Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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Halloween Fun!!

It's Halloween!!  Yay!!  

I'll share some of our Halloween traditions in just a moment.  But first, I have a short Halloween story for you!  It's inspired by Susanna Leonard Hill's Halloweensie Contest.  I'm joining her challenge for bloggers to write a 100-word (or less) Halloween story with the words "witch," "bat," and "trick-or-treat" in it.  I'm calling my story:

Halloween Surprise!!
by Carla Mae Jansen

"Trick-or-treat," they rang the bell,
"Trick-or-treat," they'd nicely yell.
I filled their bags to the top
Until something scary made me stop.

Many things come knocking at my door,
But I'd never, ever, seen this before:
Two big eyes, floating high,
A broom, a cape, and two wings to fly!

When he lifted a candy bag with his broom,
I saw a bat...dressed in a witch costume!!
I filled his bag and laughed inside.
He said, "Thank-you," and smiled real wide.

I waved good-bye to what I'd seen,
And then enjoyed my Halloween!

You're welcome to share Halloween Surprise with your children or class, but if you print it please remember to include a byline.  If you share it online, please include a link back to this post.

Now, a little about our favorite Halloween traditions.  We love to visit pumpkin patches, carve pumpkins, play at festivals, and go trick-or-treating.  We also have a little Halloween party during the day with our friends each year.  This party has evolved as my oldest daughter (aka Party Planner) has grown older, but it must include a few items:

#1--A Pinata!  My daughter explained to me that this is essential to make sure all the kids get a lot of candy on Halloween.  We like to make them ourselves the week before the holiday.  Last year, we had a spider.  Click here for instructions on how to make your own! 


#2--A Witch's Brew!  In the picture below we made homemade root-beer with dry ice.  The science teacher in me loves talking about dry ice (how it is frozen carbon dioxide, sublimation, and doing a few dry ice demos like freezing marshmallows)!  This year, I think we will be trying fizzy orange juice in an attempt to be a little healthier!


#3--A Game!  Pin the Broom on the Witch, Monster Bean Bag Toss, Obstacle Course Games, or any other fun Halloween-themed activity is a great way to energize our little party!

#4--A Craft!  Sometimes, we have more than one craft.  Depending on the age of the children I have, the craft has varied from scratch art to clay activities. 

#5--Treats!  I've done cupcakes, full-sized cakes, and cracker treats (ghost crackers, spider crackers, etc.).  A pumpkin or ghost cookie cutter can make sandwiches or quesadillas into a Halloween shape.  I love these Monster Pitas from Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons!






What about you?  Do you have plans for today?  Any favorite traditions?  I'd love to hear!!




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Monday, October 29, 2012

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Christmas Around the USA Review and Giveaway!!


I am so excited to be able to share this wonderful curriculum from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom!  Her Christmas Around the USA introduces and reviews the 50 states by sharing Christmas traditions and culture.  It is perfect for a winter homeschooling curriculum, a Christmas advent, a supplemental activity, or even a fun 50 states curriculum any time of the year!


I'll share more about the Christmas Around the USA {and the giveaway!} in just a moment.  First, I want to tell you a little about Enchanted Homeschooling Mom.  Her blog has tons if ideas for homeschooling families and for parents who are just looking to enrich their child's education with fun activities.  Her members-only website has over 100 printables (with themes like The Berenstain Bears, Thanksgiving, Fall, and many more) and is frequently updated.  This Christmas Around the USA was just added!  She could easily package the Christmas Around the USA unit as a book and sell it for $15.00, but instead she charges just $15.00 for lifetime access to the entire members-only website!  That includes the Christmas unit, all the printables that are currently up, and any that she adds in the future!

But now, on to the Christmas Around the USA curriculum!  This unit contains over 165 pages of fun-filled activities and information about each state at Christmas time.  Everyone has to learn the 50 states, and this makes it so much fun!  The unit begins with instructions to make this Christmas tree craft. As you go through the lessons, your child creates a paper ornament with every state to hang on the tree.


