🎃October, Fall, and Halloween Activity Ideas for Preschool👻
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Here are some of the best ideas for the month of October in your preschool classroom.
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🔥🔥Cozy up and take a few minutes exploring fresh and fun ideas for you to use in your classroom this October!!
And if you want to know how to make your own kids tent, click here!
Icecream Salt Pumpkins (FREE TEMPLATE INCLUDED!)
^^^^ These icecream salt crystal pumpkins are so beautiful in person!! We love making them and then we get to enjoy them on display in the classroom!
They are great fine motor practice for students to work on those careful tiny finger skills... we do each pumpkin one section at a time, they spread the glue and use finger pinches to pick up a few crystals and place them carefully in the glue.
They can complete them over a series of a few days or all in one sitting, whatever is best for them!
The crystals are made from icecream salt which you can get at the grocery for a buck or two... I just used food coloring to dye them orange, brown and green!
The kids LOVE getting to work with “crystals”... such a great motivator!
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Icecream Salt Candy Corn Fine Motor Activity!
🧡💛 Kids love Candy Corn 💛🧡
This is a great fine motor activity where kids must complete one section at a time.
We practice using two fingers (thumb and index) to put one crystal into the glue at a time! It takes time, but it builds concentration. Students can complete over several days if needed! We emphasize working hard and working carefully for as long as it makes sense for each student.
Want access to this template? Join the Pre-K Teacher Family today!
You can differentiate for students by labeling which area should be which color!
And, as you can see in the photo above, I attached a real candy corn to our tray so they could reference it!
Again, here is the box of icecream salt we used! You can get it at the grocery for under 2 bucks! I just used food coloring to make yellow and orange!
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Do you ever dress up for celebrations at school? I’ve dressed up a few times…
And for this one, all I have to say is, “Anna, that waistline ain't real life girl.” 🤣🤣
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Printable Halloween Masks!
🖤 Want access to these printable masks? 🖤
They are a Pre-K Teacher Family MEMBERSHIP EXCLUSIVE!!
Join the Pre-K Teacher Family today for immediate access!
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Printable Halloween Tracing Books
I ordered the tracing paper from Amazon and made them into books by rotating a piece of tracing paper with a piece of construction paper.
Then, I just printed the fun Halloween images for the kids to pick from!!
If you’d like to print this activity today, Join the Pre-K Teacher Family and you’ll have access to everything you need!
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👩🏾⚕️👨🏽⚕️👨🏼⚕️👩🏽⚕️ Doctor’s Office Dramatic Play!
At first when some of my students came in and saw the xrays hanging they thought it was some kind of Halloween setup, "oOOooo scary!" But I showed them- these aren't supposed to be "scary bones," they are for our doctor office!
They are called X-rays and they show the bones inside of our body!
Then, I showed them how to use the stethoscopes, vision test, and patient assessment forms.... they were so excited!!!
Dramatic play is necessary for so many reasons!!! 👏🏽👏🏾👏🏼
Jack-O-Lanterns
^^^^ Do you know what I focus on with this ADORABLE activity? Something super important that kids need to feel powerful...
The answer?
Choices!
They get to make every decision as they create their jack-o-lanterns!
✔️What color will yours be?
✔️What kind of mouth do you want?
✔️Do you want teeth?
✔️What shape for the nose?
✔️How many eyes?
✔️Where will you put them?
✔️What do you want in the sky?
...The list goes on and on!! This activity is fun for kids because they love getting to be the one that decides! It doesn't feel good to be a little person in a big world where everyone makes decisions FOR you. The more you can give your students choices, the less you are going to face power struggles.
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When they get to choose, they are going to be more invested in the work. I hope these funny little faces make you smile...
I did them different each year. In the photo below, we used chalk to do the body… in the photo above, I had them each paint a huge piece of orange paper at the easel and then I cut their paper into the shape of the Jack-O-Lantern.
There’s no wrong way to do it!
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Spider Ring Fine Motor Work
I took toothpicks and hot glued a pipe cleaner to the top so it could act like a tree and hold the spider rings (here’s a fun set from AMAZON!)...the kids have to stick the toothpicks into the Styrofoam and then balance the spider rings on the pipe cleaners!
They love this activity!!
Jack-O-Lantern Felt Spacial Awareness Math Activity!
Here's a fun jack-o-lantern building work!! It's a new and different way to assess a student's skills! The details of the faces can be super tricky and kids have to pay attention to shapes, location and direction of placement.... If a kiddo is struggling, just give them a partner to work on this task with! The two will have fun and learn lots by working together!
If you’d like to make this activity, Join the Pre-K Teacher Family today - for access to the mini jack-o-lantern faces!
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Watercolor and Black Glue Leaf Art Project
🍂🍁Watercolor paint, (This is OUR FAVORITE WATERCOLOR PAINT to use!) (OR this one has more colors!) black glue outlining, and finally a touch of salt for sensory art fun!! My students had fun doing every step of this project, and they turned out SO PRETTY!🍁🍂
Jack-O-Lantern Shapes and Tracing with Cookie Cutters Activity
Jack-o-lantern stencils!!! We used the bright shape stickers to make faces on the pumpkins we traced. It's a tricky thing, to hold the stencil and trace it--some kiddos may need some help from a friend to hold the stencil while they trace, but it's a great challenge to support hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and the love of pumpkins after our field trip to the pumpkin patch!!
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Spooky Spider Web Fine Motor Activity!
This is a way for kids to practice putting the glue along the lines--working on hand/eye coordination and then using precision to place the green glitter gems!
(Which are just icecream salt dyed with food coloring and added glitter.)
Need Glitter Glue?
Here is AN AWESOME set of glitter glue on Amazon.
And, oh wow, check this one out, talk about FANCY!
And here’s a basic pack!
Spookley The Square Pumpkin Activity!
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Draw Your Own Jack-O-Lantern Faces - Dry Erase Activity!
*Easy to Paint Popsicle Stick Jack-O-Lanterns!
Juuuuuust in case you have some popsicle stick Jack-o-lantern painting projects on your agenda--You’ve GOTTA TRY THIS TIP!!!! 🎃🎃
I attached a piece of styrofoam (HOW FUN IS THIS PACK?!) to the back --I just taped them on, you could use lots of different things.... and VOILA... the kids could hold them AND PAINT THEM!!!
It was flawless...and I didn't have to peel completely painted popsicles sticks off a completely painted paper or easel! WOOO!!
This activity was an awesome hand-eye coordination exercise in and of itself! oooOoOoO la la! But then we added some *sparkle* (glitter and clear glue) so we could add the little shapes to make faces!!
^^^ To make this glitter paint, I just combined clear glue and glitter!
Let kids apply it with a paint brush!
Great Read-Alouds!
One of the hardest things about October is choosing the right books to read… there are so many stories that end up being scary, inappropriate, gory, violent, or just too much for our little students.
It was always the worst when I figured that out, as I was reading it… 😳
Here are a few safe choices of great stories your kids will love, without being scared!
Spider Hats are so much fun.
The kids love making them and wearing them home!
It’s an easy way to get a little silly with your students… these hats are sure to make everyone giggle!