You know how much I love pairing fun activities with great books, and I’ve got another one for you today! Earlier this week, I shared a new Literacy Snack Idea featuring the book Chicka Chicka Tricka Treat. We’re keeping the fun going with the same story, and today I’m excited to share a set of FREE Halloween Alphabet Cards that go perfectly with the book!

Hands-on alphabet games are an excellent way to help young learners build letter recognition and confidence! These alphabet cards are the perfect size for students to hold, move around, and interact with as they learn. The fun design that goes along with the book makes them extra engaging – turning letter practice into a fun, active learning experience for your little ones!

There are so many fun and hands-on ways to use these free printable alphabet cards with your little learners! Keep reading to find 10 engaging alphabet activities that are perfect for preschool, kindergarten, or literacy centers. These ideas make letter recognition and phonics practice playful and interactive. When you’re ready, you can download the alphabet cards for free at the end of this post – just click the big green box that says “Click Here to Download.”

10 Fun Alphabet Activities to Go With Chicka Chicka Tricka Treat

Alphabet Tree Match-Up
Create a paper tree on the wall or use a small classroom tree. Have students “trick-or-treat” for letter cards and then match each one to the same letter on the tree.

Letter Hunt Trick or Treat
Hide the alphabet cards around the room or playground. Give each student a small pumpkin bucket to collect letters as they “go trick-or-treating” for the alphabet.

Name Building Fun
Have students use the letter cards to spell their names or their friends’ names. This helps with letter recognition and beginning sound awareness.

Tricka Treat Letter Match
Place the alphabet cards in small treat bags or plastic pumpkins. When students pick a letter, they can name it, say its sound, or find something in the room that begins with that letter.

Uppercase and Lowercase Match
Print two sets of cards – one uppercase, one lowercase. Students can match the pairs or play a simple memory game.

Sound Sort
Place a few picture cards or small objects on a tray. Students draw a letter card and match it to the item that starts with that sound.

Pumpkin Letter Race
Spread the letter cards around the floor. Call out a letter or sound, and have students race to find the matching card.

Alphabet Sensory Bin
Add the letter cards; you’ll want to be sure to laminate them for this game, to a bin filled with rice, beans, or shredded paper. Students can dig to find a letter, name it, and say its sound. Add some fun Halloween items to the bin as well.

Spell a Spooky Word
Use simple Halloween words like bat, cat, or boo. Students use the letter cards to build each word – a perfect mix of literacy and seasonal fun!

Alphabet Line-Up
Challenge students to put the alphabet cards in order from A to Z. For extra fun, have them sing the ABC song as they go!

Want more ways to make the most of your alphabet cards? I’ve put together 10 additional activities that pair perfectly with the Halloween alphabet cards that I have shared in the past.

You can check them out here.

Click the green box below to download the Free Halloween Alphabet Cards!

These alphabet activities are such a fun way to bring Chicka Chicka Tricka Treat to life and build important letter recognition and phonics skills at the same time! Your little learners will love using the free printable alphabet cards in all sorts of hands-on ways, from literacy centers to small groups or even at home.

Don’t forget to grab your free set of alphabet cards by clicking the big green box above! And if you love pairing books with playful learning, be sure to check out all of my weekly Literacy Snack Ideas here for even more book-based activities, free printables, and snack fun!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Halloween Alphabet Cards appeared first on Primary Playground.

Halloween is the perfect time to add a little extra fun to your literacy lessons! This week, our Literacy Snack Tricka Treat Read Aloud is Chicka Chicka Trick or Treat, by Julien Chung,  with a fun literacy snack idea that your students will love. Pairing a good book with a themed snack is a great way to bring stories to life, boost engagement, and make reading memorable. This fun Halloween read-aloud is sure to become a new classroom favorite! 

Chicka Chicka Tricka Treat is a Halloween companion to the beloved classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and there’s a spooky surprise in store for everyone’s favorite letters!

The classic alphabet chant gets a Halloween twist as the letters sneak their way up the tree, all wearing their favorite costumes. But when a witch swoops in, and the letters come tumbling down, will that be the end of their Halloween fun…or just the beginning?

For our snack this week to go along with the book, we’re making our own spooky alphabet tree and a special treat!

Snack Idea

Supplies that you will need for each student:

• 1 long pretzel rod
• 5 or 6 pretzel sticks
• 1 bag of mini alphabet cookies
• 1 small piece of candy

To make the spooky alphabet tree, have the students start with their large pretzel rod. They can then add the pretzel sticks as the tree limbs. You can suggest breaking a couple of them in half to make different branches. Add the letter cookies onto the spooky tree. Add a small piece of candy for each student so they can each have a special treat like the letters at the end of the book!

Kids will love seeing their tasty creations come to life (and then disappear bite by bite!). It’s a simple, hands-on snack that ties perfectly into the Chicka Chicka Trick or Treat story and keeps the Halloween fun going long after storytime!

Free Printable

I made a free printable to go along with the book for your students to work on while they are enjoying their spooky alphabet tree snack. They will get to draw Halloween costumes on a few letters and then write what they think the best Halloween costume is.

You can download the Literacy Snack Tricka Treat Read-Aloud free printable from my TpT store by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for some other engaging Halloween letter activities, we have this fun set of Halloween-themed beginning sounds board games. A fun way to reinforce this beginning sounds this month! You can check out the board games here.

You can find all of our other literacy snacks here.

I hope your students love this book as much as I do and enjoy their fun, yummy, spooky alphabet tree snack!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Tricka Treat Read Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Halloween parties can be so much fun with your students! I have gathered up some of my favorite Halloween Party Ideas For The Classroom and am sharing them with you today! I’ve separated them into games, snacks, and activities so you can easily find some new and fun ideas that work for your classroom!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Each of our classroom parties usually lasts one to one and a half hours. I usually plan a game, a snack, and a whole-group activity. Setting up stations is another great option! Set up four different stations that the students can rotate to if you have some parent volunteers to help out!

Games

• Spider Toss– Grab a pack of spider webs and string them across some items and have the students toss spiders into the web to try and make them stick.
• Pin the Heart on the Skeleton. – Grab a large cardboard skeleton decoration from Dollar Tree and cut out enough hearts for each student to try and pin the heart on the skeleton.
• Ghost Says – Just like Simon Says, but use Ghost says instead.
• Play Bingo – Bingo is always a hit with the students no matter the age. Grab our Halloween Bingo set here and a few small prizes or candy to give to the winners.

