Spooky Pumpkin Playdough

Pumpkin Pie Playdough

so many wonderful ways to present playdough

I thought it was interesting how one of the children used the cookie cutters as part of their sculpture.

I tend to collect new sparkly and interesting items each season.Can you ever have enough ?...I don't think so ;)

the picture below is from several years ago.

I no longer use packages of kool aid....instead I now use spices...essential oils and natural food colourings.

The Color of Halloween

What Colour is Halloween?

that was the question I asked before reading

Shivery Shades of Halloween

by

 Mary McKenna Siddals.

The answer {before the story} was : orange and black

after the story I introduced the "Shivery Shades" tray...

we went through the story again..page by page...the children searching the items to find the colours that were in the story.

I left the book and the tray out for the morning and added the mats we use for mandalas.

This sensory tray full of beautiful {and slightly frightening}loose parts is a popular request.

The answer to the question asked at the top  of this post is now rainbow...purple...green slime

spooky white ghosts...blue

and of course orange and black

Happy Early Childhood Educator and Child Care Worker Appreciation Day

Witches and Broomsticks Sensory Bin

I was inspired by Julia Donaldson's book

Room on the Broom

when I was putting this fun and oh so "spooky" sensory bin together.

After removing most of the autumn elements from the bin

leaving the beans and lentils,I added lot's of Halloween items.

Most were found at dollar stores  including the little witch stuffy

that laughs very wickedly when dropped.

googly eyes....bats and spiders...orange and black "jewels" etc.

the children dig and dig through the treasure trove of 

sparkly and scary fun.

This morning they were making Halloween soup.

adding wooden spoons...cinnamon sticks and a cauldron to mix it all in

enhances creative ideas and imagination 

the children love this story

it's one we read over and over 

Witches and Broomsticks Sensory Bin

I was inspired by Julia Donaldson's book

Room on the Broom

when I was putting this fun and oh so "spooky" sensory bin together.

After removing most of the autumn elements from the bin

leaving the beans and lentils,I added lot's of Halloween items.

Most were found at dollar stores  including the little witch stuffy

that laughs very wickedly when dropped.

googly eyes....bats and spiders...orange and black "jewels" etc.

the children dig and dig through the treasure trove of 

sparkly and scary fun.

This morning they were making Halloween soup.

adding wooden spoons...cinnamon sticks and a cauldron to mix it all in

enhances creative ideas and imagination 

the children love this story

it's one we read over and over 

Fabulous Fall and all Things Autumn

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

                                          by L.M. Montgomery  (Anne of Green Gables)

I love everything about autumn

the colours...the scent...pumpkin and spice

even the sounds of autumn

crunching and rustling of the leaves

so many inspirations to create a sensory bin

we started off with dried beans and lentils...glass acorn beads and beautiful felt leaves

then....we added 

fall gourds and colourful cobs of corn and cinnamon sticks

so beautiful and inviting

the children love to pick at the corn cobs which then take on a whole new feel once the kernels are gone.

They scoop the beans and lentils with the tiny wooden spoons...sorting them into piles...decorating the piles with flowers and autumn glass beads.The smell of the cinnamon sticks is amazing.

Some of the books we have been enjoying this month

Listen Listen is full of beautiful illustrations depicting seasonal activities and scenes throughout.

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert is a favourite

More on this one soon after our walk to collect leaves from the storm we had this weekend.

I can hardly wait to see the creations that the children come up with

I love the illustrations in Helen Cooper's 

book....Pumpkin Soup

a heart warming story of friendship...sharing...and solving a problem

lovely details throughout 

We will be making pumpkin soup after our trip out to the pumpkin farm next week

come back soon to see all of our leaf man art and to 

"taste" our pumpkin soup

perhaps there will be a recipe.

POTION

The children are collecting bits and pieces of leaves...flower petals and bark scrapings.

They smoosh the bits up in the sand buckets and pour in some water...

"ah hah"..."poison"  says one of the boys...chuckling mysteriously.

"No.....it's potion", exclaims the girl who has been collecting and smooshing.

"Potion ?"...."what's potion ?"...wonders the child who had called it poison.

"well...potion is MAGIC"..."and looks like rainbows", she explains.

"o.k.....let's make more potion".

I was inspired to put together a tray of potion making items.

