History and Use of Carved Pumpkins

Do your children know where the custom of carving pumpkins came from? One of the ways to teach children fun and important facts is to make a placemat with important facts on it and have it laminated (if you want to use it more than once).  For Halloween dinner you could make pumpkin shaped placemats and type or write some interesting facts about Halloween, pumpkins, where Ireland is - you get the idea.

Have you ever wondered where the tradition of carving pumpkins came from?  It is actually based on an ancient Celtic holiday, Samhain (pronouned sow wan), which means the summer's end.  The Celts believed that October 31st was a magical night when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was very thin.  They carved turnips or gourds, put burning lumps of coal inside and set them in windows or on porches to welcome their deceased ancestors and to ward off wicked spirits.  When people immigrated to America they brought their traditions with them - the Irish brought their tradition of carving gourds.  When they found pumpkins, which are indigenous to the western hemisphere, they began carving them into jack-o-lanterns. However, it wasn't until the late 1800's that Halloween really became a celebrated holiday in the United States.

What can you do with a carved pumpkin???  Make pumpkin puree and use it in your recipes.  We're going to make pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread.

Materials Needed: to make pumpkin puree you need; a pumpkin, an oven and a  blender

Recipe for Pumpkin Puree
 You may use one of the pumpkins you've carved for Halloween, make sure that there is no mold and that the pumpkin is still fresh. If you're going to use an uncarved pumpkin, split the pumpkin in half, clean out all the seeds.  Place halves face down (or cut side down) in a baking dish.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.  Peel the outer skin and put pumpkin meat through a Victorio Strainer or use a blender.  Refrigerate the puree until your ready to use it.

This can be a reading and a writing activity.
Have your children help make pumpkin cookies or pumpkin bread by reading the recipe and following the instructions.
Have your child copy the recipes onto a 3 X 5 recipe card.

Pumpkin Bread  - From a cookbook, "Favorite Recipes", by Tammy Rasmussen & Friends
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup softened butter
2 cups flour
2  1/2 tsp. bking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Mix the first five ingredients.  Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.  Pour into a greased bread pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 - 60 minutes.

Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
4 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups chopped nuts(optional)
2 cups choppen dates

Cream together butter and sugar.  Stir in pumpkin and vanilla.  Stir in dry ingredients.  Add dates and nuts(nuts are optional)  Drop on to cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10- 15 minutes. Frost with cream chesses frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup powdered sugar
2 (8 oz) cream cheese
4 T. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients together until smooth.

We hope you'have enjoyed this blog of fun Halloween ideas that can encourage reading,writing and research.
We will be doing fun Thanksgiving ideas starting the first week of November so be sure to check back.  Thanks for following.

Finger Puppets and Choral Reading

This activity promotes reading.  In our book, Jump Into Reading, we show children using puppets, anaother with a pointer and all joining in on the story of The Little Red Hen.  Each child should have a finger or stick puppet while one child leads the group through the reading.  To encourage everyone to participate we type up the words of the poem or story we are using, then take it to a copy center where we have it enlarged and laminated.  We've choosen to us stick puppets and finger puppets for our Halloween readings.

Materials Needed: popcicle sticks, fun foam or felt, Elmer's Glue, markers, enlarged poems, pointer

Instructions:

1 - Cut ghosts out of fun foam or felt, draw eyes.        Cut pumpkins our of fun foam or felt, draw eyes

      You may use googlie eyes if you have them.

2 - Glue ghost and pumpkins onto craft/popcicle sticks. Let glue dry before using.

Type or write the words of the two Halloween poems.  Have the words large enough so that one child, using a pointer, points to the words and the other children follow along.

Five Little Pumpkins

Five 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 Halloween fun?"

Then Wooooo went the wind

And OUT went the lights.

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Five Little Ghosts

by Pam Sorensen

Five little ghosts out on Halloween night,

Flew up to the moon shinning ever so bright,

Down past the town, Oh what a fearful sight,

Five little ghosts out on Halloween night.

We need everyone's help.

Hello my fellow bloggers - as you can see we're working hard to keep our promise to have fun, creative Halloween ideas on a daily basis. We need to ask you for some help.  We need to get the "buzz" going about our book, Jump Into Reading.  It's a great book for parents and will be very helpful for those of you who are homeschooling. Since I'm very new to this whole blogging and social media arena I need some help from those of you who are more seasoned to figure out how to get people directed to our web site and to our blog. Our web site is, http://www.readingideasforkids.com/ - that's where our book is featured and you already know our blog.  If any one knows a way to connect with the homeschooling community we would love your help.
We will continue to post ideas during the month of November so be sure to stick with us - the ideas will be fun.
P.S. Thank you for following our blog.

