Felt Monster Game

Want to see some kooky monster fun?

Here is a felt monster game I made for the classroom. It has oodles of learning objectives: color identification, body part identification, counting, cognitive matching, making choices, fine motor manipulation, and participating in organized play. But it is also just plain ole fun.

The object of the game is to complete your monster first.

Players roll a die to see what they can add to their monster.

The sides of the die are:
* eyes*arms* horns* noses* mouths* a flashlight (child uses a real flashlight to scare off a piece of another player's monster)
I ended up adding a free turn where you could pick any piece to add because the game was going on forever...I made my die using a free printable from online.

Here are the pre-designed monsters:





The game can be altered to allow for varying degrees of difficulty.

You set out the pieces in varying ways:

already grouped in color setsgrouped by type found on the diemixed up all crazyChildren can also be encouraged to create their own kind of monster (either using the die or completely open ended)


{linking up with all the cool people found on my linky page}

Little Scarecrow

The traditional building of a scarecrow meets fine children's literature when you use The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything (written by Linda Williams and Illustrated by Megan Lloyd) as a guide to your crafting experience with young children.

Read the story a few times with your children before you create the scarecrow to build their familiarity with it.

Gather the needed materials:

* The wonderful book
* Bunch of shredded paper
* Pair of shoes
* Pair of socks
* Sweater/ long sleeved shirt
* Pair of pants
* Pair of gloves
{we used children's clothing cause it is more manageable and looks pretty darn cute when you are done, but that is certainly not necessary}
* A plastic pumpkin treat bucket {facial features will need to be drawn on--upside down--with a permanent marker}
* A hat
* Some sort of stick {for helping to stabilize the head to the body}
* Tape to hold openings shut
* Safety pins to attach clothes together
* An enthusiastic child ready to join in the fun

And now you are ready to embark on a slightly spooky journey through the story while making your very own scarecrow.

Be wary of the paper flinging monster that is rumored to live near here.


{some rumors turn out to be true}

The story is cumulative and encourages children to move their bodies.

The little old lady is chased home and "behind her she could hear":

"Two shoes go CLOMP, CLOMP,
One pair of pants go WIGGLE WIGGLE,
One shirt go SHAKE, SHAKE,
Two gloves go CLAP, CLAP,
One hat go NOD, NOD,
And one scary pumpkin head go BOO, BOO!"

As you read and new articles of clothing make their spooky appearances, have the children help you stuff the clothes with the shredded paper.

Attach the clothes together and at the end of the story your scarecrow will be scaring away pesky crows just like the one at the end of the story!

Completely optional, but highly enjoyable, additional steps:

Steal the scarecrow's hat

{this serves the dual purposes of bugging your sister and rockin' a new look}

Accessorize your scarecrow as you see fit "just for fun":

Pose with your new buddy:

{linking up with all the cool people found on my linky page}

Fall Flower Pots

We painted flower pots.


Mine were originally going to be for a gift exchange, but I ended up not going so I could pack for our brilliant fall trip. So, Happy Fall to me.

{Turns out I love them so I would have had a hard time parting with them, anyway.}

The kids painted some pots and decided they would be a great birthday gift for their Mammie.

Filling them with flowers turned out to be just as fun as painting them. Both of the kids were very thoughtful about which flowers were included in their arrangements.

"Oh!!! That's beautiful!"

"Don't you think that's beautiful?!
It is going to make Mammie's heart beat so full!"

BBD had a thorough screening process. Each plant was closely inspected

and had to be approved by James before it made the cut.

"It's full! It's so full up!"

CB decided that the flower pot needed an "alien face". Who am I to disagree?

It is complete with two green eyes that are "twins" and a blue one for good measure, rosy "cheeks", and a bejeweled crown head band that goes all the way around.

{linking up with all the cool people found on my linky page}

School Scrapbook

Today, I earned major cool mom points.

Why?

