Free Thanksgiving Printable Coming...

We are getting closer on Facebook to 2,000 fans.  When we hit 2,000 fans on Facebook, I will post a free Thanksgiving printable that will be great for PreK-1st center time or to use at home for some beginning sound practice...  So, if you are not a fan...  click here and become one.

Until then, check out our Thanksgiving Page for awesome ideas.  Ideas like:

Gobbling Good Glyphs....

or

Pilgrim, Pilgrim Book Idea

and so much more...

Fall Hodge Podge 2010 Blog Hop!

Halloween is only a few days away?  Have you had some Halloween fun yet?  Today I had  six of my daughters friends and nine adults over for some fun.  While the kids colored, did a craft, and played; the moms enjoyed good conversation and some treats!  It was a fun way to start a busy Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Halloween fun.  I hope you have a safe and fun Halloween!!!

Here are a few links that caught my eye and thought they were worth sharing...

Yes, I am watching what I eat...  but when I cheat, I may have to make this Caramel Apple Trifle

Ahhhh, more yummies...  Monster cupcakes.  Aren't they cute?  You can learn more here!

I had planned to do this...  but I hated saving these milk jugs.  I HATE clutter.  But they are very cute. 

Fun and some learning.  Pumpkin letter matching is shared by The Activity Mom, here!

 

 

Are these edible eyes awesome or what?  You can learn more at Family Fun!

 

 

Ramblings of a Crazy Women shares this skeleton...  So stinking cute with the forks! 

I love using the book, There was an Old Lady that Swallowed a Bat during this time of year.  You can see some ideas for it here.  Superheros and Princess posted this great Halloween Lunch to go along with the book.  Check it out!
 

Kindergartener's Three R's shares a fun oridinal number activity:

There are so many awesome recipes for this time of year out there...  Tatertots and Jello made an awesome collection here!  

First Grade at Last share Spooky Shape Up.  It is a math game you can make at home with an egg carton!

Happy Halloween!!!!

October... What are your kids reading this month???

Reposting!  It is October!  I love October... It is usually the perfect month! Not too cold yet in the Burgh and it is just usually pretty with the mums (my favorite flower) and the orange pumpkins against the blue sky. The cool air rocks... still haven't put on my winter shoes yet or a coat. Hoping I can wear my sandals till November.

I am officially ready for fall. I put out the Halloween/Fall decorations. My kids are at that perfect age, they go crazy over the decorations. I can hardly wait to decorate for Christmas. I love how excited they get over the littlest things. Example being, my daughter saw a pumpkin plaque hanging from our garage light and you would have thought she saw cows flying or something. It is just too cute to see how happy a little decorations can make kids. Do your kiddos get so excited about Halloween too?

One thing I do for the major holidays is collect books that suit the theme of the season. I taught for many years and owning Teaching Heart awards me with many free books from authors, so I have a great collection of books for Halloween/Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter/Christmas, Valentines day, and St. Patrick's Day. Many of the books my son has heard year after year for the seven years of his little life. One thing I do to make the book special is I pack the books up by theme with my holiday decorations. So when the books come out the kids are thrilled to see them. You would think I laid 100 new toys in front of them. They go through each book on their own and get so excited about seeing them. I keep them separate from the other Halloween books and ask they they too make sure they put the book back in the Halloween bucket.

I highly recommend that every mom and dad (teachers too - but I know most do) pack up their books into seasons and only share those special seasonal books during the holiday season. My husband the other day did not realize I had been doing this for years and said to me a few weeks ago, I can't find the Polar Express book on the book shelf... Duh, it only comes out on the holidays honey! He looked at me and said, "That is sad, it is such a good book." My thought, it wouldn't be nearly as special if we read it all year long. We don't watch Christmas shows until a month before Christmas and that is why they are so special. Same goes with books. Maybe you already pack your seasonal books up and only share them during their designated season... But, if you don't, you should try it and watch how excited your kids get over books!

If you need ideas of great Halloween/Fall books, please click here. The link takes you to my page on Teaching Heart that is filled with the BEST books for the season. It also has a few ideas to match some of those books. Enjoy & happy reading!