• Pass the Pumpkin – Play like hot potato. Play some music and pass the pumpkin. When the music stops, the person who has the pumpkin is out.
• Mummy Wrap – grab a roll of toilet paper for each team and they have to wrap up one of their teammates like a mummy.
• Play Minute to Win It Games – I have a bunch of fun Fall Minute To Win It game ideas here.

Snacks

• Make Monster Mash – Put out a bunch of different snack options and let the students make their own Monster Mash! Some great options would be chocolate chips, marshmallows, blue chips, Cheetos, popcorn, and candy corn. Have them put it into a small baggie or cup so they can enjoy their snack.
• Caramel Apple Bar – Cut apples into slices using an apple cutter. The students can then use a skewer to dip their apple slice into some caramel or chocolate and then add some toppings like, mini chocolate chips, mini M&M’s, or spinkles.
• Make Monster Popcorn Hands– You’ll need clear disposable gloves, candy corn, popcorn, and a ribbon or pipe cleaner for each student. Optional – Halloween spider rings. First, you’ll have the students put a candy corn piece in each of the fingers. Next, fill the glove with popcorn. Last, tie the glove up with a pipe cleaner or ribbon and the student can add a spider ring if you have the.

Activities

• Dance and Freeze– use Halloween music
• Bobbing for Donuts – hang a few strings from the ceiling and attach a mini donut to each. Have the students hold their hands behind their backs and try to eat the donut off.
• Halloween Directed Drawing. – lots of great options on Art for Kids Hub.

• Have a Costume Parade- You can plan something school wide, or just take your class and pick a route to walk around the school to let the students show off their costumes.
• Make Mystery Boxes- Make different boxes the students can put their hands in and not see the contents of the box. They can touch several different things and try to guess what they are. Coming up with creative names for the items is always an extra bit of fun!
• Pain Mini Pumpkins– Grab some paint and brushes and let the students decorate their own mini pumpkins.

• Make A Craft – This cat newspaper collage is a fun one that we’ve done for a few years and is always a hit.
• Halloween Fun Pack – This is a great option to have your students work on the activities and play the games while they are waiting for their turn to play a game or make their snack. Grab the Halloween Fun Pack here.

Hopefully, you have got some new Halloween Party Ideas for the Classroom! If you’re looking for even more ideas, in the past I have shared another post with even more Halloween party ideas here. And I have a bunch of Fall Party Ideas here that you can check out too.

Hope you have a fantastic time with your students during your Halloween party!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15- October 15th each year. Today I’m sharing some fun Activities To Teach About Hispanic Heritage Month! in the classroom!

Teaching about Hispanic Heritage Month in the classroom can be a great opportunity to celebrate diversity and introduce young children to different cultures. Below are some fun and engaging ideas and activities.

Read-Alouds

Books are always a favorite way to introduce new concepts to young learners.

Below are some of my favorites to read aloud.

Pepe and the Parade by Tracey Kyle.

In this book, you follow Pepe as he attends his first Hispanic Day parade. With new food to taste, music to dance to, and a parade to watch, Pepe couldn’t be more excited to celebrate and share his Hispanic heritage. Many of Pepe’s friends also attend the festival, celebrating their own Hispanic ties. Mexican, Dominican, Panamanian, Colombian, Honduran, Nicaraguan, Chilean, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Cuban cultures are all represented in the parade.

The Day of the Dead / El Día de los Muertos: A Bilingual Celebration by Bob Barner

This book follows two children as they celebrate their ancestors in this bilingual introduction to el Día de los Muertos— the Day of the Dead!

They prepare offerings of flowers, sugar skulls, and special bread, and make delicious foods to eat and share.  By spreading marigold petals, they guide the dead home to join the festivities. After hours of singing, dancing, and reminiscing, it’s time for bed.  

Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina

Mia’s abuela has left her sunny house with parrots and palm trees to live with Mia and her parents in the city. While they cook, Mia helps Abuela learn English, and Mia learns some Spanish, too, but it’s still hard for Abuela to learn enough words to tell Mia her stories. Then Mia sees a parrot in the pet-shop window and has the perfecto idea for how to help them all communicate a little better. 

Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca Gomez

Clever Federico outsmarts el lobo in this fresh and funny Mexican-American take on Little Red Riding Hood.

With his red hoodie on and his bicycle basket full of food, Federico is ready to visit Abuelo. But on the way, he meets a hungry wolf. And now his grandfather bears a striking resemblance to el lobo…

Fortunately, Federico is quick and clever—and just happens to be carrying a spicy surprise! Federico drives the wolf away, and he and Abuelo celebrate with a special salsa.

I also have a literacy snack idea and a free printable to go along with this book. You can find that here.

Tortillas Are Round A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong 

I love this book because it shows all of the different shapes in real-world examples The book has 1 to 3 pages about each shape and has illustrations showing the shape in real life.  A great teaching tool!

These are just the tip of the iceberg of great read-aloud for Hispanic Heritage Month. Encourage your students to share what they know about the cultures represented in the stories too!

Art Activities

• Make cultural art! Introduce the students to traditional crafts like papel picado (cut paper! They will be sure to recognize these beautiful decorations from the movie Coco. Below is a fantastic printable and tutorial from Art Projects for Kids so you can make them with your class. They would look amazing all strung together to decorate the classroom!

• Another fun option would be to make fiesta flowers. These are another fun and easy project the kids can make and they would be another great addition to decorate the classroom! Below is a great tutorial on how to make them.

• Flag Crafts: Have students create flags from different Hispanic countries using colored paper and markers You could have the students work together to create different flags and then display them around the classroom.
• Pinatas are another great craft to make. You could make them out of paper towel rolls or make them on paper like in the tutorial below.

Music and Dance

• Music: Play traditional Hispanic music and have a dance party! Songs like “La Bamba” or mariachi music can be fun!

Here’s a fun video of a mariachi playing some music from the movie Coco that your students may recognize.

Here’s a fun song that captures the Hispanic culture of many different areas.

• Dance: Teach your students simple dances like salsa, the Mexican hat dance, or folk dances from various countries.

Here’s a fun video that teaches a few salsa dancing steps in just a few minutes.

