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Halloween/Halloween
Alternatives
From
Stormie:
My
very favorite ideas have been reserved for my "HALLOWEEN"
booklet (see the "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers" section
of my website). I will still post more ideas below as I remember them or
can create them:
Social Game: Pin the
Tail on......: You know the old "Pin the Tail on the Donkey?" Well,
you can pin the tail on a black cat, pin the hat on a witch, pin the eyes on a
ghost, pin the stem on a pumpkin, and so on.
Fine
Motor: Mosaic Pumpkins: The only draw-back with this is that it could take
years to collect enough pumpkin seeds (unless you decide to buy bags of them),
but it sure is a wonderful fine motor activity: Children cover a construction
paper pumpkin cutout with pumpkin seeds (using glue). (Use very small pumpkin
cut-outs or turn it into a group project and let everyone take turns filling up
the space of a large pumpkin.)
Easel Stencils: Create large jack-o-lantern
stencils for attaching to children's easel paper. I like to make several
stencils from large round pieces of posterboard that are the same size as the
round easel paper that the children will be painting. I make several so
the children will have choices. I then attach the stencil to all four sides
of the easel using spring-snap clothespins.
Pre-Math Learning Center
Games: There are soooo many easily-created pre-math games that can be made
for the theme of Halloween. Here's just a few suggestions:
*Sorting:
Cut out 3-5 different sizes of either witches, ghosts, or jack-o-lanterns. To
play, children sort them according to size. (Be sure that the 3-5 sizes
are obviously different.)
*Matching: Cut
out an even number of either jack-o-lanterns or ghosts and then put the same facial
expression on every two of them. Mix them. To play, children
match one facial expression to the other.
*Comparisons:
Create ghosts of differing heights and have children line them up from smallest
to largest.
*Counting Ghosts: Print one
number on 10 index cards (1-10). Children look at the number on each card
and then count out that many large white beans and place them on the cards.
Language Learning Center: Print the word ghost on a paper ghost. Print
the word witch on a paper witch. On several small white index cards,
print "ghost" on some of the cards and "witch" on the others. Using
the paper cutouts as guides, children then sort all the index cards placing all
the ghost cards with the paper ghost and all the witch cards with the paper witch.
Easel Painting (creativity within the limits of a suggested theme):
Provide the following colors of paint at the easel (on different days), and as
each child comes to paint, ask him/her the following questions. (The questions
are simply an effort to get the children to exercise their thinking, concentration,
and focusing skills -- accept whatever they choose to paint.):
1. Provide orange, black, and yellow paints
at the easel, and as each child comes to paint, ask him/her, "Would you like
to paint a Halloween picture?"
or
2. Provide orange and black
paint at the easel, and as each child comes to paint, ask him/her, "Would
you like to paint a jack-o-lantern picture?"
or
3. Provide black and white
paint at the easel, and as each child comes to paint, ask him/her, "Would
you like to paint a ghost picture?"
As they finish
their paintings, praise each child's efforts, ask them about their picture, and
then print their exact words at the bottom of the paper and read it back to them.
Music Appreciation Extension: Provide background
music during the morning's activities (classical, for example).
Gross Motor: Move
across the balance beam the way you think a ghost would move across it.
Extension: Play background music (classical,
for example).
Creative Drama: Place small brooms and white pillowcases
(with eye holes) in your cardbox haunted house corner (or Creative Drama Learning
Center) so that witches and ghosts can hitch a ride. :-)
Gross Motor: Have the girls take turns moving across the room on a small broom
in the way that you tell them to move: "Miss Witch, fly quickly"......or,
fly slowly.........or, fly very slowly.........etc." Have the boys
move across the room as "ghosts."
Fantasy Snacks:
* Have baby ghosts for snack (mini-marshmallows).
*Any kind of chunky-type soup can be "pretend"
witch's brew.
Social Game/Language/Listening: If you have an assistant,
divide the children into two groups and then separate them so that one group can't
see the other group. Have a volunteer child from one group be a ghost by
wearing a white pillowcase (with eye holes). That ghost goes to someone
in the group and says something like, "I'm a friendly ghost who goes to preschool
with you. Do you know who I am?" The child the ghost chose
then gets to be the ghost and goes to the other group for one of them to guess
who the ghost is. Alternate back and forth between the groups.
Stormie's
Games: By the way, I offer three Halloween related
learning games in the "Teaching Aids" section of "Stormie's
Stuff for Teachers. Two of the games ("Ghosts and Jack-O-Lanterns"
and "Halloween Cards") are matching/memory games. The third game
("Spiders and Webs") is a patterning-cards game.
Fingerplays/Songs:
Three Little Witches (Tune:
Ten Little Indians) One
little, two little, three little witches, Flying over
haystacks, flying over ditches, Sliding down moonbeams
without any hitches, Hey ho Halloween's here!
(Make finger, hand, and arm movements while
singing. Define unfamiliar words like "moonbeams, hitches, ditches")
The
Haunted House (Tune:
Wheels on the Bus)
The ghosts in the house go boo, boo, boo,
boo, boo, boo, boo, boo, boo,
The ghosts in the house go boo, boo,
boo, all through the night.
