Mommy School Week 6 Halloween Theme

Letter: H Number: 3

Color/Shape: Orange Song: The Eensy Weensy Spider

ACTIVITIES & GAMES Jack-O-Lantern fun Paint embroidery hoop orange and let child place face inside circle to become a “jack-o-lantern.” (You could also paint a paper plate orange and cut out the center.) Sing this song:

We are Pumpkins (Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb) We are pumpkins, big and round Big and round, big and round.

We are pumpkins, big and round, Sitting on the ground.

See our great big shining eyes,

Shining eyes, shining eyes See our great big shining eyes

Shining all around

See our happy laughing mouths Laughing mouths, laughing mouths See our happy laughing mouths

Smiling right at you. Tricks or Guts Use attached activity to use the sense of touch to explore spooky textures and find a prize!

Pumpkin Faces (Shapes) Cut out a large circle shape from orange felt. Place the pumpkin shape on a large felt board. Set out 2 black triangle shapes, a small square shape, and a large rectangle shape. Show your child how to arrange the shapes to create the pumpkin’s face. Name the shapes as you place them on the pumpkin. Allow your child the chance to create their own pumpkin faces. Witch’s Buttons Using attached witch, set out a bowl of buttons. Ask child to find 3 matching buttons for the witch’s dress. You could also ask him/her to find 3 of the same color, shape, etc. Halloween Movement Use attached cards to practice: gross motor skills. (Creep like a cat, march like a mummy, etc.) Use attached list to practice fine motor skills. (This is encouraging child to warm up their hands in different spooky ways. Ghosts flying, etc.) Jack-O-Lantern Cut out a pumpkin out of orange paper and add a brown stem. Using black paper, create a jack-o-lantern face on one side of the pumpkin. Then sing this song with your own visual aid! Start by holding the pumpkin up on the first verse, and then turn the pumpkin so it shows the jack-o-lantern’s face on the second verse.

Have You Ever Seen a Pumpkin? (Tune: Have You Ever Seen a Lassie?)

Oh, once I had a pumpkin. A pumpkin, a pumpkin Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.

With no eyes, and no nose, and no mouth, and no teeth Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.

So I made a jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-latern

So I made a jack-o-lantern with a big funny face With a big eyes and big nose and big mouth and big teeth

So I made a jack-o-lantern with a big funny face

Pumpkin Pie Playdough Create pumpkin pie playdough. Using a pumpkin cookie cutter, cut out pumpkins. You could also place cut-out pumpkins in mini pie pins or tins from pot pies to create own pumpkin pies. 5 ½ c. flour 2 c. salt 8 tsp. cream of tartar ¾ c. oil 1 container (1.5 oz) pumpkin pie spice Orange food coloring (2 parts yellow/1 part red) 4 c. water Mix all of the ingredients together. Cook and stir over medium heat until all the lumps disappear. Knead the dough on floured surface until it is smooth. Store in airtight container. Remind children not to taste! Halloween Imaginative Play Set out a box of simple Halloween dress-ups. Let children play dress-up! Hookey Spookey Cut on 14-inch orange and on 14-inch black crepe paper streamer per child. Ask them to hold one in each hand. Sing the Hokey Pokey song:

Put your orange hand in, Put your orange hand out,

Put your orange hand in and you shake it all about. You do the Hookey Spookey and you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about.

Repeat: Black hand, orange leg, black leg, whole self.

