Counting with Monsters and Spiders

This week has been a sort of transition week as we've been finishing up some fall and Halloween topics, and getting ready to explore some new ideas and interests. 

We have also been integrating some discussions about our feelings lately- what they look like and what to do with them. So reading The Color Monster was a great fit for the week after Halloween, giving us a little extra time to play with monsters and our emotions. I think we'll be doing more with the ideas in this book though- it is such a great model for socioemotional skills, so this probably won't be the only time I write about it. 

But for this week, we made some silly counting monsters. 

We also started exploring spiders a little bit more in depth, and one of our activities used this same counting idea with googly eyes and pipe cleaner legs. 

Halloween Fun

We celebrated Halloween on our Thursday class this year, with lots of festive activities and our family fall program.

Haunted Houses

What is inside your haunted house? After reading Ghosts in the House, the children used various loose parts to fill these haunted houses. This activity supports counting and sorting, along with fine motor and one-to-one correspondence. 

Ghosts Sensory Bin

The floating ghosts in this water bin also had different feelings faces, 

to open up conversations about what different feelings might look like. 

Melting Potions

This sensory bin was set up for some potions play and melting exploration, with icy Jack-o-Lanterns.

I set it up in a smaller bin for the morning class, but moved it to the larger bin for the next class because it was so popular!

Spider Play

We also had a little bit of spider play. We did more spider activities the following week, but I was hoping these would hep to spark the children's interest. 

I always enjoy celebrating Halloween with this age group. I never have enough class time to fit in all of the fun learning activities that can be integrated within a spooky theme. 

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

This year, our fall field trip was to the Pumpkin Patch. We went to a large patch with a wide variety of pumpkins, and enjoyed exploring all the different sizes, colors, and shapes in their fields.

I usually get so caught up in field trips that I forget to take a lot of pictures. It was a fun day!