Activities That Will Make Your Kids Jump for Joy

Are your children ready to jump for joy for letter Jj?  Let's see if we can wear them out with lots of fun learning activities!

 

I try to make sure our letter Jj learning happens in late October - because this is prime jack-o-lantern time, and we all love Halloween fun!  Here are some of the ways I've used jack-o-lanterns over the years to keep my preschool and kindergarten kiddos learning:

-Make an event out of your jack-o-lantern experience - it doesn't have to be just a quick pumpkin carving activity.  I like to start a couple of weeks before Halloween with a trip to our favorite pumpkin patch to check out all the "gourd-geous" pumpkins during letter Gg week.

Did you know pumpkins aren't all orange?  Sure, that's what we traditionally see in the grocery store every fall, but the children are always fascinated by all the different sizes, shapes and colors (and later flavors) of pumpkins. I always get a lovely variety for a display, and once Halloween is over I cook them all up for pumpkin muffins and pies... read all about that here and here.

 

We bring math into our jack-o-lantern experience by having the children suggest shapes for Jack's features, then voting for each feature, and tallying their responses.  

I do the cutting, but everyone takes turns to come up and help pull out the "guts".  You can call it fibrous strands if you want, but my kiddos LOVE that I call it guts - ewwwww!

Of course we have to pose with Jack - and leave him on the doorstep.  (See how to keep the learning going through the spring in this post)!

 

We keep the talk about shapes going with a simple felt activity, and the children get to create and recreate jack-o-lanterns all week long.

 We work on patterns with pumpkins (not technically jack-o-lanterns, but while we're on the theme let's get in all the math we can!) with a math center I made. Here it's in a pocket chart, but it works on a desk top too.

 

These math activities include jack-o-lanterns, along with lots of other fun Halloween themes, and we LOVE using the mini erasers from the Target Dollar Spot to complete them!

We mix yellow and red paint to make our orange paintings, and get a fine motor workout cutting and pasting features on our creations.

 

One of our hand print options for J is actually more of a fist painting of jack-o-lanterns (the other choices are jellyfish and jaguars).

 

Are your littles jumping for joy yet?  No?  Try digging out all the jewellery you're willing to let them play with (Mardi Gras beads and plastic jewels are great for this), then turn on some jazz and jump for joy to jazz in your jewellery...

...or head to the zoo and look for animals that jump.

 

Since J is also for jelly, and learning to write our letters is on the agenda, I introduce writing J with a little jelly on a plate.  We start by using our pinky fingers - which is sign language for the letter Jj!  They'll practice a lot when it's a matter of writing the J then licking their fingers, then repeating the process.... yum!

We make our upper case J by adding an orange jack-o-lantern on a green letter J, and cover the lower case j with lots of jewels.

 

What are YOUR favorite activities for letter Jj?  Comment here, or tag me in your social media posts: @paulabeckerman2399 on Instagram, and Paula's Primary Classroom on FaceBook.  I can't wait to see all the fun things you do!

 

Can You Name This Children's Book (#3)

This is one of my absolute favorite Halloween stories!  I memorized this book by listening to the book on cassette tape (that gives you a clue to how old the book is!), and it has always been a huge hit with my first graders, then my own children, preschoolers and kindergarteners.  Do you know what it is?  Big Pumpkin, by Erica Silverman!  To see if you can name more children's books from clues like this one, click here! To hear Big Pumpkin on YouTube, click here.

Happy Halloween everyone!

No Tricks, Just Treats for Teachers - a #Kinderfriends Bloghop

How can it be October already?  Has the start of the school year zoomed by in a blur of craziness for you too?  Chances are good that right about now you are feeling like you are running a marathon, jumping hurdles along the way, and could use a bubble bath, some chocolate, and a massage.  (Maybe I'm just projecting, I know I could use a bubble bath, chocolate and a massage!)  I can't help you with those (not sharing my chocolate, I know you'll understand!), but I do have 3 super cool treats for you, because you absolutely deserve it!

#KinderFriends is getting together again for a blog hop, and we're sending you on a grown-up Trick or Treat mission - at each stop there is more for you to enjoy!  Scoop up these 3 treats from me, and then continue on for lots more.  I hope they're almost as good as that bubble bath, chocolate and massage I'm now dreaming of!)  Thanks for stopping by!

Treat #1: Enter to win a $25 TeachersPayTeachers gift card! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Treat #2: Enter to win $25 in resources from my TeachersPayTeachers store!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll contact the giveaway winners on 10/15/16, but I think you all deserve a prize, so here's one for everyone!

Treat #3: Download my newest freebie: How Many Apples Tall Are You?  If you'd like to say thank you, I would very much appreciate you leaving feedback &/ rating it.

Is your trick or treat basket full yet? No?  Head on over to Class of Kinders for some more teacher treats!

The Halloween Fairy

We all know about the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, and Santa Claus, but not everyone knows about the Halloween fairy!  I was introduced to her by my oldest son's preschool teacher, Ms. Michelle, about 18 years ago.

The Halloween fairy comes late at night on October 31st, after all the candy has been collected, the costumes removed, and excited but exhausted children are in bed.  If you want her to stop at your house, you need to choose some candy to keep, and some to put out for her.  Just as the tooth fairy exchanges a lost tooth for a special treat, the Halloween fairy leaves healthy alternatives when she takes away the excess candy.  Our fairy was great about leaving us mangoes, kiwi fruit, pineapple... she knew just exactly what our favorite fruits were!  My boys weren't too impressed with the hard candies- or for that matter the non-chocolate candies - in their Halloween loot stashes, so those always went out for the fairy.  When they were very little, they chose 10 pieces of candy to keep, and put the rest out.  (We also only went to a few houses.)  Later we kept more, and eventually, just like the tooth fairy, the boys outgrew the Halloween fairy.

