Category Archives: pre schoolers

active learning, early education & play, Halloween, imagination, literacy, outdoor play, play, pre schoolers, sensory play, writing

Hallowe’en Activities: Spells and Witches Brew

October 14, 2015 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

One of my favourite Hallowe’en activities as a teacher was creating spells and dancing around the cauldron. The children were transfixed by the iron cauldron that emerged from the kitchen and wondered if it might belong to a real witch. Dressed in witches hats and cloaks, we would imagine fantastical ingredients and create spells that would transform us into dragons, frogs or birds, that would make us fly, shrink or become invisible. It was a fun way to explore rhyme, share ideas and use our imaginations. We left ‘spell books’ in the mark making area and the home corner became a witches cave complete with potion bottles, spell books and jars of bugs, bats and frogs.

My girls love to make potions, so when I told them about it, they loved the idea but wanted to make a real witches brew.

To start, we made wands from tin foil and chose witches hats and capes. Tin foil wands are simple to make if you have limited time; wrap tin foil around a pencil or simply roll and scrunch the foil into your desired shape. If you are more ambitious, make wands from sticks by stripping off the bark, adding ribbons or painting them in special colours. I also like these Harry Potter wands from Red Ted Art

With wands in hand, they chose ingredients to go into the brew. They didn’t think witches and wizards used shaving foam or cornflour to make a spell, so they chose gruesome alternatives. Flour became giant’s dandruff, hair gel was ogre snot and fuzzy balls became warts.

The girls wrote down their ingredients so they could remember the order in which to add them .

It didn’t matter that my youngest is only just beginning to write, she found her own way.

Armed with spells, wands and witches hats, they made their way outside to the cauldron at our potion station. One by one, they tossed the ingredients into the cauldron, stirring it and modifying the quantities until they were satisfied. Then it was time for the spell.

Wibbly wobbly wibbly wog

See the little jumpy frog

Wibbly wobbly wibbly wagon

Turn the frog into a dragon

We looked for the dragon but decided it was hiding amongst the clouds.

The dance around the cauldron resumed with another spell.

Wibbly wobbly wibbly wog

See the little jumpy frog

Wibbly wobbly wibbly wat

Turn my mum into a bat

Thanks girls, I’m not sure I want to hang upside down from a tree.

The potion remained in the cauldron for sometime and became the central point of their witch and wizarding school.

Suggested ingredients for a witches brew

Jello/jelly powder (makes it smell great)
mud
hair gel
shaving foam
flour
glitter
coffee grounds
leaves and petals
plastic bugs
coloured water
baking powder-

Further Ideas

Give the children collection bags and a card with ingredients for a spell, in picture and written format. Ask the children to find the objects they need and place them in the bag.
Give the children a group of objects and ask them one at a time to add a specific number into the brew.
Chant around the caldron and make spells that require the children to make specific movements e.g make us slither like a snake, make us jump or stretch up tall.

active learning, art and crafts, childhood, early education & play, EYFS, forest schools, imagination, outdoor play, play, pre schoolers, science, sensory play, woods

What Can We Do with All These Leaves? Leaf and play activities for kids.

September 24, 2015 rightfromthestart 11 Comments

This time of the year my garden is covered in a blanket of leaves. The girls enjoy helping to rake them up but it is a never-ending task. When leaves are plentiful there are many activities that you could take advantage of. Here are a few of our favourites.

Leaf Man

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert is illustrated with photocopies of leaves that have been arranged to make pictures. We studied the way Ehlert uses coloured paper to create a layered background and leaves and natural materials for the main body of the picture.

We created our own pictures, starting with the background and adding leaves. The leaves work better if they are pressed beforehand using a flower press or a heavy book. Preserve them by laminating before the leaves dry out.

Painting

Young children enjoy printing with leaves or painting on larger leaves. You could also try painting with different types of leaves or dipping the stalks into paint to make marks. Dried leaves crumbled into paint could also make an interesting texture.

Leaves are perfect for investigating colour mixing. Give each child a leaf and ask them to try to mix the matching colour. Younger children could paint the colour onto their leaf, print it on paper or paint around the outline, older children may like to try an observational painting of their leaf. Small square canvases or watercolour paper would make them extra special.