Because I gave my daughter a binder filled with page protector sheets. I slid in one of her many preschool works of art.


She gasped. "It's a preschool scrapbook!!"

Yes. That is exactly what it is.


"Can we keep this scrapbook forever and never ever throw it away?!"

"Mom, it's not full yet."

"I can't wait to make more stuff with Miss Amy!"

She loves it so much that we are going to need another one for all the artwork she creates at home.

Here is a picture of her scrapbook at the end of the school year, just bursting with memories:


This is similar to what I do with my students as a school memory book as well. We include photos, artwork, dictations, songs, and poems from throughout the year and send them home the last week of school.

Halloween Rock Creations

We have been at it again. Making more rock creations, this time Halloween themed.

Safety first, people.

While I made this cast of characters :


{For a color changing ghost story by yours truly, click HeRe}

CB made this bat. He's kooky.

And BBD is largely responsible for this creepy eye ball. (I added the pupil.}

Happy Haunting!

{linking up with all the cool people found on my linky page}

Color Changing Ghost Story

Everybody knows that ghosts are white because they only eat things that are tasty and white, like coconut, whip cream, cream cheese icing, and vanilla ice cream. {If you didn't already know that, now you do.}

Gilbert was a little ghost who was in a hurry to be a big ghost. One Halloween, after weeks of begging, his mom said that he could be the one to pass out candy to trick or treaters while she and Dad went to a haunted house for a Halloween party. Gilbert was so excited! It was his first night home alone. He felt so big!

As his mom was leaving, she reminded him, "The candy is for the trick or treaters. No snacking! Crazy things happen when little ghosts eat things that are not white."

"Mo-o-om! I am not a little ghost anymore! I am a big ghost!"

At first, things went just fine. The door bell would ring, Gilbert would answer the door, the costumed kids would shout "trick or treat", he would give them candy, and the kids would scamper off giggling over their bags of treats.

But then, Gilbert saw himself in the mirror. His white was so plain. His white was so boring. He wished he had a cool costume like the kids. He wished he had a bag full of yummy treats.

He looked into the bowl of candy he had been passing out. Hmmm. It was huge.



Surely, one little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a RED cinnamon bear and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of RED.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a ORANGE lollipop and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of ORANGE.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a YELLOW Starburst and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of YELLOW.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a GREEN jaw breaker and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of GREEN.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a BLUE taffy and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of BLUE.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a PURPLE box of Nerds and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of PURPLE.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a PINK piece of bubblegum and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of PINK.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a BROWN piece of chocolate and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of BROWN.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!



Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a BLACK piece of licorice and took a little bite. It was delicious! He popped the whole thing in his mouth. Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of BLACK.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!




Surely, one more little piece of candy would not be missed.

He picked out a GRAY jellybean and popped the whole thing in his mouth. It was disgusting! Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful shade of GRAY.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!



And then he spotted a piece of candy corn in his bowl. He grinned and popped the whole thing in his mouth. It was delicious! Pop! Gilbert turned a beautiful striped pattern.

He admired his new look in the mirror. He looked awesome!

But, he didn't feel so well. The door bell rang. Gilbert groaned. His tummy hurt. He couldn't get to the door to answer it. The door bell rang again. Gilbert groaned again.

The door opened. "Gilbert?" It was his mom. She was home from the party. "Oh, Gilbert!"

"I don't feel very well."

"I can see that, sweetie. I have just the thing to help you feel better." She went to the kitchen and returned with a nice tall glass of milk.

Gilbert drank the milk and began to feel better.

A little while latter, on his way to bed he passed by the mirror.

He saw his old look.

He looked AWESOME!



Curtain call:



Written by: Timbra Vaughn

I did the artwork too. I know, I ROCK!



Have your child act out the story with props to work on color identification and naming. You can make your own out of all kinds of things (construction paper, felt, milk jug lids, whatever) or you can print out the photos and use those.