Halloween Party

October 29, 2009

Theme: Halloween Party
Choosing Time: Slide, Teeter-Totter, Magnets, Decorate Treat Bags

Circle Time: Today is Grayce's birthday! We sat her in the middle of a circle as we danced around her singing "Happy Birthday." Since balloons are not allowed in Grayce's home we did something a little different. Grayce received a fun ring and we all had fun getting sprayed with glitter hair spray :) We hope Grayce has a wonderful birthday!

Snack: Grayce was our super snack helper today. She brought us a yummy & healthy treat. We enjoyed the frozen Go-Gurts and pretzels. Thank you Graycie!
Party: We had fun seeing everyone's costumes! I thought I was a flower fairy, but am told that I am a butterfly :) All the children wanted me to have a BEST costume contest. My reply was that we have a

BEST Panda Bear:

BEST Pink Mermaid:

BEST Ninja:

BEST Vampire:

BEST Lion:

BEST Cheerleader:

We had a lot of fun playing Halloween Bingo. This was a great game for fun as well as learning--sh...don't tell! We practiced the skills of recognition & matching. We also learned what 4 in a ROW looks like :) We had so much fun we had to play "Black-out" twice!

We made yummy Oreo Spider Cookies. Some of us had trouble getting the legs attached to the middle frosting layer. Jake suggested that we separate the top & bottom, put the licorice on top of the frosting layer and then put the chocolate wafer back on. Perfect! Genius!


We finished the final touches of our Salt Dough Ghosts with Black Accents & String!

We had some fun taking pictures !

We read a very fun book called Spooky Hour by Troy Mitton

Mini Class

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Theme: Halloween Party

Choosing Time: Trains, Ponies, Slide & Teeter-Totter

We have a new friend in our class :) His name is Noah. Today however he was Nacho. I am so glad he dressed up! It was fun.

Art: Today we made Salt Dough Ghosts. We decorated "Trick-or-treat" bags. We made Spider Cookies and ate them all up :)
Books: Woo! A Not-so-Scary Ghost by Ana Martin Larranaga
Guess Who? (A Peek-a-Boo Guessing Game Book with Halloween Characters)

Music & Movement: We had fun dancing to some Halloween Music with our Maracas. We also went on a "Monster Hunt." We learned the Pumpkin Song: Pumpkin, pumpkin round and fat. Turn into a Jack-O-Lantern just like that.

Have a Fun & Safe Halloween!

Letter "G"

October 27, 2009

Theme: Halloween Fun with the Letter "G"

Choosing Time: Magnets, Trains, & Puzzles

Lesson: Letter "G" says "guh" & sometimes it will trick us & say "juh". We focused on the "guh" sound today. We played a guessing game. I gave the children clues about something that begins with "G". Some of our "G" words were girl, goat, go, gorilla, gum, gate, & ghost.

Writing: We practiced writing capitol "G's". A few children were daring & tackled lowercase "g" as well. I love hearing the children encourage one another. One child was feeling overwhelmed & discouraged. A friend said, "It's ok. See a 'G' is just a 'C' with a line." Of course I encourage as well, but it is so tender to hear them help each other. :)

Snack: I brought snack today. We ate popcorn with mini colored marshmallows. It was Good!

Books:

• Woo: A Not-So-Scary Ghost by Ana Martin Larranaga
• Gargoyles on the Roof by Jack Prelutsky (This is a fun book of poems. The kids really love it when I read poetry to them.)
• Knock-Knock Halloween Jokes
  

Music & Movement: Each child chose a Halloween Maraca to use as we sang:

IF YOU ARE A MONSTER
(Tune: If You Are Happy and You Know It)
If you are a monster and you know it,
Wave your arms.
If you are a monster and you know it,
Wave your arms.
If your are a monster and you know it,
Your arms will surely show it.
If you are a monster and you know it,
Wave your arms.
2 - show your claws.
3 - gnash your teeth
4 - stomp your feet
5- grunt & groan

We also sang:

MONSTERS GALORE
Monsters galore,
Can you roar? (Roar)
Monsters galore,
Can you soar? (flying motion.)
Monsters galore,
Please shut the door! (shut the door)
Monsters galore,
Fall on the floor! (Fall down)

And we went on a Monster Hunt:

GO ON A MONSTER HUNT
(like the Bear Hunt)
We're going on a monster hunt
We're going to find a big one!
We're not scared, but...
What if he's under the bed?
Better go over it.
Squoosh,squoosh, squoosh.
What is he's in the closet?
Better close it.
Slam, slam,slam.
What if he's behind the curtains?
Better open them.
Swish,swish, swish.
What if he's in the hallway?
Better tiptoe down it.
Tiptoe,tiptoe.
What if he's in the garage?
Better stomp through it.
Stomp,stomp, stomp.
Aahh! It's a monster!
What's that you said?
You're big, but you're friendly, and you want to go to bed?
Now we're not afraid of monsters, so..
Stomp through the garage,
Walk through the hallway,
Close the curtains,
Open the closet,
Jump into bed,
And turn out the lights!. Click!

Art: We made Salt Dough Ghosts. These need to be dried and we will finish them on Thursday at our party. We also made Ghost Windsocks. This was an activity to practice cutting. Many of you may have forgotten how difficult it was to learn to use scissors and cut on the lines :)

Mini Class

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

This morning we had some fun playing trains together. It was so cute to hear the children's dialogue as we played. I am impressed with Hyrum's knowledge of trains! He was definitely the chief engineer today! Grace had fun maneuvering her train up the hill and letting it go at the top to watch it roll down quickly! :) June came bringing a train with her so it seems trains are a big hit:)
We all enjoyed making our own snack today. We painted a piece of bread using colored milk for the paint. We toasted it & added butter. Beautiful & Delicious! We also enjoyed eating cheese sticks.
This group loves hands-on activities so I am trying to provide lots of them. We had fun making Halloween headbands & Ghost puppets.
We read a little, sang some, ate, crafted, & played. It was a great day!

Fieldtrip to The Pumpkin Patch

October 20, 2009

I hope everyone had a wonderful experience on our field trip! It was cold, but I am so happy it didn't rain on us! Thank you to ALL the moms who came along & helped so much! It was fun to have you with us. You made this field trip a success! :)

Our "tractor" ride out to the pumpkin patch is my favorite part. The orchards were lovely & in spite of the chill, the scenery is/was beautiful.


Once we reached the Pumpkin Fields some of us took a quick picture as Pumpkin Heads...
Sadly, it took a little longer to find Healthy Small pumpkins....We all headed out searching for just the right one. We noticed how some pumpkins were smashed & their seeds were oozing out onto the ground. Nathan discovered a huge slug feasting on rotten pumpkin. I think we'd all agree that an early frost ruins pumpkins.

The ride back to the barn seemed to pass too quickly. We sang a couple of songs. I changed the Speckled Frog song a bit to adapt to our surroundings. There were some cute smiles as I sang.
We were rewarded for braving the cold with yummy Pumpkin Spice Donuts. It was nice to warm up inside the barn before going home. I hope everyone had a fun visit in their cars. I enjoyed the observations the children in my car made & the exchange of giggles :)

And, hopefully, all of the parents heard some positive reports of our adventure...just like Sarah did...