The unit also includes a "brick" suitcase, a card for Santa with "stamps" that you place from every state, a holiday card for each state, tons of wonderful information about each state, a variety of arts, crafts, and baking projects, and so much more!  There are even personal family traditions from individuals living in about half the states!

We're going to use this program for a huge "road trip" around the country in November and December.  It may even become an annual tradition--there is easily enough information in the curriculum to introduce new concepts each year while reviewing the states that we have learned in the past!  Check out this sample page from the curriculum with information about Texas:


To learn even more about the Christmas Around the USA curriculum, click here.  To learn more about Enchanted Homeschooling Mom's member's-only website, click here.  To have a chance to win a {FREE} copy of the Christmas Around the USA curriculum, keep reading!!

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom is giving one of my readers the entire Christmas Around the USA curriculum for free!!  To enter, use the easy rafflecopter form below!!  Good luck!  The form will close at midnight on Wednesday, November 7th!

Disclaimer:  I was given access to the member's only website (and the Christmas Around the USA curriculum) in order to provide this review.  All opinions are 100% mine, and I only recommend items that I expect my readers to love!


a Rafflecopter giveaway




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Friday, October 26, 2012

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{FREE} Ghosts Grid Game!!




Grid games are a great way to reinforce numbers, counting, taking turns, and one-to-one correspondence (a skill important in both math and reading)!   This fun Halloween grid game lets children practice these skills on a festive personal board. It's great for small groups or individual fun!

Visit my Teacher's Notebook shop here to download the file for free!  You do need to have a Teacher's Notebook account, but that is also free...and then you have access to hundreds of other free items too!

To play the Ghost Grid Game, follow these easy instructions:

1.  Print a Ghost Grid Game (page 2) for each player.  Use cardstock for a longer-lasting game board.

2.  Gather dice and markers (markers can be torn paper, BINGO chips, or another copy of page 2).

3.  On your turn, do the following:  Roll the dice, count the dots, cover up the corresponding number of ghosts on your grid page with your markers.  Take turns if you have more than one player. 

4.  Each player wins when he / she covers up all the ghosts!
 
5.  For a “team” version, you can have each player take turns covering ghosts on the same page.  Everyone wins at the same time!

Happy Halloween!




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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

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Glow in the Dark Spider Webs Science Experiment





October (or the Halloween month, as we call it!) is the perfect time of year to talk about "creepy" things like spiders and make some fun Glow in the Dark Spider Webs!  Scroll below the instructions for more information about spiders and spider webs.

Simple Supplies: 


* black paper
* glow in the dark paint
* tray or box 
* marble
* spider ring or other spider to play in her new web

Easy How-To:

1.  Place the paper in the tray or box.  This project is wonderful for children 2-5, but some younger children may do better with a box that has tall sides so the marble doesn't jump away.

2.  Let your child choose a color of glow-in-the-dark paint and squirt a little puddle in the middle of the paper.  You could also help with this part!

3.  Let your child drop the marble in and roll/shake the tray or box around until he is happy with his spider web!  Some children may want to make more than one or try different colors.  


4.  Let the paint dry and then let your child play with his spider in the web.  Alternatively, you could glue the spider to the web and hang it in your child's room.  If you really want some glowing action, it is easy to find glow in the dark spiders during the Halloween season.  



A Little More About Spiders:

Before doing this art project, show some pictures of spiders and spider webs. Talk about spiders.  If you have access to a pet store, take a look at some live tarantulas.

