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!

Trees in the Fall

We spent a lot of October studying trees in the fall, which included exploring acorns, squirrels, sticks, trunks, branches, and the changing leaves.

Fall Colors on the Light Table

 

The Lines in Leaves

This was an invitation to look more closely at the lines in the leaves. Children could make leaf rubbings, make prints in clay, or rub the leaves under tinfoil to see the lines. 

Tree Slices

We used different sized tree slices for loose parts play, as well as these geoboards made out of larger slices for fine motor work and shape/line exploration.

Acorns and Squirrels

We played a lot of acorn "hide and seek," and gathered up a lot of nuts for the squirrel's winter stash in the sensory bin and with a grid counting game.

Fall Leaf Art

The colors of fall are perfect for beautiful art projects, and we tried a few different processes... We worked together to decorate this giant cardboard tree.

We painted with marbles to make these leaves.

And we painted with tinfoil to make our own fall trees.

Leaf Experiment

We talked about why leaves change colors in the fall, and how chlorophyl (the green pigment) covers up the true colors of the leaf. Then we did an experiment to extract the hidden colors of leaves. 

Dancing with Leaf Sticks

Using play leaves and leaf sticks is always a favorite for music time. (And it's always hard to get a good picture... :) )

There are so many ways to explore the wonder of fall! I always feel like I have more ideas than we have time for. Happy Fall!