busy hands

tweezing terrifying spiders
from a box filled with black beans
{much easier to clean up than rice!}

lacing wallpaper pumpkins
{more durable than regular paper}

pumpkin number sequencing
{the idea for this came from My Montessori Journey}

opening bottles
{filled with imaginary potions}

using tongs to arrange orange puffs on a palette

rolling out sugar cookie dough
{get the recipe here}

cutting out a bat

and adding the final touches...

ta da!
the scary treats fresh from the oven
{We ate them all day long!}

our finished jack-o-lantern mosaic
{Featured today over at The Crafty Crow!}

Happy Halloween Eve!

a jack-o-lantern mosaic

Many of you lovely blogging friends gave me great ideas
of things to do with paint swatches.

SO,
today we used them to make a jack-o-lantern mosaic.



First, I drew an outline of a jack-o-lantern on a big piece of paper.
I set out paint swatches in shades of orange, green and black.
I cut and glued on a few, so the children would get the idea
of what colors went where.

In the beginning, it was a little tricky for some of the children
to visualize what in the world we were trying to make,
but as the jack-o-lantern filled in, they all caught on.

It was kind of like working on a big puzzle...
each child stopped by the mosaic throughout the day,
pausing to cut and glue on a piece or two (or twenty),
and then went along with his or her daily business.

It's not quite finished
{it will be waiting for the children tomorrow morning}
but I wanted to give you a peek at how beautiful it is.

I love the sense of community it's brought to the classroom, too.
The children so often make things for themselves or their families;
it's been extra special for them to make something for their classroom!

black light fun

It was pretty much like a Montessori
RAVE
in the cubby room this morning.

I covered up the windows and replaced the regular light bulbs
with black compact fluorescents.
{purchased at Home Depot after searching all over town}

What better way to start a Monday morning
than drawing with highlighters under a black light!

Our clothes were glowing, the paper was glowing,
and the fluorescent markers were nearly electric.

After everyone had a turn to draw,
we busted out the Putumayo World Music
and danced with silky neon scarves.

It was awesome.

I think fluorescent play dough would be REALLY fun under a black light.
{Next time!}

fabric lacing

The idea for this lacing activity came from Montessori Mama.


A small group of children laced squares
of upholstery fabric onto ribbons.
Some ribbons were threaded with needles, some with buttons.

The work was so satisfying,
I couldn't prep the fabric fast enough!
{I was cutting upholstery samples into small squares,
then cutting a slit in the middle.}

Here are some of the uses the children came up with for their creations:

cat toy
fishing line
necklace
snake

lunch...

...according to the Food Guide Pyramid.

The children have really enjoyed using the Food Guide Pyramid to sort the items in their lunchboxes during the morning work period.

The rug is just a regular working rug with the outline of the Food Guide Pyramid taped on with colored tape.

I just realized that we're using an outdated version of the pyramid!
Check out the new one here.

Oh well, the children haven't really been concerned about the number of servings...

They're more excited to find out if they have something in their lunch from each of the food groups...
and that applesauce comes from apples and apples are fruit...
and that dessert is O.K., it just goes last!