Getting Crafty With the Pumpkins

Nature Girl has been getting crafty with her pumpkins.  Her school had a pumpkin decorating contest.  She planned out what she wanted to create on a Monday night.  She decided to make a monster, but by the time Tuesday rolled around and it was time to start crafting she rethought her idea and went in a totally different direction; pirates!  She made a hat, parrot, treasure chest, ship and sword(not school appropriate) from foam and put it all together with clear packing tape.  The tape didn't stick the best so we put it all together with a hot glue gun and sent it off to school for the contest next week.  I just love that she came up with her own ideas and was able to make and include little props to set the scene.  She is so creative. It's just so much fun to give her some materials and set her loose to create. 

 I'm still being creative but it looks a bit different these days. I started a new job this fall teaching preschool.  I've taught preschool before but I've spent the last four years teaching 4th grade special ed.  I cleaned out the attic last year and got rid of the majority of my preschool materials thinking I wouldn't need them.  Now I'm kicking myself because I'm having to remake things.  Of course I have to admit that I am enjoying the creative side of preschool.  I've been making visuals for school including this pumpkin faces chart.  We used it to vote on what face to carve on our pumpkin. (In case you're curious; triangle eyes, triangle nose and the first mouth were the winners.)

I love using chart paper to write out our songs, poems and nursery rhymes.  Last weekend while we watched a movie I wrote out the Five Little Pumpkins and made little pumpkins that velcro on to the fence posts. I like to make our stories and songs interactive.
I also made birds for Two Little Black Birds.  I try to include a few nursery rhymes each month, it's funny how they aren't taught anymore. I like them so I try to find ways to include them in our curriculum. Next up is a friendship and Thanksgiving theme followed by 5 senses. I still need to choose our nursery rhymes for next month and I also want to throw in a mini unit on the Pledge of Allegiance for Veteran's Day. So many ideas, so little time! Needless to say, I'm still being creative it's just in a different way than my usual craftiness.