Our centers and activities all had a Halloween theme that week. The sensory table was filled with witch's brew. Our dramatic play center had dress up clothes and a small house for the children to pretend to trick-or-treat. The children made playdoh pumpkins. They played pumpkin math games too.
We continued to investigate our world and learn to ask questions with science experiments. Our experiment for Halloween was to create elephant toothpaste. The children helped me to mix some of the ingredients in a beaker which we then placed inside of a pumpkin. I slowly added a yeast mixture to hydrogen peroxide and it quickly formed a yellow foam that oozed out of the pumpkin's mouth and eventually it's eyes and nose.
Our STEM activity was to use toothpicks and pumpkin gumdrops to create the tallest structure possible. I demonstrated how to stick the pieces together, but let the children figure out how to make their structure stand with support. Everyone had a different approach. I was happy to see not only cubes being formed, but pyramids as well.
Finally, in Gym class we had a Halloween themed obstacle course. The children were asked to roll a ball to knock over ghosts (bowling pins), hop over tombstones, balance across the icky swamp, throw yarn balls at ghosts, scooter through a haunted house and toss a hula hoop around a witch's hat. It required some imagination, but the children had so much fun practicing their gross motor skills.
