Punked the Rotting Pumpkin

One of my favourite books to read in the fall and at Hallowe'en is Mousekin's Golden House.  It's an old book and I don't think it is printed any longer.  

(I managed to find this one at a Friends of the Library sale)

It's about a little mouse that makes his winter home in an old jack o'lantern.

Over the winter the mouse stays safe inside but the outside changes.

When Hallowe'en was over the Little One's parents were throwing their jack o'lanterns into the compost.

We rescued one, gave him a name, Punked, and left him in the back yard.

We visited it every few days,

and watched it change.

We noticed that something was nibbling on it.

Maybe it was a mouse!

On our morning walks we would look at other people's jack o'lanterns,

abandoned on the steps or lawn.

How have they changed?

Ours had certainly changed after just a couple of weeks.

We visited the library and borrowed Pumpkin Jack.

About a little boy that didn't want to throw his jack o'lantern away so put it back in the garden.

Eventually it rotted away but a few seeds were left inside and the following spring new plants began to grow.

That would have been a great idea but we didn't think of it at the time of carving.

Poor Punked.

There's not much left of him one month after Hallowe'en.

A Ghost Costume for Who?

The Little One has been having a lot of fun scaring each of us. And honestly we've had fun scaring her too.

In the evening I'll often hear her and her Dad chasing each other,

booing and screaming.

I thought it would be fun to make her baby doll a ghost costume.

Dad donated an old white t-shirt and I cut out a large circle.

The Little One watched while I put the sheet over her doll and placed an elastic around the neck to hold it in place.

Then I cut out two eyes and drew on a mouth.

As you can see in the above picture she thought it was great.

At the beginning but then she wanted it off of her baby.

It was hilarious to see her, sometime later, wearing the ghost costume herself.

Of course Dad had to try it too.

Learning About Halloween

It's the Little One's first real Halloween.

We've spent time reading books about pumpkins and costumes.

And walking around the neighbourhood looking at decorations.

At home I painted four peg dolls in Halloween costumes.

A jack o'lantern, a monster, a ghost and a witch.

I also painted a wooden house with chalk board paint.

Back at the Little One's house I set up a table in the kitchen.

They had a flat cardboard box that fit perfectly.

I taped it down and set up the scene with 5 little pumpkins, the peg dolls and house, as well as chalk.

She loved the chalk.

I showed her that it could be used to draw on the house and the cardboard.

After she drew on the house, I drew a path way.

The trick or treaters are practicing walking down the street.

Then she practiced "Booing!"

We've been playing a lot with the word/sign for scared.

She uses it when she retells being scared

but when she is scared she usually cries "momma, momma, momma".

A New Homemade Book

 One of the Little Ones favourite Hallowe'en books is 

Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin.

After reading it many times I thought the Little One might have fun searching for her own pumpkin.

 

 I hid a pumpkin in her backyard then took her out searching.

Wherever she showed interest in looking I took a picture.

Then put it altogether in this book.

She was thrilled to look at the pictures, especially the end when she finds a pumpkin.

She liked sharing the adventure with her Dad and Mom.

The next time I went home I took the book with me to add...

pictures of sign language to encourage everyone to learn the signs.