Halloween 2011 Re-cap

Happy Halloween to one and all! Here is a quick look at some of the fun activities we did this Halloween season. If you want a closer look at any of these, click here.

Halloween 2011

Last year's Halloween stuff:

Here are a few crafts & activities we did last year in case you missed them:

Halloween 2010:

If you want to see details on any of these, click here to scroll through them all.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Tin Foil Monsters

We made some shiny monsters for Halloween. Which, also, kind of look like robots! 

So I guess this is a fun way to make either kind of creature!

Here's how we did it:

• Cut out card board squares.
• Wrap tin foil around the cardboard.
• Draw a face on (permanent markers work best since they don't rub off).
• Cut pipe cleaners (chenille sticks) for arms and legs.
• Push the arms and legs into the tin foil / cardboard.
• You could also add some hair using yarn, pom poms, or anything. My boys didn't want to.

Happy Halloween!

Spider Lantern

After we made the Monster Lantern, we used the 2nd green lantern to make a Spider.

Again, construction paper & double stick tape.

LM decided she is a girl and named her Tanny.

Monster Lantern

Last year I got 2 green, round lanterns on clearance. (I think you can find these at craft stores.) We made a Witch with one of them (last Halloween--this post). And this year we used one to make a silly monster!

We used construction paper, double stick tape, a ribbon to hang him in up, and we named him Henry.

Spider Game - Counting Legs

We played a game with spider legs to practice counting and also to do some simple addition. The Spiders are cut out of construction paper, with googly eyes glued on and a happy smile. The legs are pipe-cleaners (chenille sticks) cut and slightly bent. (We made 2 different spiders so the boys could each have their own.)

Here's how we played:

• Roll the dice and write the number on the board. Place that many legs on your spider.
• Roll the dice again and write the 2nd number on the board. Place that many legs on your spider.
• Count up all the legs and write the answer on the board.

Or you could just roll the dice and put on that many legs without the addition aspect. 

Or you could just glue the legs on for a fun craft! 

So many possibilities.......

**Check out over 40 other fun crafts & activities for Halloween. Click HERE.**

Pop-out Ghost Halloween Card

I wanted to make some cards to send to Grandmas & Grandpas and came up with a fun idea to do an accordion-folded-pop-out-ghost-card. (Say THAT 10 times fast. haha)

Here's how we did it (as shown above):

1. Cut out a wide ghost shape. Draw on eyes and smile.
2. Fold it accordion style. Then glue one side down on the inside of the card. Put glue on the other end of the ghost and fold the card. Wait for glue to dry.
3. Open card.....Boo!
4. Add words/message.

The one in the picture is one that I made to test out the idea. I had the boys make their own accordion-ghosts and they turned out really cute. A fun craft for old and young alike. :)

Pin the Face on the Pumpkin

For a festive Family activity, we played Pin the Face on the Pumpkin!

I had a big piece of poster board that was orange on one side and black on the other. I drew a pumpkin shape on the poster and cut it out. Then I cut out the eyes, nose and mouth from the black side.

We used sticky tack to put it on the wall, and to pin the face pieces on.

One at a time we would be blind-folded and try to make the best pumpkin face we could! 

The boys loved it!

Rice Krispie Pumpkins

I got this idea from the blog: Home Stories A to Z

When I saw it, I couldn't wait to try it out! 

All you do is:

• Make Rice Krispie Treats (Recipe here)
• Before you add the Rice Krispies, add some yellow and red food coloring to make the marshmallow mixture orange.
• Mix in the cereal.
• Form into balls.
• Place half a Tootsie Roll on top for the stem.
• Pipe green frosting on for the leaves.

(While I was on  the Rice Krispies website, they showed these same pumpkins with a surprise treat in the middle, like a small peanut butter cup or small candy bar. Yummy!!!)

Dry-Erase Pumpkin Face

I got this idea from No Time for Flash Cards

All you do is:

• Cut out a pumpkin or 2 with orange paper.
• Add a stem.
• Laminate it, or put it in a sheet protector.
• And draw different pumpkin faces on it with a dry-erase marker!