Three dimensional pictures or paper collage

Materials Needed: construction paper, tissue paper, Elmer’s Glue, scissors, pencil
This Halloween craft is meant to be fun. No reading, no writing and no research just pure fun. So how do we accomplish reading with this activity – by older siblings or parents reading some of the books listed below while the children are creating their three dimensional pictures or collages.

Before beginning this activity cut tissue paper into 2” X 2” squares.

1 – Draw a design on the construction paper.
2 – Place a piece of tissue around the eraser of your pencil and twist
3 – Dip the tissue in glue and place on the design - continue until the entire picture is covered.
4 - To make a construction paper collage, draw a holiday design
5 - Using scraps of left over construction paper, glue pieces in place creating a collage.

                                                                            

                   

These are some of the books we checked out from the library.  They can also be purchase through Barnes & Noble                                   

Diego’s Halloween Party, Brooke Lindner - author, Art Mawhinney illustrator

Dora’s Halloween Adventure, Sarah Wilson – author, Steven Savitsky illustrator

Arthur’s Halloween Book, Marc Brown- author

Scary, Scary Halloween, Eve Bunting – author, Jan Brett – illustrator

Runaway Pumpkin, Lewis author, S.D. Schindler illustrator

Construction Paper Pumpkin Decoration

O.K. so here's another idea to get children to read and follow directions.  I'm showing pictures along with the written instructions to help younger children read, see and follow directions.  We have used smaller versions of these for advertising an upcoming event and as name cards showing where people are to sit for our Halloween dinner. After dinner enjoy a few of the books we've listed.

We sure hope you're enjoying these fun and easy craft ideas.  Please let us know what you think.

Materials Needed: toilet paper tube, orange construction paper, green construction paper, green pipe cleaner,Elmer's glue or Scotch Tape.

Before you begin, cut 20, 1/2"  strips of construction paper.

1 - Cover toilet paper tube with orange construction paper.

2 - Glue or tape the 1/2" strips of orange paper inside top of pumpkin.

      Continue all the way around the top of the pumpkin.

3-  Glue or tape the loose end of each strip to the inside bottom of 

      tube.  

                                                        4 - Make a stem by rolling up a 2" X 3" piece of green construction

       paper, make leaves using green pipe cleaner.  

   

Note: I layered extra strips of 1/2" of the orange construction strips to make the pumpkin look fuller.

Fun Halloween books to read with your children - from the Barnes & Noble.

Boo Who: And Other Wicked Halloween Knock-Knock Jokes, by Kay Hall, Lisa Eisenberg,Illustrated by Stephen Carpenter.

Children love knock, knock jokes and what could be more fun than a whole bunch of Halloween knock, knock jokes for them to share with their friends?

Halloween Bugs, by David A. Carter

A delightful Halloween pop up book for ages 3 to 7.  See whats lurking behind each spooky door.

Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt, by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Illustrated by Mack Simont

Nate the Great and his faithful dog, Sludge are once again on the case. He's helping his good friend, Rosamond find her missing cat on Halloween night.  For ages 6 to 9.

Best Halloween Hunt Ever, by John Speirs

Find the hidden pumpkins, spiders and bats that are hidden in the scenes of the book.  There are also mazes and fun bonus puzzles. This book also contains a sheet of fun Halloween stickers. Ages 4 to 8

Halloween Hoax (Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew # 9) by Carolyn Keene, Illustrated by Macky Pamintuan - for ages 6 to 9

It's Halloween and the girls get a chance to visit the TV studio where their favorite show is being taped. While they are there spooky sounds and scarry shadows seem to be lurking - is it just Halloween jitters or are there really such things as ghosts?

Holiday Confetti Postcards - as seen on Good Things Utah

Make a homemade postcard and write a short note to a teacher, a grandmother or just someone special.  Writing goes hand in hand with reading.  If your child needs help composing a note help them by writing down what they want to say on a seperate piece of paper and then have them copy it onto their postcard.

Materials Needed: Sewing Machine, Thread, Holiday Confetti, 1 sheet of holiday scrapbook paper, Scissors, Black Pen, Clear Plastic Vinyl (may be purchased at Walmart or a fabric store)

#1 - Cut  5" X 7". Cut one piece of vinyl 1/4 " larger on all four side of  the 5 X 7  piece of paper. 

#2 - Draw the TO and the FROM  lines on one side of the paper along with a small box to place a stamp.  Next cut your vinyl '4 to 1/2

# 3 - Place the vinyl down first, place the paper on top.
        Be sure to center you paper on the vinyl.   Using a zig-sag stitch -
        stitch three of the four sides.

# 4 - Leaving the needle in a down position open the vinyl and 

        carefully slide the Holiday confetti  in between the docorative         

        paper and the vinyl.

$ 5 - Turn the entire piece arond and stitch down the last side. Tie all
         thread into a couple of knots.