Leaf Rubbing

Sometimes young children find this difficult so experiment with different colours and materials, like crayon, pencil, chalk, pastels or charcoal to decide which makes the most effective rubbing.

Leaf Mosaics, Patterns and Sculptures

Use leaves to create mosaic patterns and pictures. These could be individual or large group projects.

The girls collected leaves on a camping trip and used them to thread onto sticks to create clothes for their stick people.

Clay

Leaves make interesting imprints in clay or they can be used as a template to cut around. Clay leaves make great bowls, tiles or mobiles.

Sensory Play and Loose Parts

Collect leaves and put them in a sensory bin – investigate what happens to them over time. Add interesting objects hidden amongst the leaves or toy woodland animals and bugs for small world play.

If you have leaves outside how do the children use them as loose parts?

My children built a bonfire……

Buried their feet….

and added them to a potion.

Use them as a Filler

Last Halloween we made spiders to hang on the bushes outside. The bodies were made from black bags stuffed full with leaves. You could also use leaves to stuff scarecrows or guys for bonfire night.

Laminate them

Over a period of time we collected interesting leaves and laminated them. They looked great on the window and I challenged the girls to find out which trees they belonged to. I think they would also make an eye-catching mobile. This year we are using the laminated leaves to see if they can find matching leaves in the neighbourhood. Laminated leaves could be used for all kind of things. We have used them as gift tags, to play matching pairs and they look great on the light table.

Leaf Rainbows

If you collect leaves gradually from the same tree or bush as they change colour you can make a leaf rainbow.

Before you decide to rake all the leaves away, take a look at this face, I think it says it all.

children, days out, education, expat, families, Life in the US, outdoor play, parents, pre schoolers, review, Seattle, toddlers, wildlife

Woodland Park Zoo for Under 8’s

August 25, 2015 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

When I ask the girls where they would like to go, a popular response is the zoo. In the UK we were members of Bristol Zoo and visited there regularly. Having membership made our visits more relaxed, we didn’t have to run around trying to see every animal and if the children wanted to play in the playground all day that was fine too.

Woodland Park Zoo is more spacious than the zoo back home so we are able to see larger animals. Recently, we were invited to Woodland Park to see some of the activities available in the Zoomazium – a nature inspired play space for the under 8’s. To be honest we have always avoided Zoomazium during previous visits, expecting it to be a large, noisy soft play. I was pleasantly surprised however, to see a mix of play spaces and activities. There is a designated space for toddlers, fully enclosed and safe, with a library area to the side. The children can also explore the cricket exhibit.

The play area for older children has rope bridges, places to climb and lots of little caves that are perfect for hide and seek. There are also tables with toys for building, a stage area and a sensory area to explore.

Zoomazium is the perfect place to explore if you want to escape the heat (or cold) for a while but it is also a good starting point for your visit to the zoo. Creature Feature occurs every morning at 10.30 and encourages children to get close to some of the smaller animals at the zoo and learn about them from zoo staff. Our visitor was an armadillo.

My favourite Zoomazium offering was activity backpacks that the little ones can take with them around the zoo. Each one has a different theme and they are packed with activities, toys, books, magnifiers and things to look out for during your visit. After a lot of deliberation,the girls chose one each; the back yard and big cats.

I love the design of the backpacks, they look so cool and we had lots of comments as we wandered around. The backyard backpack had a number of activities to complete in the backyard of the Zoomazium or when exploring the rest of the zoo.

The big cats backpack was a good starting point for exploring the new Banyan Wilds exhibit.

Having the backpacks, encouraged us to take it slowly as the girls wanted to stop and take in the contents of their packs.

The squirrel puppet from the Backyard pack was a definite favourite and was a constant companion.

Completed activities can be traded for Nature points at Zoomazium’s Nature Exchange. The points can be exchanged for interesting, rocks, fossils and natural materials on display. Nature loving children can also create projects at home to earn additional points. Older children are not left out, there are activity sheets to suit all ages. My eldest chose a worksheet relating to the otter exhibit.

Our favourite part of the day was having the opportunity to feed animals. Bird seed on sticks can be purchased for $1 and the birds fly down to feed from your hand.