Spookly The Square Pumpkin

Meet Spookley - the friendliest square pumpkin in the patch! He's not your ordinary pumpkin. Spookley is different from the rest of the pumpkins.  All of the other pumpkins teased Spookley until he proved that being different can save the day!  Kinda like a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for Halloween.   ;) 

Click Here for a Spookly Coloring Book in PDF

Spookly Maze, Word Game, and Word Search Activity Sheets!

Other ideas:  Pick out rhyming words in the story.  Talk about shapes, sizes, and colors.  Patterns with different colored pumpkins. 


Watch the story here. 


Here's a super easy treat to share after reading the book.  Spookly Marshmallow treats!  Just dip the mallows in orange candy coating and top with a green tick-tac.  Attach this printable to your treat and you are ready to hand out Spookly!

  Above is the printable for the tags.  Click on it and then print!

Making Magic With Room on the Broom Lesson Idea

My kids love the Halloween story, Room on The Broom. It is about a friendly witch that has knack for losing things. Still she always finds what she has lost with a help from a friend. In return for finding what she has lost, the witch always lets the finder hop on for a ride on her broom. From a parents prospective, I love how this book teaches that acts of kindness only do you good. Towards the end of the story the witches broom breaks and she finds herself facing off with a Dragon. Luckily with the help of her friends she is saved from the Dragon. The witch then does a spell that makes a new broom... Her old broom was a junker and this broom is a Limo of Brooms.

From an educators point of view... this book is awesome: it has lots of rhyming and lots of repetition. It is a great story for retelling too.

Below are two videos that show two ways I have used the book. This is a great book for a parent to share at a Halloween party.

The first video shows how I introduce the book to my kids or my students.



The second shows how I create a magic spell like the witch did in the story. The kids LOVE this part and really think it is magic! Lots of fun... All you need is a cauldron, black construction paper, pictures of a Lily, cone, bone, and twig, and a spoon.



You will also need a treat to appear at the end. These broom pens would be my first choice... but you can do pencils or you can some sort of fruit snack. I suggest you place all of the treats in a gallon sized ziploc bag. This way you can pull them out all at once after you say the spell.








Click here for coloring sheet to match the book.

Fall Resources...

I updated the fall theme/unit at Teaching Heart.  Got rid of the dead links and added a few treats too.  You can view it here!

Some of my favorite goodies on the page include. 

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

In this book, your class will learn about different leaves and why they change color. As a class, go on your own leaf hunt in a nearby park. Their are instructions in the back of this book for doing leaf rubbings and for pressing leaves in wax paper.



You can make this into a book or use it in a pocket chart. Cover up
a word and have your students tell you the word that is missing! You can do many
things with these printable cards.

You can make your own or purchase our CD for October -December and use and modify ours to meet your needs. Clcik here to learn about the CD

THE COLORS OF FALL
We see a black cat
We see a red apple
We see a colorful scarecrow
We see an orange pumpkin

We see a green leaf.
We see a yellow moon.

***Free from the Teaching Heart Graphing CDROM!!!*What is your favorite fall activity?

P1 - P2 - P3

Above are the free printables. Click here to learn more about these activities!

Fall Board Game from our CDROM. Click here to learn more!!!

For even more, click here!

Edible and La-La-La Halloween Treats!

I have two sweet treats to share and one la-la-la treat to share... These make great Halloween favors for a party. Also great treats for your kiddos to share with their friends at school.

Here are two sweet treats... One is a ricecrispie bar on a stick dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with Halloween sprinkles. The other is a Nutter Butter Ghost. Just get a package of Nutter Butters, dip in white chocolate and place two mini chocolate chips for ghosts eyes... aren't they cute?

Both of my kiddos schools prefer a non-edible treat to be shared. My daughter is sharing her favorite fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving songs. Below is the CD she will give to her friends at her school Halloween party.

Last year I shared these treats... click here!

What's your favorite Halloween favor or treat?

Graphing Fun Halloween Style

Trick or Treat? Okay, here's a treat, if you like free printables from Teaching Heart!!!



