Pumpkin Hammering
Builds on: hand eye coordination, modifying physical force, safety
*This is a supervised activity 

What you'll need:
1 pie pumpkin
1 bag of wooden golf tees
1 child sized wooden hammer
Marker
Safety glasses

What to do:

Use the marker to place dots all around the top part of the pumpkin. Place all but the marker on to the activity table. Make sure everyone is wearing safety glasses before anyone touches anything. Show your Roos how to tap a tee into a dot on the pumpkin using the hammer. Emphasize safety and lay down some safety rules that will end the activity if broken. Then let your Roos have a try with the rest of the tees. There is something about hammers and nails that are just fun for kids. Once they get the hang of it they tend to spend a lot of time hammering in and pulling out tees over and over again.

*While this activity is fun and teaches valuable life skills part of the activity does involve how handle sharp tees and hammers safely. Keep a close eye on the kids to make sure the safety rules you lay down aren't being broken. Learning to use a hammer is just like learning to do anything else so you should expect a mildly banged up finger a few time. They should be tapping fairly lightly because the pumpkin is soft so any injury will be superficial.

Decorating with spiders

Decorating with spiders

Builds on: Hand eye coordination, fine motor skills and gross motor skills.  

I love how just decorating the house can  elicit so much laughter from kids. It's as simple as a bag of spiders, a bag of cotton webbing and double sided tape from the dollar store.

What you'll need:

1 bag of cotton webbing

1 bag of 100 black and orange spiders

Double sided tape

2 bowls

What to do:

I like to divide the spiders into two bowls equally and set one aside for later before we do anything. After hanging the webbing on the walls and corners of the house outside I give the kids the double sided tape with one of the bowls of spiders and show them how to put the double sided tape on to the bottom of the spiders. Sit with them and help since working with double sided tape can be frustrating.

Once they've all been taped we take to the front door sticking them everywhere. I of course get the high parts while both Hoots and Roos get the middle and lower parts of the door. It doesn't take long for the kids to start giggling because it always seems that about half of the spiders like to pop off once they've been placed. While the kids continue to place spiders I scoop up the escapees and re-tape them for the kids to try again. The extra stubborn ones get set aside for the next part. 

When all of the spiders from the first bowl have been placed on the door it's time for the webs. I generally will place them about 5-6 feet up depending on throwing strength. I place the bowl of spiders on the floor and tell the kids that they have to get all of the spiders to stick. The plastic spiders legs are just thin enough and the webbing is just fine enough that even a weakly thrown spider can stick if it touches. The fun part is watching the spiders fall back down on the kids when they don't stick.

When you're done you have a spooky decorated house that the kids can be proud of.

Pumpkin Bowling

Builds on: Hand eye coordination, gross motor and arts

What you'll need:

8-10 Empty food cans

Acrylic paint

Paintbrushes

Card board

Drop cloth

2 small pumpkins

What to do:

Acrylic paint does stain so you should put down a drop cloth first and change everyone into clothes that can get dirty. Place the cans, paint and paint brushes out with a large enough piece of card board for all of the paint you are using. Place a dollop of each colored paint onto the cardboard, hand your kids the paint brushes and let them at it. 

They can paint Halloween characters however they want on the cans but make sure they know that They will be hitting them with pumpkins later on. Roo was appalled when she found out her monster and fairy masterpieces would potentially be destroyed by an onslaught of pumpkins so we ended up using my monster cans instead. Once your cans are all dry, stack them in a pyramid formation or  wall to be knocked down . Place your kids about 6 feet from the cans with a pumpkin and let them roll the pumpkins to knock down the wall. Since smaller pumpkins have bumps and aren't round they'll wander as they roll creating a fun challenge for the kids to overcome. 

*Don't let the kids throw the pumpkins since they could really hurt someone.

Farm Shapes Sewing
Builds on : hand eye coordination, fine motor skills, life skills

This is the perfect activity when you need a little quiet time to talk on the phone or want to make dinner in peace after an active day. 

What you'll need:

Plastic canvas sheet
Printed farm shape outlines
Scissors
Marker
Basket
1.5 foot piece of yarn for each shape
Yarn needle


What to do:

 To make your own shapes you place your plastic canvas on top of your farm shape outlines and trace the shapes using your marker. Cut them out as best as you can with the scissors. Don't get too wrapped up in making it perfect because the sheets are grid based and you will drive yourself batty trying. If you aren't overly crafty you can purchase some from the Hoot 'n' Roo's Closet tab under "activity supplies" (coming soon).


Tie one end of the yarn to a corner of your cut out shape and string the other end through the eye of the yarn needle. Do this for each shape. If you only have Roos to worry about then place your finished product into a basket on the activities table for them to find on their own and figure out. Offer help if they ask.