Halloween – Search For Seven

Handprint Spiderweb

October 29, 2020October 28, 2020 Keira

Dear Reader,

After a week focusing on harvest, my preschooler was really excited to do another craft. We all love tomatoes (except the teen. She’s broken) but after so many days spent toiling in the kitchen, I think we are all wanting to work on some other thing. So, with paint, a paintbrush, a plate, some string, and a holepunch, we made a spider in it’s web.

To make your own, start by poking holes around a plate. I totally lucked out on my first guess, and every 4 grooves worked out perfectly to go evenly around.

then, we painted her hand. Don’t do the thumb, but do all the fingers and the palm. put her hand down on the plate, then paint again and put her hand down again the other way, so that your spider has 8 legs. Some spiders, ours included, are wiggly and you somehow randomly end up with a 9-legged spider. Roll with it. Love your spiders no matter the deformities, haha. My daughter was determined to stick the paper punches on as eyeballs, but one got lost pretty quickly, so we also have a 1-eyed spider.

Then, take a long piece of string, find the middle, and tie it around one of the punched holes in the plate, so you have two shorter strings (less knots) let your kid weave through any holes on the plate, crossing the front of the plate as much as possible. We do a lot of “sewing” so it was kinda hard for my preschooler to cross the plate when she knows sewing is supposed to go through consecutive holes. Isn’t that the way it goes; you try so hard to get her to learn a skill one way, just to need to do it another way later.

I actually really enjoyed making this with my kiddo. I think she enjoyed it, too. and, even if we do one every year, they’ll be different because her handprint will change as she grows. It was really just fun to slow down for a second and work on something together.

Kids Need Play

Tissue Pumpkin poke

October 29, 2020October 28, 2020 Keira

Dear Reader,

I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to focus on finger isolation with my toddlers, so I went on a pinterest search for activities with poking being involved, and when I came across this activity I got kinda excited because it is also a fun halloween activity! There aren’t many specifically Halloween activities for toddlers.

It took them a while to get the hang of poking the tissue paper. They weren’t quite sure it was okay to tear it at first. And then they were afraid to press hard enough to break the paper. Maybe if I had propped up the pumpkin, it would have felt less awkward to them; leaning over and poking made them unsure of their balance. But every time I tried to glue the cups to the veneered wood, it just slipped off! Maybe duct tape rolls or a real poster board would have been a better solution. But I forgot to grab the poster board and this veneer wood was just so cute when my husband was helping me come up with better solutions than running back to the store.

To make the activity, you need orange tissue paper (I only used 2 sheets), plastic cups, glue (hot glue if you have poster board, other glue and maybe rubber bands for each cup, if you need to be creative), and green paper for the stem. Optionally, you can use pipe cleaners to make a curly vine. You will also need some prize or token in each cup (or at least in 1 cup so they have to find the prize, but for toddlers it’s definitely better for the prize to be in each cup). And whatever you want to attach it to (because I forgot that, myself). You’re gonna want to use the stuff poster board, I think. Because the veneer (and I think even regular wood, but I don’t know. It probably depends on how heavy your cups and prizes are) wasn’t worth the fight, but a regular poster board will be too flimsy.

Arrange the cups so you have an idea on how you want the pumpkin to look, cut the tissue paper to cover the cup (use at least 1 inch extra on each side if you intend to use the rubber bands instead if glue), 1 square for each cup. Place a prize in the cups and then glue or rubber band the tissue paper to each cup. Glue the cups into place. Add the stem and any decoration. Then, just set it up and let them play.

I have to say, between the preschooler (you know she wanted in on that action) and the toddlers, it got kinda crazy, but I think everyone enjoyed it. And it was easier than I suspected to practice taking turns.

Kids Need Play

Pumpkin Paint

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020 Summer

Dear Reader,

This has become a tradition for us every Halloween. We buy small pumpkins and then we paint them.

The girls love painting the pumpkins and we get to display them and they also play with them too.

All you need is a kid friendly paint, something to paint with, and the pumpkins.

We have been doing this since my oldest was a toddler. Much easier than carving with littles.