I should tell you right now, my sons have very different opinions about the Halloween fairy now!  At almost 20 (how can that be?!) my oldest thinks the Halloween fairy was an injustice and scam that I perpetrated upon him, albeit with good intention.  His younger brother prefers to remember the mango and pineapple, and thinks it was a pretty good deal.  They are both very healthy eaters, and prefer fresh fruits and veggies over junk (most of the time), so no matter what they think, I have to believe the Halloween fairy did her work well. 

On a cautionary note, a friend once asked me what the Halloween fairy does with the candy she collects.  The sad truth, as I told my friend, is that mostly she stores it on her thighs.  :-)  Some got shared in various ways, but... well... butt.

So how does this work?  For our family, it meant taking out the candy the kids were keeping, then putting the rest back in their sack and leaving it outside the back door, or in the garage.  I've heard she's a pretty resourceful fairy, so she'll probably cooperate with whatever set up works best for your family.  She has also been know to bring small toys, like the spider web shaped bubble blower wand she had one year.  I think her main mission is to promote healthier choices than hoarding a stash of Halloween candy and gorging on it for most of November.

Wishing you a delicious, but also healthy, Halloween!
Paula

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet!

I often talk about hands-on activities... this week we're going for a feet-on project instead!  Going through some old photos, I found this cute art and writing activity, which is super fun for a classbook or a bulletin board.
 





We used Halloween colored paper and helped each child make a white ghosty footprint on it.  While the footprint dried, each child simply wrote one thing they'd like to eat.
 



When everything was dry, the kiddos added ghostly details and glued it all together.
 
Happy Halloween!

A simply wonderful Halloween!

Halloween is such a fun holiday!  I love the stories and crafts, the costumes and pretend, and the orange, purple, black and green colors.  I LOVE everything pumpkin, not just the delicious foods made with it, but the decorations and the opportunity to study cool non-fiction subjects along with the holiday. I'm not so sure about knocking on doors and taking candy from strangers, but overall, Halloween is pretty cool!

It would be easy to go overboard on this holiday... well... on almost any holiday.  To do too much, to plan too much, to buy too much, to expect too much... and I'm sure that sometimes I do exactly that.  With only a week to go until I close my school, and an interstate move to plan, organize, etc., this year I had to go simple, and I think it was just right.

Ms. Julie and I helped all the children put on their costumes after nap, and served this yummy snack.  Donuts, fake teeth and two chocolate chips - and a glass of milk.  The kiddos loved it, and it was quick and simple. 

 It didn't take long for the teeth to come out, and we had some lovely snarling princesses!

My only other plan for the rest of our party was to take group pictures, and then to make our first leaf pile of the season.  The photos went well, and I handed rakes to a couple of parents who came to the party...

 Ta-da!  Leaf pile.  Fun.  Simple.  The children were all very excited, ran and jumped in the pile, and appeared perfectly content.

Here's what I didn't plan - and thank goodness, because it was pretty special to see the children take charge of their fun.  Princess Elsa went and grabbed a crate, carried it over to the leaf pile, and made herself a diving board!

 She didn't mind sharing it, and without much help from the adults, the kiddos figured out how to share the leaf pile.

 Yes, there was some negotiating with the children that wanted to sit in the pile, none of the jumpers wanted to land on their friends.  Some waited patiently, some asked their friends to move, and I scooted some of them along when they appeared to have taken up residence.  Still, with only one very small leaf pile, 8 of our school friends, plus 4 more siblings, there was nothing but good-natured play.

 My favorite part is that the children spontaneously lined up and took turns!  Yes, there was a little cutting in line, but not much, and the children took care of that too.  I even saw one child go to jump, more or less slip off, and rethink what to do.  I could see she wanted to climb back up on the box and try again, and I don't think anyone would have stopped her.  She paused a moment, as if thinking about it, gave a tiny shrug, and went to the back of the line to wait for another turn.  Don't you wish more adults could act that way?

Yes, we had a pretty super, and wonderfully simple Halloween! 

Just for J

You can tell it's almost Halloween from the songs we are singing, and the activities we're doing.  The Halloween sensory tub from last week is still the hot item of the week, but the book The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything is running a close second.

On Monday, we started the week by putting on lots of jewelry, and jumping for J.

At snack time we had juice and learned how to write the letter j - in jelly!

Today is Tuesday, and we reread Five Little Pumpkins , learned some hand motions for it, and made a craft to follow up.  Super cute!

Of course, the real reason we learn the letter J in October is so we can make a jack-o-lantern!  The kiddos suggest shapes for the facial features, and then vote (we even got to review tallying!)

I do the cutting, since small children and sharp implements is not my favorite combination.  They're always fascinated when the "guts" appear!

Everyone takes a turn to grab a handful of pumpkin guts, and to scoop it out into a bowl.

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the process!  There is also a good run on handwashing - which is why we worked on this before and during snack time. 

I drew on the facial features, and started cutting...

... while the children had snack: fresh pumpkin muffins, made with a pumpkin they helped me to buy (see this previous post) , and that I baked over the weekend.

When I baked the pumpkin, I also saved and roasted the seeds.  One of the children asked about eating pumpkin seeds, a little incredulously, as the seeds she could see were in fresh pumpkin guts!  I explained how to make them, and we warmed and crisped the (already toasted) seeds.  You can see they were also received with different levels of enthusiasm!

This child liked them - he said they tasted like salty popcorn, and I think he's right.  They were good!

Here's our jack-o-lantern! 

Next time I'll tell you about our letter crafts, and some of the other fun learning activities we are enjoying!