Friday Fingerplays: Halloween Fingerplays (An English and Spanish Fingerplay!)

We've been doing this week's finger play all month and really enjoying it. I've included the Spanish version as well for those who are looking for bilingual fingerplays.



There is also a book based on this fingerplay that might be fun to read as well.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a fence (Hold up all five fingers over opposite forearm to mimic sitting on a fence)

The first one says "Oh my it's getting late" (Pantomime looking at watch or point to clock in the room)

The second one says: "There are witches in the air" (Point to the sky)

The third one says: "But we don't care" (Shrug)

The fourth one says: "Let's run and run and run" (turn in a circle)

The fifth one says: "I'm ready for some fun!"

Whooooosh! Goes the wind. (Wave hands like the wind)

Out goes the light (Give a loud clap)

Five little pumpkins rolling out of sight (roll hands and hide behind back)

The Spanish finger play version is below and the actions are the same as outlined above. (Desculpa la falta de acentos.)

Cinco Calabacitas

Cinco calabacitas sentadas en un porton.

La primera dijo: Se esta haciendo tarde"

La segunda dijo: "Hay brujas en el aire"

La tercera dijo: "No le hace"

La cuarta dijo:"Corramos, corramos"

La quinta dijo: "Es una noche de espanto"

Uuuuuuuu hizo el viento.

Y se apagaron las luces.

Las cinco calabacitas, corrieron a esconderse!

Friday Fingerplays: What Am I?

Here is a Halloween themed fingerplay for your little ones.

What Am I?

A face so round (Hands in a circle)

And eyes so bright (Point to eyes)

A nose that glows (Point to nose)

My, what a sight!

A fiery mouth (Point to mouth)

With a jolly grin (Grin)

No arms, no legs (shake legs and arms)

Just head to chin (touch forehead and chin)

What am I?

A Jack-O-Lantern!

CHEAP TODDLER ACTIVITIES: TODDLER HALLOWEEN CRAFT & A BOOK

We have been reading Where is Baby's Pumpkin by Karen Katz on a daily basis over here. The constant exposure triggered some primordial craft genes to express themselves and, if I do say so myself, this is a decent craft/book tie-in for the younger toddler. Also, it doesn't tax my quite limited crafting skills. Another plus is you can s-t-r-e-t-c-h this one out over the course of several days.

All you need are:

1. Construction paper in a variety of autumn/halloween colors
2. Halloween stickers
3. Crayons
4. Watercolor paints or other paints
5. Scissors (for mommy)
6.Glue (for mommy)

The modus operandi here is mommy cuts out the basic shape of items featured in the book (pumpkin, ghost, witch hat, bats etc... Although just do one at a time!) and allows the toddler to color or paint them followed by liberal application of holiday stickers.

Then mommy glues whatever needs to be glued (if she hasn't done it already) and sticks the art work on the wall.

The next time you read 'Where is Baby's Pumpkin' you refer back to the craft project 'Hey, look, there's the pumpkin we made' etc...

Here are some pics of the creative process...

CHEAP TODDLER ACTIVITIES: FUN FELT GAME

Chasing Cheerios has a great pumpkin decorating felt 'game' over on her blog. It is too cute and would be perfect for little and older toddlers.

It's based on a scarecrow decorating game from Let's Explore.

Way cute and super fun. I hope to try this with my little pumpkins. :)

CHEAP FAMILY ACTIVITIES: FALL HARVEST

Now is the time to head out to the pumpkin patch and pick some apples. Check out pickyourown.org for locations near you.

And a quick checklist of seasonal activities--You haven't done Fall until you done all of the below--:

1. Leaf rubbing.

2. Drinking hot cider with donuts.

3. Eating apple cobbler over ice cream.

4.Carving or otherwise decorating pumpkins.

5.Roasting pumpkin seeds.

6. Jumping in to a pile of leaves.

7.Reading books about Halloween and the Fall season.

8. Collecting pretty leaves and acorns for a collage.

9. Dance to the 'Monster Mash' or 'Thriller'.





10. Watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

What makes Fall for your family?

Animal Addiction: 5 Steps for a Spectacular Safari

Here's a list of some fun animal inspired games and websites that will be sure to provide several hours of fun.

1. The ABCs with animals. This game is perfect for waiting rooms or while running errands. Take turns naming animals that start with each letter of the alphabet. Anteater, Bumblebee, Cat etc... This will get kids thinking and eat time with discussions of the difference between an anteater and aunteater (Shel Silverstein has a cute poem on this very topic).

2. Walk this way. Avoid parking lot meltdowns by asking kids to hop like a bunny, waddle like a duck, march like an ant etc... on their way into the store. How many different animals can you come up with? Do a bit of role reversal too and have your kids t

3. Visit www.switchzoo.com where kids can design their own wild kingdom for free. Every wonder what a praying mantis crossed with a buffalo might look like? You can find out on this website!

4. Check out the San Diego Zoo webcams to see what animals are doing in real time. Just click on the Live cams tab at the top of the page and select which animal you would like to watch.

5. Bussongs.com has the lyrics and, in some cases, music to a whole menagerie of animal songs.

6.Don't forget to set up a jungle hunt or safari. For older kids, hide some stuffed animals around the house/yard and give them a list of what they need to find. Younger kids will enjoy following a string of yarn to the animal's hidden location.

Happy hunting!

Cheap or Free Toddler Activities: 8 More Ideas

Here's another list of things to do when your toddler doesn't know what to do with themselves anymore.

1.Peruse the spice cabinet and smell away. Be sure to note what smells are sweet and savory to expose your toddler to those concepts.

2.Put finger paint in a gallon size ziploc bag (quarts are too small) and seal for a homemade 'sensory mat.' It's squishy, it's cold, it allows for mess free finger painting. Provide a bag for each color. Older kids can use this to play endless games of tic-tac-toe.

3.Gather a variety of different sized balls and an empty laundry basket. Take turns trying to throw a ball into the basket thereby introducing the concept of turns and sharing. Now, we did this one at home and it was not a hit, but I can see an active, kinetic toddler really getting into this. This can be adapted for multiple ages; i.e. older kids throw from further away.

4. Make a 'wave' bottle with some baby oil, food coloring and glitter. This is a variation on the I Spy bottle mentioned in the previous post. Take a used water or pop bottle and fill it with water about 1/3 of the way. Add food coloring and glitter. Top off with baby oil and seal. Put on some Beach Boy surfer music and make some waves!

5.Go for a magic carpet ride. Take an old sheet or use an area rug. Have toddler sit down on it and pick up the other end and drag them around the house. Kids love this one!

6. Thread some rigatoni on yarn or old shoelaces. This allows toddlers to practice fine motor skills. If you are feeling especially crafty, paint the rigatoni first. Bonus points to the mom who forgets to take off her necklace before leaving the house.

7. Find the alphabet. You will need a bin, some letters such as the magnetic ones on your fridge and some rice, bird seed, or dried beans. Fill the bin with the letters and cover with the rice, bird seed, or dried beans. See if your toddler can find them all before they put a bean up their nose! This activity provides a great opportunity to reinforce letter recognition.

8. Go on a Bear Hunt. While your toddler is napping, take a teddy bear and tie yarn around it's ankle. Hide the bear and leave a 'yarn trail' for your toddler to follow. Couple this activity with the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Really nice moms hide a special treat with the bear such as chocolate or a favorite snack.

P.S. Just a friendly reminder that stores are putting all their summer merchandise on clearance. Now is the time to scope out sprinklers and other summer toys for next year.