Food Tasting

Sample Dishes:  Have a food-tasting party with our class! Organize a simple tasting party with age-appropriate foods like:

• Tacos: Use soft tortillas with mild fillings (beans, cheese).
• Guacamole and Chips: Provide tortilla chips with a small serving of guacamole.
• Pico de Gallo Mix up all of the ingredients and taste test with some chips on the side.
• Flan or Churros: Offer small portions of these desserts.

 Talk about the flavors, colors, and textures of the food.

We have a great cooking class sequencing activity set that would be great to go alongside making tacos in the classroom. You can check that out here.

Guest Speakers

Invite Family or Friends: If you have parents or community members who can share their experiences or cultural traditions, invite them to speak to the class. E

Celebrate Diversity: Encourage kids to share their own backgrounds and family traditions. This promotes understanding and respect for all cultures.

Language Activities

• Basic Spanish: Teach them some basic Spanish words and phrases. Use fun flashcards or songs to make it interactive.
• Bilingual Books: Incorporate books that are available in both English and Spanish.

Community Connection

• Local Celebrations: Research local events or festivals related to Hispanic Heritage Month and consider a field trip if possible.

Create a Display

• Classroom Bulletin Board: Set up a bulletin board to showcase what the class has learned. Include drawings, facts, and photos. This would be a great place to display the festive flowers or papel picado that your class has made.

By integrating these activities, you’ll create a rich and meaningful experience that celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month while fostering a sense of community and respect for diversity in your classroom. I hope that you can take away a few new ideas with you to add to your classroom to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

See you next time!

Jenette

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October is Fire Prevention Month! Today I have a fun Literacy Snack Fire Drill Read-Aloud that will be perfect to go along with your fire prevention unit!

We are reading Miss Mingo and Fire Drill, by Jamie Harper.

Learning the rules of fire safety is a lot more fun (and less scary) when demonstrated by a charming and diverse group of animals. Alligator, Panda, Octopus, and the others work hard to master the rules of fire safety and perform the perfect fire drill, but thinking about fire is a bit nerve-wracking, and each of them reacts differently — often with hilarious results. I also love that the book has fascinating facts about animal behaviors. Miss Mingo books are always a favorite of the students!

This book is a great way to introduce fire drills to your students and go over the rules and expectations when one does happen.

For our snack this week, we will be making a fire truck to go along with our fire prevention theme!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Snack Idea

To make the fire truck snack, each student will need:

• One full-size graham crack plus half of a quarter of a graham cracker.
• 3 small pretzel sticks
• 1 mini Oreo
• A small amount of red frosting, about a tbsp – I like to put them into individual containers to make prep easier.
• Plastic knife

Instructions for fire truck snack

Your student will first use the red frosting the cover their large graham cracker. They can then place the half of a quarter of graham cracker pie at the left-hand upper corner as the fire truck window. Next, have them split the mini Oreo in half and place them at the bottom part of the graham cracker as the fire truck wheels. Last, place two of the pretzel sticks on the right side of the fire truck as the ladder. Bread the last pretzel stick into three parts and add them to finish making the ladder. Now the fire truck is complete! They look so adorable!

Free Printable

I made a printable for your students to work on while they are enjoying their fire truck snacks. They will get to work on sequencing activity to show the proper steps of a fire drill. I made two different versions, one that they can number the order of the pictures and color them, and the second is a cut and glue version.

You can download the Literacy Snack Fire Drill Read-Aloud free printable from my TpT store by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for some more fun ideas to go along with your fire prevention unit, you might want to check out another great read-aloud, Firehouse, and I share a FREE printable fire safety expert hat that your students can make and wear! You can check that out here.

And you also might want to check out our fire safety bingo! Such a great way to review fire safety rules and vocabulary. You can grab the fire safety bingo here.

I hope your students enjoy making their fire truck snack and learning all about fire prevention! See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Fire Drill Read-Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from September 15th to October 15th. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate diversity and introduce young children to different cultures. Today I have a fun read-aloud that will be perfect to go along with the celebration. We’ll be reading Literacy Snack Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez.

Clever Federico outsmarts el lobo in this fresh and funny Mexican-American take on Little Red Riding Hood.

With his red hoodie on and his bicycle basket full of food, Federico is ready to visit Abuelo. But on the way, he meets a hungry wolf. And now his grandfather bears a striking resemblance to el lobo…

Fortunately, Federico is quick and clever—and just happens to be carrying a spicy surprise! Federico drives the wolf away, and he and Abuelo celebrate with a special salsa. 

For our snack today, we’ll be making the perfect pico de gillo!

Snack Idea

For our snack, we’re making pico de gallo. It is a type of fresh salsa made with roma tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos.

You’ll need the following ingredients to make a bowl of the pico. If you have a larger class you may want to double it.

• 1/2 small onion diced
• 1 small jalapeno seeded and diced
• 4 roma tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove minced
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of lime juice
• 2 tbsps of chopped cilantro

Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix together. Let chill for 15 minutes or more before serving. You’ll also want to grab a bag or two of your favorite tortilla chips. To share the snack with the class, you can use small bowls and scoop a spoonful of the pico de gallo into their bowl and add some chips for them.

Free Printable

I made a printable to go along with the book for your students to work on while they are enjoying their snacks. They will get to work on sequencing and retelling. They can color and number the boxes in the order of how the events took place in the book.

You can download the Literacy Snack Federico and the Wolf free printable from my TpT store by clicking the green box below.

I hope you students enjoy this fun fractured fairy tale highlighting the Hispanic heritage!

See you next time!

Jenette

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It’s that time again for another joke of the day printable! Today I have the October Joke of the Day 2nd Edition ready to share with you!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

October Joke of the Day 2nd Edition

Have you been following along with our daily joke of the day that I share on Facebook? There I share a silly joke each day of the week.

Since this is the 2nd edition, they are all NEW jokes this month! You’ll find some silly animal jokes and a bunch of Halloween jokes this month. Each month, I also turn them into a printable so you can easily print it out and have the page handy all month to share with your class or your own family at home.

These jokes are a simple, fun way to connect with your students and make them laugh. This month we have fun jokes that are sure to make your little ones giggle and maybe get some eye rolls.

Share the jokes with your class during your morning meeting, getting ready to go to lunch, or when you are packing up for the day before you go home.

I made the joke of the day printable available to print in both color and black and white.

You can download the October Joke of the Day 2nd Edition printable by clicking the green box below.

