Hello everyone! Just popping in to give you a few quick ideas for some fun Halloween themed art and math, and also a few recycled play ideas and book suggestions!
Hope you enjoy and have a safe and fun Halloween!
______________________________________________
Paper Plate Pumpkin
It's a no brainer! Take some orange (or red and yellow if you'd like to include a lesson on color mixing) paint, white glue and shaving cream and mix some neato "poofy" paint.
Paint your paper plate and glue black triangles and mouth shapes to make a jack o' lantern.
I cut a spiral out of green paper for the vines, which my son wanted to glue on as "arms". :)
The added idea for motor strength would be to have your child cut their own shapes out of black paper with child safe scissors! Fun and easy, plus cute to display!
Candy Corn Math
Something yummy always makes math fun! As you can see from the picture, what I did was take a ziploc bag, and place 10 dots on the outside, along with the number "10" using a permanent marker. I then put 10 peices of candy corn in the bag.
Have fun counting all of your peices, adding and subtracting peices, and learning math in this "sweet" way. The best part is that you get to eat it when you are all done! Kids love it. Try this activity with larger numbers, multiplication or fractions for older children!
Recycled Cereal Box Play Houses
I got this idea from a great book I have called "365 TV-Free Activities (You Can Do With Your Child)" (Bennett, Bob Adams Inc, 1991).
Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/365-TV-Free-Activities-Your-Child/dp/1558505857.
The idea is to take your recycled cereal (or mashed potato, cracker, etc.) and cut doors and windows in them, to create play houses! I turned mine inside and taped them back up out so that we could draw on them. This is an awesome open ended project--get out the scissors, tape, crayons and markers and have a blast! Not only do they look neat when you are done, but it is a free and creative activity that your child will love.
The play houses are as elaborate as you'd like them to be...we even made steps for ours! They look neat when lined up into a little "neighborhood". Try it!
_______________________________
In closing, a few book suggestions that we've enjoyed reading! These should be available at your local library:
Bats at the Library
http://www.amazon.com/Bats-at-Library-Brian-Lies/dp/061899923X
Bats love to read too...and they've flown in through an open window at the library!
Too Many Pumpkins
http://www.amazon.com/Too-Many-Pumpkins-Linda-White/dp/0823413209
An overgrowth of pumpkins!
Pumpkin Soup
http://www.amazon.com/Pumpkin-Soup-Helen-Cooper/dp/0374460310/ref=pd_sim_b_7
A story of friendship and tasty pumpkin soup!
Rainy Day Activites--Free!
Three free activities for a rainy fall day!
The first doesn't need an explanation:
SET UP YOUR PUP/DOME TENT INSIDE!
Get out your tent and set it up! It's cleaner than a blanket fort and you can zip toys into it. It even doubles as a ball pit if you have a bunch of balls to toss in! Super fun on a rainy day. I highly suggest it!:) Emmett has been really enjoying it this week. I think daddy has been too! LOL. They have been playing together quite a bit in it.:)
MY FIRST SHAPE SORTER
Here's an idea you may have seen before. Just take a small or large coffee can and trace your block shape in the lid. It is less confusing then a shape sorter with lots of different shapes. It's not just for beginners though! Older kids (2+) will REALLY enjoy a lengthwise slit to put a stack of poker chips into. (Although they are a choking hazard for little ones). This was a top notch fave in my classroom and beat out the colorful storebought shape sorters! LOL. Kids would sit for hours putting poker chips into the can, they were mesmorized by it! Em is still doing square blocks in his and I will make a circle one soon for circular objects. I may even do a large coffee can for balls! Enjoy!
RECYCLED APPLESAUCE CUP STACKERS/COUNTERS
Do you buy packaged applesauce for your child? I do from time to time and I save my cups. These cups stack together and you can number them as high as you'd like to go. When you stack them, you can twist each cup slightly to the side and the numbers go right up in a nice cascade! It's nice that the ascending numbers are visible in a row, like this:
As you can see I've put the corresponding number of dots on the bottom for counting to match the number on the side. When Em is older (2 1/2 or so), we will use these as cup counters for beans, marbles, paper clips, etc.:)
So there you have it. Three free rainy day activities!:)
