Homeschool: Halloween Part 1 (Week 9)

We just completed our ninth week of homeschool. You can view our daily schedule (including which curriculum we use for math and reading) by clicking the link. Below you'll find the art and science activities we did this week - focusing on Halloween. There are book options available for each day, but I got a bunch of books from the Library we have been reading from all of them this week. 




MONDAY:
  • Book: Room on a Broom by Julia Donaldson
  • Activity: Cut & Paste Witch Craft
  • Supplies: Construction Paper, Scissors, Glue
  • Main Point: Scissor, paper and gluing skills
I loved this craft, because my boys did everything all on their own. The drawing, the cutting, the gluing and their own creativity. 






TUESDAY:  
  • Book: Bone Soup by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
  • Activity: Witch's Brew Science Activity
  • Supplies: Witch's Brew PDF (yeast packet, dish soap, volume 20 hydrogen peroxide - from the beauty supply store, food coloring, witch cauldron, cookie sheet). 
  • Main Point: Science. The reaction between the hydrogen peroxide and the yeast is called an exothermic reaction. You will feel a warmth on the foam, because energy is being released. The yeast helps to remove the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide creating tons of tiny bubbles that made all that cool foam. The foam is the oxygen, water, and dish soap that you added.
Well, my six told me that bat's don't actually have venom. Sorry for all the kids that are smarter than me that are doing this activity. ;) My boys loved this, though! We made so many potions today. The ingredients and instructions are in the Witch PDF (link above). 






My six requested making "potions in the shower", so I bought some cheap shampoo, conditioner and shaving cream (from the Dollar Store) for them to play with. They loved this. Obviously, their ingredients went quickly, but they've still mixed the water around and played pretend with their witch potions all week in the shower.




WEDNESDAY:
  • Book: Spiders by Gail Gibbons
  • Activity: Halloween Balloon Art 
  • Supplies: White Card Stock, Black and Purple Washable Paint, Balloons, glue, googly eyes
  • Main Point: Creativity
I love our art projects, because they turn out so different from one another. I love the low stress of allowing my kids to be creative on their own, instead of doing exactly what I do. I made spiders, but my boys had so much fun doing all sorts of things with their balloons - some stamping, some painting, some monsters, a few "bear tracks" and exploring. Note: This project took two days. We used paint and balloons on one day and used glue and googly eyes the next day.


The final projects. 
You can stamp with the balloons - if you push hard it makes a big circle. If you push soft it makes a small circle.
You can also "paint" with the balloon.
I always bring out a lot of paper, so they can do however many they'd like.


THURSDAY:
  • Book: Frankie Stein by Lola M. Schaefer
  • Activity: Frankenstein Directed Draw
  • Supplies: White Card Stock, Black Crayon, Green and Black Washable Paint (diluted with water), Paint Brushes
  • Main Point: Drawing and Painting Skills 
There's a time for creative art and a time for directed art. I have an easel that I use for these. I tape up my paper and my kids sit at the table with their papers. I show them step by step how to draw and they follow what I do. We drew the Frankenstein with crayon and then painted them with diluted paint, so the crayon would still show through. 




FRIDAY:
  • Book: How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace
  • Activity: Monster Sensory Bin
  • Supplies: Box of Spaghetti Noodles, Vinegar, Purple Food Coloring, Plastic Eyeballs, Cauldron, Play Scissors and Scoops (from lakeshore learning) and whatever else you think!
  • Main Point: Imaginative play. Sensory skills. Cutting skills. 
To make the noodles: Cook the spaghetti. Drain and rinse with cold water. In a small bowl, add 4 TBS of vinegar and purple food coloring together. Stir. Dump the spaghetti and the bowl vingar/food coloring into a gallon sized zip lock bag. Zip up the bag and mix the outside of the bag with your hands until the noodles are coated. Wait for a couple hours, so the color gets absorbed by the food coloring. Rinse again. Play. 







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