Hand skeletons

This project turned out so cute, we were super happy with it when we were done.

You know how sometimes you think something is going to go over really well, and when you do it with the kids, they just really have no interest in it?  Yeah, well this was definitely NOT one of those!

We were studying X...but I'm thinking this would also be fun to do as a Halloween project, or as a basic unit on bones.

The best part is that we all have black construction paper and q-tips in our house.  

Depending on the ages of the kids you are doing this with, you can either trace their hand on a black sheet of paper or let them do this step.  I'm thinking it could be fun to use a foot, or draw a basic outline of a body on a paper and do the foot bones or a whole body skeleton.

Then use glue to put the q-tips on to look like the bones.

It's not super anatomically correct ;), but IS super cute.

Halloween Party!!

Love a good Halloween Party!!

One of the keepsakes that we love to make for the kiddos is a hand-print t-shirt.  For this year's Halloween Party we did spiders.

I LOVED the way they turned out.

We always fold the shirts and put a piece of paper in between the two sides of the shirt so that the paint doesn't seep through to the back.  Also, be sure to use a laundry proof paint...one that won't wash off or out in the laundry.  We use acrylic.  We drew the "web" on with a sharpie, and used a red acrylic paint to dot the eyes on.

We also have each of the kids bring a treat to share with their classmates, so each kid goes home with a treat from each of their classmates.  They all bring a trick or treat bag and we divide them out!

Of course we give them some treats, too...Pumpkin and Ghost poop.  (Preschoolers think poop is hilarious!)

So fun to eat the scary food!  We had Mummy Cupcakes and Hot Dog Mummies.  Yum!

Four year olds are also getting good at playing games and Bingo is a favorite.  A couple of years ago we downloaded this Bingo Game from Jamie @ The Crafting Chicks.

They can use Skittles, M-n-M's, cereal, or marshmallows as markers for the game.  And they love to eat the treats at the end!

Happy Halloween!  Have fun with your little ones!

Marshmallow Ghosts

Easy Marshmallow Ghost!!

And it's cute...kinda looks like a PacMan ghost, right??

This one is another awesome hand eye coordination/fine motor skills builder.  

Simply make an outline of a ghost (or anything, really!) with glue on construction paper, then give the kids a cup of marshmallows.

Again...so fun to see how different kids are in the way they do projects!

More Monsters than you know what to do with...

Even more fun than toilet paper rolls is paper plates.

And, kids love masks....

and pretend.

So let's pretend we're monsters!

Ahead of time, you need to paint the bottom portion of the plate green.

Cut out construction paper shapes:  green triangle spikes, yellow round eyes, white oval mouth/teeth and red zigzags for the inside of the white...to show their teeth!

First turn the paper plates right side up (so the green is on the table).  And glue the green triangles all around the edges for his spikes.  Then turn it over and glue on the eyes and mouth/teeth, and finish it off with some googly eyes in the center of the yellow.

When the glue dries, make sure they have some time to growl at  each other with their monster faces on!!

Monsters!!

October wouldn't be October without monsters.  

And lots of 'em.

The most fun thing about this project is that you can give the kids lots of choices...like how many eyes do you want your monster to have?  Where do you want his eyes?  They can make the face look pretty much however they want it.  

But just as a warning, this project has lots of steps and takes a lot of fine motor coordination.

Here is what you need:

painted toilet paper rolls

Construction paper, it whatever colors you want

googly eyes

pipe cleaners

Poke holes in the sides of the rolls.  You'll need to cut the paper into a shape to use as their spiky hair, a few mouth shapes, and eye shapes.

Glue the "hair" around the top of their head.  Have them poke their pipe cleaner arms through the holes.  Glue on the mouth and eye pieces.  Glue on the googly eyes.

Make sure he (or she!) gets a cool name!!  And don't use it to scare your sister.  :)

Boo!!!

Another fun toilet paper roll craft...that takes a lot of fine motor skills!!  All you need for this one is a white toilet paper roll, white crepe paper, and googly eyes.

Tape one end of the crepe paper onto the tp roll, and let the kiddos start wrapping!  When they FINALLY get it done (because it WILL take longer than you thought, lol!!) glue some googly eyes on and your little ghost is set!!  

Frankenstein

Oh, October, how I love thee.

And thy monsters.

One of the best things about teaching sweet little preschool kiddos is that I get to see Halloween through their eyes again. 

Circle time in October is full of parties and trick-or-treating, of monsters and dress ups, and of superheroes and Disney princesses.

And who wouldn't love this??

You will need:

an empty toilet paper roll for each lucky kid (you'll want to paint the roll first, green on bottom, black on the top, for his "hair.")

black pipe cleaner

googly eyes

glue

kid scissors

Step one:  supervise the cuties whilst they cut Frank's "hair."  Be sure they don't cut their own hair!!  :)

Step two:  poke a hole in each side of his head and let the kids poke the pipe cleaner through.  Some might need help with this step...

Step three:  let them use more of those fine motor skills that they are honing and glue on a couple of googly eyes

Lastly, draw on a couple of scars...on their chin, over their eye.

Totally one of my favorites!