hOppy Halloween Post!

hOppy Halloween!

It's Fall, ya'll and I get so excited to do all the fun Halloween  songs and activities. (Mr. Froggy has already put on his costume.)  I thought it would be fun to send out a blog of fun ideas!  Here we go....

 Vanessa Levin of PreK Pages, tweeted a link to her activity suggestions.

 PreK Pages Halloween Activities 

It has extension activities for the "Five Little Pumpkins" song.  Here is the link to my video of that song :  Five Little Pumpkins

Dr. Jean, one of my favorites for great ideas with the little ones, has a blog for this month.  Visit here :  Dr. Jean's Blog



The story "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything",  is a HUGE hit with children.   You can make your own props for the story.  (I used doll clothes.)  Some like to use a fannel board to go along with the story.  Here is a link to a video of me doing the song with children varying in age from 2 - 9.  My intention is for teachers to see the different levels of participation and help in deciding if your children are ready for a story this long.  The fact that it is so repetitive and interactive allows for younger children to stay focused longer.
                          The Litttle Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything

BRAIN FACT The lively predictable beat of repetitive words or phrases has many benefits including improving memory of concepts and words (Buchoff, 1994)  

Children also love the "Dark, Dark" story.  Get a black box and fill it with spider rings they can take home with them.  Sing the song and at the end spiders fly out of the box. The children excitedly get the spiders and use those spiders to sing "Spider on the Floor" as they move the spider along their boy identifying body parts and learning rhyming words. Oh!  And, it's silly!
                                             Spider on the Floor

Keep in mind that children should hear some stories that feel a little uncomfortable.  This helps them learn that even though they get that feeling, they are okay.  An important thing to learn.  This is why I like to do the "Monster Dance" which ends with us laughing and doing a silly dance.  Honestly, I don't know who is having more fun.  Me or kids?
                                                  Have a HOPPY Halloween!