Most preschoolers enjoy learning the following about spiders:

* Spiders have eight legs.
* Many spiders have eight eyes.
* Spiders do not have ears, but they can feel sounds with tiny hairs on their bodies.
* Spider "silk" is made by spinnerets on the bottom (abdomen) of the spider.
* When a spider is making a web, it starts out by making some strings that are not sticky.  Then, it adds on many sticky strands so that flies and other insects will get stuck in the web.  Learn more about spider webs here.
* Most spiders are very small, but some can be as big as a dinner plate.
* Spiders are very useful animals because they eat flies and other insects.
* Some spiders are venomous.
* Some spiders do not build webs at all, but jump on their prey instead.
* All spider webs are different.  Some spiders build very fancy webs with symmetrical designs.  Some webs don't have any patterns.  Some webs are very messy.  But all webs look very cool.  (I like to lead into the craft with this last point...all children will create different webs too, but they will all glow and be fun to make!)

This colorful craft/science experiment is perfect for young learners. I'd love to hear about your experience if you try this science project. Leave a comment here or stop by the Preschool Power Packets Facebook page and tell me all about it! 



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Friday, October 19, 2012

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Ghost Pancakes (Song & Breakfast)




Ghost Pancakes Song
(from Preschool Powol Packets)
(to the tune of London Bridge):

Ghost pancakes for Halloween,
Halloween,
Halloween,
Ghost pancakes for Halloween,
We love pancakes!!

To make your own Ghost Pancakes, pour the batter in a long, ghosty shape.  Use marshmallows and blueberries for the eyes and powdered sugar or whipped cream for the mouth.  Serve with warm blueberries and powdered sugar!  Yummmm! 


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Friday, October 12, 2012

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5 Little Pumpkins Felt Finger Puppets Tutorial

I love the finger rhyme 5 Little Pumpkins!  Not only does it review ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th), but it does so with a fun Halloween-y rhyme.  Using the finger puppets adds in a physical, motor skill, learning element too!



Making the Little Pumpkin Felt Finger Puppets is fun and easy...my 5-year old daughter had a wonderful time helping!


Simple Supplies:

* green felt (one of the pre-cut pieces of felt will cut into 12 finger pieces)
* orange felt
* fabric scissors
* hot glue gun and glue


Easy How-to:


1. Cut out finger pieces from green felt.  Mine were about 2 1/2" x 2 3/4" rectangles.  They fit both my fingers and the kids' fingers just fine.  (My fingers are about sizes 5-6...if your fingers are much bigger, just make your rectangles longer so they fit easier.)  Also, cut out the stems from the green fabric.


2.  Cut out pumpkins from orange felt.  Make them between 1" and 1 1/2" wide.



3.  Glue the finger pieces by placing a bead of hot glue along the short edge of the rectangle and rolling the other side around to make a round puppet finger piece.



4.  Glue the pumpkins onto the finger pieces.


5.  Glue a stem onto each pumpkin.  Ta da!!  All done!!   If desired, you could cut out yellow eye, nose, and mouth pieces and glue them on as well.  We are perfectly happy with our face-less pumpkins.


6.  I made a few extra pumpkin pieces too...just in case. 


7.  Have fun with your pumpkin puppets!!


5 Little Pumpkins Finger Rhyme:

Five Little Pumpkins, sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "Well, we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"
Then,  "Oooooh," went the wind and out went the light,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!



Do you like the 5 Little Pumpkins?  Are you making puppets?  I'd love to hear from you!  As always, you can leave a note here or even show off your pictures on my PreschoolPowolPackets Facebook page!


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Monday, October 8, 2012

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Happy Columbus Day! (& FREE Puppet Printables!)


One of the requirements for Kindergarten students in Texas is that they can tell the contributions of Christopher Columbus.  So we, of course, celebrated Columbus Day today!


We had a fabulous time making Columbus Puppets and telling the story of how he "discovered" the Americas.  And, to make it even better, I get to share those puppets with you!  Click here to download your {FREE} set of four puppets: a Columbus character, an indian character, a King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella piece, and a 3 Ships piece.


Wait...you forgot today was Columbus Day?  That's okay...you can celebrate tomorrow.  Actually, Columbus didn't see the "New World" until October 12th, and that's still a few days away!

