Halloween Oldies But Goodies...

For today's post, am going to share via a photo tour, the Halloween and fall themed work we have done here in the previous few years. 

Then, next week, will share the Halloween and fall themed work we are doing this year.
The items for next week will be for children ages 5-9.

Since many of my blog readers have younger ones, I thought that you would like to see works we have done in the past, as my sons were younger then, so the ideas might work well for your little ones in your home or classroom.  

The works featured in these photos are ideally for ages 3-5, although you can really do them from about 2 to about age 6.

In our home, we do not do scary things for Halloween. We obviously did not when the boys were younger, but we continue to not do scary stuff now that they are a little older.
We focus more on the fun of the activities surrounding Halloween, such as carving pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns, making fun bat, pumpkin, and spider crafts, dressing in costumes, and going trick-or-treating.

We keep trick-or-treating to a very small amount of homes in our neighborhood, usually not even around our whole block.

The boys, enjoy putting on costumes year-round, not just for Halloween.
They love to role play and dress as vets, pirates, cowboys, astronauts, Star Wars characters, and super heroes. Little Bro especially loves to dress up! He will sometimes put a costume on and sport it all day, from morning Montessori inspired work time, to the playground and so on...
So the only thing that sets Halloween apart for him, according to him is that "the neighbors give you candy and you usually get a doughnut and some apple cider."
Well, hope that you will enjoy our Halloween Oldies but Goodies...

New photos for Halloween and fall themed works for older ones will be up in next week's posts...

Fall counting, 1-20, using silk fall leaves.

Halloween village...works well for story telling as well as hiding clues for scavenger hunts. You place the scavenger hunt clues under the little houses.

Bead Transfer: One to many...the ghosts are actually taper candle holders, but they work great to hold tiny beads.

Orange scented dough with festive, fun Halloween themed cookie cutters...

Halloween items for the functional play kitchen area...

Math game using tiny white dominoes and little Halloween erasers as the counters for the game.

Wooden jack-o-lantern mask: Child colors and then, can hold and wear. These wooden masks also work well for shadow puppet shows...

Weighing and balancing activity...child selects the pieces to weigh and places them on the balance...

October mini book to make, along with word cards to go with the book. The pumpkins have hooks on them and go on a display for the months of the year...

These little jack-o-lantern containers have lids that come off...you can use them for a variety of work, such as matching upper case and lower case letters, words and word cards, or math facts. We have used these in a variety of ways over the years...

If you have posts with photos for ideas of Halloween themed activities for little ones, either ages 18 months to age 3, or else ages 3-6, please add your link to this post. 

If you have Halloween / fall themed activities for older ones, say either ages 5-9 or 6-9, please feel free to add them here or to next week's post, as next week, will feature Halloween and fall fun for 6-9. 
It does not have to be a Montessori inspired Halloween or fall themed activity...it can be play based as well, just nothing scary.  

We do not do scary here in our home so I just don't feel right about promoting scary things to young children. 

When we first moved to Florida, we decided to take the boys for a ride to see how the homes were decorated for Halloween, expecting to see pumpkins, some blow up Jack-o-lanterns, and the like. 
Well, there was a home south of us that Dear Hubby and I were horrified to see...they took a stuffed mannequin and had a noose around his neck. They had him dressed like a cross between a zombie and a farmer. They had him dangling, as if he had hung himself, from outside the second story bedroom window of their home! To me, that is not remotely appropriate, nor festive or fun... it was very scary and a horrible image for anyone to see. I happen to know two people who have committed suicide so to see someone making that into a "trick" for Halloween is beyond disturbing. 


We luckily were ably to distract the boys so that they did not catch a glimpse of the house. I do not want that as an image that my sons associate with Halloween or any other day of the year, for that matter.


So, what are your thoughts on scary decorations? Yes or no? 
I would love to hear your thoughts and appreciate input from all sides, but will not put up links to posts on my blog that are not family friendly and fun for fall...

Would love to see your ideas and to visit your family friendly blogs and websites! 

Have a happy weekend!