ART

Pumpkin fist painting Have child make a fist and stamp the side of their fist (pinky side) in orange paint. Stamp on white paper. Let dry and add stem to look like a pumpkin! Spider Web Marble Painting Place black paper in the bottom of a pie pan or oatmeal container. Dip a marble in white paint, put it in the pan and roll it around. Tie a plastic spider ring onto the web using yarn when paint is dry. Pumpkin Paper Bags Stuff a paper bag ¾ full with shredded newspaper. Gather the top of the bag together and twist a green chenille stem around the top of the bag. Have child paint stem of bag green to form stem. Have child paint rest of bag orange. Use felt to create a jack-o-lantern face or leaves if you wish. Pumpkin Stamping Cut small pumpkins in half. Let children dip pumpkin halves in orange paint to make pumpkin prints. Spooky Spider Webs Draw a spider web using a white crayon on a white piece of paper. Have your child use black paint to paint over the paper to discover the spider web! Add a plastic spider if you wish. Two Liter Ghosts Fill an empty 2-liter soda bottle with some white tempra paint. Have child roll bottle around until the inside is covered white. Let child make a ghost face on the outside of the bottle using markers or paint. Remove cap of bottle and let dry. Once dry, replace cap, try string around top of bottle, and hang in room.

Hand Print Spiders Have child place 4 fingers and palm in black paint. Stamp palm on the paper to create half of spider. Repaint the fingers and press the palm down in the opposite direction to create the rest of the spider. Mummy Art Cut out a gingerbread man shape out of cardstock or poster board. Have child paint it with watered down glue. Rip strips of tissue paper and place them horizontally over the man. Add 2 google eyes, and you’ve got a mummy! Ghost Foot Print Stamp foot in white paint and stamp on black paper. This creates the shape of a ghost, with the heel as the ghost’s head. Add eyes if you wish. We do this every year on Halloween morning to see how Little Man has grown! Spider Webs Paint a paper plate black. Punch several holes around the outside. Fold the plate in half and punch more holes. Now have your child lace white yarn through the holes. Start in the center hole and tape the beginning of the yarn to the center. Lace yarn through holes until your run out, and then tape the end to the plate. Stick a spider in the web! Tea Light Jack-o-Lantern Use diluted tacky glue to paint a baby food jar with glue. Have your child tear orange tissue paper and cover the jar with orange tissue paper scraps. Glue on eyes, nose, and mouth cut out of black paper. Put a tea light inside!

SCIENCE Pumpkin Investigations Explore a pumpkin with some of the following investigations:

• Ask children to guess how much yarn it will take to measure around the pumpkin.’s circumference They can cut the yarn they believe will be the right amount. Then perform actual measurements with yarn and compare real circumference yarn to your guess.

• Weigh the pumpkin. What else do you think would be a similar weight? • Guess if the pumpkin will sink or float and see if you’re right!

To end the activity, cut open a pumpkin and allow children to use their sense to explore the pumpkin. Don’t forget to save the seeds! (The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons is a great informational book to read with this activity.) Spider Sifting Activity Color 1-2 cups of rice orange. Place spiders and other spooky objects in orange rice. Use this as a sensory tub or ask child to scoop out the spiders. Play-dough Add googly monster eyes to the pumpkin pie play-dough, and have children pull out the monster eyes. Grow Pumpkin Seeds Save one of your pumpkin seeds and let it sprout in a ziplock bag with a wet paper towel. You could also plant your pumpkin seed!

MATH Pumpkin Seed Counting Create circles out of orange paper or use orange paper plates as “pumpkins.” Write numerals on each pumpkin, and ask child to match the correct number of pumpkin seeds to each pumpkin. (Example: Match 5 seeds to the pumpkin with the numeral 5 written on it.) Sorting Give children a bowl of 4 Halloween-themed paper cut-outs. Have children sort the cut-outs. Pumpkin Sizes Using attached pumpkin sheet, arrange pumpkins according to size. Pumpkin Grid Game Using the attached pumpkin grid game, use candy corn, pompoms, or other counters to count the pumpkins!