Kids Need Play

Spiderweb Walk

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020 Summer

Dear Reader,

The idea behind this activity was to get the girls to work on walking on a line as well as letter recognition. As sometimes happens though one of these fell by the wayside as I focused more on letter recognition while trying to fend off their toddler sister.

This is definitely an activity you either need to do during a nap or when your littles are distracted elsewhere. My toddlers thought it looked so fun that they had to either sit on the web or stand in the middle making it hard for sisters.

Start by making the web out of masking tape. Then make letters for your littles to find on the web. We used some cards we had lying around. Place the letters on the web.

Call out letters for your child to find. Have them walk on the tape in a line until they find the letter. Then have them bring the letter back to you.

This will help them work on balancing and letter recognition.

A Day in the Life, Kids Need Play

Playing in the Corn Pit

October 27, 2020October 27, 2020 Keira

Dear Reader,

Sorry I’m so late posting tonight, but today we went to the corn maze! Our corn maze, as many others, has a corn pit. It makes sense to me, all the corn – works just as well to play in it and then use it for feed or for planting. Our toddlers were split on this one. Mostly because it was cold tonight. One just wanted to snuggle where it was warm, but the other loved the corn so much she bawled as we pulled her out to head home! The funny thing is, she didn’t even really play in it. For the most part she just sat there, occasionally she would take a kernel or two in her hand and watch them drop. But apparently that was pretty awesome, given the reluctance to leave.

We stayed out way past the girls’ bedtime and they protested quite a bit on the ride home. I wish they would set up times earlier for families of littles. Most don’t open until later in the afternoon or even the evening here. We got everyone tucked in and snug in bed, so I wanted to get it all posted before I went to sleep.

Goodnight!

Kids Need Play

Field Trip: Corn Maze

October 27, 2020November 29, 2021 Keira

Dear Reader,

We have made it a tradition in our family to visit the corn maze every year. We have managed to do it with kids in a stroller, kids in a hiking backpack, and kids making the decisions on where to turn, but we have kept the tradition alive! Personally, I love the maze. Sometimes I think everyone else just humors me. There’s just something fun about making decisions together as a family (or group) in a way that doesn’t have any serious consequences. There is probably some psychology term for that. But it’s fun to ask a preschooler to make the decision every once in a while, just to see where you end up.

Kids Need Play

Freebie Pumpkin Poke

October 26, 2020March 10, 2022 Summer

Dear Readers,

Today I wanted to practice the pincer grasp with my preschoolers. We started with a pushpin and a printout that my sister made us. I did have a little difficulty because nothing I was using was allowing the give that the pin needed to get through. The cardboard I had was too thin and the table was too hard.

Then I had a brainstorm, why not use a folded blanket? We had a lot of muslin blankets still lying around from the baby stage of the kids, so why not use them?

This activity was definitely too hard for my oldest toddler (she didn’t even really poke any of the dots), but it was a good stretch for my youngest preschooler. If you are looking for a good craft for your preschoolers to do during the Halloween season these are a great option. Just don’t expect them to finish them the first time you try doing something like this.

The first one we did might have been way over the kids heads but my oldest did about a third of the pumpkin before she decided she was done. I will link that one for older kids if you would like to do this with elementary aged kids it will be there for them too.

The second one we did is more preschool friendly, so definitely try that with your preschoolers.

Here is the preschool version:

Click here to download

Here is the elementary aged version:

Click here to download

Have fun, whichever one you choose to do.

probably more 4+

Kids Need Play

Witches Brew

October 26, 2020October 26, 2020 Summer

Dear Readers,

Today I tried to experiment with my rainbow foam recipe. Instead of using water I decided that I wanted to see what would happen if I used Vinegar. Would it foam more if it is already foamy from the soap?

What happened was unexpected, but fun. To make it more Halloween like I decided to theme this sensory play around a Witches brew. The bowls held the potion (the foam) and I had some bone powder (baking soda) and eyeballs (cotton balls).

In a blender mix 1 cup of vinegar with 2 Tablespoons of dish soap and around 5 drops of food coloring. I added more because I thought it wasn’t enough, but as I will explain later start with 5 your first time… I added way too much. This is good for around 4 small cauldrons (the bowls) so if you wanted to do less, or make it more than one batch for other colors you could do that too.

