Halloween Excitement in TK

I don’t know about anyone else, but my kiddos are so excited about Halloween it is hard for them to think about anything else.  The social chatter is all about what costume they are going to wear. So far, I have an Elsa and Anna, Spiderman, a firemen, a few witches, a skeleton, and Olaf. The other kids haven’t decided yet, but I have a feeling I may see a few more Frozen characters by the sound of it. I know that I contribute to all of their excitement. We have been writing in our October Writing Journals and my room is filled with hanging witches, spiders, October Monthly Math Craftivities, and owls. You can purchase some of these products in our TPT store.  

                                                                                     

              

October's Monthly Math Craftivity

I have a great craft and treat planned for our classroom party the Friday before Halloween. I found these darling Mummy Hot Dogs on Frugal Coupon Living website.

They are really easy to make and taste great! My kiddos will love making them and I can't wait to see how excited they are when they come out of the oven. I must say that when they add the ketchup it might get a little gory. Maybe I will just have mustard! 

All you need to make these is: (This is for 8 Mummies) 

·    1 can Crescent Roll Dough

·    2 American Cheese slices

·    8 Hot Dogs

·    16 Candy Eyes or pieces of black olive (optional)

·    Cooking spray

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 375.

2.  Cut each cheese slice into 4 strips.

3.  Unroll dough and separate into 4 rectangles (crimp diagonal cuts in each one together).

4.   Cut each rectangle lengthwise into 1/2″ strips and join 2 together to form one long “bandage”.

5.  10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).

6.  Wrap “bandage” of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese.

7.  Make sure to leave a gap for face.

8.  Place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down) on non stick cookie sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray.

9.  Bake 15 minutes or until dough is lightly brown.

10.Place a small piece of cheese where eyes go and place in oven to melt slightly.

11. Place 2 eyes on each mummy.

For our craft project, Paper Plate Spider Webs, will be the perfect activity to do on Friday morning before the school Halloween parade.

 In TK we are working daily on improving and strengthening our fine motor skills. I always tell the kids to “flex your muscles” before we do an activity that really makes those little fingers work. They all stand up and do the muscle man stance, grimacing and posing with their arm muscles tight. This little exercise seems to help eliminate the groans and ughs when we are about to do tear art or use clothespins as a tool to pick up objects. When I saw this spider web craft, I knew that I could "trick" my TKers. Stringing the yarn through the holes is a perfect activity for my TK kiddos to practice those fine motor skills while having fun. I can't wait to do this with them and send them home  to hang in their windows for Halloween. There are great pictures of this craft and step by step instructions on SheKnows website.

Easy Graveyard Dessert!

My kids decided that they needed to have a special Halloween dessert for their class 

Halloween Party.  We found Peeps Marshmallow Gravestones at Target and decided to 

make individual pudding graveyards.  It was easy and fun for my kiddos.  

To make these you will need instant chocolate pudding, 

Peeps Marshmallow Gravestones, Brach's Pumpkins, green sprinkles, 

milk, and clear plastic cups.

Make the pudding according to the package.  

Pour the pudding into the plastic cups.  

Add a gravestone to each cup.  

Sprinkle the top with the green sugar, add a candy pumpkin and your dessert is complete!

Hope your kiddos like this project as much as mine did!  Happy Halloween!

Halloween Treats!

Look at this spooky Mummy Candle Holder!  The idea came to us when we were looking at a Pottery Barn Catalog.  To make these you will need mason jars, googly eyes, gauze bandages, and Mod Podge.  You will also need a paintbrush and a hot glue gun.

First, glue gun googly eyes to the mason jar.
Second, paint the mason jar with Mod Podge.
Third, wrap the jar with the gauze bandages.
Finally, paint the gauze with Mod Podge.  Allow to dry!
We are using the flameless candles and sending them home as a Halloween treat!

We have been busy getting our classrooms ready for Halloween and wanted to show some of our academic Halloween projects!  Our first Halloween project was a Witch Glyph.  The kids had a great time making their witches and the parents have been having a blast trying to figure out which witch is their child's!

In addition, we made math spiders!  Our firsties chose a number between 5 and 12 and then wrote four addition and four subtraction problems that equaled their spider number!  Our TK kiddos made the spiders as well.  They used dots to show different ways to make the number 8.

We started a new Halloween Count and Rhyme book.  We are using this book as we do many of our journals.  We bound the books and students are completing one page a day and we will be finished in time for the kids to take the book home on October 30th.

Today we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin and our firsties started 3D pumpkin life cycles.  We will be adding the stems and leaves on Monday!  They are time consuming but they will look great hanging in your classroom!  If you want to try them you can get the instructions and templates here!  Hope you enjoy your treats!  Happy Haunting!

Looking For Some Classroom Fun And Organization? Try Using Journals!

We're back from our blogging hiatus! 

The beginning of the school year is always busy! Why after 20+ years are we still so buried?? I think it's because we are still adapting to new district adoptions and new technology. Another reason is there are so many fun and creative teaching activities and ideas on blogs, social media, and TPT and we want to try them all!! This year 2 of us are teaching first grade and 1 of us is teaching TK! Our classrooms are now in full swing and we want to share some of the excitement with you!

In our first grade classrooms we have several journals that our kids LOVE! We use them over and over throughout the school year.  Our firsties get so excited when it is their turn to take home the Lost Tooth Journal and the Birthday Journal to share with their families!

At the beginning of the year we do a super fun (and easy to prep) mini unit to introduce the Lost Tooth Journal. It includes a graph and directed draw.

Try to find a kid who isn't excited about their birthday! We introduce our Birthday Journal by making a birthday graph and choral reading a birthday poem.  This is our secret way to get our firsties to practice saying the months of the year!

We use A LOT of journals in our classrooms. They come in all different formats. We LOVE them because journals help to keep lessons and activities organized. We choose to bind our Daily Language Practice into a quarterly journal. However, they may also be given out daily or stapled into weekly packets.

Do you use journals in your classroom?  We would love to hear your ideas!