Spooooky Days
Posted by Hope Spencer on 06 Oct 2009 | Posted in: Grade 1, Holiday and Seasonal, Kindergarten, Preschool, Teachers and Teaching, The Mailbox
I always look forward to fall; don’t you? It’s the relaxing time right before the busy holiday season kicks in. The weather is cooler but not too cool. The excitement of a new school year is still in the air. And, of course, Halloween is on its way! When I was a child, I spent the whole month of October planning my costume for the big day. I would change my mind three times a week until it was finally time to get dressed. What fun!
I know your students are excited about this time of year too. That’s why I’ve pulled some fun seasonal activities from the current editions of The Mailbox® magazine to share with you.
Soothing Search
To prepare for this sorting activity, fill your sensory table with a mixture of nonmentholated shaving cream and shredded cotton batting. Hide orange and black plastic spiders in the mixture. Attach a spider of each color to one of two separate containers. A youngster visits the center and searches for the spiders. Then he sorts the spiders into the appropriate containers. (The Mailbox, preschool, Oct./Nov. 2009)
Perfect Match
Students match numbers to sets on this interactive display. Write different numbers on pumpkin stem cutouts. For each number, put the same number of sticker dots on a pumpkin cutout. Post the pumpkins on an easy-to-reach di
splay embellished with green streamers (vines) so the display resembles a pumpkin patch. Mount the hook side of a Velcro fastener above each pumpkin and the loop side of a Velcro fastener on the back of each stem. A student counts the number of dots on each pumpkin and attaches the stem with the matching number. (The Mailbox, kindergarten, Oct./Nov. 2009)
Pretty Kitty
Materials for one cat: 6″ black circle; black paper rectangles (one 6″ x 8″, two 2″ x 3″, and one 2″ x 9″); 3.5″ x 5″ white paper rectangle; 1.5″ x 12″ black paper strip; black, green, and pink paper scraps; orange curling-ribbon bow; 2 blue sticky dots; scissors; glue; white crayon; brad
Steps:
1. Cut two black triangles (ears), two green triangles (eyes), and one pink triangle (nose) from scrap paper. Glue them to a circle. Attach a sticky dot to each eye. Draw a mouth and whiskers.
2. Round the corners on a short side of the 6″ x 8″ black rectangle (body) and a short side of the white paper (belly). Glue the belly and head to the body as shown. Glue the bow to the body.
3. Trim the 2″ x 3″ rectangles and the ends of the 2″ x 9″ rectangle to make front and back paws, respectively. Add crayon details. Then glue the paws to the cat.
4. Round one end of the paper strip to make a tail. Use the brad to attach the tail to the cat. Write -ack words on the tail. (The Mailbox, grade 1, Oct./Nov. 2009)
Don’t see something for your grade level? Keep watching the blog! I’ll be back in a while with ideas from the grades 2-3 and intermediate editions of The Mailbox magazine. I hope you and your students enjoy this season and all the spooky good fun it has to offer!
Hope
9 Comments |
Subscribe
|
Email This
The kindergartners love Halloween! We make these easy spiders that pack in some simple spider facts. Die-cut the numeral 8, black. With glue stick, attach 8 legs that are black paper strips 1×6, that the children accordian-fold. They need to put 4 on each side. Glue wiggly eyes at the top. A spider has 2 body parts (insects have 3), and a spider has 8 legs (insects have 6). The numeral 8 is a great visual. We have hung these from the ceiling or put them on a stretchy spider web. Either way, they are just too cute!
I am so jealous when I read all the messages about the Spoooky days. Why? because i didn’t recieved my october/november issue. Hallowwen is around the corner and i need new ideas so I can use it for my class. I am tired of using “same o same o”!activities/art! waaaaaaaaaaa…..
The Halloween/ Ocotber ideas from Mailbox have been my favorite so far. Thanks for all these great activities!
I love Halloween and all that goes with it. We are already working on Halloween fingerplays. Now I can add some new activites to go with my regular ones.
What cute ideas,thanks for sharing them! it helps me in my home day care. I have preschoolers that like to make things.
Those art activiyies are so cute. I am going to use everyone of these ideas in my classroom this month. I love october it is one of my favorite holidays.
I love Halloween. I take pictures of my kids and then make copies of a orange pumpkin. I tape their picture on back of a pumpkin and then cut out the area on the pumpkin so just the child’s eyes are showing. I hang them in the hall and put up a sign that says: “Which Little Pumpkin is Yours?” The parents love to guess which one is their child by looking at the eyes. If they guess right I give them their child’s picture.
I love Halloween! I love the cool weather and beautiful colors. I am excited to start making Halloween goodies in my classroom. Costumes are so much fun. One year I was a teapot from Beauty and the Beast. It was my favorite!
fantastic!!!! thanks!