We’ve been reading Hallowe’en books since the middle of August, Miss G and the other children of Child’s Garden Montessori are huge fans of Hallowe’en and have been planning their costumes for months! The great thing about reading the same books over and over again is that I have been able to brainstorm activities, crafts, and story extensions to extend the children’s learning, and they are excited to keep the story alive throughout the day.
Here are our favourite 10 Hallowe’en books so far this season, and 5 Hallowe’en activities for each — most of them Montessori-inspired activities.
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The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis is a rolling romp about a “thumpety bumpety thumpin’ bumpin’ round and roll-y RUNAWAY PUMPKIN.” The Baxter brothers release a pumpkin from its “twisty twirly vine” and set it loose down a hill, crashing through various aspects of the farm, before Papa Baxter wisely plows a hole for it to stop in.
make one of the pumpkin treats described in the book: pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread
pumpkin bowling — using either a ball or an actual pumpkin!
Make a felt pumpkin with buttons for its eyes, nose, and mouth; then make small black felt shapes and cut slits in the middle of each for a “dressing board” pumpkin
explore the Montessori grammar farm
explore engineering chain reactions – anything from simple dominos to something more elaborate like a marble run!
Dem Bones by Bob Barner is illustrated using ripped-paper, which lends an extra layer of dimension to this animated version of the African American spiritual (folk song). If you’ve never heard the song, it’s use for children tends to be as a great anatomy lesson wrapped up in a fun, repetitive song. For older children, it would be good to discuss the sociohistorical implications of the song.
Invite the children to make their own ripped-paper illustrations and collages
Explore skeleton clings or skeleton x-rays on the light table
Use post-it notes to label the parts of the body (try to sound out the body parts before sticking them) — you can either have the children label each other, or draw a body outline and have them label that
Dance along to the song
Make a representational drawing “x-ray” of a skeleton, providing Hallowe’en skeleton decorations as models, white crayons or chalk, and black paper
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandra is a fun Hallowe’en twist on the conventional There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly rhyme. In this version, the old lady swallows several Hallowe’en related figures and animals, and the author cleverly switches the traditional “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she’ll die” to the more child-friendly, “There was an old lady who swallowed, I don’t know why she swallowed a bat, imagine that.” I also appreciated that the lady didn’t get “bigger” as she ate more things, as she does in some other stories.
We borrowed a “Old Lady” doll with a hollow body for stuffing in the objects from the story, or you could make a Kleenex box lady similar to my Cookie Monster Alphabet eater. I had each child feed the old lady when the animal that they were holding was mentioned in the story
While reading, I had the children each act out animals and make the animal sounds as they were named
After reading the story, I had the children try to recall the sequence of the story and paste animal cutouts to a paper stomach in order. I added the first letter for each animal as the book focuses on “g” “o” “b” and “c.”
We went around in a circle and made up our own version of the story, brainstorming what else the old lady could have eaten that reminded us of Hallowe’en
Use chocolate or ice cube molds to make frozen yogurt or chocolate treats for the children to recreate their own version of the story with
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson is a fun, repetitive story about a witch’s flight that keeps getting waylaid by dropped items, and new passengers. Written by the same author as the Gruffalo, it is a cute story that the kids requested over and over again, and helped drive home a good moral about sharing.
Go on a treasure hunt for all of the witch’s lost items (use real ones or paper cut-outs)
Act like the animals from the story
Play “Room on the Broom” — a fun twist on Musical Chairs. You can use a length of wood, a bench, or a bunch of small child-sized chairs
Practice “flying” on a broom
Place a square of tape on the floor and have children practice sweeping into the square
I reviewed and discussed Frankenstein: A Montrous Parody by “Ludworst Bemonster” previously, but the kids are really enjoying this slightly sinister tale so we have had a bit of fun extending the book into our day.
Find the head! Hide a picture of “Frankenstein’s head” for the children to seek
Cutting crooked lines out of paper (an essential cutting skill to work on for dexterity)
Practice fitting different sized nuts and blots as a matching and fine motor skills game
Use a design and drill to practice patterning
Make a castle using a variety of materials — sand, plaster, paper, foam, etc. We used a ready made kit from a craft store.
Miss Spider’s Wedding by David Kirk is a longer story, more suited to elementary-aged children, but I read this during a wind-down time and it was well-received. Children learn that good friends (or true love) come in a variety of appearances, and that we should rejoice when we have it. The story reads like an ancient Greek poem.
Play “Spider on the Shape,” cutting out felt shapes and having a felt spider hop from shape to shape in a form of mini-Twister
Make spider webs similar to how one would make an “Ojos de Dios” (God’s eye); use a popsicle stick cross and a length of wool yarn, which refines fine motor skills
Provide various collage materials for children to make their own web collages
Make a twist on the traditional Montessori “Walk the Line” game, and make a masking tape spiderweb for the children to practice upon
Spoon mini spider figures into an ice cube tray or muffin tray to practice dexterity and one-to-one correspondance
Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka is a rhyming book that quite literally mixes everything up! Apples turn orange, squirrels migrate in figure eights, kids leap into piles of sticks, and owls howl at the moon. (Or, Miss G’s favourite, families give thanks for a bounty of sweets at Thanksgiving!)
Invite children to go back through the book and discover/correct all of the mixed up descriptions
Scramble up a bunch of fall-inspired miniatures, table scatter — whatever you have — and have the children sort it out using tongs, tweezers, spoons or their fingers for fine motor practice.
Go on a nature walk and try to point out things from the book
Cut out fall shapes from foam, use a hole puncher to make “lacing” holes, and enjoy some seasonal lacing boards
Play a game of opposites; give the children instructions or tell them something and have them guess or do the opposite! For example, when you say “Touch your toes,” they need to touch their heads!