The black cat in the house goes meow, meow,
meow, meow, meow, meow,
meow, meow, meow, The black
cat in the house goes meow, meow, meow, all through the night.
The witches in the house go cackle, cackle,
cackle, cackle, cackle,
cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle, The
witches in the house go cackle, cackle, cackle, all through the night.
(Encourage children to add
more verses.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You
are invited to share your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
- From
Claire Quinn:
Language: Scary Halloween
Story: Turn off the lights of your classroom and pretend to make a little
campfire by lighting a few candles. Then, have the children help you
create a scary "preschooler level" story as you print their words on
paper. Later, read the story aloud. From
Sheryl Bauer: Jack-O-Lanterns:
Glue felt to the back of a cabinet then allow children to create their own
feltboard jack-o-lanterns using felt pumpkins and facial feature cutouts.
Here's
a great short story/transitional activity from Maggie Maestri that reinforces
the learning of basic shapes: (Pre-Math):
The Witch House: In advance, fold a piece of orange construction paper in
half and round off the corners. At a convenient time during the day when
a fill-in activity is needed, pick up the folded paper and your scissors and tell
the children a story as you cut: "Once upon a time there was a witch who needed
a house. She found this piece of orange paper and decided to turn it into
her very own home. First, she cut out a door (cut
a rectangular shape from the folded side of the paper).
Next, she cut out a small door next to her door for her cat (cut
a triangular shape next to the rectangle).
Then she cut out a window (cut a square
shape from the paper above and sightly to the right of the triangle).
The witch then opened up her house and there was a surprise inside." (Open
up the paper and find it's a jack-o-lantern.)
From
Kari Bell: "Who Loves You" Ghosts: Items
needed are 1 sheet of black construction paper per child, white tempera paint,
and a white crayon. Have each child place one bare foot into the white tempera
paint and then step out onto the center of the black paper. When the paint
is dry, turn the paper so that the heel is toward the top of the page. Now,
with the white crayon, write "Guess who" at the top of the page, above the heel.
Write "loves you?" under the footprint, down under the toes. It looks like
a ghost! Then tape the children's footprints to the wall and have parents
guess which foot is that of their child. They all loved it, and were surprised
when they didn't guess correctly!
Here's
a great idea from Chris that you'll use all school year long:
- Seasonal Log Cabin: Over time, collect paper
towel cardboard tubes to use as "logs" (or roll up newspapers into the shape of
logs). In October, have children paint (brown) an appliance-sized box large
enough for children to play in. You can also cut windows and doors into
the box/house. On another day, children can glue the "logs" to the outside
of their home. But the best part is that this "log cabin" can be kept and
used over again as it can be decorated according to your unit of teaching: a haunted
house in October, a pilgrim home in November, a gingerbread house in December,
an Abraham Lincoln home in February, etc. Children can enjoy it as a "quiet
area."
From
Janet Petersen, in Illinois:
Halloween
Alternative: "To take the focus off Halloween, in past years, I have had a
"Bear"-ly Me Day where students dress up as something they want to be when they
grow up. It is used in conjunction with "Teddy Bear Day" when students
also bring their teddy bears to school. We sorted the bears by size, color,
age, etc. This would also go along with Stormie's Number 3/Goldilocks and
the Three Bears ideas.
From
Diane Hammond:
Halloween
Alternative: Stormie, I work at a Christian center where we focus more on
pumpkins and fall instead of Halloween. An art project that we like to do
each year is a "Paper Bag Pumpkin." You will need a brown lunch-size paper
bag for each child. They stuff this with newspaper and then the teacher
rubberbands the top to form a stem. The child paints the bottom half of
the bag orange and the top half green. When this dries, they can glue on
a construction paper face.
From
Karen Hall in Illinois:
Halloween
Alternative: Stormie, at our Christian Preschool, we try to avoid the scary
parts of Halloween, while providing the children with an opportunity to "dress
up." Our program for three year olds focuses on Mother Goose nursery rhymes
during the month. On the last class day of the month, we have a Mother Goose
party where the children are asked to come dressed as a character from a nursery
rhyme. The four year olds focus on scarecrows during the month and end their
month with a Scarecrow Festival (party) where the children are asked to come dressed
as a scarecrow. Both groups still color pumpkins, but these alternatives
eliminate the chance for "monsters, ghosts, goblins, and other frightening costumes."
Making
a Multi-Cultural Connection:
From a Montessori
teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina:
Halloween
Alternative: Pumpkin World: My class traced the
seven continents on a pumpkin and I cut them out. The children loved it
and it was a great alternative to a jack-o-lantern!
From
Joyce Payton, charter school teacher in Wilmington, Delaware:
Halloween Alternative: Multicultural Day: Instead of Halloween, we make
our celebration a "Multicultural Day." Each class at our school
chooses a country and presents a skit, activity, etc based on that country. We
have done this for the last two years and it has been a hit with everyone! As
I have been tasked with teaching the little ones a bit of Swahili, our theme for
this day is "Kenya" and we are going on a safari.