The best experience of all though was getting close to the giraffes and hand feeding them. The keeper was great at encouraging the children to ask questions and it was a truly memorable experience for all that I will definitely do again. Giraffe feeding is $5 per person and under 5’s go free with a paying adult.

A day at the zoo was perfect for my nature explorers.

Membership Offer

Zoo membership is perfect for families with young children. There are a number of membership options to suit different needs and admission is free for children under 3.

Right from the Start readers can benefit from a special offer.

Quote MOM15 at checkout to receive a 10% discount plus entry into a draw to win 2 giraffe feeding tickets and 2 tickets for a carousel ride.

Disclaimer: Complimentary tickets for 4 people were received. All opinions are my own and we were under no obligation to write about our visit.

active learning, childhood, children, early education & play, education, expat, EYFS, families, forest schools, Life in the US, outdoor play, play, pre schoolers, risk taking, safety, science, Seattle, teaching, wildlife, woods

How Do You Know When You Have Found the Perfect Preschool?

August 5, 2015 rightfromthestart 7 Comments

muddy feet — A place where I can kick my shoes off and sink my toes in the mud.

Regular readers will remember that when I moved to the US, I struggled to find a preschool that I was entirely happy with. I became so disillusioned that I decided to home preschool for a year. I’d lost faith of ever finding a preschool that valued play, independence and individuality above academics and rigid schedules until a friend told me of a preschool situated on a farm. The preschool shared my belief that children learn best by doing things that have relevance in their lives through exploring, discovering and creating.

The school is so popular that it was a whole year before I had a chance to visit and see the school for myself. Children were busy pulling apart sunflower heads on the covered deck area whist others moved freely between the different activities indoors and outdoors. The teacher’s enthusiasm and passion for both the children and the setting was evident immediately and a bubble of excitement rose up within me. Our name was put on the waiting list for Sept 2015 but before Christmas a place became available in the co-op class so finally my youngest daughter had the chance to attend. This was perfect as I also had the chance to be involved in this wonderful experience as a parent helper.

There was little doubt in my mind that this was the perfect preschool for my outdoor loving daughter. My expectations were high. I have been fortunate to teach at a highly acclaimed nursery in the UK and to visit the best preschools in my local authority as an advisory teacher. My experience of this school has surpassed all my expectations, I couldn’t have hoped for a more perfect preschool for my daughter and I am only sad that my older daughters didn’t have a chance to go there. After she started, it just seemed to get better. Regularly she would come home covered from head to toe in mud. To some parents this would be horrific but to me it meant she had the freedom to be herself and have fun.

Being a part of the co-op class means that I get to help out once a month. This is the most exciting part for me as I get to join in. I love the covered deck area which enables the children to play outdoors all year. The children explore the whole farm for the 2nd part of the session, mud, water, animals, climbing and balancing. They are actively encouraged to take risks.

long paintbrushes. — As we arrive my daughter always chooses to paint . She liked this painting activity with paintbrushes placed on extended poles.

painting with feathers — Painting with feathers

What makes it so perfect?

1. Children are individuals

Small classes and the dedication and experience of the teacher, mean that she understands each child as an individual. My daughter who is uncomfortable speaking in a group or to unfamiliar adults is given time to think about what she wants to say, often being presented with a question at the start of a session and returning for a response later. The child who hates to get his hands dirty is offered alternative tools and all the materials are open-ended so that children can use them as they see fit.

2.Children are competent

Children are always encouraged to try things for themselves, even when they ask for help they are first encouraged to try. The children are trusted to use adult tools for woodworking and tinkering, peeling vegetables and cooking. The teacher shows them how to use the tools safely and responsibly and thereon in they are trusted with them. The children cook their own green eggs and ham on the tiny stove, they dig with metal shovels, they observe candle flames and peel carrots with a peeler. Outside they are permitted to climb trees, feed the animals, hold guinea pigs and dig in the mud. The children are trusted to handle precious materials like birds eggs, chicks and nests.

This tinker table is always available. I regularly see children sawing pieces of wood placed in the clamps, hammering nails or taking apart electronics with a screwdriver. In the nursery I taught at we had a tool bench with real tools but we weren’t confident enough to leave it out all of the time. I have never seen a child have an accident or do anything dangerous with the tools.

climbing trees at preschool — My daughter loves to climb trees – I’m not sure I could find anywhere else where this would actively be encouraged.