So easy and a lot of fun. It's also a good way to practice drawing shapes. You could even make a game of it where you roll a dice and draw that shape for the eyes, another for the nose, etc.

:)

Halloween Cupcakes

For an easy and fun treat, we made some Halloween Cupcakes for some friends.

All you need to turn any cupcake into a Halloweeny cupcake is some of those candy punpkins (or candy corn), and some sprinkles. The cupcake liners were also kind of festive since they were black and white.

Easy & delicious.

Pumpkin Treasure Hunt

I made these pumpkins to use for a Treasure Hunt for the boys. 

The pumpkins are made from construction paper. I used a green marker to color the stems, black marker for the faces, and blue marker for the numbers. 

I used contact paper to "laminate" them and sticky-tack to place them on the walls throughout the house.

The boys started with #1 and searched for each pumpkin going all they way up to 8. 

When they got to 8, I had a special surprise hidden for them! :)

The boys LOVED this activity. So we did it over and over--each taking turns to create the hunt and a place prize at the end (a book to read).

**Check out over 40 other fun crafts & activities for Halloween. Click HERE.**

Copy-cat Pumpkin Faces

I used the foam pumpkin faces we made last week (this post) to let LM practice drawing shapes and copying something that he sees.

I cut out pumpkins with card stock and gave LM some markers. One by one, he looked at a foam pumpkin and copied it onto a white paper pumpkin---using the shapes he had put on for the eyes, nose, & mouth with the matching colors.

**Check out over 40 other fun crafts & activities for Halloween. Click HERE.**

Candy Corn Man

I found this idea on this blog: Mrs.Schmelzer's First Grade

I thought it was so cute. We just had to give it a try!

We ripped up black, orange, & white construction paper and glued them on the paper candy corn. 

Then we took strips of black paper and folded them accordion-style.

We glued them on, and glued on hands and feet.

Then we added some googly eyes and a nose & mouth!

Dot Monsters

LM loves doing dot-to-dots. So for one of our Halloween activities, I drew a bunch of dots on a piece of paper and had him connect them however he chose. Then we colored them, drew on arms and legs, and glued on googly eyes to create some fun and spooky monsters!

This was a huge hit, which is why LM made multiple monsters for your viewing pleasure. :)

**Check out over 40 other fun crafts & activities for Halloween. Click HERE.**

Foam Pumpkin Faces

LM made an assortment of Jack-o-Lantern faces by putting sticky foam shapes (from the craft store) onto big foam pumpkins (we found a package of these at the craft store. Or you could just buy orange foam and cut out your own). 

Halloween Rice Crispies!

For a festive treat, we made Rice Crispies and spiced them up with Halloween sprinkles!

Easy and delicious.

Painted Jack-o-Lantern

Whenever we paint, LM simply LOVES to paint an entire piece of paper in one color, edge to edge, corner to corner. So one time he painted a paper completely orange. 

When it was dry, I drew a pumpkin shape on it and had him cut it out.

Then I drew eyes, nose and a mouth on black construction paper and had him cut those out too.

He glued them on, added a stem, and here is his Jack-o-Lantern!

Handprint Autumn Tree

LM made this beautiful autumn tree.

First we traced his hand and arm to be the "trunk" of the tree (his hand is covered with the leaves so you can't really see it....)

Then he ripped up small pieces of autumn-colored paper and glued them on his tree.

Banana Ghosts

I saw this cute idea over on No Time for Flash Cards.

Basically, you 

• cut bananas in half, 
• put in a popsicle stick,
• dip in melted white chocolate,
• place on wax paper,
• add eyes using jelly beans, m&ms, or chocolate chips!

You can freeze them, or eat them as soon as the chocolate sets.

The boys thought it was so fun to make these, and they were quite yummy too!

Halloween Paintings

Using orange & black paint we created some fun Halloween paintings. 

We used Halloween cookie cutters (the thick side), dipped in paint to create spooky shapes.

And we also painted with paint brushes.

Colored Animal Tracks

For this activity, we gathered up all our little plastic animals, dipped their feet in paint, and put them on paper to make animal tracks. It was super easy, and the boys had fun seeing the different sizes and colors the animal tracks were. It also turned out to be a pretty cool piece of art. :)