The seasons are changing once again! At least around these parts, the temperatures are dipping, the snow’s beginning to fly, and little children are once again fascinated to watch their own breath floating in front of them outside! I’ve collected a list of some of my favorite winter-themed activities for you to use with your preschoolers- whether as part of a formal preschool curriculum, as play group activities, or as projects to do around the kitchen table!
Bubble Paint
For the truly brave preschool teacher or parent, looking for a creative art project, I present bubble painting!! This can be a messy project, but very unique and with many opportunities for developmental growth. Directions first, benefits later.
Five Ways to Serve Up a Pumpkin
I mentioned before that a pumpkin’s greatness is in part due to its hollowness. We’ve talked about floating pumpkins, pumpkin drums, and of course, Jack-o-lanterns, but perhaps best of all, a pumpkin can be hollowed out to create a bowl! You can use a cleaned out pumpkin to hold pre-made food, such as soups or a casserole, or you can actually cook in the pumpkin shell as well! Here are five festive ways to turn your gourd into a gourmet dish!
Pumpkin Drum
As you and your children are exploring the properties of pumpkins, you discover that the fact that they are hollow is one of their best characteristics. You find this out as you dig out their seeds and make Jack-o-lanterns. You realize it’s importance as you send even enormous pumpkins floating on water. Another great way to utilize the hollow property of a pumpkin is to use it as a drum!
Book Activity: 10 Step Guide to Living with Your Monster
Book Activity: Big Pumpkin
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman is a fantastic Halloween book! (In fact, it just might be my favorite!) It’s written in a pattern style with consecutive characters (a witch, a ghost, a vampire, and a mummy) each larger than the first, approaching the same problem – a giant pumpkin, stuck on the vine- in the same way. There is repetitive text and a definite pattern, which preschoolers really respond to, and which also builds pre-literacy skills. In the end, it is not the larger characters, but a tiny bat who, through cooperation, comes up with a solution. A great social skills lesson! [Read more…]
Book Activity: Piggy Pie
Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini is the perfect non-Halloween, Halloween book. It’s not specifically Halloween themed, but it is a creative combination of a grouchy, hungry witch and some sly pigs who use costumes to avoid becoming ingredients. As you read this story with your little ones, really play up the voices and point out the details in the pictures. With particularly young children, you may need to explain that the pigs are dressing up in order to trick the witch. From there, you can easily make connections with their own dress-up experiences, on Halloween or otherwise.
I would make a note of two things here. The end of the book ties this story in with the Big Bad Wolf from the Three Little Pigs. Very young children will have a hard time making that connection. You can help this connection by being sure that the children are already familiar with the story of the Three Little Pigs through previous activities, or you can just glide over it. It’s not a critical element in the story. Secondly, the witch does get upset several times in this book and basically throws a tantrum. Take the opportunity to teach social skills by pointing out her behavior and what is and isn’t appropriate behavior. It’s easy to point out undesirable behavior in a witch because, afterall, she is a witch. Don’t detract too much from the story, but if you’re seeing some similar behavior in your own children, you might give them the opportunity to be the expert and make suggestions for a better course of action for the witch. They may later realize these suggestions work for themselves as well!
A Pumpkin Face Takes Shape!
This, my friends, is a work of art. And a fantastic display geometric/mathematical prowess. And it’s the sweetest pumpkin face I’ve seen in a while because it was made by one of my darling boys!
Do Pumpkins Sink or Float?
Sink or float is a classic preschool activity. You gather an assortment of items and have the children guess which will sink or float, and then test their hypotheses. (It made me laugh not too long ago when David Letterman added a gag segment called “Will it Float” with a huge pool of water and random items for the members of the audience to make predictions about. I’m guessing he’d been to his little boy’s preschool the day he came up with that one!)
Who Has the Pumpkin?
Children love to be sneaky….or sometimes just to think that they’re being sneaky. Here’s a play on a sneaky old guessing game that is perfect for a group of youngsters in the fall!
This is a variation of “Button, Button, Who Has the Button”. Have the children sit in a circle. Have one child stand in the center and close her eyes. Hand a mini pumpkin to one child and have him hide it behind his back. Have all the other children sneakily pretend to hide a pumpkin by putting their hands behind their backs also. When everyone’s ready, the child in the center opens her eyes and the whole group says, “Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Who Has the Pumpkin?” The center child guesses and if it’s an incorrect guess, that child lifts up his empty hands to show there was no pumpkin. At this point, you can have the center child just keep guessing, or you – or the child she chose- can give a clue about the person who does have the pumpkin. “A girl has the pumpkin,” or “This person has on a striped shirt.” It all depends on your group and whether or not they’re ready to give or use clues. Once the pumpkin is discovered, choose another person to be in the center and another to hide the pumpkin and start again. Try to give everyone a turn! And just enjoy playing together!
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