When I mixed all the ingredients together the color just wasn’t showing. The potion was a really pale purple, an almost unnoticeable purple by the time I put 10 drops in. But I gave up.

I don’t know how well you can tell from the photo, but when you add your bone powder (baking soda) it brings out the color. By the time we were done with the potions my girls hands (and shirts) were purple too. Thankfully the purple wasn’t permanent.

I tried to contain the mess a little by using cookie trays or pans. While this worked for the most part, my girls wiped the potion on their shirts. This may not be too much a problem if you don’t use a lot of food coloring, but I would probably provide some protection for their clothes if I were you.

The girls loved it and it was a cool learning experiment for me too. I forgot to mention though that the potion did not fizz until it had settled from a foam into colored vinegar. Oh well, it still turned out pretty cool.

Kids Need Play

Spiders in Ice Cube Trays

October 15, 2020October 18, 2020 Keira

Dear Reader,

I have had the idea of putting small objects in ice cube trays for quite a while, but I couldn’t find the pompoms I have somewhere in my craftroom-mess-that-is-now-storage. I did, however, come across a box of halloween trinkets! That discovery is both helpful now and will save me a ton of trouble in a few weeks, when I can hand them out to trick-or-treaters. I thought for sure our city would follow all the neighboring cities and ban festivities, but they’re still allowing trick-or-treaters.

The spiders are bigger than I wanted for this activity, so I’ll probably still do it again with the pompoms when I find them, but it’s still a good activity for finger control and hand-eye coordination. And it’s festive!

In case you need instructions, get an ice cube tray and a pack of plastic spiders. Place the spiders in the tray, and hand them to your toddler!

I gave the trays to the girls first thing this morning, while I was making breakfast. It kept them pretty distracted, actually! I had time to finish breakfast and come sit and play with them!

When they started getting bored with that, I turned the trays over and showed them that the spiders could fit between the trays, too! Truth be told, I think these spiders are much more entertaining with the back of the ice cube trays, because they’re thin so they fit between and can slide around the little mounds for the ice.

One twin played with the spiders and trays until naptime, eagerly coming back after her breakfast was all gone. I’m glad she enjoyed it, but it goes to show that even the simplest things that you don’t think will entertain a toddler can hold such mystery and exploration. I think that’s my favorite thing about toddlerhood – the general fascination with and ability to learn from anything.

Kids Need Play

Egg Carton Bats

October 15, 2020October 18, 2020 Keira

Dear Reader,

Years and years ago, I made bat decorations with my now-teenager. I kept them for quite a while, putting them up year after year. Sadly, since they’re made from paper pulp, so they got pretty bent and hashed. In thinking of some fun Halloween activities, I decided to have a go at egg carton bats again!

The nice thing is, since teenagers seem to thrive on nostalgia, I was able to get my teen in on the activity, too, and the 3 of us had very different interpretations of how to paint them! My teen used her creative talent to mix purple and black into interesting combinations (there’s an ombre one and one with a mottled black over purple, just so you get the idea). I am boring and stuck with all black – a classic. And the preschooler? Well, apparently painting is boring. she was done within 5 minutes and wishing we’d let her glue eyeballs on it already.

I broke out some moon and lightning confetti in hopes to increase her patience. I don’t think it worked very well, but it did give her something else to do while the teen and I finished. I have had this confetti since high school. Back in the dark ages before texting, I used to stick confetti in my passed notes at school. Sadly, after the bats, it got pushed onto the floor, and it had to be vacuumed up before toddlers could eat it.

I wish the preschooler had had more patience, but I guess that will come with more time. At least, I hope. She is kind of my queen of “onto the next great adventure!” so one of the hardest things for her is being patient and holding still.

After we were all done, I strung strings through them and hung them over our piano. I have tons of decorations in storage, but since the basement is under construction, I just don’t think I’m gonna put anything else up this year. At least we have obviously home-made bats to show off, eh?

unless your child has no patience (as demonstrated by my kid)
probably more 4+