Foot files to scrape cinnamon sticks...eye dropper filled with vanilla scented water

pipettes to mix different colours of (vinegar) infused water...a variety of glass jars and a wooden mortar and pestle to grind the flowers.

A bowl of mystery powder (baking soda) to sprinkle in at the end.

.....the next morning we went on a walk around the neighbourhood 

to collect more items for the" potion".

magnifying glasses were used to study the flowers

everyone took turns "grinding" and "smooshing" the "nature" items

the children were fascinated with the cinnamon sticks

and spent a long time scraping them

then when all was mixed

the mystery powder was sprinkled in

the brew foamed up and overflowed the sides of the jars

"WOW"......"it's exploding!!"

"it's MAGIC!!"

after everyone had smelled it and felt it

we carried the tray to the sand box and poured the potion into the sand.

The children immediately dug a hole to bury the potion. They didn't say why...although I noticed a few minutes later it was dug up and used to make a "cake" in the mud kitchen.

Garden Party revisited

this morning I placed the garden sensory bin on our new  "wonder table"

(more about this table in future posts)

The wicker chairs and table and little china tea cups were added

as well as a few mini dolls.

I waited to see if the garden party from last week would be brought to life again.

Many different children came through the room this particular morning.

A pair of girls removed the wicker table and chairs and carried them over to a nearby table and played with them there.When they left the area I replaced the items to the "wonder table". The girl from the "garden party" play a few days ago came in....she immediately went to the sensory bin them noticed the new items that were added to the area. "Tea for the garden party", she said. I watched as she placed the dolls on the chairs and began scooping the dried lentils and beans in to the tea cups. "would you like some tea?"she asked the one doll.The caterpillar and butterfly became part of the tea party too.A few more children joined in...pouring and scooping with the lentils and beans, the green bean like stones were used as "cookies" and "muffins" by some. The flowers were arranged in the pots and rearranged again and again.

The "garden party" continued on for some time this morning, then the original girl left the area,asking of she could go on to a different room. 

When she came back a while later she chose a different item to play with...not returning to the sensory bin.

She seemed to have completed her game of garden party and was ready to do something else.

The Garden Party

I was so excited to present this beautiful

garden sensory bin to the children.

I have spent a bit of time pondering and collecting a variety

of beautiful little items for it.

A combination of dried white beans,green and orange dried lentils make the main base of this fun sensory experience.We have variety of faux grass turf squares and I used one in the bottom of the bin before I added all the dried beans and lentils.This made for a lawn type feel to it .

Fluffy chenille "pipe cleaners"and striped ones too reminded me of caterpillars.

Little terracotta plant pots and a mini metal watering can from the thrift store and of course dollar store flowers and bugs.I found the darling little squeezy caterpillar,turtle and butterfly in a bin way at the bottom of a shelf in the local dollar store...my searching for treasures was a success.

the children have used this bin in different ways....lots of pouring and scooping.....pretending with 

the creatures...filling the pots and planting the flowers etc.

Yesterday a few of the children made a "garden party"...it was delightful to listen to their ideas and conversation.

as the children play and expand their experiences with this bin

I will be adding (and perhaps deleting) some items as they go.

always so many ideas.....

Bunnies, Eggs and Duckies

Easter Sensory FUN!!

the rainbow rice was transformed from shamrocks and rainbows

to bunnies...eggs and all things EASTER !!

I like the addition of coloured pipe cleaners in the sensory bins...they add a different experience and the children enjoy making a variety of twisty twirly shapes.

 

I purchased 4 different colours of small styrofoam Easter eggs and a silicon Easter egg shaped mold

from Dollarama

great "finger gym" activity

with the large tweezers from our science box

floating light up duckies...plastic eggs and "jewels"

added to the tub of water encouraged lots of pouring and treasure seeking.

Shamrocks and Rainbows

Lots o' Leprechaun magic

in the sensory bin this week.

HOW I TURNED RED RICE into RAINBOWS

I separated the red rice into 3rds.

I put 1/3 into a large ziploc bag and added a few drops of yellow liquid food colouring

and squished it around...it turned into shades of yellow and orange .

The next 3rd I added a few drops of blue....squish squish

and voila....shades of blue and purple.

The last 3rd remained pinks and red.

I only had to make the new green rice ...same technique as above but white rice with a few drops of green food colouring.

Mandala Magic and Lots of Loose Parts

making mandal's is

CALMING

PEACE

FOCUS

CREATIVE

BEAUTY