And Then Comes Hallowe’en by Tom Brenner is a sweet book that explores the concept of sequencing through it’s narrative use of “When… Then…” The book carries from the start of Fall through to Hallowe’en night, showing the sequence of events and preparations that mark the season and it’s progression. Cut paper and watercolour illustrations give this book a soft, nostaglic feel.
Go for a walk in your neighbourhood and look for cues of Fall, see what “when… then…” sequences the kids can come up with.
Create your own illustrative collages, encouraging the children to keep revisiting the same piece of art over and over again, adding new dimensions and meaning each time.
Make necklaces with coloured beads, shaped beads, fall beads AND THEN wear them or wrap them up as gifts.
Practice anything with sequences or two-step projects. I had the children sort out fall counters and then use them to practice counting. A two step recipe would be a great substitution.
Zen Ghosts by John J Muth is a unique approach to a Hallowe’en children’s book, featuring a wise panda, Stillwater, who shares deeply spiritual tales with his young friends. Each book in the Zen series has a beautiful message, and this one takes the fear out of the concept of ghosts and makes the idea beautiful.
Discuss the phases of the moon (as both stories take place around the full moon)
Discuss trading; or, even better — start trading some Hallowe’en candy or tokens (erasers, etc). Have the children discuss what fair trading looks and feels like.
Make a candle latern
Try some watercolour painting, or experiment with a Buddha Board
With older children, this is a great opportunity to discuss the concept of “halves” and “wholes”
Edgar Gets Ready for Bed by Jennifer Adams is a sweet, modern take on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” — for children! Edgar is a little raven protesting all of the steps along the way to bedtime with that infamous “Nevermore!” screech. If you enjoy Mo Willems books, you’ll enjoy this one.
Attempt to do “yoga” positions as modeled by Edgar during his bedtime protests
Make shadow puppets
Use a small Raven fingerpuppet to act out the book
Play a game of “Evermore/Nevermore” — ask children if they want to eat broccoli, dance all the time, etc, and have them respond with either “Evermore” if they’d like to always do something, or “Nevermore” if they want to protest it
… get ready for bed! This is the perfect before-bed book, as it captures the similar routines (and struggles) that many families follow.
I hope you enjoyed our massive list of Hallowe’en books and activities! I usually like to space things out a bit more and not write such activity-packed posts, but I like that these activities are all easily located on one page. If you’d like to continue reading our posts of Montessori and Reggio-inspired ideas for kids and children’s book reviews, make sure to subscribe to my daily e-mail posts.
What books or activities would you add to this list?
This post is part of an AWESOME Halloween Read and Play Blog Hop. Make sure to check out the other book based activities from fantastic bloggers!
Pleasantest Thing- Goodnight Goon- Halloween Slime LalyMom- Five Little Pumpkins- Clothespin Activity
The Jenny Evolution- Go Away Big Green Monster- Paper Monster
Hand Made Kids Art- The Legend of Spooky the Square Pumpkin- Square Pumpkin Art
The Inspired Treehouse- The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
Lovely Commotion- Pumpkin Pumpkin- Pumpkin Life Cycle
Bambini Travel- Broom, Zoom- Night Sky Activity
Chicken Babies- Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance- Monster Dancing and Eyeball Games
Preschool Powol Packets- Room on the Broom- Croaking Frog Craft
Adventures of Adam- Winnie the Witch- Multicolored Cat Project
Cutting Tiny Bites- Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat- Sound Effects Box
Cutting Tiny Bites- Click, Clack, Boo!: A Tricky Treat- Halloween Shadow Garland
Betsy’s Photography- Popcorn- Making Popcorn Bars
All Done Monkey- Runaway Pumpkin- Rolling Pumpkin Experiment
Kitchen Counter Chronicles- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown- Great Pumpkin Bowling Game Mama Smiles- Where is Baby’s Pumpkin?- Felt Board Activity and Coloring Pages
Craft Ideas for Kids- Spider Sandwiches- Halloween Sensory Play: Monster Pizza Parlour
Teach Beside Me- Inside a House That is Haunted- Haunted House Craft One Time Through- Magic School Bus: Haunted Museum- Spooky Sound Experiments
Bare Feet on the Dashboard- Curious George Goes to a Costume Party- Costumes and Pretend Play
Where Imagination Grows- 5 Little Ghosts- Ghost Collages
Fireflies and Mud Pies- Scary Scary Halloween- Halloween Necklace Craft
Artsy Momma- Pippa the Pumpkin Fairy- Pumpkin Wand and Pumpkin Crafts
Royal Baloo- AlphaOops- Halloween Letter Puppets
Rubberboots and Elf Shoes- Skeleton Hiccups- Paper Chain Skeleton
P is for Preschooler- Clifford’s Halloween- Cotton Ball Ghost Craft
Little Bins For Little Hands- ABCs of Halloween- Sensory Bin
Mama Miss- Sheep Trick-or-Treat- Sheep Craft, Activity, and Snack
Pink Stripey Socks- Scaredy-Cay Splat the Cat- Spider Costume
Fun-A-Day!- Big Pumpkin- Sequencing Activity
Line Upon Line Learning- The Spooky Old Tree- Prepositions Game
Kitchen Floor Crafts- Pumpkin Eye- Halloween Sticky Collage
Coffee Cups and Cratons- Spookley the Square Pumpkin- Glitter Pumpkin Sun Catchers
Wise Owl Factory- Bunnicula and others- Halloween Book Fun Learning Round UpPlanet Smarty Pants- The Picky Little Witch- Halloween CupcakesStudy at Home Mama- 10 Halloween Books and 50 Activities Don’t forget to check out the Halloween Read and Play Pinterest Board which features ALL these great activities!
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