Easy Halloween Craft

I like Halloween,

But my little girl LOVES Halloween.

She likes the thrill of seeing something a little scary,

The fun of seeing all of the Halloween characters,

And, of course, all the yummy treats!
Here is last year's picture with her grandma.

I truly wish I would get into it a little more,

maybe it's because this time of year gets a little crazy,

with friends, family, and harvesting gardens.

But this was our quick Halloween Art pickup.

First we read Jamie's Pumpkin Seed.

Which is a simple book about the life cycle of a pumpkin.

I love me a good life cycle!

It's about a little boy, Jamie, who plants a pumpkin seed,

and watches it grow and grow.

We used my old teaching standby that I had in my files,
That has a seed, sprout, flower, and three sizes of pumpkins.
Here is a printable book if you want to extend this activity.

They enjoyed looking at each picture.

We then read Five Little Pumpkins

It is the old poem illustrated.

"Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one said, 'Oh my it's getting late',

The second one said, 'There are witches in the air,'

The third one said, 'Well we don't care,'

The fourth one said, 'Let's run and run and run,'

The fifth one said, 'I'm ready for some fun,'

Ooohooh went the wind, and out went the light,

The five little pumpkins rolled out of sight."

When I taught First Grade, I had them paint the whole fence,

Pumpkins which they cut out,

And the moon.

(Too much!! I found orange paint around my room for two years!)

So I decided to simplify a lot!

I glued on Popsicle sticks to look like a gate,

And she painted on circle pumpkins.

When it was dry she drew on some fun faces.

It was great! Everything was set up enough for her,

That she could do everything on her own.

She even drew a witch and the wind.

How to adapt this for a toddler:

Read them the book Five Little Pumpkins,

Touch their finger to each pumpkin when you say "the first one...etc."

Then pull out some orange finger paint,

(Put your toddler in their high chair with a paint smock)

and say the poem with your toddler again,

as you place their finger down.

(Do this quick enough that your little one won't get board.)

Then let them play with the finger paint.

If you prefer to do this without paint,

grab an old glove and put some orange stickers on it.

(Like I did for the Five Little Ducks Poem)

Repeat the poem with the glove on your toddlers fingers.