NOTE: If you're going to be sending this
post card through the mail it will cost you about twently cents more because it has to be hand stamped. You will need tell the post office worker why it needs to be handstamped.

More Great Halloween Ideas are coming.

Look for more great Halloween ideas and books to promote reading in your home starting Monday, October 26th.
Tell your friends - we'll see you then.

Make a Pumpkin Windsock

Making a windsock actually goes along with the unit on weather in our book, Jump Into Reading, found at http://www.readingideasforkids.com/.  However, my grandchildren wanted to make a quick Halloween decoration so we decided on making Pumpkin Windsocks. We hope you enjoy having the written instructions along with pictures.  We feel this helps children follow the instructions and be more successful.  Please note; in our book we list most of the craft supplies needed to do 90% of the projects in our book.  Again this project requires reading and following instructions.

Materials Needed: orange tissue paper, black construction paper, 2 green pipe cleaners, 1 brown pipe cleaner, Elmer's Glue, scissors, ruler, pencil an a paper punch
 

# 1- Fold tissue paper in half.  Measure 1" down from the folded edge
        and run a line of glue from one edge to the other.  Place one green
        pipe cleaner on top of the glue and hold in place for pipe cleaner to
        set.

# 2- Run a second line of glue 1" down from the pipe cleaner and fold
       tissue paper over the pipe cleaner.

# 3 - Using a ruler measure 6" down from the fold line and draw a line
         from one edge to the other - this is your STOP CUTTING LINE.
        At the open end, using your ruler mark the tissue paper every 1"
        for the streamers. Cut 1" streamers.

# 4- Cut out a pumpkin face and glue it in place.

# 5-  Turn windsock over, face down. Run a line of glue along one of
         the uncut edges. Using the pipe cleaner to help you, roll
         the windsock into a circle, pressing the edges together. Let
         dry.            

# 6 - Using a paper punch, punch holes on each side of the windsock,

         thread the brown pipe cleaner through and twist in place. Wrap

         a green pipe cleaner around a pencil, slide it off and twist it onto

         the brown handle for a curly cue vine.

Stamped Picture Frame for the Refrigerator

You might be asking yourself,  how does stamping a picture frame encourage children to read.  The entire idea of our book, Jump Into Reading, is getting children excited about an activity and then encouraging them to read the instructions, recipes or search for information found in the books we've listed.  Reading is something all of us do everyday.  We read for information, we read instructions, we read to be enlightened on a subject or news story and sometimes, if we are lucky, we read for the pure enjoyment of just doing so. With that in mind - copy the instructions on stamping a picture frame.  Read through the instructions with your children.  Allow them to read and follow the instructions on their own.  Note: every test ever given in school has instructions that must be followed in order to achieve the correct answers.  Doing an art project isn't any different - you must follow the instructions if you want your project to turn out.    

Stamped Picture Frame

Materials Needed: Cardboard picture frame or matboard, craft paint, paint brushes, markers, sticky backed Fun Foam, scissors, wooden block, sticky backed magnetic strips, paper plate and a glue gun.

1 - Decide on the design you want to stamp around the outside of the picture frame. We measured and   placed a dot on the spots to be stamped so it was even.
2 – On the paper side of the Fun Foam draw the shape for your stamp.
3 - Cut out shape.
4 – Remove paper and place Fun Foam shape onto the wooden block.
5 - Squeeze out a dot, the size of a dime, of craft paint onto the paper plate, mix with 2 or 3 drops of water.
6 – Using the paint brush cover the cut out shape with the craft paint.
7 – Carefully place the stamp onto the picture frame. Press firmly, lift stamp off carefully.
8 – Continue stamping around the picture frame. Using markers fill in any blank spaces.
9 - Cut 4 pieces of magnetic strips 4” long.
10 – Remove paper from the back of the magnetic strips – place one magnetic strip on each of the four sides of the picture frame. You might need to use a hot glue gun to secure the magnetic strips to the frame.
11 – Place a picture or some art work behind the picture frame and place it on the refrigerator door.

Some fun books to read the week before Halloween.

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Joe Troiano Author, Susan Banta, Illustrator.

Sometimes it's just very hard to be different especially when everyone else seems to be the same. Find out how Spookley the square pumpkin saved all his round pumpkin friends and was the hero.  Written in rhyming text - it's a fun book about how being different is OK.

Mouses's First Halloween, Lauren Thompson-author, Buket Frdogan - Illustrator

Little mouse is frightened by the noises he hears until he finds out where each noise is coming from.

Arthur's Halloween Costume, Lillian Hoban - author

It's Halloween morning and Arthur has spilled ketchup on his ghost costume.  Now, no one can figure out what he's suppose to be. Find out how Wilma's big sister helps Arthur.