3. The Preschool fosters understanding and respect for nature.

Many of the activities involve the natural rhythms of the farm, collecting the produce, understanding the cycles of the plants and learning about the animals and creatures they find.

After the first few sessions, my daughter told me they had unicorns at preschool but that it was too small to have grown a horn yet. A preschool with unicorns? Could it get anymore magical?

4. Children’s thoughts and opinions are important

Each session the children are asked a question and the answers are recorded for parents to read on the wall outside. The children listen to each others responses and discuss them with respect. The children’s choices are respected as they are presented with a number of activities to choose from at leisure. They also have opportunities to choose the songs they will sing and are confident at asking for things. The children are offered a snack, they choose when and if they would like to eat it .

5. They have fun.

wading in the swamp — On the last day of school, parents are invited to join the children as they wade in the swamp.

Best of all, I feel that my daughter experiences something here that she would never have the chance to experience elsewhere. I feel so fortunate to have found this preschool and that my daughter has one more year there. When our time is over I will be so sad but I hope I can remember her teacher’s words of wisdom.

barry island, early education & play, expat, families, music, music education, pre schoolers, review, singing, toddlers, Uncategorized, Welsh

Introducing Children to Welsh Through Song, with Babi Bach the Album

July 28, 2015 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

My 4-year-old has just learned her first Welsh word ,’canu’ meaning to sing.

How does a child living in the US with non- Welsh speaking parents learn such a word? From the wonderful, bilingual album, the girls received as a gift. The album was created by a friend of mine who runs ‘Babi Bach’ a bilingual music group in South Wales. The girls are fascinated by this unfamiliar language and love it when I tell them the meaning of a Welsh word.

The songs are familiar favourites, including, row, row ,row your boat, incey wincey spider and one finger, one thumb and are sung by male and female voices, in both English and Welsh. The Welsh versions brought back distant memories of my days as a student teacher in Wales. As an added surprise, when browsing the cover, I recognised one of the singers as a child who attended my after-school club in the 90’s. My friend confirmed that it was him, all grown up and singing professionally. More happy memories of home.

Living in the US, my children are unlikely to hear the Welsh Language. I’m not a Welsh speaker but the Welsh language was at the forefront of my early school years. We had Welsh assembly once a week, played games in Welsh and learned the Welsh language. The girls are fascinated that there is this strange language that is only spoken in Wales.

The girls sing along in English and try their best to join in with the Welsh. Initially, they spouted gibberish, laughing hysterically at the complicated words in ‘head, shoulders,knees and toes. My Welsh isn’t really strong enough to help them but I point out the words I recognise. My next step is to print off the Welsh lyrics , so I can sing along. The songs are separated by enthusiastic conversations between a group of friends in both languages, so it is easy for them to follow.

After hearing the songs a few times, they are already beginning to sing along in Welsh even without my help.

I can highly recommend this for Welsh parents who have moved away from Wales. It is the perfect introduction to the Welsh language. Equally, it is a simple and fun way to learn Welsh for children living in Wales.

Digital copies of Babi Bach yr Albwm are available from Amazon Music and other digital music platforms.

Disclaimer :This is not a sponsored post no payment was received.

active learning, art and crafts, death, early education & play, education, imagination, play, pre schoolers, Reggio Emilia, sensory play

The Mirror Table

April 1, 2015 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

The girls often enjoy mirror play, I’ve tried a number of different types. I love this big one but it is very fragile and difficult to store. For small projects, I have an oval mirror in a tray but it isn’t big enough for more than 2 children to play with. Unframed circular mirrors work well, but I’m yet to find a suitable one. We also use Ikea mirror tiles, these are portable and I can change the arrangement to suit the project but the pointed edges bother me.

Suddenly it came to me – “why not stick the mirror tiles onto a table?” I sent out a plea for a table to my Buy Nothing group. I didn’t expect to find one that was the perfect size but within 30 minutes I had been offered a table that would fit the tiles perfectly. The mirror tiles come with sticky pads for mounting to a wall. These were perfect for attaching the mirrors to the table. I taped the sharp corners with duct tape and a vanity mirror was placed against the wall. In a preschool setting I would mount more tiles to the wall and put the table in front to allow for seamless reflections. The border around our mirror makes it difficult for small items to be reflected in the upright mirror.

