Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!
I just want to do a quick write up about our Monday Halloween Party!
We had fun decorating Treat Bags & making Ghost Pops & Halloween Patterned Straw Necklaces.
We enjoyed a fun game of Halloween Bingo. We used our Snack items as markers. We played while we feasted on Popcorn, Trail Mix, & Orange Slices! Thank you Holden for an awesome snack today. It was perfect. We read my favorite Halloween book, Frank was a Monster who wanted to Dance, by Keith Graves. We went Trick-Or-Treating to a couple of pre-arranged places. We enjoyed walking in the nice Fall weather showing off our costumes to passersby. We gave a "treat" to one of our kind neighbors by singing a Halloween song to her :) Thank you to the Sweet Tooth Fairy for sending yummy & festive Cupcakes! All of the costumes were adorable! One cutie kept saying, "Oh, Great Costume!" to every child as he/she came into school. I agree completely!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Week Eight

Theme: Halloween
Halloween is a child's delight. We had so much fun learning Halloween poems & songs. I loved listening to what costumes all the kiddos (and their siblings) chose :) We discussed some Halloween safety tips. One tip I suggested was for their parents to check all their candy before they eat any. I laughed when all the children insisted that their parents don't want to check their candy :) If any of you are like my husband he loves to check the candy not just for safety but to collect an inspector's fee :)
Letter: P
I am surprised at how many foods begin with the letter "P": peanuts, pineapple, papaya, pears, peaches, pasta, pizza, pepperoni, peas, pine-nuts, punch, potatoes, peanut butter, pickles, pretzels, pudding, pie, ....We had fun feeding Petunia, a pig, many of these foods. We pretended to be "P" pirates and went on a "P" hunt for Prizes in a treasure chest. We painted letter "P" on the Pavement with water. We practiced writing "P/p" on paper and making its sound.

Choosing Time: Pirates, Puppets, Peg Boards, Puzzles

Games:
  • Dig for "P"--I had a large box of sunflower seeds filled with many items. We took turns digging for items. Any items that made the "P" sound went into the "P" Pail. If an item didn't start with "P", then it went into the box. I especially enjoyed watching the children help each other choose correctly :)
  • Who Has the Candy?
  • Toss the Pumpkin into the Pot

Snacks:
  • Pickles, Push Pops, Pringles, & Peaches
  • Pretzels, Pasta, & Pumpkins (Candy)
  • Polka Dot Candy, lolli-Pops, & Peanut Butter Crackers
  • Pirate Booty & Granola Bars
  • Chocolate Cookies, Juice Boxes, Cheez-Its
  • Apples
  • Fruit Snacks
  • Cheese Crackers
Art:
  • Parrot Paintings: I love these! I told the kiddos I think they are all "frame" worthy.
  • Bats: We had an opportunity to practice our cutting skills
Reading: Our word wall words--pirate, pumpkin, pineapple, panda, puppy

Writing: Letter "P" worksheets

Books:
  • Come Away From the Water Shirley by John Burmingham
  • Gibbus Moony Wants to Bite You! by Leslie Muir
  • Twenty Six Princesses by Dave Horowitz
Music & Movement:
  • Pumpkin, Pumpkin
  • Hinx, Minx
  • 3 Little Witches
  • 10 Little Piggies
  • 5 Pirates
  • Walk the Plank
  • The Piggy Pokey
  • Here We Go, Spooky-Lou
Halloween Party: Two of our classes had a fun time celebrating Halloween. All of the costumes were adorable! (or Frightening) :) My husband hid in our garage and gave us a fright as we knocked on the garage door to Trick-Or-Treat. My neighbor was also an amazing help in allowing us to Trick-or-Treat at her home. We "Treated" her with a song and a poem. We had fun playing games, singing songs, and making crafts. Thank you Tiffany for some more amazing photos!
Cute Moment of the Week: While we were painting our Parrots I complemented one little girl by saying that she has a good and steady painting hand. She replied, "I have TWO good painting hands!" "Of Course," I affirmed with a smile.