Archive for October 2011
I can’t take full credit for this activity idea . Word searches in bottles of rice, popcorn kernels etc.. have been around for as long as I have been teaching and probably much much longer. I was reminded of the simple genius of these last night when searching pinterest for sight word ideas for a reader who was looking for more activities for her son. I pinned this activity onto my early literacy pinterest board but felt like I needed to make my own version using Halloween words. Here is what we did.
- Gather your materials. You will need some filler ( we used our Halloween Sensory tub filler ) like black beans , orange lentils and creepy toys! You will also need some stiff paper ( we used paint chips but card stock will work too), a clip board, markers and a permanent marker. You will also need a large plastic jar, water bottles work too but you may want to take the larger spooky toys out of the mix.
- Write out the words your child is searching for I had my son help me think of Halloween words.
- Write them on the paint chips or card stock. I wrote some words out multiple times and some like Boo! only once. Just to make it successful but challenging.
- Cut and pop them in the jar with the filler.
- Search !
- Cross the words out when you find them.
- We challenged each other to find words. I like this game because it gets kids reading, searching and can be adapted to any level. For younger kids use plain letters, older ones cut the letters of the words out and have them search and spell!
My Favorite Halloween Book For Little Ones
Ghosts in the House! 
Are you almost ready to scream if you see another Halloween craft? I hope not because I have a feeling there will be a bunch of fun ones added to Link&Learn today! I love all these great links and thank you to everyone who takes the time to add your brilliance to help parents and teachers provide fresh ideas for fun and learning. If you are new here don’t be shy ! Jump in and link up your best post from the week. Although we are devoted to early learning we welcome any posts … it just has to be rad!
Have a great week – for those of you trick or treating stay safe and don’t eat too much candy!
My son is all about games and challenges and this rhyming tree was just the right amount of learning ( and fun) after a long day at preschool. Whether you homeschool or just add little bits of learning into a day full of errands and play remember that lessons don’t have to be long, they just need to be targeted. This morning as I nursed my daughter my son and I played with rhymes so when he got home I had this tree prepped for him to revisit the rhymes and some new ones too.
- Gather your materials. You will need some sticky back foam( I used up lots of scrap pieces finally), construction paper ( I also used part of a paper bag… I love reusing things), markers , scissor and a glue stick.
- Start by drawing a tree without leaves.
- Write one word on each branch.
- Cut out and glue on the construction paper.
- Write rhyming words on the foam and cut out in the shape of leaves.
- Glue the tree on the paper.
- Add one rhyming fool . Peel and stick the words onto the rhyming branches.
This isn’t a quiet time activity because I added some words to spark discussion like pair and pear as well as said which he recognizes in books but I suspected ( correctly) that out of context he doesn’t recognize. So even a little lesson( or game as my son calls it) like this can let me talk about homonyms and check on his sight words stress free. 
- He loved it and laughed hysterically at me when I asked if I could add one becuase I was SURE that chair and bee rhymed. Another reason to stay and play… giggles! When we were done he counted up all the words on each branch to see which branch won. Yay a little math too !
The best part about learning to read are these games and play that becomes possible so don’t forget to make words a game…even if there is a lesson or two hidden inside.
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Of all the Halloween words like ghouls, monsters and jack-o-lantern the search term that has been most common this month for us is ” Ghost Craft” . I aim to please so here are our ghost crafts, treats and even my failed ghost cookies that tasted really really good. If you weren’t one of the many people searching for ”Ghost Craft” I hope you find something fun to do anyway!
I think I may re-do this craft with my daughter in the coming days, it’s a fun craft to do with toddlers and preschoolers alike!
Seriously messy, seriously fun and the way the homemade puffy paint dries is seriously awesome!
Great use of cookie cutters and a fun and easy craft for preschoolers.
I was so excited when I thought these cookies up and when they flopped I was so sad I ate way too many .
This is the perfect lesson in great minds think alike. I thought I thought this great idea up…only to find out FamilyFun Magazine posted it well before me, and moms everywhere had probably been doing this for ages. AgainI was so sad I ate way too many .
We love marshmallow crafts, me because it’s math and fine motor skill practice, my son because he gets to eat the craft supplies!
This is one of my favorite Christmas party crafts we did ages ago adapted for Halloween. As my son pointed out it would also be fun for a Harry Potter party as it makes a great sorting hat craft. It’s a fun way to make something edible without baking.
- Gather your materials. You will need some one sugar cone, some black icing, halloween sprinkles ( ours are just orange and back non pareils), some gummy worms or other gross candy, a cupcake liner and spoon. I normally have my son help mix the food coloring if we are using it but black food color is notoriously stubborn to get out of anything ( like my hands… hours later) but by premixing it the mess with my son was minimal.
- Start by using the icing to “glue” the cone to the liner.
- Now cover the cone and liner with black icing. Have diaper wipes on hand I swear they have magic food coloring erasers, nothing wipes it up like wipes! Oh and see his lips… if you are doing this with a group give them individial cups of icing or there will be a lot of germ sharing.
- Add the sparkles.. I mean sprinkles, it’s habit to type sparkles !
- Add worms… eat one more than you were supposed to. See that little hand ? Baby girl was aching to have some sugar but she will have to wait til next year. Bummer.
- That’s it – super easy right?! It’s perfect for a fun Halloween party where kids are busy running around and don’t want to sit for too long to make something.
Halloween Books
I was going to link to some books I have previously reviewed since we have not made it to the library lately but my friend Amy Kraft from Media Macaroni just posted a wonderful post about new Halloween Books - so run over there and see what’s new. I was giddy to see a new Todd Parr book!
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