Pumpkin Patch Counting Have child place orange pompoms in ice cube trays to practice one-to-one correspondence. Older children could try to use tweezers to pick up the pumpkins and place them in the ice cube trays. Mr Pumpkin Head This is a fun play on Mr. Potato Head. To learn about facial features, create an orange circle for the pumpkin and funny faces to create a pumpkin head. You can find printables for this activity here: http://lilmoptop.blogspot.com/2010/10/mr-pumpkin-head.html

LITERATURE CONNECTIONS

Go Away, Big Green Monster Make a big green monster out of felt by making patterns of the monster’s face modeling the pictures in the book. As the story is read, add pieces of the monster’s face and then take them away. Five Little Pumpkins Read “Five Little Pumpkins” story by Iris Van Rynbach. You could extend this story by:

Retelling the story using flannel board figures. Watching the power point presentation of the favorite “Five Little Pumpkins” poem by clicking here: http://prekinders.com/2010/10/five-little-pumpkins/ Practicing your own version of this poem. Sing with Raffi’s version of the poem.

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin After reading The Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson, use the attached life cycle cards to tell the story of a pumpkin’s life.

Spooky Story Read a spooky story, such as The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, in the dark. Hold a flashlight under your chin, lighting up your face as you read it. Try to be very scary! Feelings Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley is a great chance to talk about feelings. After reading the book, ask children to think about what a happy face looks like, sad face, angry face, etc. Practice making these faces. Then create jack-o-lanterns faces that look that way. Pumpkin Picking Before picking out your pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, a great book to read is The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King.

FOOD IDEAS

Pumpkin Seeds After cutting open a pumpkin, roast the seeds. Rinse the seeds and then season as desired. Bake them in the oven at 300 degrees until browned. (You can use these later for the pumpkin seed counting activity!) English Muffin Jack-o-Lanterns Let your child create their own jack-o-lantern face on an English muffin! Use toppings to create the eyes, nose, and mouth. Bake and enjoy a tasty treat! Eyeball Donut Holes Use a powdered donut hole as the eyeball. Place a gummy lifesaver for the iris of the eye, one chocolate chip for the pupil, and use red gel icing to create squiggly lines away from the center of the eye to make them look bloodshot. Cupcake Spiders Create chocolate cupcakes according to the directions on the box. Let cool and frost. Cut Twizzlers vertically and cut in half. Place 4 into each side of “spider.” Place M&M’s for eyes.

Individual Mini Pumpkin Pies 1 cupcake liner 1 vanilla wafer (for crust) ¼ c. prepared vanilla pudding ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1 T. canned pumpkin Cool whip Candy pumpkin (optional) Place the vanilla wafer in the bottom of the cupcake liner. Mix pudding, pumpkin pie spice, and canned pumpkin. Stir and spoon into crust. Top with a spoon of cool whip and a candy pumpkin. Witch’s Stew Using attached “Witch’s Stew recipe”, create a spooky snack mix for everyone to share! Great idea for a play date! Swampy Treat Make green jell-o according to directions on the box. Just before it fully sets, add gummy worms, plastic spiders, and other spooky treats. (Don’t eat the spiders!) Spider Crackers Put a dab of peanut butter on a Ritz cracker. Break pretzel sticks into 3-inch pieces. Stick three pretzel sticks on each side of cracker to create legs. Place two raisins at one end of cracker for eyes. Jack-o-Lantern Waffles Make pumpkin waffles or pancake.s. Let child drop chocolate chips to create eyes, nose, and mouth. Enjoy your jack-o-lantern!

FUN SONGS ON CD

We will be singing these fun songs from CD: Witch’s Brew by Hap Palmer Fat Little Witch by Stephen Fite Five Little Pumpkins by Raffi Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett

FLANNEL BOARD FUN

Jack-o-Lantern Faces Cut a pumpkin out of orange felt. Create various eyes, noses, and mouths out of black felt. Allow child to create their own felt board jack-o-lanterns. For older children: Take photos of possible jack-o-lantern creations and ask children to make that specific face using the felt pieces. Find the attached stories with corresponding visual aids: Five Little Ghosts On Halloween Night There’s Something

