Halloween Transferring Activity

O enjoyed this Halloween transferring activity since she really likes skeletons (while in the car last night she said "when I turn my head, my skeleton moves, too!). She used the chopsticks to transfer the squishy skeletons from one bowl to the next. The skeletons are in a bowl with black beans, and the beans tended to stick to the skeletons which was annoying. I've really enjoyed doing Holiday themed activities with O this month, and I'm looking forward to starting a few new non-Halloween activities soon :)

Halloween Sticker Story

O has enjoyed making "art" with her Halloween craft foam stickers. After she made this picture, she told me a story about it. I typed and printed the story for her. One day I'll put all of her stories in a book for her.

Halloween Lacing Cards

Here's another fun activity to do with greeting cards! I cut the covers off the cards and punched holes around the edges with a hole puncher. Done! O had a great time lacing the cards :)

Halloween Number Sequencing

This activity was inspired by a similar activity on My Montessori Journey. O put the numbers in order from 1 to 12. She used the number line to help her since she is sometimes still unsure of her numbers (she couldn't remember what a 4 looked like today). She really enjoyed this work, and I plan on making the same activity using leaves (just like the one from Laura's blog) after Halloween. After she completed the sequencing activity, she pointed to each number as she counted in English and in Spanish.

Halloween Greeting Card Puzzles

I presented O with this tray of 4 greeting card puzzles, and she really enjoyed putting them together this morning. Elliott bought the cards from Dollar General (2 for a dollar), and I cut the front off of the cards and used my scrapbook paper cutter to cut them into puzzle pieces. This was a quick, inexpensive way to make holiday puzzles, and I'm planning to make a few for each holiday!

Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft

O had fun making a paper plate pumpkin this morning! The idea for this activity came from My Montessori Journey. I gave O a paper plate, strips of orange construction paper, a glue stick, scissors, and a green pipe cleaner. I told her she could use either side of the plate, and she chose to use the back. She also had the option of tearing or cutting the orange strips, and she chose to cut them. She really enjoyed cutting the paper and glueing the pieces to the plate to make her pumpkin. I made a hole in the top of the plate, and she threaded the pipe cleaner through the hole to make a stem that doubles as a hook for hanging. Quick, fun, and easy!

A Footprint Ghost Wreath

Last year we made footprint ghost cards, and this year we made a wreath. The idea for a wreath came from My Montessori Journey. Adding in Ema's footprint was a last minute decision, and I'm SO glad that we did. I LOVE this wreath, and I hope that it will be a lasting Halloween decoration for the next 30 years or so :) O was excited about making the wreath and was proud of her ghosts having only one eye each!

Another Halloween Puppet

I'm SO glad that I stocked up on these Martha Stewart puppet kits after Halloween last year. O LOVES making the puppets, and it's SO nice to have a quick and easy activity ready to go at any time :) She doesn't play with puppets that much after they are made, but she really enjoys the process of making them. We accidentally left her cat puppet at Guh-guh and Grandpa's house, and she was SO upset because she wanted to show it to her daddy :(

Halloween Patterns

O was VERY excited to do this patterning activity. She said "I WANTED to do patterns!!!" when she saw it :) The idea came from my 5 year old niece, which is why O was so excited to do this work :) I cut strips of laminated contruction paper and put foam Halloween stickers on them to create a pattern. I left the last 1 or 2 spaces blank, and O filled in the correct sticker to complete the pattern. Next time we do this work, I'll provide O with a blank strip so she can create her own pattern after completing these patterns.

Halloween Playdough

O and I made Halloween playdough last week using this recipe. I'd forgotten how quick and easy it is to make playdough. We definitely need to do this more often!

"Building" a Skeleton

O is very interested in bones and skeletons, and she asked me to make her a skeleton. I was excited when I found this skeleton to print. I printed it on cardstock, laminated the pages, and cut out the bones. Now we have a fun skeleton puzzle to "build."

Halloween Cheerio Treats

O, Guh-guh, and Grandaddy had fun making Halloween Cheerio treats! (I planned to participate, but I was nursing and rocking the baby in the adjacent room while they were making the treats). To make these easy and delicious (but not so healthy) treats you need 4 cups of mini marshmallows, 6 cups of whole grain cheerios, 2 tablespoons of butter, and candy corn. Melt the butter and marshmallows in the microwave and stir in the Cheerios one cup at a time. Add in the candy corn and stir. Press the mixture into a glass dish and chill in the refrigerator before cutting. I LOVE these treats, but we rarely make them since they not very healthy :)

Halloween Spooning Work

The idea for this fun Montessori spooning work came from Itty Bitty Love. Sifting the spiders from the rice is fun and takes a lot of concentration (so you don't spill the rice!). I haven't introduced this work to O yet, but my 5 year old niece really enjoyed it!

Halloween Tweezer Transfer Activity

O REALLY enjoyed this Halloween tweezer transfer activity. She picked up one porcupine ball at a time with the tweezers and placed each one in the dish. She was very focused and purposeful in her actions :) The porcupine balls came from the Halloween section at Wal-Mart, and the dish came from the craft section at Wal-Mart.

Glowing Monsters & Jack O' Lantern

Here's an easy handmade Halloween decoration for you! Head over to Not So Idle Hands for directions and to download the faces. These were easy to make even with a baby in one arm (although I made most of them while she was napping!). Have fun!

Halloween Sensory Tub

The idea for a Halloween sensory tub came from No Time For Flashcards. I love this idea, and it was so simple to put together (I love it when I see an idea on a blog, and it is something I can do immediately with little effort!). For our Halloween sensory tub, we used dried black beans, plastic spiders, bats, skeletons, and scorpions (from the dollar store), orange pom-poms, orange beads, googly eyes, orange pipe cleaners, and orange feathers. We added in a scoop, cups, tunnels, and tongs for even more fun!

A Felt Jack O'Lantern Game

I LOVE to make felt scenes and games! This felt jack o'lantern game was inspired by the felt scarecrow game at Let's Explore. You spin the spinner to decorate your pumpkin. There are all kinds of fun and crazy combinations...bunny ears, witches hat, blue hair, green tongue, bear ears, etc. O was THRILLED when she saw the set. We haven't played the game yet, but O has had a great time deorating the "mama and daddy" pumpkins. I guess I need to make 2 small pumpkins, so she can have "O and Ema" pumpkins, too :)

Our Miniature Pumpkin Family

I love this Halloween Countdown activity from The Wonder Years and decided that O and I would give it a try. It quickly turned into a completely different activity :) After we made one mini jack o'lantern, O decided that we needed a baby pumpkin and a cat pumpkin. Then, since we had a mama, baby, and cat, we HAD to have a daddy pumpkin and an O pumpkin. We ended up forgetting about using the toothpicks for a countdown and just had fun making our miniature pumpkin family.

We have LOTS of Halloween centerpieces, and there are more to come! I may have to move a few things to the mantel :)

Halloween Ghost Tree

O and I made a Halloween ghost tree this morning. We put a cotton ball in a tissue, and wrapped orange yarn around the cotton ball. We then drew a face on the tissue, and tied each ghost to a branch. We used to make ghost trees when I was a child, but we put lollipops in the tissues. I'm sure O would have liked that version better :)

A Different Spin on Decorating a Pumpkin

O was excited about today's Halloween activity...decorating the back of our carved pumpkin with plastic noses, eyes, mouths, ears, etc. I bought the set of parts after Halloween last year. The pieces are very similar to Mr. Potato Head parts which would work just as well. We're planning on buying several more smaller pumpkins and finding all of our Mr. Potato Head parts to make an interesting family of pumpkins :)