Halloween Activities...what do you have planned?

[5 Little Monkeys]

Happy Halloween!!!! I am interested in hearing what you have done or what you are planning on doing tomorrow for Halloween :)

I decorated early this year(right at the beginning of October) and have been doing various Halloween art and activities for the month. I think next year I will hold off a bit as I sorta got sick of it last week but this week my enthusiasm came back!!

So far we have done...
-halloween art using halloween paint/crayons/markers
-using halloween stickers
-decorated foam pumpkins, bats, spiders
-decorated pumpkins with pumpkin head pieces

Today we are...
-carving 2 pumpkins
-painting mini pumpkins to take home
-baking cookies using pumpkin spice M and M's

Tomorrow we are having a party and are...
-making ghosts with our feet and white paint
-decorating bat picture frames with a pic of them in it to take home
-pudding art with chocolate pudding
-putting costumes on and having a dance party with glow stick pumpkin wands
-having grilled cheese sandwiches made with halloween bread from Sobeys so it is purple/orange/black and other orange/halloween themed treats

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE AND HAVE A SAFE AND FUN TIME TRICK OR TREATING OR HANDING OUT TREATS!!!

[apples and bananas]

It sounds like you have a ton planned!

I have had no enthusiasm to craft this month.

However, I have managed to do a spider puppet using their hands yesterday and then we put on a puppet show. Today we decorated a paper pumpkin using Halloween stamps and stickers.

I don't have the kids dress up for Halloween so tomorrow we will make masks out of paper plates and surprise the parents at pick up.

I'm making cupcakes for my kids school parties today so I will put a few aside for afternoon snack tomorrow.

I also ordered Halloween books from my kids scholatstic order and I have bundled 2 together with some orange ribbon around them. That will be their take home for their treat bag. I have 2 big kids that I've done a treat bag for with candy in it.

I'm not a big Halloween person... I'm more of a Christmas craft girl.

[Artsand crafts]

Kids are painting mini pumpkins and toddlers are also decorating them. Toddlers are sticking halloween stickers, too.

[AmandaKDT]

I did "Five little pumpkin sitting on a gate" pictures using pumpkin stickers and popsicle sticks and my older dc kids learned the accompanying poem.

My 3 older ones drew faces on a big pumpkin and then I carved it. They also helped scoop out the pumpkin, which was funny because they all made grossed out faces. So that was my science/sensory/art project.

they are wearing their costumes tomorrow and we will have a little party, decorating cookies with icing and sprinkles. We are also going to read 'go away green monster" and make monster faces with paint, yarn, google eyes, feathers.

I am also thinking of doing I Spy sensory bags for a no mess fun sensory activity. I will fill ziploc bags with jello and add halloween themed objects. Should be something fun for all my ages -15 months to 8 years old. I haven't done them before but it is on my list of things to try and it won't take too much effort.

Am doing patterning with halloween themed stamps.

This morning they were drawing pictures and adding halloween themed stickers to it. I also got a halloween colouring book at the dollar store.

I have also been reading them lots of halloween and monster books, which they have really enjoyed. We have been doing monster and pumpkin themed songs and fingerplays for circle time.

[cfred]

It sounds like you have a ton planned!

I have had no enthusiasm to craft this month.

However, I have managed to do a spider puppet using their hands yesterday and then we put on a puppet show. Today we decorated a paper pumpkin using Halloween stamps and stickers.

I don't have the kids dress up for Halloween so tomorrow we will make masks out of paper plates and surprise the parents at pick up.

I'm making cupcakes for my kids school parties today so I will put a few aside for afternoon snack tomorrow.

I also ordered Halloween books from my kids scholatstic order and I have bundled 2 together with some orange ribbon around them. That will be their take home for their treat bag. I have 2 big kids that I've done a treat bag for with candy in it.

I'm not a big Halloween person... I'm more of a Christmas craft girl.