Click here to get your set of {FREE} Columbus Day Printables!

I'd love to hear from you if you like the puppets or if you're going to use them!  You can always leave comments here or stop by my Facebook page!

A little more about Columbus (just in case you're curious):
  • Columbus was born in what is now Italy, in about 1451.
  • As a young man, he spent a lot of time sailing.  He also loved to learn, and studied geography, Latin, astronomy, history, and more!
  • Columbus and his brother applied for support for their journey (to find a short cut to the "East Indies") to several monarchs before finding success with the rulers of Spain.
  • "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."  It took him about five weeks to travel from Spain to the Bahamas.  
  • He described the natives he discovered as friendly and peaceful.
  • The Santa Maria, the biggest of his three ships and the one he was actually riding on, ran aground on Christmas Day and was left.  Columbus returned to Spain with the other two ships.




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Friday, October 5, 2012

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Pumpkin Science Experiment for Preschoolers/Kindergarten


This easy Halloween science experiment features pumpkins! Pumpkins are the perfect lab subject for preschoolers and other young children: they are festive, come in a variety of shapes and colors, look totally different on the inside and the outside, inspire curiosity, are easy to handle, vary in size, and are easy to obtain (at least in the Fall!).  They also provide many, many opportunities to investigate and do science projects!

And if you don't celebrate Halloween, this is a fun fall-themed science experiment too!

Your child can measure pumpkins' length and weight.  She can compare different colors and count the pumpkins you have available.  She can predict what the inside will look like or how many seeds she will find.  She can hypothesize about what materials will write, paint, or draw best on the pumpkin's surface.  And she can do this floating lab:

Simple Supplies:

** small pumpkins (an assortment is fun)
** a large bowl or bucket with water
** this free lab report form (optional...you can also use a science journal)

Easy How-to:

1- Ask your child to predict if his pumpkin will float or sink. Let him explain his reasons and, if he is old enough, record them on the report form.

2- Let your child experiment!

3- After he has noticed the results and talked about them with you, he will probably want to play with the pumpkin and the water.  This is just fine!  (You may want to move outside.)

4- Discuss the experiment and fill out the form.




5- What other questions does your child have?  What could you test next?  A few ideas: Will the pumpkin float if it is cut in half?  Will the seeds float?  Use the blank lab report form for any more experiments your child is interested in!

Younger children (including toddlers) love this science experiment.  Do not bother with a lab report form for children too young for it.  They will still learn from the sensory experience and the science language exposure during the science project.  They may, however, enjoy drawing a picture of their pumpkins afterward.



Are you looking for more Halloween Science Experiments? Check out our collection!! We love combining Halloween and science, and these are our favorites experiments and activities!



Happy Educating!
~Carla

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

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Halloween Preschool Packet (Teachers Notebook)







I put this Halloween Preschool Packet together for my Teachers Notebook store.  I hope you enjoy it too...check it out here

16 Pages of fun Halloween learning for preschool and kindergarten!


The 16 pages of activities includes the following:

* B is for Bat (possible play dough mat, tracing board, or let toddlers glue pompoms to the letter)
* Which One is Different?
* What comes next?  (patterns: ABAB and AABAAB)
* P is for Pumpkin (possible play dough mat, tracing board, or let toddlers glue pompoms to the letter)
* Circle everything that starts with P.
* How long is it?  (measuring)
* Halloween Memory (2 pages)
* Which ghost is the biggest?
* Monster Journey  (tracing or cutting--pre-writing)
* Monster Maze  (tracing--pre-writing, problem solving)
* Halloween Word Search  (letter recognition, matching)
* Trick or Treat Puzzle  (4 piece)

Here are a few pages to preview:

 

 

 


You do have to register for a password to use Teachers Notebook before you can download, but the registration is free, and then you can download tons of other free resources!  There are also many other resources available for incredibly low prices.


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