Halloween is coming!

After learning about pumpkins last week, we transitioned right into Halloween with Jack-o-lanterns and the letter “J” this week! 

 All the children really enjoyed this week’s variation to our letter of the week song:  jumping each time we sang the sound of the letter “J”!  Using multiple senses while learning is very effective in helping to remember what we’ve learned.

One of the kids’ favorite stories from this week was “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything” by Linda Williams.  The children LOVED interacting with this story with each item that the little old lady comes across on her walk in the woods ending with a Jack-o-lantern saying “Boo! Boo!”.

We made our own Jack-o-lanterns out of play-doh using triangles, rectangles, ovals, and circles.  This was a great activity to strengthen the children’s ability to name shapes and to use their creativity in creating an individual Jack-o-lantern.  It was delightful to see just how different each jack-o-lantern was and the variations each child created!

 After creating a play-doh jack-o-lantern, we used cookie cutters to make more Halloween shapes and creatures!  Playing together with the children creates a great environment for the children to share with each other and the teachers and to build friendships and rapport with one another!

This week we also played some number games with candy corns and pumpkins.  Practicing one-to-once correspondence, number recognition, and counting skills were our focus with these games!

 Last week we painted our own pumpkins and then turned those pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns this week!  It was quite fascinating to explore the many different faces of Jack-o-lanterns and how much of a part of Halloween they are! The kids’ Jack-o-lanterns are adorable!

We brought our sensory table in for Halloween time this week!  It was really fun to see the preschoolers experiment with the various funnel sizes and the corn and the other Halloween items in the mix!  This was a very popular center this week!  Next week we’ll add more items for the kids to continue exploring and discovering!

Susie Safari stopped in for a Halloween visit this week!  She delighted the kids with learning about spiders and her puppet of the old woman who swallowed a fly and so many other things!

Lastly, I wanted to share how proud I am of my Pre-K students!  Each day we recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” in our Pre-K classes and after working on this over the last couple of months, these kids have it down!  They are doing a wonderful job and stand and recite those powerful words so respectfully!  I love seeing these children learn and grow and become!