In case you missed the first edition of the October Joke of the Day printable, you can find that here.

I hope your kiddos will enjoy this new set of jokes just as much as the first!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Did you know that October is fire safety month? It’s a great time to teach and review with our little learners about all things fire safety. Today, I have a fun, Free Printable Fire Safety Hat that will be a fun addition to your unit!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Read-Aloud

We have a fun read-aloud, Firehouse, by Mark Teague, to kick things off It’s a cute read-aloud about two cousins who get to spend the day learning how to be firefighters. They even get to go on a real emergency call and get to save a kitten! It’s a cute and colorful book that introduces some things that happen at the firehouse.

Free Printable Fire Safety Hat

After reading the book, your students can make these adorable fire safety hats! On the hat, it has a cute firefighter dog just like in the book!

Simply print out the hat template for each of your students. Each student will color and cut out their hat and then they can bring you the hat to staple together for them. I have also included an extra blank headband strap so you can make them longer if needed.

You can download the Free Printalbe Fire Safety Expert hat by clicking the large green box below..

If you’re looking for some more fun ideas for fire safety week, you migh want to check out our fire safety bingo set. It’s a great way to review vocabulary and fire safety skills that you have taught your class. You can check out the fire safety bingo here.

And we also have a fire safety scavenger hunt that you can do with you class or grab the printable version and send it home with your students to do with their families.

I hope you students enjoy making their hats and are excited to wear them home and share everything that they learned about fire safety with their families!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Let’s go on a leaf hunt! Collect some leaves and then use this Free Printable Leaf Investigation to help your students learn about their leaves!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

There are so many great books about fall leaves to go along with this leaf investigation activity. Start off by reading one or a few of these books with your class. You can find out more about each book here.

Next, take your students outside to go on a leaf hunt. Have them help gather a bunch of leaves to bring to the classroom. They can each choose one for themself or pick from ones that have been gathered when back in the classroom.

Now it’s time to explore their leaves! Give each student one of the free printable leaf investigation pages, and have them investigate their leaf. They will get to draw their leaf, measure it using snap blocks, describe their leaf, and more.

Another fun activity to do after the leaf investigation is to make a class anchor chart graph to compare with the other student’s leaves. You could graph by color, size, texture, lots of different options.

Click the green box below to download the free printable leaf investigation.

If you’re looking for even more leaf fun, you’ll love these leaf crafts with writing prompts. They look adorable hanging in the classroom door in the hallway for fall. Click here to check them out now.

Do you have any other fun activities that you like to do with fall leaves? Share with us in the comments below!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Leaf Investigation appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

The leaves are chaning colors, the morning air is crisp, you know what that means, autumn is here! This week, we have a Literacy Snack Autumn Leaves Read-Aloud. We are reading, The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming.

A worried squirrel thinks that SOMEONE is stealing his tree’s leaves. HIS leaves! Even though his friend Bird tries to help him, Squirrel doesn’t seem to understand the changes that the fall season brings like leaves changing color and wind blowing them off the trees.

It’s funny and illuminating — and will spark helpful discussions about the characteristics of fall– with a hint of a winter surprise at the end.

For our snack this week to go along with the book, we are making our own fall trees.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Snack idea

Each student will need

• 1 large pretzel rod
• 6 prestzel sticks
• a handful of Fruit Loops

To Assemble

To make the fall tree snack, have your students start with the large pretzel rod as the trunk of their tree. Next, have them add the pretzel sticks as the branchess of the tree. Last, they can add on the cereal as the fall colored leaves.

Free Printable

I made a free printable for your students to work on while they are enjoying their fall tree snack. They will get to draw and write about who the leaf theif is and also what their favorite thing to do with leaves is.

Click the green box below to download the Literacy Snack Autumn Leaves Read-Aloud free printable from my TpT store.

If you’re looking for more fun activities for fall, your students will love getting outdoors to do this Autumn scavenger hunt.

You can find all of the other scavenger hunts I’ve shared here. And if you would like the printable version, you can find that here.

I hope your students enjoy making their fall trees and this silly story!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Autumn Leaves Read-Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Zombies are always a hit with the kids! ! So for this week, we have a fun Literacy Snack Zombie Read-Aloud for Halloween or any time really! We are reading Peanut Butter & Brains by Joe McGee.

Reginald isn’t like the other zombies that stumble around town moaning for BRAINSSSSS!! His stomach only rumbles for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He tries to tell his zombie pals that there’s more to life than eating brains, but they’re just not interested. In the end, the zombies all come to love peanut butter and jelly too while Reginald moves onto something new, pizza!

It’s a silly and fun story that has a great message to it about staying true to yourself. For our snack today, we are making our own zombies!

Snack Idea

Ingredients

• a circle cookie cutter to share
• a piece of bread for each student (you could use a plain circle sugar cookie too)
• blue frosting or white frosting with a couple of drops of blue food coloring
• 2 zombie eyeballs per student – I found mine at the grocery store
• 1 chocolate chip per student
• black gel icing
• pretzel sticks

Assemble

To make the zombie, have the students share the circle cookie cutter and cut their piece of bread into a circle. Next, they will spread the blue frosting onto the bread. Your students will then get to decorate their zombies. Have them place the eyes on and nose using the chocolate chip. Bread a pretzel stick into a few small pieces to use as the hair. Last, use the black gel icing to draw on the mouth and stitches if desired. Now you have a cute zombie!

Another fun option would be to give each student a quarter of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to enjoy with their zombie too!

While your students are enjoying their zombie snack, I made a free printable to go along with the story for them to work on. They will get to draw and write about what their favorite food would be if they were a zombie.

Click the green box below to download the Literacy Snack Zombie Read-Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

I hope your students enjoy making this fun zombie snack!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Zombie Read-Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you need a quick, easy and yummy snack idea for your class party? I’ve got you covered with this harvest mix! Make sure to grab the Free Printable Harvest Mix Bag Topper too!

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Supplies Needed

• pretzels sticks
• chocolate chips
• Autumn candy mix
• Rice Chex cereal
• mini marshmallows
• bowls
• spoons
• snack bags
• stapler
• scissors
• free harvest mix bag topper (download at the end of the post)

Before the party, you’ll want to download, print and cut out the harvest mix bag toppers so they are ready to go. To get ready for the party, you’ll want to put each snack item in their own bowls and add a spoon.