BOOKS Pumpkins Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis Pumpkin Heads! by Wendell Minor It’s Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino Somethin’ Pumpkin by Scott Allen The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King Pumpkin Day! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White The Pumpkin Fair by Eve Bunting The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler The Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson Pumpkin Town! by Katie McKay Pumpkin Hill by Elizabeth Spurr The Littlest Pumpkin by R.A. Herman Other spooky tales Boo to You! by Lois Ehlert The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat by Stan & Jan Berenstain Skeleton Bones and Goblin Groans by Amy E. Sklansky Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell By the Light of the Halloween Moon by Caroline Stutson Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian A Very Brave Witch by Alison McGhee Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley The Soup Bone by Tony Johnston Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler The Eensy-Weensy Spider by Mary Ann Hoberman Georgie by Robert Bright Who Will Haunt My House On Halloween? by Jerry Pallotta The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

Songs & Fingerplays Jack-O-Lantern This is Jack-O-Happy This is Jack-O-Sad Now you see him sleepy, Now you see him mad. This is Jack in pieces small, But in a pie, he’s best of all! Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater, Had a wife and couldn’t keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell, And there he kept her very well. Mr. Pumpkin (Tune: Where is Thumbkin?) Mr. Pumpking, Mr. Pumpkin, Eyes so round, eyes so round Halloween is coming, Halloween is coming To my town, to my town I’m a Little Ghost (Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat) I’m a little ghost Flying through the air Boo, boo, boo to you! Did I give you a scare? (Continue with additional verses such as I’m a little bat, owl, etc.)

Busy Spider (Tune: This Old Man) Busy spider, he made one Great big web on a drum, With a spin, spin spin ‘Round and ‘round he goes. He puts on, quite a show. Busy spider, he made two Great big webs on some shoes. With a spin, spin, spin “round and ‘round he goes. He puts on, quite a show. Busy spider, he made three Great big webs on a tree. With a spin, spin, spin, ‘Round and ‘round he goes. He puts on quite a show. Busy spider, he made four Great big webs on the door. With a spin, spin, spin, ‘Round and ‘round he goes. When he sleeps, no one knows! Ghost Chant (Recite very quietly) Ghost so scary, Ghost so white, Don’t scare ____ (Shout child’s name) On Halloween night.

Fly Like Bats (Tune: Frere Jacques) Fly like bats, fly like bats, All around, all around They can go up and down They can fly without a sound Fly like bats, fly like bats. Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Poem To scare some folks on Halloween, I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll hide behind this pumpkin face, And then I’ll yell… BOO! Hello Poem Hello witches, hello ghosts Hello pumpkins on a post Hello goblins and black cats Hello skeletons, hello bats Hello owls and hello moon Halloween is coming soon! Ring Around the Pumpkins (Tune: Ring Around the Rosies) Ring around the pumpkins Pocket full of spiders Boo! Boo! We all fall down! The ghosts are in the meadow Drinking witches’ brew Boo! Boo! We all stand up!

Two Little Ghosts Chant Two little ghosts smiling at you One named Who, One named Boo. (Raise one finger on each hand up at a time in front of you.) Fly away Who! (Fly one hand behind back)

Fly away Boo! (Fly other hand behind back)

Come back Who! (Bring one hand in front) Come back Boo! (Bring other hand to

front while shouting BOO!) It’s Halloween Tonight (Tune: The Farmer in the Dell) It’s Halloween tonight, It’s Halloween tonight, Watch how the witches fly It’s Halloween tonight. It’s Halloween tonight, It’s Halloween tonight See how the goblins prowl It’s Halloween tonight. It’s Halloween tonight, It’s Halloween tonight, We’re out to trick-or-treat It’s Halloween tonight. I ’m a Little Pumpkin (Tune: I’m a Little Teapot) I’m a little pumpkin, orange and round Here is my stem and there is the ground When I get all cut up, here me shout Just open me up and scoop me out!

