Global Ginger Kids

               
                   It all started the day before Hallowe’en.

     We’ve been talking about ideas for this year’s gingerbread
                                           creation
        and to set the mood we made some gingerbread people.
              
I started by showing them how I roll out the dough between two pieces
of wax paper (less mess and easier to transfer to the pan).

               I made a big ginger girl and a big ginger boy.
               
Once they were safely in the oven the children made their own ginger child.
               
  
            
We put their pan aside and went to check on the big ginger kids
          
        But to our surprise they were gone from the oven.
         
     One child suggested that they were hiding under the pan.
         We checked but they were no longer in the oven.

 
We turned to check for them and saw crumbs on the floor that led
                               into the hall.
        
                  They led us to the front doors.
         
       And there we found ginger kids cut outs with a letter.
        
                      This is why we need your help.

  Could you send us a letter or a post card from your town
  with a short story of what our Ginger Kids would like to
  see if they did visit. 
        
                               Send it to:
                                   Brooklyn StrongStart
                                   1290 Guthrie Rd.,
                                   Comox, British Columbia
                                   V9M 4G2
                                   CANADA

We look forward to checking our mailbox and will keep you up to date
here on the blog.

Squirt Painting

                 
                   This art activity was so much fun.
    I bought these turkey baster type syringes at the dollar store
    over a year ago and have been just waiting for the opportunity
    (and the nerve) to try them.
             
           I used pizza boxes taped to the art table for easels.
         
               
      The biggest challenge for the children was to figure out how to
      fill the syringe with paint.
      Once they figured it out there was no stopping them.
    
     The paint flowed beautifully down the easel and pooled at the bottom.
     It looked like poured painting that was all the rage last year.
 
            To me it looked like the aftermath of a paintball fight.
                                      Gorgeous!
 
               There were a few mishaps along the way. 
               But those were very few considering the control it
               took to aim and push on the syringe.
       
       We had to show off this beautiful work out in the hallway.
                        
  

Hallowe’en Sensory Activities

A few things I love about Hallowe’en are the colours, scents and textures.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been exploring several sensory experiences.

Lentils with black beans plus little plastic ants and spiders.
I included little cups and spoons.
But the children enjoyed picking out the little black pieces with
their finger and thumb.


We played with cloud dough but this time I added orange powder paint. 
Although the paint makes the dough quite attractive it does cause a bit more
of a mess when the little ones brush their hands on their clothes. 
So I don’t think I’ll add paint again.

Included were mini Hallowe’en shaped cake pans and pumpkin shaped jello
moulds with wooden spoons.

 
Orange garland that had Hallowe’en shaped cutouts attached.
I included little black pots and little spiky balls for pinching.

And lastly mini pumpkins to cut, carve and poke.


Having a variety of pumpkins gave us the opportunity to talk about

• that some of them are easy to cut while others are very hard.

• that some pumpkins have only a few seeds and others have lots.

• that some are orange and others are white or even yellow.

Ghost Toast for Snack

Something I’ve heard from other StrongStart facilitators is that they don’t
have access to a kitchen or that the kitchen is way at the other end of the school.
This makes it difficult to cook with the families.

That was my problem in my old school too so we used a electric frying pan
and a toaster a lot.

This week for a special snack we made toast shaped like ghosts.
1. Put bread in the toaster.
2. Butter the toast.
  3. Place the ghost shaped cookie cutter on toast.
4. Cut out shape.

Very easy steps to follow and steps that a child can do on their own.
 
When asked what would the ghost say to being eaten?
“Oooooh no don’t eat me!”

Halloween Play Trays

The first tray consisted of threading Halloween rings on to a
thick pipe cleaner.
Loved this idea when I saw it at ABC’s of Jess’s house.
 
The threading wasn’t the favourite part of this tray. 
It was pulling the rings apart and pushing them back together.


The next tray had shiny Halloween coloured and shaped acrylic gems.
 
I created a sheet with patterns for them to match the pictures and
figure out what would come next.


The next tray held Jack o’lantern size matching.


And finally mirror cards.

I didn’t create these cards,
 they were created by Elaine and shared in a Yahoo group
called Printable Place of Themes.

The idea is for a child to use the mirror to complete the pictures.
It takes a different way of looking at a picture. 
It’s symmetry.

Hope you had a safe and happy Halloween.