Prepare for a ghoulishly good time with this spooktacular Halloween craft activity!

Materials:

• White paper
• Black crayons
• Scissors
• Markers

What to Do:

1. Have each child place his foot, with the shoe on, on a piece of white paper.
2. Trace the children's feet with a black crayon, or have the children trace each other's feet.

   

3. Give the children scissors with which to cut out their feet.

   

4. Encourage the children to draw a face on their "ghost."

   

5. Show off your spooky, scary shoe ghost on the window or classroom bulletin board!
   

   

Related Books:

• Shake Dem Halloween Bones by W. Nikola-Lisa
• Mouse and Mole, A Perfect Halloween by Wong Herbert Yee

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This activity was taken from The GIANT Encyclopedia of Art & Craft Activities for Children Ages 3 to 6 from Gryphon House. This "Foot Ghosts" activity was originally contributed by Cory McIntyre from Crystal Lake, IL.

Teach children to recognize numerals and explore the fascinating (and sometimes spooky) world of creepy-crawly bugs and spiders with this activity from Let's Take It Outside!

Materials:

• Large ball of yarn, any color
• Number cards (index cards with the numbers 1-10 written in black pen)
• Tape

Preparation:

• Write one number and the corresponding number of dots onto each index card. Shuffle the cards.

What to Do:

1. Look for spiderwebs outside. When you find one, talk with the children about the strands in the web.
2. Ask the children to sit in a circle. Tell them that they are going to make their own spiderweb!
3. Shuffle the cards and give one to each child. Help the children identify the number on their card by recognizing the numeral or counting the dots.
4. Give the child with number one the end of the yarn and collect his card.
5. Unwind the ball of yarn until you reach the child with number two. Collect his card and ask him to hold the yarn.
6. Continue counting, unwinding yarn, and collecting cards until everyone is holding onto the yarn and you have collected all the cards.
7. Now ask everyone to continue to hold onto the yarn and stand up. Examine the spiderweb you have created!
8. Carefully place the web onto the ground. Ask the children how their web is the same or different from a spider's web.
9. Roll up the yarn, shuffle the number cards, and make a new web!
   

Looking to pair this exciting science and math activity with a great children's book? Check out The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle!

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For more teacher-created, classroom-tested outdoor activities that engage children's minds and bodies while also building key skills in areas such as math, literacy and language, science, art, and music, check out Let's Take It Outside! Perfect for ages 3 to 6, the activities in Let's Take It Outside! take kids on an outdoor adventure as they make mud-dough letters, go on a rainbow scavenger hunt, and play animal charades!

Glue natural objects to scrap wood to create a neat nature display with this crafty fall activity from 101 Great Gifts Kids Can Make.

Materials

• Natural items, such as small pinecones, leaves, acorns, twigs, and pebbles
• Wood plaque, 4" x 6"
• Sandpaper
• Glue
• Screw-in hook
• Ribbon

What to Do

1. Go outside on a nature walk, and collect a variety of small nature items.
2. Sand all rough edges of the wood.
3. Glue all the natural items on the wood plaque.
4. Attach a screw-in hook to the top of the wood piece.
5. Select a ribbon, and tie it around the hook in a bow.
6. When the plaque is finished, spray clear acrylic over the natural items to preserve them (adult step only).

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For more creative opportunities to experience the joy of giving and receiving unique child-made gifts, check out 101 Great Gifts Kids Can Make by Stephanie R. Mueller and Ann E. Wheeler (available in both paperback and eBook formats).

People all over the world use plants and vegetables to make inks and dyes. In this experiment from The Budding Scientist, you will make your own dyes too!

What Will I Need?

• An assortment of veggies (ex. beets, carrots, and red cabbage)
• 3 clear cups
• 1 grater
• 3 sandwich-size resealable plastic bags
• Strips of various white fabrics, such as cotton, wool felt, and synthetics (at least three of each fabric)
• 1/4 cup of warm water for each bag

What Do We Do?

1. Ask an adult to grate about 1/8 cup each of the carrot, beet, and cabbage. Keep the vegetables separate.
2. Put one vegetable into each of the resealable plastic bags, and add 1/4 cup of warm water. Reseal each bag.
3. Press and squish for two or three minutes, until the water is colored.
4. Empty each colored liquid into a separate cup. Look closely at the dyes. What do you see?
5. Use cotton strips, wool felt strips, and strips of synthetic material. Dip a strip of each type of cloth into each of the three dyes. Which type of cloth absorbs the most dye? Which type absorbs the least?
6. Place the cloth strips on newspaper to dry. Do the colors change?

More Ideas!

• Use these vegetable liquids as watercolor paints. Which vegetable made dark-colored paint? Which made light-colored paint?
• Read Abuela's Weave by Omar Castañeda aloud with the children.

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For more great ways to explore how the world works with young children, check out The Budding Scientist (available in both print and eBook formats) from Gryphon House!

Happy Johnny Appleseed Day! This tasty activity is sure to delight the children in your classroom as you explore math concepts and enjoy a sweet (and healthy) treat!

Materials

• Red, green, and yellow apples
• Slicing knife (adult use only)
• Red, green, and yellow crayons
• Circles or apple shapes cut from white paper
• Chart paper for graph
• Tape

What to Do

1. Prior to the lesson, draw three columns on the chart paper and label them red, green, and yellow.
2. Cut the apples into slices. Give each child a slice of each variety of apple to taste. Safety Note: Check for any fruit allergies before doing this activity.
3. Discuss how each apple tastes: sweet, sour, crunchy, soft, and so on.
4. Give each child a circle or apple shape and ask them to color it the color of their favorite apple.
5. Tape the apples to the graph and discuss the results. Which color has the most apples? Which has the least?

Related Books

• Apples by Gail Gibbons
• Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss
  

This activity was taken from The GIANT Encyclopedia of Monthly Activities and was originally contributed by Cassandra Reigel Whetstone from San Jose, CA. For more than 600 activities to keep children learning and growing all year long, pick up your own copy of The GIANT Encyclopedia of Monthly Activities today!