During the party, it is easiest to have the students come up 4 students at a time. They will each need a snack bag, and they can fill it with items from the table to make the harvest mix. When they are done, they can take the bag topper, fold it in half and shape it to the top of the snack bag.

They can then take it home if you just want this to be a fun activity or they can enjoy their snack in class. Another option would be for you to pre-make this for each student and let them enjoy it during your fall class party.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Harvest Mix Bag Topper.

If you need some more ideas for your fall class party, I share a ton of easy ideas here.

I hope your students have a fun time making their harvest mix snacks!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Happy October! Today I have the new October Joke Of The Day free printable for you!

Have you been following along on Facebook the past couple of months where I share a joke of the day? Just a fun little way to make you laugh each day.

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I’ve put all of October’s jokes together into a printable version so you can print it out and have it handy in your classroom to share with your students each day. During morning meeting, as your heading out to lunch or home for the day is a fun time to share these with your students.

It’s available to print in both color and black and white.

free printable

You can download the October Joke Of The Day free printable by clicking the green box below.

You can find the August joke of the day printable here and the September joke of the day printable here if you missed them.

Do you have any other fun jokes you like to use in the month of October? Share with us below!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post October Joke Of The Day appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you need some easy gift ideas for Principal Appreciation Day or Principal Appreciation Week? Today I’m sharing some easy and inexpensive gift ideas to celebrate them!

Principal Appreciation Day Class Book Gift

Why not make a class book for the principal? It includes several options. They can write about why they think they’re a great principal, what they think they should do today on their special day, or what we love most about them. Stack all of the pages together and bind them and you have a fantastic gift to give the principal. (PS it comes in both female and male options!) You can find the template for this book here.

Nacho Average Principal

Or let them know that they are Nacho Average Principal! Put together a small basket or bag of goodies as I did here and add in a FREE printable gift tag for you to print and use. You can find that here.

There is also a gift card holder in that same FREE file that says, Taco ‘Bout An Awesome Principal! Print it out and attach a gift card onto the paper to a local Mexican food restaurant and you’re good to go! You can see an example of that card in this blog post.

We also have another class book that you can make which is very similar to the one above but goes along with the Nacho Average Principal theme. You can find that class book here.

Do you have any other things that you have done for your principal? Share with us below in the comments!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Principal Appreciation Day Ideas appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do your little learners love to collect things out on recess? Have them gather up some acorns for you and bring them inside to practice their countings and numbers with these Free Printable Acorn Ten Frame Cards.

This article works well with these resources from Primary Playground.

There are so many fun fall book ideas that have to do with acorn and the changing of the season. We used Squirrel’s Fall Search for our read aloud as a jumping-off point for us to use acorns with our math practice.

We share a bunch of our favorite fall books here that includes some great books with acorns in them.

Getting Started

The setup is super easy for this activity. Simply download and print the Free Printable Acorn Ten Frame Cards by clicking the green download box at the bottom of this post. Cut them out and laminating the cards is suggested for durability. Have your little learners gather up some acorns to count with and you’re all set! You can store them in a sandwich-size bag or we like to use clear plastic 4X6 photo cases too.

To play

These Free Printable Acorn Ten Frame Cards are a fun addition to your math center for the kids to work on counting, one-to-one correspondence, and even decomposing numbers. Each card has the number and the number word for recognition. Have the students fill in the correct number of acorns for the squirrel that match the number on the card.

Click the green box below to download the Acorn Ten Frame Cards.

If you’re looking for another fun activity to use the acorns with, you might like our Squirrel Acorn Counting Mats too!

I hope your kiddos enjoy this fun hands-on way of practicing their numbers and counting!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Acorn Ten Frame Cards appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you need to create a simple math center to help your students practice numbers to 10? Our Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders are easy to prepare, perfect for October and your little learners will love them! They’re not only an easy and interactive way for children to practice counting and identifying numbers, but they will also work on developing their fine motor skills too.

They will be a great addition to your math centers.

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Getting ready

This game/center is super quick and easy to make. All you need is to download and print the Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders from the bottom of this post, cut them out, and add in some clothespins and you’re all set! You don’t need to laminate these sets, but they will last much longer if you do.

How to Play

Each spider has a number on it. The student picks up a spider and looks at the number. Encourage them to say the number aloud. Then they clip the correct number of clothespins onto the spider creating legs.   Repeat until all the spiders have clothespins on them.

These are perfect to use during October, for Halloween, during your spider unit, or even for your nursery rhyme unit to go along with Little Miss Muffett or The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

You can store the spider in a bag or container with the clothespins, so the game is always ready to go or be safely put away for next year.

These Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders are a fun and hands-on way to practice counting and identifying numbers. This simple, low-prep activity is perfect to use as a math warm-up at the beginning of class, during small guided math groups, or to put out at a math station. They can easily be printed and sent home for students to practice counting with their families too.

You can download the Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for another fun way for your little learners to practice their numbers and counting, you may like our spider counting mats. These are numbers 1-20. We use little plastic spiders and the kids just love it! You can find the counting mats here on TPT.

Let us know if you have any other fun ways that you’ll be using these Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders.

See you next time!

Jenette

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Looking for a fun treat to give to your students for Halloween? Or do you love giving your students little things to let them know how important they are or how well they’re doing? I made these, Free Printable You Are A Spooktacular Student Tags for you to use.  You can give them as a Halloween treat or as a reward for reading or just as a random surprise because the student has been working so hard.  The possibilities are endless!

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Putting these little treats together for the students is super simple.

Supplies you’ll need

Cookie of your choice, II found these special Halloween Oreo packs at Target, but you can use any type of Halloween treat or any type of cookies.

Scissors

Stapler

The free tag can find at the bottom of the post.

Assemble

To assemble, you’ll simply print and cut out the number of tags you need.

Staple the tag onto the cookie bag or treat and you’re done!

Such a fun little way to recognize the students and all of their hard work!

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable You Are A Spooktacular Student Tags.

I hope your students enjoy their special little treat!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable You Are A Spooktacular Student Tags appeared first on Primary Playground.

It’s no secret that I LOVE books. Fall is such a fun season with so many fantastic activity possibilities. . I’m sharing with you today The Best Fall Read Alouds.

