Shapes, Monsters, and Halloween

We focused on shapes this week in preschool. I put shapes on the floor and the kids ran around with flyswatters and hit the shapes that I named.

We used shapes to make Shape Monsters. My kids LOVED this!

We used felt shape pieces to create jack-o-lanterns

We also had a Halloween Party. Here are some fun activities that we did at our party.

Halloween Bingo

Candy Walk - Students walk on the numbers until the music stops. The teacher pulls a number out of a bag and whoever is on that number wins a prize/piece of candy. 

Pumpkin Lantern - I saw these on Pinterest and decided to make them. I loved that the activity gave the kids practice with cutting straight lines. You can see how to make them here.

Decorate cookies - I went to my local grocery store bakery and ordered pumpkin shaped cookies. 

Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin

Pumpkin Unit Week Three

Question of the Day

How do you think a pumpkin grows? On a tree or On a vine.

Have you ever been to a pumpkin patch?

Centers

Art

Halloween Rubbing Plates - I didn't get a picture of this! I'm so sad. I can't remember where I bought these rubbing plates, but they are cute and my kids love them. 

Sensory Table - Pumpkins

Since we are studying pumpkins this month, I put pumpkins in the sensory table. The students used spoons, tweezers and magnifying glasses to explore the insides of the pumpkins. I also put out cups so they could separate the seeds from the pulp. 

The next day, I added toy hammers and nails. The kids hammered the nails into the pumpkins.

On the last day, I added Halloween Mr. Potato Head pieces so the kids could make silly faces on the pumpkins. 

Pop up Pirate

Fun game that I bring out in October to go with the Halloween theme/vibe. I attempted to make the game a little more educational by writing numbers on the swords and a spinner. The children take turns spinning the spinner, then located a sword that has that number on it. 

Small Groups/Teacher-Directed Centers

Math- Feed the Monster Shapes

Kids flip over a card and feed the monster the shape on the card. 

Literacy- Where's the Bat?

My students love this game. I hide a bat under one of the pumpkins while they have their eyes closed. Then they take turns naming a letter to locate the bat. 

This game is available at my TPT store here. 

Write the Room - Pumpkins

I dicut some pumpkins and wrote letters on them. Then I taped them around the room. The students had to walk around the room, find the pumpkins, and color the corresponding pumpkin on their clipboard. 

Lesson

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

Students color, cut, and sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin. Then we hang them from the ceiling.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

We had enough money this year to go on a field trip! My students loved our local pumpkin patch. 

Pumpkin Unit Week 1 & 2

During the month of October the preschoolers are studying pumpkins! This is one of my favorite units because the kids are very curious about pumpkins and love all of the activities.

Question of the Day

Pumpkin Unit - Day one

Pumpkin Unit - Day 2

On the first day of the Pumpkin Unit I taught the students that pumpkins are shaped like circles and ovals. So this is an assessment question to see if the students learned those two target vocabulary words. 

Pumpkin Unit - Day 3

We also started tracing names this month. I dotted all of the students names onto a sentence strip and laminated them. Every day the student finds their name, traces it with an expo marker, and uses that to answer Question of the Day. Then we wipe the names clean and use them again the next school day. We do this for about a month, or until I feel the students are ready to begin writing their name from a model. We also teach correct letter formation while they are tracing their names. 

Centers
Art - This week for art we had stamps. The first day I just put out stamps and blank white paper. The second day I added markers and stamp markers. I usually add ABC stamps on the third day, but my students just weren't very excited about stamps, so I decided to change it to dot art.

Then I switched to dot art. I bought these Halloween themed dot art pictures on Teacher Pay Teachers last year. My students really love them. 

Blocks - I put away the trains and brought out zoo animals and people. The students used blocks to make cages for the animals and set up a zoo. 

Manipulatives - I added the manipulative center this week. These are toys that the students work use to work together and build something. The first toy in our manipulative center is Wedgits. I bought these a few years ago after another preschool teacher recommended them. Such a simple toy, but my students love them. 

Sensory Table - I also added the sensory table this week. I saw this idea on Pinterest a few years ago, and I've always wanted to try it. I put construction paper into the sensory table with scissors and let the kids practice snipping and cutting. The first day I had construction paper, normal scissors, craft scissors, and markers. The students drew lines and shapes and practiced cutting them out.

The second day I added hole punches that were all different shapes. The students loved punching the paper into different animals and objects. 

On the last day I put some extra book orders that I had leftover in the table. Students cut out around the pictures. They liked this, but I think next year I will put sticker pages into the sensory table and have them cut out stickers they want and let them keep them. I think this will make the activity more popular and motivating. 

Small Groups/Teacher Directed Centers

Math - We are continuing to work on shapes, and plan on doing that for the rest of the month. We played Pumpkin Shape Bingo.

Here's a link to download Pumpkin Shape Bingo

Pumpkin Shape Bingo

Literacy - 

Swat a Monster: Students take turns rolling a dice, finding the letter on the monster's stomach, swatting the monster, and turning it over. They keep playing until all the monsters are turned over. If they roll a letter that is already turned over, I just had them pass it to the next person. 

iPads: Searching for letters on the iPads

Pumpkin Fishing: Students use a fishing pole to pull a pumpkin out of the cauldron. Then they find the letter written on the back of the pumpkin on their pumpkin printable and either trace it or color it. 

Here's a link to download this game

Pumpkin Fishing

Pumpkin Unit

Students use ripped construction paper to create a picture of their pumpkin. 

Students use unifix cubes to measure how tall their pumpkin is

Students explore the inside of a pumpkin and make a pumpkin book.

If you like these activities, please check out my Pumpkin Unit available for purchase here at Teachers Pay Teachers.