paper bag owls

This Halloween decoration was inspired by my 15-month-old daughter's love of owls.  I made these owls during her afternoon nap, and surprised her when she woke up!  Elise helps me with most projects, but this one seemed more appropriate for a slightly older child. 

materials

• paper bags (large owl is a leaf bag, small owls are gift bags with the handles cut off)
• leaves
• masking tape
• paint/markers
• glue
• wall bumpers (large owl eyes)
• ping pong balls (small owl eyes)
• sharpie 
• x-acto knife/scissors
• orange card stock

1. Fill bags with leaves, pressing down every so often to make compact.  (We live in a windy place, so I put large rocks in the bottoms of my bags first to keep them from blowing over.)
2. Tape the top of the bag closed, shaping the sides into "ears."  I used painter's tape, but masking tape would be ideal.  (see above photo)
3. If your bag has writing on it, you'll probably want to paint over it.  I used spray paint to paint the large owl I made from the leaf bag.  I didn't paint my small owls because I made them with plain bags.
4. Use paint or markers to add details like feathers, wings, etc.   I used a black sharpie for the details on the white owl.  I used white paint on the other two owls.
5. Draw pupils on wall bumper and ping pong ball eyes with a sharpie.  I used double-sided tape to attach wall bumper eyes to the large owl.  The ping pong ball eyes were a little trickier to attach.  First, I cut ping pong ball sized X's with an x-acto knife where I wanted the eyes to be on the owls.  Then, I applied glue to the backs of the ping pong balls and pressed them into the X's.  
6. Cut triangles out of orange card stock for the beaks, folding down the center to add dimension.  Use glue to attach beaks to the owls. 
7. Done!  Give your finished owls a kiss - that's what Elise does.  ;)

Hoo Hoo's excited for Halloween?!?!!!!

"I spy" tub

"I spy with my little eye..."

Halloween treasures hidden in a tub of leaves!

Elise has enjoyed digging through this tub of leaves to discover

ornamental gourds, a rat, a bat, a carnival squash, and a snake.

A few reasons why I think this "I spy" activity is great...

• It offers lots of language opportunities.  Elise is just beginning to say words, so I mostly just name the objects.  As she becomes more confident with the items in the tub, I've been challenging her to "spy" certain items (I never ask her to find something if I'm not completely sure she knows what I'm talking about, though.).  An older child could look for items of a certain color, beginning sound, texture, etc.   
• It provides a sensory experience.  Just digging through the leaves alone activates the senses!  I also tried to select objects with a variety of textures, so they would feel different from the leaves and each other.  Elise has been using her sense of sight to find most of the objects, but an older child might enjoy closing his or her eyes or wearing a blindfold to "see with the hands" instead.
• It reinforces object permanence.  The first time Elise did this activity, she didn't know what she would find in the leaves.  All the times after (oh, there were many more times!), Elise knew that even though the rat was hidden in the leaves, it was still there.  An older child may be able to recall from memory some or all of the items that have yet to be found.   
• Last, but not least - you can count the objects!  Sometimes, after we've taken everything out of the tub, I count the objects aloud.  I also say things like, "I spy one more thing!" as we look through the leaves.  Once an older child knows how many items there are total, he or she will be able to use addition/subtraction to determine how many objects are still hidden.
• Oh, I thought of one more thing!  I'm not sure about this, but it there has to be something to seeing just part of an object and knowing what the whole is.  For instance, in the top photo, only a small part of the snake is showing, but since you know what the objects are now, you know it's the snake.

Happy Halloween week, friends!  ;)  

pumpkin scrubbing

Pumpkin covered in muck and mud?  No problem - just scrub, scrub, scrub!

The weather here has been gorgeous lately -

perfect for scrubbing pumpkins al fresco!

1. Pour warm water from a pitcher into a small dish.
2. Scrub, scrub, scrub!
3. Use the dishcloth to wipe up spills and dry your pumpkin.

The next day we cut our pumpkin open,

and cleaned out the seeds and pulp.

I steamed the flesh and we used it to bake pumpkin bars.

It was fun to do so many things with one little orange squash!

(The bad news?  It looks a lot better than it tastes!  If you want a yummy pumpkin recipe, 

try this Ultimate Pumpkin Bread Recipe - we made it a couple weeks ago, and it was amazing!)

Happy weekend!

spiderweb felt board

A spooky felt board is just right for little fingers in search of some Halloween fun!

materials

• felt or batting (I used batting)
• embroidery floss
• plastic spiders 
• thrifted frame 

First, sew the web onto the batting by making BIG stitches with the embroidery floss - each section of the web should be just one stitch.  Then, wrap the batting around a piece of cardboard, and stick it into the frame.  Finally - the fun part - arrange the spiders on the web.  They will sort of stick by snagging on the batting, but make them more secure by tucking a leg or two into the web.  

I hung our spiderweb felt board up in Elise's costume corner - 

this place is seriously the most popular spot in the house right now! 

Easy, right?  But. are you brave enough to stick the spiders on???  

EEEEK!!!!!!

More Halloween fun here.

the costume corner

As Halloween approaches, I've been trying to think of ways to introduce this kind of crazy holiday to my 15-month-old.  Don't get me wrong, I think Halloween is loads of fun, but it must be pretty confusing to a little person who is just trying to figure out reality.  People dressed as animals?  Masks?  Wigs?  Oh, my...

My solution:  temporarily transform our book nook into a costume corner.  I mean, what better way to explore the idea of wearing a costume than to try on masks and wigs with your friends and family?  In case you can't tell from the above photo, Elise thinks it's great!  ;)

A witch's hat, small masks, wigs, headband ears, and play scarves 

are simple, durable costume accessories for a toddler to experiment with.

Everybody's getting in on the fun!

10 more days 'till Halloween...

eee-hee-hee-hee-heeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Click here to check out some of my favorite Halloween activity posts from the past!