Above is a fun cut and paste graph I created first for my second grade classroom and later used it with my first grade son. You can use this in your classroom for a fun Halloween activity or use it over the weekend at home to keep your kiddos happy and busy. They won't even know they are learning important graphing skills.
First they cut out the pictures. Next they glue the pictures on their graph. Finally they answer the questions about the graph.

* Graphing for Halloween - Click Here to Download the Sheets!

Need more Halloween fun for your classroom? Try: http://www.teachingheart.net/halloweenlesson.html

Teaching Heart has great ideas for graphing...


*What is your favorite fall activity?
Free from our Graphing CDROM
Download the free printables at P1 - P2 - P3

Playing Footsie with Witchie

I saw a cute craft idea over at Ramblings of a Crazy Women... I love little crafts you make out of little feet tracings and little hand tracings. I always have my kids make reindeer's on the holidays out of their cute feet and hands. So when I ran across this craft idea, I tweaked it and made it a little different and got my kiddos to make two cute witchies from two cute footsies. Ta-da!

How to make your little Footsie Witchie...

Trace your Kiddos Foot.

Draw a hat to match (or for the older one's, let them draw the hat)

Color Both the hat and the foot black.

Cut out a green circle, Two green rectangles for arms, a red long rectangle for a stick

Use hay for the bottom of the witch's broom

Glue it all together and add eyes and a mouth. The kids had Halloween stickers and gave the witch something to hold in her other hand.

Don't forget to write your kiddos name and age on the back. Pack them away with your Halloween decor and get them out every Halloween and play Footsie with the Witchie. Put your kiddos feet on the witch each year to see if they have grown!

Hey have you read Room on The Broom yet? This would be a fun read before or after you do this craft. Here is a fun idea to match that story and that would go along with this craft.

I Want To See Your Fall Decor...

I am a snoop... I love shows like House Hunter (on TLC). Similarly, I like to look on house listing sights. No, I am not looking for a new house, I just like looking to see how other people decorate... I will admit that when I walk my dog at night I like to look in lit-up windows to see how people decorate. I am not a great decorator by any means. My husband calls our house a little bit of french, some modern, and some country. I am probably more confused then anything. One thing I do like is quotes, pictures, the colors red and green. I try to base my decorations around those things.

I love the blogging world for all it has to offer... Especially when people post pictures of the inside of their home. My girlfriend Rebecca (who is gifted in the area of decorating) shares her fall decor on her site. I love the scarf on her mantel. She got it from Lillian Vernon. I want one. Before I knew where she got it, I went out looking for something similar and unfortunately, never found it... so I settled for this black thing with lights instead.

If you like snooping at others homes and love Fall decorations, hop over to Tip Junkie's Tour of Fall Homes. You can share your home too!

In 2008, I shared this. Here is my home all ready for Fall 09. Welcome, come on in... I love mums!

This is my entrance way. You can see a little bit of Fall and Halloween here and there.

And my Kitchen Island. Here's me being creative with fall leaves on my server.

My dining room with the spider web on the chandelier... kids love that! Then my fave pumpkin on the table.

Don't forget to get your kids decorating too... You know how I love perler beads. My kids made Halloween shaped sun catchers with Perler beads. Aren't they cute?

Have a wonderful Fall!

Fire Safety Ideas

October is fire safety month. It is an important topic to cover throughout the year!

Here are some Fire Safety tips from the United States Fire Safety Administration.

You may wish to place these tips on a chart and go over them with your class!

Make sure everyone in your family knows and practices escape routes from every room in your home.

Remember to escape first, know how to notify the fire department, and when to call for help.
Never open doors that are hot to the touch.

Teach your family to stop, drop to the ground and roll if their clothes catch fire.

Designate a meeting place outside. Try to make it a location away from your home, but not necessarily across the street.

Teach your family to never re-enter a burning building.

Fire Safety Vocab. Cards

These are taken from the Primary Teacher Time Savers for October-November CDROM! To learn more about this CD - click here! You may print, laminate, and use these as you wish. The CD has many fire safety activity sheets for you to use during this unit.

Some words to talk about:fire, fire hydrant, firefighter, telephone, 911, ladder, matches, fire truck, smoke...

