Halloween Gym Fun

Many, many families came in to play today but I managed to take a few pictures. 
        Here are some Hallowe’en activities I set up in the gym.
              
               Witch hats on pylons to use as ring toss targets.

 
        I brought in an old jack o’lantern candy bucket to use as a
                           target for a bean bag toss.

          
                               Paper bats on clothespins
                   to transfer from one bucket to another.

  Hope you had a safe and happy Hallowe’en.

October Play Trays

 
Sorting by shape or colour.  Matching shapes.  Pattern building.

Eye to hand coordination by threading beads on pipe cleaners.
 
     Sorting by colour and shapes.  Strengthening pincher grip.
            
 
Recognizing numbers, counting dots and sticks.  Matching amount to number.
           
  
Working fine motor and eye to hand coordination by pushing picks into hard foam.
           
  
                   Homemade stick puzzles. 

     Old McDonald treat toys to talk about costumes.
        
 
Wood cookie with holes drilled randomly.  Golf tees to push in and remove.

What’s Under the Log?

Our weekly walk in the forest was inspired by a book I found at the library.
           
After reading the book together we picked up our nature bags and headed
       into the forest to find a log that we could turn.

The first log we rolled didn’t have any bugs that we could see (the log
                looked like it had been moved recently).
         
      We did see a little mushroom and documented it.

       
      On to the next log we spotted fungus and a bug. 
 
              A wood bug just like we saw in the book.
    
          
  Using our magnifying glasses gave us a chance to get a better look. 
       The wood bug has a lot of legs but didn’t move very fast.

We turned a few rocks…

       
and found spiders.  A big spider and medium spider and little spider.

Scratch Pumpkin Decorating

               
We’re using a new technique for decorating a pumpkin this year. 
Scratch pumpkin art is an idea I found from Sow Sprout Play.
       
            Start by painting a pumpkin black. 
      It took a couple of coats to completely cover.

   Today we used toothpicks to scratch, maybe tomorrow
       we’ll try a new tool, like a toothbrush or a fork.

      The great part of this decorating is that we’ll paint it
            and start all over again tomorrow.

A Photo Story of a First Experience