A couple of small card mirrors and a few loose parts led to fun explorations.

I cut the insides of a roll of tape in half and placed them on the table with a few wooden rings.

“It looks like wheels. I’m going to make a car”

To keep the interest going, I changed the materials regularly. The loose parts, building bricks and mirrors maintained interest for only a short time. Knowing that my children love to draw and write, I decided to leave white board markers and a rubber on the table to see if this would engage them.

This arrangement was perfect and by far the most popular so far.

collaborative drawing

To add variety, I purchased a pack of glass markers. This was a very different experience. The girls discovered that the pens were difficult to erase. They liked that they no longer needed to avoid erasing part of the picture with their sleeve. It took more effort to erase and the girls experimented with the best ways to do this. Since they love to use cleaning sprays, I showed them how to use a small amount of glass cleaner to remove the pens quickly.

I noticed that the style of drawing changed when I introduced these pens. The girls drew intricate patterns using the colours and adapting their movements to light touch of the pens.

This one reminded me of Kandisky ( and a pattern in one of the earlier photographs is reminiscent of concentric circles).

“I like drawing random things that come into my head. Then they don’t have to be anything” said my 6-year-old.

I explained that this is called abstract art. I have an artist friend and we all visited her exhibition recently. I told them that this was the kind of art that she makes.
Later, I printed some Kandinsky paintings, placing them around the edge of the vanity mirror.

“Why did you name this one the traveller?” I asked.

“He looks like he has a bag on his back and the multi-coloured bits look like a map”

The mirror table is also the perfect surface for shaving foam.

On a flat, even surface their natural instinct was to cover all the space, smoothing it over like icing a cake.

They began to create a story.

How about we’re the servants and it is the queen’s birthday and she wants us to decorate everything?

Now we need it all smooth again. We are the servants.

Wait, she said decorate everything. How about our hands? Oh no there are some gaps.

Maybe the queen will be mad. Come on we’ve got to make it smooth.

I don’t think she’ll be mad. She is the nicest queen. Everyday for pudding she gives us cupcakes.

It’s all textury, move your hands around like this.

Or I could do an M – like this.

The scenario soon changed to one where they were at school.

There is lots and lots of art but you don’t like doing it, do you?

Of course I do, why wouldn’t I? I love it

No, but remember we’re playing a game where you don’t like being creative . You just like playing video games and stuff.

I know, this is creative and you don’t like it. Pretend when someone asks you to do something creative you just say ” but when can I watch tv?”

Do you know what I’m going to do next?

No

Neither do I but it will be something creative.

How about you make a snowball?

The girls abandoned a game of Minecraft when I put the foam out. It is interesting that they were exploring ideas about creativity in their play.

Additional mirror table activities can be found on my mirror table Pinterest board.

books, children, early education & play, education, expat, Life in the US, literacy, parenting, pre schoolers, reading, Seattle, teaching, UK, Uncategorized, writing

British Children Learning to Read and Write in the US.

March 6, 2015 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

I knew my youngest children would learn to read and write in the US and as a result I would have to accept that they would spell differently and use American phrases and grammar. There are some unexpected differences however that I hadn’t considered.

A few days ago my 4-year-old remarked,

“Mummy, all the other children at preschool don’t write t’s properly”

“Really! Can you show me”

It is a bit like an x, like this……

My youngest is 4, I taught her to write her name but it never crossed my mind that letter formation might be different here.

I asked my kindergartener

” Do you write a curly bit on the bottom of the letter t at school?”

“No we do it like a cross”

I checked with the teacher and she explained that they use the ball and stick method where letters such as t, w and y use straight lines rather than curves as they feel it is easier for the young children to master. It is one of many differences that I hadn’t anticipated.

I always believed the transition would be most difficult for my eldest, who went to school in England until she was 8, so learned to read, spell and write ‘the English way’. The first thing she noticed, was that punctuation had different names; full stops were periods and brackets became parentheses. We were really keen that she wouldn’t lose her knowledge of British spelling, so school agreed that she could learn both. As an avid reader and proficient speller this wasn’t really difficult.

