! These were found out there on the internet but they would be easy enough to make on your own. Giving kiddos the visual of ten in the ten-frame allows for simple counting and “how many more to ten?” It also begins to set up fact families, as your friends can count to see which numbers go together to make 10. 

Empower your math learners to make up their own spider stories (number stories or word problems) by verbally providing an example or two. “There were three spiders in the web, two more came ... how many altogether?” Let them take it from there and bring back the tally marks to pull it all together :)

Have fun! 🕷🕸🕷🕸🕷

Halloween 2020 Fun!

Looking for alternatives or add-on activities this Halloween? 2020 and COVID-19 have presented us with new challenges - and lots of folks are looking for creative ways to still have fun. Here’s a few ... 

Scavenger Hunt

Search out some scary or not-so-scary Halloween images on Google and make your own neighborhood scavenger hunt. Or go around and snap actual photos to make it even more personal :) Put them into a document and let your kiddos check them off when they see them - they’ll love it even more if there’s a clipboard involved! 

(Try this Clipboard hack: use a binder paper clip (the kind you squeeze) with a piece of cardboard or something sturdy to hold your paper.)

Here are some images I found easily by just Googling :)

BINGO

Use those same images to make BINGO boards - copy and move a few around each time - do doubles if you need to :) Your kiddos will love to play this again and again so make copies! It’s great for visual discrimination and matching skills, too!

Trick or Treat Treasure Hunt

If trick or treating isn’t on your agenda, try a Treasure Hunt style event, using images glued onto envelopes with treats or tricks inside. Hide in the yard similar to an Easter Egg hunt, and let your littles hunt for goodies! You can make it as easy or hard as you want ... grab and go, search for specific scary pictures (find all the ghosts, find all the skeletons), check off finds on a list .... whatever your group goes for :)

Have fun!! 🕸🕷🦇👻🎃💀

 

Make Your Own Pumpkin Patch

It’s hard to make a plan these days for traditions like pumpkin picking! Just getting through each day is a lot, but if you’re thinking about it .... Some schools have arranged for farms to come by, some are doing virtual visits, some are coming up with other creative ideas! If your class is hybrid, it’s time-challenging to do anything together, but teachers are making it work, as best as they can :)

Having the whole class contribute to a project is one way to build community amongst the various sections of the class. In the past, when challenged by schedules or transportation/budget issues, we made our own pumpkin patch on the school property. This might work for this crazy year, too! 

Ask families and community members to contribute any item(s) they are able ... hay bales, corn stalks, scarecrow decorations, milk crates, clothing for a scarecrow, etc. They could drop it off in a specified area outdoors, so some may come before school, some after school, and some at drop off or pickup times. Put all the pieces together and let the children come up with a plan - and execute it. Since we had a few classes participating in ours, it was done bit by bit, which would work this year, if cohorts/remote is your model. 

  

Groups could also make a giant leaf pile and use it to stuff a scarecrow’s body, so he could sit-up :) Add a pumpkin or plastic jack-o-lantern for a head and think about a silly hat for your guy! Our kiddos had so much fun doing this, that we dumped him out and started over with the next group :) Why not even make more, if you get more clothes? 

Of course, our scarecrow needed a name, so that became another task ... coming up with and writing down suggestions, and reviewing them all to vote for our favorite! Spelling, writing, charting results ... all kinds of skills there! 

Our pumpkin patch became a place to read stories, observe nature, find natural treasures, and, ultimately, find a small pumpkin on Halloween. One class decided to supply their own, bringing a small pumpkin to share in the patch, while another class chipped in and got minis and painted them up as an activity after “picking” them outdoors. A hybrid class could pick a few with each cohort, and have remote learners stop by after hours for their own, then use markers or paints to decorate them all together, but apart :) 

Tip: Make sure that a volunteer only puts out the pumpkins as needed, so no friendly neighborhood critters grab them for snacks :) 

Have fun! 

We are Scientists: Pumpkin Exploration

There is nothing like hands-on experience for really learning and remembering about a topic. Pumpkins are a great subject for diving into and learning about in a multi-disciplinary way! 

Measuring is a fun way to start out .... try it with non-standard units of measure that you can compare to other objects. You can use something flexible like a rope or length of yarn to see how much it takes to go all the way around the pumpkin. You can also see how tall the pumpkin is this way, or use blocks or connecting cubes to get your answer. Hands on measuring and comparing are great math activities :) 

Talk about how your pumpkin grew and where it came from. Show photos of the stages of growth - from a seed to a sprout and changing colors - there are great non- fiction (and fiction) books that highlight this. You can find videos of pumpkins growing and even virtual pumpkin patch visits! 

Cut into your pumpkin for some slimy, hands-on fun next! I like to make a cut in the top and also cut out a “window” in the side, to make it easier to see in and reach in - the hole on the top offers more light.   

Lots of kiddos love to reach in and pull out all the pulp and seeds. Use as many of your five senses as possible - to see, smell, touch and maybe even taste seeds or pumpkin products. Run a hand around the outside and count up the ribs - or try guessing and counting as a fun predictive activity. For those with sensory differences, try for a little exposure at a time to the pulp in order to get them more comfortable with the squishy feeling. 

In-class learners can go back again and again to see and explore ...  remote learners may benefit from leaving a basket of baggies with pulp and seeds outside for them to pick up after school hours. Planning ahead can have all students on the same page with this activity. (If you’re up for it, watching it rot over a few days is also interesting.) 

Playing with sealed bags of “pumpkin guts” can be a fun counting activity - make sure there is pulp and seeds and have students mush around and count the numbers of seeds inside. 

Using a variety of gourds and small and large pumpkins can also be a fun sink or float activity. Introduce some other classroom items - maybe a pumpkin eraser, or some plastic scoops - and guess whether things will sink or float. Then, take turns testing out your theories. Your little scientists will love it! 

Have fun! 

Great Halloween Reads!

Halloween is a fun time - and a fun time to read some GREAT stories!!

Two of my favorites to look for:

Too Many Pumpkins!
by: Linda White / Megan Lloyd

This story teaches on so many levels! Work on sequencing with the story of pumpkins growing, from splattered pumpkins to sprouts to vines, etc. Show how it becomes a circular story, with the seeds at the end of the book. The pumpkins' growth, despite not being wanted or cared for, is displayed through the book's interesting artwork and wonderful words.

There is also the deeper story of the book's main character moving from an isolated, unhappy life to having an entire group of neighbors who join her for Halloween festivities. "Too Many Pumpkins" is a consistent favorite with little ones up through primary grades.

Pumpkin Jack
by: Will Hubbell

Kids love this book! Any child who has had to throw out their pumpkin after Halloween will appreciate the way Tim disposes of his pumpkin - in the garden. It has great lessons about the after cycle of the pumpkin's life ... From a Jack-o-lantern to a mushy mess to a snow-covered mound. Then, in the Spring, new life brings Jack (and many others!) back to the garden! Great illustrations and  descriptive metaphors that kids can understand make this a book to treasure.

Have fun reading!!

Pumpkin Fun!

Pumpkin season is a fun time for art projects! You can make sponge print pumpkins, paper scrap pumpkins, even paint some paper bag 3-D pumpkins. Your little ones love to make projects using crayons, markers, etc.

Here's something else to try - a felt play kit!!

You will need a shoebox, some felt pieces, scissors and glue ... and your imagination! Line the inside of the shoe box lid with a rectangle of colored felt. This will be the background for any scenes your child puts together. For a "Five Little Pumpkins" scene, cut some long, skinny pieces and some shorter pieces out of a dark colored felt to form a fence. Then perch your little orange pumpkins all along the fence and take them off one-at-a-time to the tune of:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said "But I don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run, run, run!"
The fifth one said, "Let's have some fun!"
Then .... whoosh went the wind and OUT went the light,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Your child will love the flexibility of the fabric and how the felt  pieces cling to the background ... and you can play with it over and over! Keep your kit around long after pumpkin season and fill it with different shapes - you and your child can come up with many uses for this play set! Use it for story telling, language development, patterns, etc.

Have fun!

Halloween BINGO!

If you're looking for some not-so-scary fun for a Halloween party, try this idea! Make a BINGO game with Halloween symbols to play - great for matching, visual discrimination, and following directions.

Begin with a blank document and set up a five by five grid to form the outline of a BINGO board. Then, download at least 12 images of Halloween-related clip art to fill in your grid - I used each one twice! (For little ones, you could make it even simpler with a 3 by 3 grid.)  Make one board and then move the images around to make alternate boards, saving each time you have a new one set up. Make multiple copies of each - it doesn't really matter if two children get the same board! Copy the images into another document and enlarge to make cards for the BINGO leader to pick and call out.

Have your children use markers, coins or any small objects to play - maybe candy corn would be fun!! Multiple sheets and crayons would work, also - have the children "x" out the pictures as they're called.

While you are playing, you will be working on taking turns, focusing on the speaker and developing new vocabulary! Since there are no words on the cards, you could also have even the smallest students call the cards! They will LOVE it!

Have fun!