Smoke Chant

If you don't want to choke

Crawl under the smoke.

Get down on the floor

And head for the door

CRAFT IDEA:

Fire Painting- Give student a black piece of paper. Squirt thick lines of yellow, red, and orange paint randomly onto the paper. Give the child a piece of saran wrap and lay over the paint. Encourage the child to pull the saran wrap off, using vertical pulling action. Remove saran wrap and let dry. If desired glue on a small fire engine.

More Links:

Teaching Heart

Color and Write about Fire Safety (k-2)download this free sheet from the Primary Teacher Time Savers for October-November CDROM! To learn more about this CD - click here!

Awesome Crafts found at DLK

Fire Safety Coloring

The Sparky the Fire Dog Website is filled with goodies and online games... Check it out!

From Apples to Applesauce

Last weekend we went apple picking. It was a first for my kids and they LOVED it! They had lots of fun running through the orchard and picking their apples. The next day my son went to school and it was his library day. I always love to look at the books he picks. Most of the time he gets three and they are always Non-Fiction. For sometime he was bringing home books on Spiders. Just when I thought we had read every book his school library had on spiders, along comes another spider book. It got to a point where I had to tell him to pick another topic. Then it was the Navy. He would bring home a Navy book every week. This week he brought home three books... One was on Space, one was on Halloween, and another was on Apples. He picked the apple book because we had just been to the apple orchard and he saw a recipe in the back of the book for applesauce... So we used the recipe today to make apple sauce and it was GREAT and EASY! A fun recipe to do with kids...
If You click the first picture above you can see the super Easy Recipe... Basically, take four apples (core & peal & cut them). Place them in a half a cup of water and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Then add a 1/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of Cinnamon. So easy and so yummy.

It made about four small cups of applesauce. Also the book from Apples to Applesauce is very good... with lots of good facts, vocabulary, and pictures.

Fall is Coming

Yesterday we were trimming trees and we found some red leaves... o, my! Fall is coming. I love Fall, it is my favorite season. I just wish winter did not follow fall. If we could skip winter all together, that would be fabulous in my book. Back to fall; I love all the fun activities at the local farms (Trax, Simmons, Triple B), I love the craft fairs(Covered Bridge, Washington County Holiday Fair), I love mums, I love Halloween, and I love the cool feeling in the air... I could go on and on about all the great things fall has to offer.

I want to share some quick Fall links for you all to check out. Most have free printables, crafts, lesson ideas, and/or more!

Teaching Heart's Fall Page

Teaching Heart's Apple Page

Teaching Heart Scarecrow Ideas

Teaching Heart Skeleton or Dem Bones

Teaching Heart Spiders Ideas

Teaching Heart Pumpkins

Teaching Heart Bats

Blog Fun:

Halloween Music

Boo a Friend

Witch Brew Dice Game

Fall Leaves Paint

Fall Recipes off the blog:

Irish Apple Cake

Ghost Yummies

Little Apples

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Get your DVR's and popcorn ready! It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, by Charles Schulz will be on ABC @ 8pm on Tuesday, 10/28 - Yep that's tonight! This Peanuts Halloween treat includes Charlie Brown finally getting invited to a Halloween party, Snoopy battling the Red Barron and Linus awaiting the Great Pumpkin. Always a holiday tradition in my house!

Go here to color a picture from the show.

Check out this one too.

How well do you know "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown? Play the Great Pumpkin trivia game to find out!

Celebrate "It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and get into the Halloween spirit by sending an Ecard and downloading a wallpaper!

Carve a Charlie Pumpkin, like this one!

How about eating Snoopy Chow while you watch???

SNOOPY PUPPY CHOW Ingredients:
1/4 lb Butter
1 c Peanut butter
1 lb Box powdered sugar
1 lg Box Crispix® cereal
12 oz Package milk chocolate chips Directions:Melt margarine, peanut butter and chocolate chips in microwave on medium for 2 minutes or until melted; stir. In large bowl, pour mixture over cereal and stir to coat. Dump powdered sugar in a grocery bag; add coated cereal and shake until powdered sugar is absorbed. Store in air-tight container.

Hopefully you will enjoy the show tonight...