Fall is such a fun season to learn about. There are so many fun activities that can be done alongside all of the books below. The first few books in the list are about fall in general and then books about squirrels and acorns and then a few scarecrow books. We share all our favorite books about fall leaves here in this post.

This article works well with these resources from Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

the best fall read alouds

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak

In this book, you follow a young girl as she takes a walk through the forest and town, greeting all the signs of the coming season. In a series of conversations with every flower and creature and gust of wind, she says good-bye to summer and welcomes autumn.

Pete the Cat Falling for Autumn by James Dean

Pete the Cat isn’t sure about the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn. But when he discovers corn mazes, hayrides, and apple picking, Pete realizes there’s so much to enjoy and be thankful for about autumn.

Hello, Fall by Deborah Diesen 

A grandfather and his granddaughter welcome fall in this sweet, whimsical story about finding beauty and wonder in every moment. The illustrations are are the highlight of this book.

In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes

This book has a thoughtful/thought-provoking storyline, fall vocabulary, and is calming. The illustrations are gorgeous and truly make you feel like you’re in a late fall day.

Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson

Mouse’s First Fall is a beautifully illustrated, simple story about a mouse experiencing his first Fall. The book encourages children to look at the colors and shapes of the leaves and think about the sounds the dry leaves make as they are stepped upon. It’s a great introduction to the Fall season!

Little Fox’s Surprise by Trace Moroney 

Little Red Fox is missing from the Annual Fall Fair and he leaves clues for Big Red Fox to find him. Friends like Little Squirrel, Little Bunny, etc help Big Red Fox look for Little Red Fox. There’s a glimpse of him in each picture; a bit of tail, a sock… fun for the students to try to *find* him in each scene.

We have a literacy snack and FREE printable to go along with Little Fox’s Surprise too. Click here to check it out.

Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller 

This book is the perfect mix of heart and humor. It’s fun to have a story about an unusual vegetable that’s associated with fall dinners. But the story also connects to other themes like attachments, winter, and the miracle of growing things.

Because of an Acorn by Lola M. Schaefer

Because of an acorn, a tree grows, a bird nests, a seed becomes a flower. This is a perfect book to illustrate the vital connections between the layers of the ecosystem. The book makes it easy for little learners to understand the cycle and how everything works together.

See our snack idea and grab the FREE printable that goes along with this book here.

Little Acorn by IglooBooks

This book teaches in a very nice way about how an acorn becomes a tree, the rhymes are short but very captivating, and the pictures are so colorful and beautiful

Your students will have fun making our acorn craft to go along with these stories. It also comes with writing prompt pages too!

The Golden Acorn by Katy Hudson

Squirrel takes off at full speed through the autumn leaves. But slam on the brakes, because this year The Golden Nut Hunt race is a team event. Squirrel reluctantly enlists her friends and is not impressed. In the end, this book proves that winning isn’t everything, talks about friendship, teamwork, and forgiveness 

Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri 

This is a super cute book about a very busy squirrel getting ready for the winter. The words are simple and illustrations are bright and beautiful.

The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry

This is a sweet book about a scarecrow that scares off all of the animals but befriends a black crow and in turn the crows family comes to live with him in the end.

Here’s a fun scarecrow craft with writing prompts that goes nicely along with the book too. You can see it here on TPT.

Otis and the Scarecrow by Loren Long

This is a great book about a scarecrow being introduced to the farm and him looking sour. The story is good at demonstrating how to be a friend to someone who doesn’t conform to normal expectations, and helping the other farm friends accept the new friend on the farm.

Here’s another scarecrow activity that you may like to go along with these last two scarecrow books too. You can grab it here for FREE.

Do you have any other books you like to read with your little learners for fall?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post The Best Fall Read Alouds appeared first on Primary Playground.

Since the official start of fall is this week, I’m sharing with you today The Best Read Alouds About Fall Leaves. Fall is a great time to get outside and explore.

There are so many fun activities that can be done alongside all of the books below. Here’s our Autumn scavenger hunt perfect to go alongside these books too!

This article works well with these resources from Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

The Best Read Alouds About Fall Leaves

Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro

We love this series: Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science. This nonfiction book explains the science behind leaves changing colors.

The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley

Based on the classic song, “The Wheels on the Bus,” THE LEAVES ON THE TREES explores all types of trees making the magical transformation. This would be a great book to read right before you head out for a nature hike to look for different types of leaves.

Leaves Fall Down: Learning About Autumn Leaves by Lisa Marie Bullard

This is an engaging book that introduces autumn leaves in a simple way. It touches on difficult concepts like chlorophyll and decomposition but does not go into great detail about them. There are plenty of parts the students will connect with, (taking a walk to look at leaves, raking, and playing in a leaf pile.

We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger

There are lots of beautiful fall leaves to find! Three friends have a big adventure hiking over a mountain and through a forest to collect leaves of all kinds and colors. What will they do with all their leaves at the end of the story? Jump and play in them, of course!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!  by Lucille Colandro

That wild old lady is back swallowing fall-themed items. What can you make from leaves, clothes, a pumpkin, and rope? That’s right, a scarecrow!

Make sure to check out our literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with this book. Click here to check it out.

Leaves by David Ezra Stein

It’s a young bear’s first autumn, and the falling leaves surprise him. He tries to put them back on the trees, but it doesn’t work. Eventually, he gets sleepy and burrows into the fallen leaves for a long nap. When he wakes up, it’s spring, and there are suddenly brand-new leaves all around, welcoming him.

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson

Fletcher the fox has a special tree outside his den that he loves to visit and he doesn’t understand why its leaves are falling so he tries desperately to save the tree’s leaves but of course, he is unsuccessful. The day after the last leaf has fallen off the tree by quite literally blowing out of his hand as he was trying to hold it down on the branch, the first snow falls and blankets the tree with glistening icicles that Fletcher thinks are beautiful and he is no longer sad the tree has lost all of its leaves.

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one’s quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man’s got to go where the wind blows. 

After reading this book, it presents a great opportunity to head outside and have the children create their own leaf people from items they find.

Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber

This book is a great discussion starter for the kids to share about times they’ve enjoyed playing in leaves. The illustrations are all in fall colors. The last page of the book includes individual photos of the leaves used in the book along with the names of the leaves. This page also explains why leaves turn colors.

