diy halloween fine motor bank

 

If you have the materials on hand you can whip this easy peasy bank up in about two minutes! For reals! All you need is an empty can (I found mine at Target's Dollar Spot) and a balloon (also from Target)...plus a pair of scissors.

 

The inspiration for this little bit of happy came from a bag of Halloween chocolates that I spotted at Target (yup, Dollar Spot). I thought they were poker chips or plastic coins and thought how fun would it be to make a bank then I spotted the can and it was the only one and I snatched it up. When I got home I noticed that the chips were actually chocolates. Good thing I picked up two bags! You can also use an empty soup or bean can that has been painted or covered in paper.

For this project you will need a regular sized balloon (whatever that is) not a water balloon. Use a pair of scissors to snip off the open end and stretch over the top of the can. Use a sharp pair of scissor to snip a small incision that you then open a bit more with your scissors. I began with dull scissors which mucked it up a smidge but it still works!

 

If you do not have chocolates you can use erasers, coins, or maybe the pieces from your homemade matching game? Have fun, enjoy, and remember to always supervise your kiddo when there are small pieces and balloon bits involved. Happy Halloween!

diy halloween matching game

This super easy matching game was made from 16 blank wooden discs, acrylic paint, glue. and round puffy stickers. Super simple!

 

I had the discs on hand thanks to being a craft supply hoarder but you can find them at your local craft store and/or Amazon. They can be a bit on the pricier side (at least for me) so I usually wait until the wood pieces are on sale or I have a coupon. The stickers were purchased from Target and cost once cent shy of three bucks. Add some paint to your discs (both sides) and allow to dry on a sheet of parchment or wax paper. I will often reuse my wax paper until I cannot. Or, use scrapbook paper punched and glued to one side. For your stickers, make sure you use a disc blank that is large enough and that you have doubles of at least eight stickers so that you can make a matching game. Use a dab or two of glue to adhere puffy stickers on as they do not have tremendous stick to them. Paper stickers can be pretty tacky and should stick easily without the aid of glue.

Once all happy and dry, your kiddos can use the pieces as a matching game, a memory game, play money, sand/or mall motor tweezing and transferring/ If you have an available piggy bank your kiddo can practice putting the coins into the bank! Have fun!

halloween {fine motor} treats and more

This coming week we are reading Elmer by David McKee and while I have plenty of Elmer and elephant activities about the room, I wanted to share some super easy Halloween themed activities that are also set up in my classroom that you can do at home.

finger puppets and halloween books

I have no idea where these adorable finger puppets came from. I found them in our finger puppet box and set them aside for Halloween. The books on display are Two Little Witches, Go Away Big Green Monster, and The Big Pumpkin.

halloween pasta and pipe cleaner threading

I found these crazy cute Halloween shaped pasta pieces at World Market. Not sure exactly how this is going to work but how could I not buy them?

one elephant went out to play...

This is one of our Elmer activities but I thought that the cute tiny spider web played in well with a Halloween theme. I found the web last year at either the dollar store or Michael's. I've seen them around this year as well. The wee elephants are beads that came from a jungle animal pack. I found them at Michael's. We will be learning the song One Elephant Went Out to Play (I sing it a little differently) and this little activity is for the kiddos to act it out. I have a larger set as well using a placemat and these counters from Amazon.

felt pumpkins and creepy crawly sorting

We did this last year and the kiddos loved it. I hope this year's batch adores it as well!  I think I found the pumpkins at Target last year but don't quote me on that. The critters were also a Target find and were once rings. I used scissors to snip off the bands.

halloween picks and a foam pumpkin

Here is my Halloween take on golf tees and pumpkins or foam (though we are going to have the golf tees, hammer, and pumpkin set up as well). One smallish glittered pumpkin from Target's Dollar Spot (three dollars) and two packs of cupcake picks from The Dollar Tree (the cupcake liners are at the art table with glue sticks, paper, and Halloween themed stamps.) We'll see how long the foam pumpkin lasts. I'm hoping it will survive the week.

halloween treasures and tweezers in salt

This happy assortment of critters and fun is a hodge podge of Halloween items from last year. I think I found everything at Michael's. The little jack-o-lanterns are erasers, the spiders, bats, and clear gems were from one of those Ashland home decor packs that I managed to score at 60% off. There are also googly eyes added for fun. I have some silicone pumpkin shaped ice cube trays set up next to this tray which was a wood box from a Melissa and Doug toy. I found the box at our Goodwill Outlet and picked it up for fifty cents (score!)

magnifying glasses at the nature table

Not really fine motor but we have our nature table piled high with mini pumpkins, gourds, and leaves. The children bring things in daily to add to our table. This coming week we will have a pumpkin cut open for them to explore....hence the magnifying glasses.

There you have it. An assortment of activities that can be easily adapted for home. 

Not into Halloween? 

*Set up a book basket full of items, finger puppets, and/or props from your kiddo's favorite book for them to explore. 

*Grab a box of penne pasta and some pipe cleaners for threading. 

*Pick up some themed beads that go along with a favorite song (spider rings for Itsy Bitsy Spider would be really easy to find right now). 

*Use colored beads or buttons for sorting instead of creepy crawlies. 

*Make your own picks for poking and use a real pumpkin. 

*Pick up a pack of flat backed marbles from your dollar or craft store and toss them into a tub of rice or cut up colorful straws and add them to a tub of beans and use chopsticks that are connected together with a rubber band instead of tweezers.