COLOR: ORANGE Eyeball Sorting Print and cut out the attached monster eyeball sorting cards. Add a small bowl of colored wiggle eyes. Match eyes to monsters. (You could also mount regular google eyes on different colored paper to match to the eyes.) Orange Collage Create an orange collage with orange fabric scraps, pompoms, buttons, yarn, pipe cleaner, tissue paper, paint chip samples, etc. Orange Interactive Online Game You can play this game here: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/colors/orange.htm Orange Songs “Orange” from Color songs by Stephen Fite We Love Orange song (Tune: Three Blind Mice) We love orange, we love orange. Yes we do, yes we do— Crunchy carrots so good to eat, Juicy oranges, oh so sweet, Pumpkins ready for trick-or-treat. Yes, we love orange. Orange Car Hunt Keep track of all of the orange cars you can find during the week using a picture graph. (You may have to look long and hard to find orange cars!) Halloween Color Book Read “Yellow pumpkin, yellow pumpkin” book (attached). This is written in the style of Brown bear, brown bear. Invite your child to pay close attention to the colors along the way. Don’t forget to add a picture of your child on the last page!

Color Shopping Go color shopping in each room for things that are orange. Food ideas Carrots, oranges, sweet potatoes, Reese’s pieces, pumpkin, squash, candy corn, Cheetos, orange bell peppers, canteloupe, apricots, mangoes, peaches. Fashion Show Have a day where everyone in the family wears orange! Halloween Rubbings Create a pumpkin and spider shape out of cardboard. Tape the cut-outs onto a table. Let your child place paper on top of the shapes. Have them use the sides of an orange crayon to make a rubbing. Books Orange by Nancy Harris

NUMBER: THREE Writing Rhyme While practicing writing the number three, say this rhyme to help form the numeral:

Around the tree, around the tree. That’s the way to make a three!

I like to practice writing numbers in fingerpaint, shaving cream, sand, or using Crayola’s window crayons. Numeral Activity Print out attached numeral sheet. Have children count out the correct number of Halloween-themed paper cut-outs and glue them to the sheet. Tactile Learning Cut the numeral 3 out of sand paper. Have child trace with his/her finger. You could also do a rubbing of the numeral by placing paper on the top and coloring over it, perhaps with the color of the week! Pom Pom Numbers I always introduce the number of the week using the Pom Pom Number cards you can download here: http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2010/06/preschool-printables-pom-pom-numbers.html We lay fuzzy pompoms on the dots on the numeral and count them as we go. Sticker Sentences Help your child place 3 stickers (possibly Halloween stickers) on a page. Write a math sentence at the bottom like “George has three ghosts” or “Suzy has 3 skeletons.” Three Exercises Have child do 3 hops, 3 stomps, 3 kicks, etc. Deck of Cards Have child look for 3’s in a deck of cards.

Snacks Three-decker sandwiches, crackers with cream cheese with 3 raisins on top, ants on a log with 3 raisins on top. Books Three by Dana Meachan Rau The Three Bears by Byron Barton The Three Pigs by David Wiesner The Three Blind Mice Inside the Spooky Scary and Creepy Haunted House by Charles Reasoner The Three Bear’s Halloween by Kathy Duval Songs Three Halloween Cats Song (Tune: Three Blind Mice) Three Halloween cats, Three Halloween cats, See how they run, See how the scat. They run loose all over town. They cause a mess and knock things down. They better watch out or they’ll be in the pound. Three Halloween cats. Three Blind Mice Three-Color Painting Place a piece of white paper inside an oatmeal container. Place globs of 3 colors of paint inside. Place marbles or acorns inside and roll the container around. Look at your painting! Triangle Introduction Introduce that a triangle has 3 sides. Point out the triangles you may see when making jack-o-lanterns. Also, you could allow your child to take 3 craft sticks or toothpicks to create a triangle.

