Jack-o-Lantern of All Trades

You guessed it, tonight was the night we gutted and carved us up some Jack-o-lanterns.  I love that the boys are old enough to clean out their own pumpkin slime. I don't mind doing it (I still sort the seeds for roasting) but I love the facial expressions that go with the activity.

 

 

 

The boys designed the faces and I got to carve them up.  I'm not sure why this is fun, but I really love it.  I kinda wished I had gotten my own pumpkin too!

 

And no, I'm not dressed in costume as a fuddy-duddy librarian wait, yeah that's it Halloween costume... 



Oh and tonight we read  a fun book: 

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Build your Own Pilgrim Settlement

In the tradition of last year's pilgrim settlement we once again got out the Lincoln Logs and built some settler homes.

I have also dicovered a new favourite thanksgiving book, it tells the real story of the Mayflower, the Settlers and their Native American friends. It has interesting details and explains the different groups of people on the boat, why they were leaving England and what life on the boat was like and some of the perils of the new land. It keep my 5year olds' interest, and has been the subject of several conversations over the week.
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh, illustrated by Helen Sewell ( I loved the illustrations and it included great diagrams of the boat and maps of the new land)

Indoor Exploration

A Genuine and Moste Authentic Guide: Explorer: A Daring Guide for Young Adventurers (Genuine & Moste Authentic Guides) by Henry Hardcastle, Dugald A. Steer, and Various (Hardcover - Sep 25, 2007 Candlewick Press)

We happened to check out this book from the library (probably because of the snake on the cover) and it has had some fun side effects. It is a really fun, interactive, play-inspiring book. It covers everything you might need to be an explorer, equipment checklists for different areas like jungle vs. desert v. underwater. background research, accounts of historical expeditions. We've been on an exploring kick ever since.

An easy activity for rainy days was exploring our own basement. We worked together to create a map by exploring around a couple of rooms, naming furniture, our ugly old sofa became 'The Striped Mountains'; a chair, 'The Green Hill'; the fireplace was 'Valley of Fire'. When an area was a little dull we put up a colouring page or set out some toys, The wall with an eagle picture became 'Eagle Forrest'; a pile of spilled blocks, 'The Ruins of Lost City'; and our paper mache volcanoes, well they were volcanoes...

Then my explorers set up camp, gathered some equipment like sleeping bags, binoculars and snacks into their tent. While they were busy I drew them a route to take on their map, with important things to find along the way, then I hide various 'treasures' and marked places they should take a rest, etc. I put up a dragon poster under the stairs where I put the final treasure - leftover leprechaun gold and some play jewels.

I highly recommend some indoor exploring for a rainy/cold day activity.

They took it very seriously and worked well together on the different tasks. The set-up was half of the fun, but they still played an hour after they found the treasure and begged to sleep in their camp. They were some very tired explorers.

Scraps to books

This is a use what you have kind of craft - mainly cereal boxes, construction paper and glue. I happened to have some post-screws on hand (doesn't everyone?), so we used those to bind the book, but string or ribbon would also work to tie through the holes. Below the pics is a rather dry tutorial so don't bother to read on unless you like to try this. The boys were basically in charge of putting the pictures on the pages as I was assembling and they were also the glue dispensers (any chance they get).

1. Pick the size you want, I started out cutting the construction paper in half, I used that for the main size of the book. Then hole punched one side of each page for the screws. If you are using thread or ribbon to bind the book I would suggest more holes.
   
2. The covers will over-lap the pages slightly. Measure them onto the cereal box, this will provide extra stiffness. The front cover will consist of two pieces to allow the cover to bend. Cut out and glue to a large piece of construction paper, leaving at least an inch border on all sides. For the front cover, leave a small bit of space (see above picture) between the two pieces of cardboard, a binding piece (1 1/2-2 inches wide) and the main piece. The back cover will be all one piece for extra sturdiness.
   
3. Clip corners of the construction paper edge. Fold and glue each side up and over onto the cardboard. Next glue a half-piece of construction paper on top (with holes measured and pre-punched) to hide the cereal box completely.
4. Leave to dry a few hours under some heavy books to avoid warping and bubbling.
5. Assemble, front cover, pages, and back cover all holes on the left side, twist post screws together and decorate your book.