   

jack o' lantern felt fun

The kiddos at school love themselves a flannel board. For Halloween I had planned on making a jack o' lantern board for them but time ran away from me.

 Then I found this pumpkin placemat decoration thing at either Micheal's, The Dollar Tree, or Target, I cannot remember. Either way, an idea bloomed. All I needed now was to get to work cutting out shapes for funny face making.

 And then that pesky time thing ran away once again but I stumbled upon sticky felt face pieces for pumpkins at Target and I snatched up one of each design. There were four in all.

After backing the sticky bits with regular old felt we were ready to decorate!

I supplemented the pieces with a bunch of circles and triangles cut from felt and popped them into the tray on our sticky easel.

pumpkin painting exploration

 The children in my class painted up wee pumpkins the week of Halloween. These were a work in progress for the week and had many stages of nifty going on.

 

We began with paint and paintbrushes. The children chose their colors and began painting. We stuck with one palette for each child as we were working on color mixing.

We discussed warm colors and cool colors.

 

I snapped these photos during the first round of paint. Love how the colors mix on the pumpkin itself.

Glitter was added then painted over then added some more.

 

Then the squeeze bottles came out and more exploration was had.

 

It's a bit of a beautiful mess isn't it?

invitation to play: pumpkins and creepy crawleys

Four felt pumpkins and a bag of Halloween rings with the ring-parts snipped off. I set it up to see what they would do.

 

Sorting, counting and naming of colors all happened. The children also talked to each other about their favorite colors or their favorite critter. The purple bats were a top favorite.

One child pulled me over to talk about what he discovered after sorting out all the creepies. He said that there were the most spiders and that most of them were black but a lot were orange but that only one was purple. We had been working on counting, grouping, quantities, and subitizing and seeing that he was taking it all in and using it was so cool. So cool!

spin art spiderwebs

 

 

 

halloween: make a glittery spiderweb garland

There are three days left until Halloween, just enough time to create this nifty spideriffic garland. All you need is yarn, glue and glitter. This is a project you will need to work on with your kiddos. Your kiddos can practice their cutting skills by cutting the lengths of yarn, they can also pour the mod-podge or glue and dump yarn into the mess for saturation. They may also a go a tad bit wild with the glitter, have fun! 

materials

*white glue or mod lodge

*yarn

*glitter

*wax paper or plastic wrap

*pencil

*yogurt lid, compass or other circle to use as pattern

*scissors

*shallow dish

Grab your wax paper and lay out a sheet on a surface where it can camp out for a day or so. Use a ball point pen or pencil to trace or draw a circle about six inches wide. Draw at least five for your garland so it won't take forever for your webs to dry. 

Pour your mod-podge into a shallow bowl. If using glue, mix your glue with a little water to thin it out. Cut a series of short lengths of yarn. You will need five for each web, four about the same length and one a couple of inches longer. My strands were 3" and 6".

 Dump all your yarn strands into the sticky mess. To create a web pick out one of the sticky soaked yarn strands and pull of excess mod-podge using your fingers. Lay the first strand across a circle, add your second strand across the first and repeat with the next two strands to create a sort of asterix/star shape. Alternately, you can try to craft a web as you see fit or your kiddo can mound a stringy mess to their delight. Set aside to dry for at least four hours. Drying time and sturdiness of your webs depends on the goopiness of your yarn when you begin.

Once dry, use a paintbrush to paint on a bit of glue to the surface of your webs. Sprinkle a bit of glitter on top and set aside to dry for one hour. 

Once dry, gently peel back the wax paper to reveal your web. If you have extra blobs of dried glue in between the strands of your web, use a pair of scissors to trim. To create your garland, cut a length of yarn at least three feet long and thread your webs onto it. You can tie loops at each end for hanging or use a couple of pieces of happy tape to affix to your wall. 

*Yikes! I thought I took photos of each step but I did not. I hope you enjoy this project any way, thank you!

halloween dilly-do!

Here are seven halloween projects for you and your kiddos to do!

*wooden spoon ghosties

*painted newspaper monster hands

*painted marshmallows

*paper plate calaveras

*recycled paper wreath

*clothespin zombies

*googly eye cupcake toppers

halloween dilly-do!: spoon ghosties

This quick and easy project can be made in just a few hours. The longest wait is for the paint to dry. While you and your kiddos wait for the paint to dry, why not read a couple of Halloween Books and/or write out a silly ghost story to perform? Here's how you do it!

Materials:

*wooden spoons

*white acrylic paint

*paint happy work surface

*paint brush

*permanent markers

*one pipe cleaner per spoon

*cheesecloth

*white glue

*scissors

Gather up your wooden spoons and have your kiddos give them a coat or two of white paint. Set aside to dry.

Once dry, add faces using your permanent markers.

Grab a pipe cleaner and have your kiddo lay pipe cleaner down on work surface then placing their spoon on top. Take each end of the pipe cleaner  and bring up to center then back down so that each end is now on the opposite side from which it began. Continue to wrap the ends around the spoon handle so that they meet in the back then give them a twist. This sounds complicated but it's really easy just wrap it around and twist. Viola! Arms! Give the tip a bend so that they don't poke through the cheesecloth.

Cut a squareish piece of cheesecloth at least ten inches wide. Dab a smidge of glue to the top of the spoon and drape your cheesecloth over the spoon until you have a happy ghostie!

Have a spooktacular Halloween!