Choosing books wasn’t simple either. Most books by British authors are rewritten for an American audience. When we borrow books by British authors from the library or buy books here, they are American versions. My daughter is really eager to maintain her ‘Britishness’, so we often order books from the UK. This way she can still read books with British spelling and vocabulary and is able to read literature from both cultures. Tonight we read an American translation of Pippi Longstocking. This was my daughter’s favourite book for many years, so she knew much of the text by heart. Every time she spotted a difference, she would quote the British text. In the end we got her old battered copy down to compare. I was surprised that though the meaning remained the same, the texts were very different. The monkeys name was different and the language in the British version was more detailed and poetic (although I am sure that the original Swedish is even more rich).

“A remarkable child” said one of the sailors, wiping a tear from his eye when Pippi disappeared from view. (British translation)

” A remarkable child” said one of the sailors as Pippi disappeared in the distance (American translation)

My daughter’s desire to maintain her British identity isn’t without its pitfalls. Once she was marked down in a piece of writing because she referred to a ladybird rather than a ladybug (which I felt was a little harsh).

I thought things would be simpler for the younger ones because they started school here but they have been faced with different challenges:

1. The alphabet ends with zee (my daughter has decided that it makes more sense the American way because the song rhymes).

2. What sound does a short ‘o’ make? To us it is o as in fox, box and top but American pronunciation is different, instead it makes the sound a as in fax, bax or tap. Confusing but also a little amusing to the girls who still have perfect English accents. I think I was fortunate that my daughter was beginning to read when she went to school and had already learned basic phonics so this wasn’t too much of an issue.

3. School reading books have American phrases which to a Brit’s ears sound totally wrong and often make me shudder. An examples from today’s reading book is :

Let’s go find Leo.

The omission of “ly’ at the end of adverbs is common as in ‘We need to be real quick’. I suppose one positive is that the girls generally notice and remark that it sounds different. When my daughter reads a word that we don’t use, she substitutes it for the British word “I’m just going to say mum not mom”.

4. Sometimes they complete worksheets where they have to circle pictures that begin with particular letters. This can be confusing if the British word is different from the American or if it is something traditionally American like baseball equipment.

On the whole I think the girls awareness of the differences gives them a far richer experience of the written word. It certainly gives us a lot to talk about.

art and crafts, childhood, children, early education & play, education, parenting, play, pre schoolers, Uncategorized

Why Do Young Children Draw Belly Buttons?

November 5, 2014 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

My youngest daughter (age 4) has recently started to draw detailed pictures. Mostly they are people. She always starts with the eyes, adds a nose and mouth and then draws the circle for a head. After adding hair, she draws a torso, arms, legs, hands and feet. The finishing touch is always a belly button. I found this fascinating. I don’t remember my older children doing this for any sustained period of time, if at all.

In the earliest stages of children’s drawings of people, there is no torso. At this stage they often draw a navel (or circle) between the legs to depict that there is a torso there. I’m not so familiar with children drawing belly buttons onto a torso however.

Clearly, children under the age of 5 do not generally draw clothes on their people. Seeing a navel on her sister’s drawing, immediately led my 6-year old to the assumption that it was naked. As they talked through the drawing together, the picture became one of a daddy and his little girl in the shower and anatomically correct details were added. These didn’t survive into later drawings when her sister was not present but the placement of the belly button continued.

There is a boy and a girl holding hands, the boy is a man and the girl is his child. They are naked because they were in the shower. ( The lines above are water from the shower)

My intrigue grew, when a friend with a child of a similar age shared her daughter’s drawing of the family. There was the belly button again.

I decided to ask an expert and consulted Ursula Kolbe author of Rapunzel’s Supermarket:All about Young Children and Their Art for help. She suggested that children are fascinated by belly buttons and the drawing of a simple round shape is often intensely satisfying. Perhaps then, it is the circles that she finds fascinating. The drawing sequence always begins with eyes made up of a circle within a circle. Kolbe also suggested that children often copy the ideas of other children but since my little one is yet to attend preschool and only has her sisters to influence her this is unlikely in her case.

Often what children include or don’t include in their drawings is determined by the sequence in which they draw. “If a child draws a torso and then legs they sometimes won’t go back up to include a navel even if they intended to do so” says Kolbe. I watched my daughter’s sequence with interest; she always drew the whole person and then went back to draw the navel as a finishing touch.

