Happy Halloween!

In the spirit of Halloween we decided to have a party at Playgroup!  The kids got to dress up in their favorite costumes and play with some of the different hats we brought.  For this special playgroup we read It’s Pumpkin day Mouse! by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond.  This adorable book can help the kids count the different pumpkins and see the various faces mouse can paint. 

Our Halloween craft was taken from the 5 Little Pumpkins song.  Each of the kids were able to make their own patch of pumpkins and take a copy of the song home to play with. 

5 Little Pumpkins Song:

5 little pumpkins sitting on a fence.

The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"

The third one said, "Well we don't care!"

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"

The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"

Whoo-ooo went the wind

And out went the light

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

The kids spend most of the time playing around in the sensory Bin.  Here’s how you can make one yourself, it’s easy!

Fill a large container with black beans and corn to get that spooky Black and Orange look.  Then fill it with all kinds of Halloween toys.  We filled our bin with spiders, skeletons, pumpkins, monster fingers, skulls, snakes and spiders.  The kids loved running their hands through the corn and beans, they also loved the sound it made when they’d drop the beans back into the bin.  Try making your own at home and put in some small toys for them to hunt for.  Just make sure to lay down a table cloth or towel under the bin for easy clean up in case the beans fall out.

What Halloween party wouldn’t be complete without some snacks?  We had mini pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips for the kids.  You can make regular sized muffins, but the kids loved the mini ones the best. Here’s an easy recipe you can use to make your own.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

1 Package yellow cake mix

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F

2. Grease muffin tins

3. In a large bowl combine the cake mix, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. 

4. Stir in chocolate chips

5. Bake 20-25 mins