Halloween is over, but Fall activities continue. A fun way to burn off the Halloween calories is to get outside, rake the leaves, and build a scarecrow. Enlist the kids help and have them brainstorm what materials are needed: rake, leaves, pants, shirt, old shoes, old hat. While raking, give your child directions to find the biggest/smallest/round/pointy/red/yellow/mixed color leaves. This is a great language and direction following activity. Make it more challenging by giving directions with two characteristics (e.g., “find a leaf that is pointy AND green”).
If raking leaves isn’t for you, you can make a scarecrow inside with these simple materials:
styrofoam ball (head)
doll pants and shirt
long dowel or ruler
Mr. Potato head face pieces
straw or hay
Push the dowel (or ruler) through the styrofoam ball, stuff the shirt and pants with straw or hay, push the dowel through them. Add Mr. Potato head pieces to the ball to create the scarecrow face. Give him a baby hat or Mr. Potato head hat and he’s complete! (check out our Facebook page for a picture of a complete “indoor” scarecrow)
Books with scarecrows and fall themese include:
The Little Old Lady Not Afraid of Anything, by Linda Williams
The Scarecrow’s Hat, by Ken Brown
When Autumn Falls, by Kelli Nidey
The Little Yellow Leaf, by Carin Berger
Happy Fall!