Favorite Books:
From
Stormie:
*
There's A Monster Under My Bed, Written
by James Howe; David Rose, Illustrator: A little boy lets his
fears get the best of him as he imagines there's a monster under his bed.
The monster turns out to be just his brother.
*
Monsters Don't Scare Me,
Written by Margaret Holland & Isaacsen-Bright;
Illustrated by Estella Hickman: Every time someone asks this
little girl to do something, she's afraid she "can't" because a monster will get
her. (This is also a good book to read when trying to promote an "I can"
attitude in children.)
* Where
the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak: A
story about a little boy who, after being sent to his room for being too wild,
imagines he's the king of many wild creatures.
Here's
an idea from Pat Stajek-Vorwerk, in Jackson, New Jersey (a preschool teacher
for learning disabled children): The
week before Halloween I always read a book of the week that has a character that
is good for dress-up. As a culminating activity, I dress up as one of the
characters in the story. Last year I was Goldilocks, and this year I will
be the scarecrow, from the book Sam the Scarecrow
by Sharon Gordon. An added entity to this
is, I transform myself into the character in front of the children! They
love it. Since our program is "language infused," the constant explanation
of the dress up process is invaluable!
From
Becky, a preschool teacher in Nichols, New York:
"During October, I enjoy reading The Little Old Lady
Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams, and illustrated by Megan Lloyd.
This is a story about a little old lady who goes for a walk and the characters
she meets along the way, none of which scare her, even if they try. I
read the story to the children and sometimes they act it out. I give them
props such as 2 shoes, l pair of pants, l shirt, gloves, and a hat, and I also
have a Jack-O-Lantern. The children love it! I usually wear a funny
straw hat too!!"
Here's
a great idea from Kathy Maxwell, Richmond, BC Canada:
Hi Stormie, I teach 3-5 yr olds and this story is always a hit: Winnie
the Witch, by Korky Paul & Valerie Thomas This book is filled
with humor and magic. It's great for teaching the color black and to discuss
emotions. When reading the story I use cat faces on sticks or a simple felt
story. While reading the story, I sometimes wear my black witch's hat and
shawl and have the children count with me as I wave my magic wand (great props
to keep available to the children for acting out the story themselves).
For a craft project: Provide a black cat mask with eyes cut out -- have different
colored pieces of cellophane for the children to choose for covering the eye holes.
They can tell you what changes they see when they look through their mask.
From
Susan Wray, Library Storytime Leader, Dyersburg, Tennessee:
The Pumpkin Blanket, by Deborah Turney Zagwyn: The
wind blows a pieced blanket to a baby girl. Clee becomes very attached to
it over the years. It becomes a comforting friend and a cape for dancing.
When she gets old enough to go to kindergarten, her dad asks her to give up a
square at a time to save the pumpkins from frost -- 12 pumpkins, 12 squares of
the blanket. She is rewarded with 12 jack-o-lanterns glowing on the porch
at the end of the season. Wonderful story and gorgeous illustrations by
the author.
From
Carol Stratton in Colorado:
Go
Away Big Green Monster, by Ed Emberly: This is a must-have book for
Halloween. It's just the cutest! I would say kids ages 2-7 would really
like it, but it's perfect for 4's as it has body parts, colors, and fun words.
The pages add facial features to the monster and then take them away. The
ending is great: "Don't come back until I tell you to!"
From
Michelle
in Nebraska:
Too
Many Pumpkins, by Linda White
Jeb Scarecrow's Pumpkin Patch, by Jana
Dillon
| Here's a short little something I
wrote one October after a particularly difficult day in the classroom during the
"Halloween" season. I thought you might enjoy reading it and probably be
able to relate to what I was feeling.
PRESCHOOL TEACHER'S OCTOBER
Written by Stormie Seevers with the
help of and inspired by the words in
‘‘WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE” by Maurice
Sendak During
the month of October, sometime around Halloween, all the children in my class
depart from our world and sail away in their private boats to where the wild things
are. Like Max, they wear their wolf suits (or goblin suits, as the case
may be) and make mischief of one kind and another, so much mischief that I feel
that they will eat me up! Their forests of boos, cackles, and hoots surround
me until I become the wildest thing of all and yell, ‘BE STILL,’ and I tame them
for awhile! And just when the adult in me has reached her limit as queen
of the wild things, a giggle coming from a cardboard box (now a haunted house)
reminds me that I’d be quite lonely without them in my kingdom. I’m reminded
that they are just children (not monsters) who are going through what I can never
again experience--childhood. So I bow my head and humbly admit that it is
both my privilege and my duty to keep their world safe while they’re away.
I then vow to LET THE RUMPUS CONTINUE (at least for now)! I watch as my
little wild things roar their terrible roars, gnash their terrible teeth, roll
their terrible eyes, and show their terrible claws! Later, when November
arrives, I wave goodbye (and good riddance) to October as the children travel
back to me over what seems to have been years and in and out of weeks and through
MANY days. And when they return into the day of their very own classroom,
I hope they will find me waiting for them, loving and warm. |
-
- ------------------------------------------------
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from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
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