My Leaf Book by Monica Wellington

When the seasons change, a young girl visits the arboretum to collect fallen leaves and make a book with them. Brilliant illustrations show each variety of tree the girl encounters, from the common oak to the lesser-known gingko.  It shows leaves up-close to help young children learn to identify them.  Perfect to get them ready to go outside and gather leaes to make their own Leaf Books!

Do you have any other books about leaves you like to read to your little learners?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post The Best Read Alouds About Fall Leaves appeared first on Primary Playground.

It’s no secret that I LOVE books. Throw in some pumpkins and fall fun and you have some of my favorite types of books. I’m sharing with you today The Best Pumpkin Read Alouds.

Pumpkins are such a fun topic to learn about. There are so many fun activities that can be done alongside all of the books below.

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this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

The Best Pumpkin Read-Alouds

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

In the fall, pumpkins are everywhere: in the garden, in the supermarkets, and on doorsteps. But do you know how they grow from a tiny yellow seed to a pumpkin? This is a great book for young kids to learn the life cycle of a pumpkin.

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?  by Margaret McNamara

Charlie, the smallest boy in his class, is left to count the seeds of the smallest pumpkin.  Both he and his classmates are surprised when his pumpkin has the most seeds.  This is a great way to introduce counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.

Our pumpkin seed counting mats would be a fun extension to the book too. Use real pumpkin seeds to practice counting.

Mystery Vine: A Pumpkin Surprise by Cathryn Falwell

This book provides a simple, colorful tribute to growing a pumpkin just in time for Halloween. Children plant seeds for a garden; a mystery vine appears, “First came lettuce, crisp, and crunching. Bright green peas, so good for munching. Radishes all in a line…But what was that young Mystery Vine?” They tend it and the other plants and come fall discover that the mystery plant is producing pumpkins just in time for Halloween.

These life cycle hats from seed go perfectly with the above books as your little learners are learning all about how pumpkins grow and their life cycle.

Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington

Although this book has few words, it’s wonderful to teach the life cycle of a pumpkin. This is a great book to teach that pictures sometimes tell more of the story than the words. The seed, sprouts, the sprout grows into a plant and gets bigger on each page. The words don’t tell this, but the pictures do. Students are engaged as they search for changes in a pumpkin’s life cycle. The pictures are a bit muted, but I still like the book for its simplicity.

Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell 

In this book, you learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin through this charming story of a boy who named his pumpkin ‘Jack.’ After Halloween, the ‘Jack’ begins to rot and goes through the seasons until his seeds sprout in the spring–starting all over again. 

Our How Does A Pumpkin Grow? fill in the blank book is an easy activity the can go along with this book too.

Pick A Perfect Pumpkin Learning about Pumpkin Harvests by Robin Koontz

This is a great book about a boy and a girl’s visit to a pumpkin farm. It touches on everything from how pumpkins grow to all the different colors and sizes of pumpkins. A great book to read before or after your field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

When she was young, Rebecca’s family was so poor that they ate pumpkin after pumpkin.  Now a white-haired older woman, she can’t bear the sight of them. So when a truck accidentally drops a pumpkin in Rebecca’s garden, she won’t even look at it.  But after growing season she’s astonished to discover a whole garden of big, beautiful pumpkins.  Rebecca makes the most of it, and we love what happens next. It’s a wonderful lesson about helping others.

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll

Two little mice, a village and a field mouse, both have their hearts set on a beautiful pumpkin.  During the day, the village mouse carefully tends the pumpkin – and at night, the field mouse does the same. One can’t wait to bring the pumpkin to the county fair, while the other wants to make it into a giant jack-o’-lantern.  This is a cute story and I love that the mice become friends at the end of the story.

We also have a literacy snack and free printable to go along with this book too. You can check that out here.

How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor

This is a great book with vibrant illustrations. It includes neat little facts about states while incorporating math and comparison concepts.

I Like Pumpkins by Jerry Smath

I Like Pumpkins is a cute rhyming book that shows children all the ways to compare and contrast pumpkins.

Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins by James Dean

This is the Pete the Cat version of the classic poem Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate. It’s always a favorite.

We have a super fun free craft activity to go along with this book too. It’s a great way to help them retell the story. You can get the details and download it here.

Splat the Cat and the Pumpkin-Picking Plan by Catherine Hapka 

In this book, Splat the Cat heads to the pumpkin patch to pick a perfect pumpkin. Getting it home will be a challenge in itself in the end. This would be a fun read-aloud before you head to the pumpkin patch.

Our pumpkin patch bingo is perfect to play before or after your field trip too!

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano 

Spookley the Square Pumpkin was different. All the other pumpkins teased him until Spookley proved that being different can save the day! 

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Duck, Squirrel, and Cat live together contentedly, each with his own job to make pumpkin soup – until Duck decides he wants a different job.  When Squirrel and Cat won’t let him switch, he runs away.  The book ends with a peaceful solution. The kids will be able to relate to the difficulties that come with friendship.

Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli

The story is about a little pumpkin seed who wants to be big and scary but has a hard time waiting for it to happen over time as he grows. He keeps trying to scare grubs, caterpillars, a shovel, and other garden items, but he’s sad that he isn’t scaring them. The seed grows into a sprout, then a vine, (story skips over the small green pumpkin part of a pumpkin life cycle), a big orange pumpkin, and finally a Jack-o-Lantern.

Our pumpkin craft is a fun one to make alongside this book.

Do you have any other favorite pumpkin read alouds that you would add to our list?

See you next time!

jenette

The post The Best Pumpkin Read Alouds appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

November is a great time to teach about corn. There are so many fun things you can do, from tying it to the Native Americans to turning it into a science experiment and growing sprouts from a cob. There are so many amazing facts about corn and things they are able to make from it, I feel like I learn something new every time we go over it. So for this week’s Literacy Snack Idea Popcorn, we’re reading The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola.

This is a fun book with almost 2 stories in one. Twin brothers go through the process of making popcorn all while one of them reads different facts and legends about popcorn.

So of course for this week’s snack, we’re having popcorn.

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Snack Idea

There are a few different ways you could do popcorn for your class. Go super easy and buy pre-popped popcorn from the store, Costco has a great big bag that’s yummy. Or bring in microwave popcorn so the kids can hear it popping. Or ideally, make air-popped popcorn in an air popper. That way the kids can see and investigate the unpeopled kernels like they see in the book and then get to see the change that happens while popping. If by chance you have access to a stove at school that would be an awesome way for the kids to see it pop too.