Number Review A fun way to review all the numbers is to sing “The Ants Go Marching.” Make number posters and ask child to hold the numeral as you sing about it. March around the house with the numerals, and really hype up the number three this week. Perhaps you could stomp the loudest or sing the loudest on this number. Index Card Counting On an index card, color 3 dots and write the numeral 3. Have child use a variety of counters (my son’s favorite is matchbox cars!) to place on the three dots.

LETTER H

Flashcards Use attached flashcards to see what starts with the letter H. Review these flashcards daily. Spooky “H” art Have child use Tacky Glue to draw an “H” on wax paper. Cover in black and orange glitter. Let dry for 24 hours. Peel off of wax paper. Add spiders to your spooky H! H is for hands I always love letting the child paint using something that starts with that letter. Cut an H out of paper. Let child stamp their hands in paint and then onto the letter H. This would also be a good time to practice the fine motor skills to do hand exercises. Songs Horsie, horsie Horsie, horsie, on your way, We’ve been together many a day, So let your tail go swish, And your wheels go round, Giddy up! We’re homeward bound. (This is fun for Mom & Dad to play horsie!) Hokey Pokey If You’re Happy and You Know It (Verses for H actions) If you’re happy and you know it, give a HUG If you’re happy and you know it, tap your HEAD If you’re happy and you know it, HOP up and down

Food ideas Hamburger, ham, hot dogs, honeydew, hashbrowns, hot chocolate, hot fudge, humice Witch’s ABC Stew Review all letters by mixing up magnetic letters in a cauldron or bowl. You can print your own activity here: http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-our-shelves-this-week_21.html H Activities Create a large H on the floor using masking tape. Ask child to HOP on the letter, put their HANDS on the letter, use a HOOLA HOOP while standing on the letter, etc. Be creative! Craft Stick Letters Use craft sticks to create an H. Have an adult hot glue the sticks together.

Instructions: Print on cardstock. Cut out and laminate for durability. After introducing the letter, place somewhere that the child will see all week. Refer back to the letter throughout the week. Have child practice tracing the shape with his finger.

Instructions Print and laminate pumpkins. Have child sort by size.

Instructions Print and mount pages on cardstock. Insert a picture of your own little trick-or-treater on the last page. Laminate for durability and bind as a book.

Halloween Movement Cards

When your child has got the wiggles, draw one of these movement cards to guide their wiggles!

Visual Aids for 5 Little Ghosts Story

Instructions: Print, cut out, and laminate monster cards. Match colored wiggle eyes (or

google eyes mounted on colored paper) to the monsters.

Instructions Read the following riddles to your child and see if they can guess what the

riddle is about. Then place the figures on a flannel board.

“On Halloween Night” visual aids

Instructions Print, cut out, and laminate for durability. On the first day of the unit, introduce the letter along with the sound it makes. Post the letter in a spot where it can be seen throughout the week. (I post ours on the front door!)

Instructions Print and cut out numeral. Ask child to glue three cut-outs to the numeral.

This could be three Halloween stickers or cut-outs.

The Eensy Weensy Spider

The eensy weensy spider Went up the water spout.

Down came the rain And washed the spider out.

Out came the sun And dried up all the rain.

And the eensy weensy spider Climbed up the spout again.

Instructions Print and laminate. Mount backs of pictures with flannel. Use flannel board visual aids when singing “The Eensy Weensy Spider”

Credits You can find more fun learning ideas here:

PreKinders Linda's Learning Links Making Learning Fun -Witch Button Match Perpetual Preschool A Child’s PlaceThe Virtual Vine Kiz Club - Song visual aids Preschool Express Kiz Club – ABC flashcards Montessori For Everyone – pumpkin sequencing cards Dimple Prints - Letter Banner Totally Tots - Pumpkin Bowling A Child's Place Lil Mop Top The Idea Room The Crafting Chicks Mrs. Home Ec. Counting Coconuts Moomoo’s and Tutus Naptime CraftersDJ Inker’s clip art Borders for my digital creations came from this paper pack by Echo Park Paper Co.