Sorting through boxes, I came across some old photographs of me as a child. In amongst them was this.

I must have been 4 or 5 years old when I drew this man, complete with belly button. What a magnificent and timely discovery to help solve my conundrum.

early education & play, Halloween, holidays, music education, pre schoolers, rhyme, singing, spider

Hallowe’en Songs for Pre-schoolers.

October 30, 2014 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

When it comes to Hallowe’en my repertoire of songs is not as large as some other seasonal favourites. Tweaking a few nursery songs and finding a few favourites online, I put together a small package of activities for a preschool music session.

5 Little Pumpkins ( A Popular Rhyme in the US)

5 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 “Let’s run, Let’s run”

The fifth one said “Isn’t Hallowee’n fun?”

Then woooooo went the wind

And OUT went the lights.

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

There’s a Spider on the Floor ( To the tune of ‘Put your Finger on your Head)

Move the spider up your body and make rhymes with different body parts eg There’s a spider on my tummy and I really want my mummy, there’s a spider on my knee and he’s very scary. Lyrics to the first verse are here.

If You’re a Monster and You Know It (Spooky Version of If You’re Happy and You Know It)

If you’re a monster and you know it then say ‘raaaaggh’

If you’re a witch and you know it say ‘HA HA’

If you’re a ghost and you know it then say ‘Oooooooo’

If you’re a dragon and you know it, breathe out fire.

If you love Hallowe’en then shout ‘BOO’

The Skeleton Dance

Doing the Skeleton Dance A slightly different version of the song ‘Dem Bones’

This is the Way we Carve a Pumpkin (to the tune ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush)

carving

This is the way we carve pumpkin, carve a pumpkin, carve a pumpkin,

This is the way we carve a pumpkin on Hallowe’en.

This is the way we cut off the top….

This is the way we scoop out the seeds….

This is the way we cut out a face…..

This is the way we light it up….

The Jack o Lantern keeps monsters away….

Monsters away, monsters away

The Jack O lantern keeps Monsters away

On Hallowe’en

I Hear Thunder (Use a spring drum for atmospheric effect)

I hear thunder, I hear thunder

Hark don’t you? Hark don’t you?

Pitter-patter raindrops, pitter-patter raindrops

I’m wet through

So are you.

Bats are flying, bats are flying

In the night , in the night

Watch out for the witches! Watch out for the witches

What a fright, what a fright.

Trick or treating, trick or treating

Door to door, door to door

Gathering our goodies, gathering our goodies

More and more, more and more.

Instruments and Movement.

Turn off the lights and give each child a flashlight/torch.

Play spooky Music – We chose ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ by Mussorgsky .

Encourage the children to make their torchlight dance to the music.

Help the children to choose instruments that might add to the atmosphere. (Deep drums, a spring drum, rainmakers and penny whistles are especially good).

art and crafts, childhood, early education & play, imagination, music education, outdoor play, play, pre schoolers, singing, Uncategorized, water play

Pirate Play

Image August 12, 2014 rightfromthestart 4 Comments

In the hot sunshine the girls don’t really need a lot of encouragement to play with water. When I suggested we set up their pirate ship in the garden and make a plank that they could jump from into the paddling pool, they thought it was a great idea.

To make it truly authentic, we made pirate swords so they could push each other off the plank in true pirate fashion. They coloured them with chubbie paint markers before adding jewels.

We emptied the paddling pool to clean it, leaving water on the lawn. The girls decided that this should be a swamp where crocodiles lived. They collected branches to lay across it so that they could cross the swamp.

branches to cover a swamp — Leaves are the only thing that works to help us cross the swamp, everything else sinks.

They then went on the lookout for something to use as a plank and decided on a large branch that had been pruned from our maple.

I had been changing the words to songs to fit a pirate themed music class. ‘If you’re a pirate and you know it say aaarh’, ‘1 little, 2 little, 3 little pirates’ and , ‘there were 10 in the ship and the pirate said walk the plank’. The girls made up songs of their own, counting down as the pirates walked the plank one-by-one.

Next they set out on a pirate treasure hunt. One of the girls hid the treasure and made an X from sticks to mark where it was. My eldest made a map and clues for the girls to follow.