We carved a couple pumpkins. Also we made "Little Pumpkins with BIG FEELINGS". They're mini pumpkins with different expressions and bobbly eyes, each with a sign saying what they're feeling. We use them for 'feeling circles'. We did the jack-o-lantern pics where they glue eyes, nose, mouth onto pumpkin cut out. We have plastic spiders to glue on foam webs. Hallowe'en colours at the easle. Tomorrow is our costume parade (to their audience of 1 - me) and a few Hallowe'en songs at circle times and some cupcakes.

I'm not a big Hallowe'en person either, like Apples and Bananas. Hallowe'en is something I have to get through so I can put up my Christmas tree.....which is going up in 2 weeks!!!!!!!! Yippeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

[playfelt]

Like most holidays I do stuff and talk to the kids and they sit there and look at me with blank looks. This will be the first time going out trick or treating for 3 of them and the fourth isn`t quite 18 months old so another year for him they said. With that in mind it is more about introducing the topic and what goes with it. I have stickees up on the window of jackolantern, ghost, witch, mummy, etc. and we look at them. I have a few board books with Halloween themes we have been reading. I have a light up pumpkin and we read a story about Joey the Jackolantern who gets all excited when he gets to light up. I count and we turn the pumpkin on and even with lots of prep it scared half the group including the oldest who I thought would have enjoyed having a turn to turn the switch on and off. Youngest thought it was fantastic clapping everytime it went on and pointing for more when I turned it off.

Gave them a picture of a haunted house - not a scary type to colour. They added two bats cutouts and a jackolantern cut out and that was basically our day.

Don't usually do a lot with the kids. We have our orange playdoh and suitable cookie cutters, I have some puppets we have played with and a few games I have made. When I am cooking lunch I put the kids up to the table to play with things from the seasonal bucket. I set up an activity at each place at the table and they are free to move from chair to chair to do what is there.

[2cuteboys]

-having grilled cheese sandwiches made with halloween bread from Sobeys so it is purple/orange/black and other orange/halloween themed treats


I love this idea! I might steal it!

[5 Little Monkeys]

All of your ideas sound great!! I might have to steal some for next year!! :) 2cuteboys, steal away!!! One of the grandma's brought it in and the kids have loved having it for morning snack. Thought I'd use the rest up for tomorrow. If I can find my pumpkin cookie cutter I might do that!

The cookies we made today turned out like crap. They spread out like crazy and stuck to the pan so I couldn't get them off in one piece. They went in the garbage :(

I am not a Halloween person at all either but I do it for the children. I have a young crew so I don't particularly like any holiday decor being out for too long because it can be a temptation to touch it and sometimes break it! I enjoy letting them do art and sensory things though.

Amanda, sounds like you and I would have similar pinterest boards ;)

[Daisy123]

Not a huge fan of Halloween but I try! Tomorrow we'll wear orange and black instead of costumes. The kids wouldn't want them all day and I'm not eager to spend a ton of time changing them back into their regular clothes. We've done lots of stickers and a sensory bag (clear hair gel with orange colouring and halloween foam shapes in a baggie and stuck to the window). Tomorrow we're making a black cat out of paper plates and eating cake. Usually I practice trick or treating with the kids and have them practice saying thank you but this group wouldn't really get it. I'll just have little bags to send home with them at the end of the day.

[playfelt]

Check out some of the Halloween activities CCPRN is showing. I love the spiderweb one. You could use stickers or foam shapes too.

On the question of the ELECT document for Ontario Daycare that we were talking about this supports our belief that we are basically doing it anyways.

http://ccprn.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/halloween-play-based-learning-and-elect/

[5 Little Monkeys]

Lots of good ideas on that link you provided playfelt! I will have to remember to make some for next year.

I have asked the parents to send their costumes in a bag. They will only be wearing them for about an hour :) My 3.5 year old is to go to preschool in her costume already so that will work out well.

Do you hand out treat bags to your daycare kids before they leave or do they come back in the evening? I normally hand them out at the end of the day because I live on a street where no one hands out and I feel that it's a waste of time for the parents to come here when I have already seen them all day and in their costume.