Homeschool: Halloween Part 2 (Week 10)

We just completed our tenth 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: Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert OR Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki
• Activity: Mummy Craft
• Supplies: Construction Paper, Scissors, Glue, Paper Towels, Googly Eyes
• Main Point: Scissor, paper and gluing skills

We are really enjoying learning about mummies. Today we read some books, watched a PBS Kids episode on King Tut and then did a simple mummy craft. 

TUESDAY:  

• Book: Pyramids & Mummies by Simon Seymour 
• Activity: Mummy Excavation
• Supplies: Cornstarch, water, toy skeletons, 9x13 aluminum container, jewels, digging tools
• Main Point: Pretend play, fine motor. 

Prepare this activity three days in advance. You can view a detailed tutorial by clicking the link. We also made these mummy hot dogs for lunch!

WEDNESDAY:

• Book: At the Old Haunted House by Helen Ketteman
• Activity: Haunted House Craft
• Supplies: Card Stock, scissors, glue and a black marker
• Main Point: Creativity, cutting and gluing skills

I love our art projects, because they turn out so differently from one another. I showed my kids how to draw a haunted house and I asked them where they wanted their windows. I placed their house over carpet and cut slits to make windows. We glue the house onto yellow card stock, cut around the house and then glued the house onto purple card stock. Then, we drew in the windows!

My six didn't want any windows, but helped my four draw "monsters" in his windows. It was really cute watching them help each other.

THURSDAY:

• Book: Vampirina Ballerina by Ann Marie Pace
• Activity: Vampire Footprint Craft
• Supplies: Red card stock, black and white paint, black marker
• Main Point: Drawing and Painting Skills 

I like this book, because it teaches us that we don't have to be perfect and that it's okay to make mistakes. I wax trying to think of a way to paint that's different from what we've done recently.. and I thought of painting with our feet. I helped paint their feet (one at a time), we stamped them on paper, let them dry and drew vampire faces. 

FRIDAY:

• Book: Bunnicula by James Howe
• Activity: Vampire Slime
• Supplies: Clear Elmer's glue, red food coloring, water, borax powder, play dough tools
• Main Point: Imaginative play. Sensory skills. Cutting skills. 

To make the slime:

1) Add 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup clear glue + red food coloring into a bowl. Stir. Set aside.
2) In a separate bowl, add 1/2 cup warm water + 1/4 tsp. Borax Powder. Stir.
3) Add the borax solution to the glue mixture and stir until all the solution is mixed in thoroughly.
4) Remove the slime from the bowl and knead until smooth.

This slime was a little sticky to our fingers, but was so much fun. It takes less than five minutes to make the slime and created over an hour of play for us. 

This is the true color of slime (on a white table). If you want it to look black like the first picture, add black glitter.

You can cut the slime with play dough scissors.

My six's slime monster. I love this.

Additional Halloween Books: Cat Nights by Jane Manning; Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds; Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O'Connell; Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara.