Recycled Halloween Puzzles

All of your Halloween cards that you get in the mail are so fun for the kids but then what?  Well, you detach the front part of the card...the cute stuff and cut it into different pieces so they are easy to put together later... here are my kids doing it.

 

The best part is that they can do it again next year, you see we just ziplocked it and put it in the Halloween Box for next year!

Pumpkin Seeds

This one is easy but I am assuming no one has a recipe...

Carve pumpkins.

Here are the innards.

Wash the pulp away.

Mix in a bowl 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 TBS of seasoned salt OR 2 TBS cinnamon and sugar. Mix with the seeds.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 45 minutes.

Now my husband is happy. This kids are too I guess.

Bones Puzzle

Here is the link where I found this puzzle. Since R was coming over to play with L...I thought this would be super fun for them to do while I grabbed a snack. I cut out the pieces and then laminated them with packing tape so they would be protected but bendable. It even came with a guide and the kids played with it for 20+ minutes. The best part was that they made their own skeleton men...there was lots of laughter too.
Perfect little halloween fun, I also copied them smaller on cardstock and put mini magnets on the back for a travel game for when we are on the road.

Look and Learn Dinosaurs

My nephew got this for Christmas last year and my son couldn't keep his hands off of it, so with an extra gift card that I had I went to Target and bought one for him. It is from National Wildlife Federation here is the LINK.

It is a view master too, so you buy the little books with the cards in it and let them explore. The best part is that they are 3D and they come with an information booklet with several disks in them.

If you have a little one who loves stuff like this I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this product. They even have a disney set of cartridges too!

Oh did I mention that if you didn't want it to be a view master it has a switch on it so it becomes actual binoculars? SWEET!

I LOVE this thing!

Rice Krispy Dinos

For dino week we also made a special treat, GREEN Rice Krispy Dinos. Here's how...

Bag of small marshmallows, 6 cups of Rice Krispies, 1/4 cup of butter, green food coloring.
I used cookie cutters to cut the shapes and then let my kids after bath identify what each dinosaur shape was and what they did. (eat plants or meat)
It was a great after dinner snack. Here is a tip do not add food coloring until everything is melted...then once the butter and marshmallows are smooth and green add the rice krispies.

Foot print Ghosts

When A came over the other day we made these ghosts.
They are super easy and I'll show you how...

Paint the foot, then stamp it. Repeat, and stamp the two prints so that the heels match up.

Tada!
Cut around the outside and then draw a face. Done!

Baked Apple Slices/Chips

I try to do a food every week so here is what we did today...

Apples, Butter, Cinnamon, Sugar
Slice apples thin
Sprinkle with cinnamon, add 3 TBS of melted butter, and 3 TBS sugar
Make sure they are all covered after you place on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and pull 'em out
Enjoy!

5 Little Pumpkins

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, "But we don't care.”

The fourth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"

The fifth one said, "Let's run and run and run."

"Wooooooo" went the wind,

And out went the lights.

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

This is one of my favorite Halloween Songs/Poems. So we made a project out of it.

What we used...

Orange paint, Brown Paint, White Paper, Blue Cardstock, Yellow Cardstock, Brown Paper Bag.

We painted pumpkins on every kids hands...

I even did it with my 7 month old's hands.

Then you stamp that on the paper.

Repaint and Repeat 4 times so there is 5 pumpkins on the paper.

Let dry and then cut the outline out. With the paper bag cut a gate, a simple one.

With the Blue Cardstock cut it in half.

With the Yellow Cardstock cut the moon.

Then assemble the project.

Here they are finished.

On mine I made 2 with all 3 of my kids hand prints. So cute right?

Spider Web - for Halloween

Woah! That last post had an overwhelming response with the comments! Thanks! :p LOL

This project was inspired by my son:

Who is 3 and really wanted to be a spider for Halloween. So I obliged.
Here is what what you need:

2 Cans, Paint, Pipe Cleaners, Paper, Rubber Bands

Tear off paper from the cans(we were using these tonight otherwise write on the can what it is before ripping off the label!) Then cover the cans with Rubber Bands.

Next dip in paint and Roll, Roll, Roll.

While it is drying cut the pipe cleaners into 4 pieces. Like the length of your finger.

Then let the kids twist them into each other until all 4 pieces are used up.

My daughter didn't see where I was going with this...
Then glue the spider to a desired location and cut the paper into a web shape or circle.
Done.

Ideas

I have a bunch of feedback from the last giveaway and I thank you for your ideas, I was wondering if anyone wanted to contribute by being another author or if you all like the random format that is provided.

I am not doing the letters in order because I want my kids to learn the Alphabet independently and letter by letter rather than in a specific order. I also am trying to do fun activities sprinkled in with a theme because I am not doing a preschool just fun stuff to bust the boredom.

I don't believe in preschool before 3 so that is the main reason for the randomness of the posts.

Do you want more themes?
Do you want more of a specific thing, like math/manipulatives or science?

Please let me know, I am excited for your feedback!
Valerie

Aboriginal Clap Sticks

Here's a twist on the rhythm sticks that Australian aborigines use in ceremonial dances: decorated paint stirrers that let your kid be a one-man percussion section, clapping along to his favorite music.

What you need: Paint Stirrers and paint and Q-tips.
Time needed: About 2 to 3 Hours. To make a set, paint one side and all the edges of the 4 sticks with a base color, then let them dry.

2. Next, use other colors to paint on decorative bands and squiggles. Use Q-Tips to add dot accents.
My sister and I used the back side of the paintbrush to scrape the paint and make cool designs too.

3. Once all the paint has dried, clap them together and dance around.

I found the story of Dot painting online:
The indigenous people of Australia, or Aborigines, use dot painting as a form of storytelling. With dots of paint traditionally made from natural pigments, they create patterns and images of plants and animals that represent their culture's creation myths, which date back tens of thousands of years.