Free Printable

While the kids are enjoying their popcorn snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to draw a picture in each popcorn piece to show 3 things they learned about popcorn from the book.

And if you are looking to take it even further your class will love our Cooking Class How To Make Popcorn.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Popcorn free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

Do you have any other fun activities you do to teach about corn?

More popcorn ideas for you. Real and nonsense word sort and counting practice to 20 with popcorn.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Popcorn appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I love sharing different cultures with my kids. I think it’s important that they know and understand how and why other people celebrate different holidays. Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead is quickly approaching so this week for our Literacy Snack Idea Dia De Los Muertos-Day of the Dead, we’ll be reading, Rosita y Conchita by Eric Gonzalez.

This is a fantastic book that tells how and why they celebrate the Day of the Dead on November 2nd each year. It teaches that it is not a scary holiday but one to remember loved ones that have passed away and all of the different ways they celebrate from making an altar, music, and food.

For our snack this week we will be making our own version of a sugar skull.

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Ingredients

A skeleton cookie cutter for the class to share

Each student will need

A piece of bread

A small amount of whipped cream cheese or white frosting

1 mini Oreo

2 large candy eyeballs

1 raisin

3 m&m’s

A few black sprinkles

Assemble

To make the sugar skull snack, The students will need to share the cookie cutter and cut a skeleton head out of their piece of bread. Next, they’ll spread some whipped cream cheese or white frosting onto the bread. Take the mini Oreo and twist it apart and place them as part of the eyes. Put the candy eyeballs on top of the mini Oreos. Use the raisin as the nose and add the black sprinkles as his mouth. Use the 3 m&m’s to decorate above the eyes.

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their sugar skull snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to decorate their own sugar skull and color the Marigold and guitar.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Dia De Los Muertos-Day of the Dead free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

Do you have any fun activities that you do with your class to teach about the Day of the Dead?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Dia De Los Muertos-Day of the Dead appeared first on Primary Playground.

Have you ever done class rotations instead of having a Halloween party? Where you have a mad scientist theme and in each classroom, you get to do or watch a different creepy science experiment. It makes for such a fun and engaging day, still having fun on the holiday but with a different, twist if you cannot actually celebrate Halloween. I’m sharing with you a bunch of Creepy Science Experiments For the Classroom.

Potions, brews, and eruptions

In these science lab experiments, your little scientists can make their own crazy chemical reactions. The best part is, the experiments are completely kid-safe while also providing tons of fun for kiddos of all ages.

See how Fun With Mama creates this awesome witches’ brew using baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap.

Have you seen a pumpkin erupt before? Little Bins Little Hands uses a jack-o-lantern and makes it erupt using baking soda and vinegar!

Here’s another fun experiment from Messy Little Monster making a magic potion that uses glitter!!

Brains, eyes, hearts oh my!

All of these experiments involve body parts! It makes for some very creepy fun that you’ll get a ton of ewww that’s gross comments!

Make a heart or brain out of gelatin and let the kids explore. Give them an eye dropper and some red-colored water to add in some blood. -Little Bins For Little Hands

Or see how Little Bins For Little Hands makes Frankenstein frozen brains and uses eye droppers and warm water to melt his brain away.

Pink Stripey Socks shows us how to dig for skeleton bones with this perfectly gross activity!

And watch monster eyes fly with this creepy experiment using water, oil, and antacid tablets from The Educators Spin On It.

Slime and Goo

My kids are still obsessed with slime and anything that gets their hands messy. Here are a bunch of ooey-gooey recipes. Make a batch with each class and use small containers to give each student some to take home with them.

This eyeball slime is my favorite! Little Bins for Little Hands combines slime and eyeballs making a perfect combination!

• You’ll get some ohhh and ahhhh’s making this glow-in-the-dark slime by Red Ted Art.

This awesome pumpkin slime from Little Bins for Little Hands is made with real pumpkin seeds and looks just like the insides of a pumpkin! So cool!

And we can’t leave out oobleck! Your kids will love making and playing with this oobleck filled with spiders and eyeballs!

Even more awesomely creepy science experiments

Mama Smiles shows us how to make ghosts’ balloons inflate by creating carbon dioxide.

Create pumpkin circuits to light up a pumpkin made from a pool noodle using insulating dough and conductive dough from Steam Powered Family.

Your kids will love watching the creepy wiggly worms wiggle around the jar in this fun experiment using vinegar and baking soda.

And lastly,, who doesn’t LOVE bubbles? Here’s a fun holiday twist on blowing bubbles with this Ghost Bubble Science from Little Bins Little Hands.

I hope you’re inspired to try to some Creepy Science Experiments in your classroom this month! Share with us if you have any other favorite activities you love doing with your class this month.

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Creepy Science Experiments for the Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

Does your school have a Halloween carnival? Ours does and guess who got volunteered to be in charge of the Creepy Cake Walk? Me! So today I’m sharing with you the Creepy Cake Walk Numbers that I made for our event.

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Truth be told, the cake walk has always been one of my favorite activities at carnivals. We’ve changed it up a bit over the years at our school and do not give out actual cakes anymore, but cupcakes to each winner. We’ve also done Creepy Book Walks, in which the winner will get to choose a Halloween book! That’s my favorite!

You can use these Creepy Cake Walk Numbers for a large school-wide carnival, or you could use them in the classroom as part of your Halloween party. Your students will LOVE it!

Find a great Halloween music station on Pandora or Spotify to play on your phone or through your smart board and you’re set to go!

Cake Walk Instructions

Just in case you haven’t done a cakewalk before, here’s a quick review of the game. Download, print, and laminate the Creepy Cakewalk Numbers. I made numbers go up to 30 but you can use as many numbers as you’d like to depending on how many people you want to play at once. Use duct tape or painter’s tape to secure the numbers to the floor where you will be playing. Print and cut out the calling numbers and place them in a container that you can draw from when playing the game.

To play, have a person stand on each number. Turn some fun Halloween music on, and have everyone walk in a circle until the music stops. Draw a number out of the container and the person standing on that number is the winner! The game is now over and the next group of people get to come in and play.

You can download the Creepy Cake Walk Numbers below.

And in case your school doesn’t do Halloween, I have a set of Fall Cake Walk Numbers that you can grab here.

What is your favorite game to play at your school carnival?

See you next time!

Jenette

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