Halloween

Halloween Addition Game: Pick-and-Solve Sticks

October 1, 2015 By Terri Thompson

Why are flashcards always the default method for learning math facts?

I get that flashcards are easy. The problem is that they are B-O-R-I-N-G.

My daughter has been working on brushing up on her math facts and brought home some flashcards from school. After a couple of days of dragging ourselves through them, she asked for more interesting way to practice.

Well, being the good blogger that I am, I told her I’d come up with something. That’s when this Halloween addition game was born.

Practice math facts with this fun Halloween addition game, Pumpkin Pick-and-Solve Sticks. It's a fun way to add some holiday fun to your math practice.

Awhile back, I found some fun ways to practice math facts and any of these ideas would have worked.

But this time I wanted something a little different. So, I got out some paint and some craft sticks and got to work on these Halloween Math Facts Pick-and-Solve Sticks.

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies needed

Large craft sticks
Orange paint
Black Sharpie
Pumpkin Stickers
Can (or any sort of container to hold the sticks)

How to make this Halloween addition game

To create the pick-and-solve sticks, I painted 16 large crafts stick with orange paint.

I only needed 16 for our set of math facts. Just make what you need for the set of math facts you’re working on.

After the paint dried, I wrote a math fact at the bottom of each stick.

Finally, I put a small jack-o-lantern sticker at the opposite end of the sticks.

I placed all the sticks, math fact side down, in a can. (You can find the instructions for our jack-o-lantern can here.) Try not to use a see-through container to keep the math problems a mystery until someone pulls one out of the can. Your Halloween addition game is ready to go!

You can use these pick-and-solve sticks in a couple of different ways:

Have your child pull a stick out one-by-one and try to solve the problem.

Let two or more kids take turns pulling out sticks to work on math facts together.

Practice with a timer. How many addition problems can you solve in 30 seconds?

Let your child come up with their own game! The possibilities are endless.

The 2nd grade blogging squad has been hard at work this week with plenty of fun pumpkin ideas. Check out the rest of the posts:

Pumpkin Patch Arrays to Learn Multiplication by School Time Snippets
Free Pumpkin Shape Matching Game by Life Over C’s
Second Grade Noun and Predicate Pumpkin Activity by Sugar Aunts
How to Carve a Pumpkin Writing Prompts by Still Playing School
How to Set Up a Pumpkin Engineering Task Your Second Graders Will Love by Thriving STEM
Pumpkin Seed Place Value – Subtraction Math Fact by Rainy Day Mum

You may also enjoy one of these fun math activities:

Spider Skip Counting Puzzles

Math Fact Sticks

Math Fact Islands

14 Days of Halloween

October 16, 2014 By Terri Thompson

I’ve been blogging for awhile now, but I’ve never really challenged myself as much as I did this month with the 14 Days of Halloween Fun. But, I persevered, had a blast, and now have a ton of cool Halloween content for you. I’ve gathered them all here in one place for you and will be adding the three additional posts to the end once they go live.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Click around and have fun doing these activities with your kids!

Black Cat Masks

Jack-O-Lantern Pencil Holder

No-Sew Ghost Pencil Toppers

Halloween Craft Stick Puppets

Cardboard Tube Spiders

Paper Plate Jack-O-Lanterns

Halloween Word Scramble (free printable)

Storybook Snack Time: Candy Corn Snack Mix

Spider Web Masks

Ghost Pop-Up Cards

Halloween Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt

Halloween Silhouette Suncatchers

Spider Web Wreaths

Halloween Shape Poems

With all of these ideas, it should be easy to find a fun Halloween activity for kids!

Silhouette Halloween Suncatcher

October 15, 2014 By Terri Thompson

We love to make suncatchers.

We’ve made them for all sorts of holidays from Thanksgiving to Easter. So, of course we definitely needed to make a Halloween suncatcher.

They’re bright, fun, and the perfect Halloween decoration.

Make an adorable Halloween silhouettes and turn it into a suncatcher with this fun craft for kids: Silhouette Halloween Suncatcher.

This simple and low-mess silhouette Halloween suncatcher can make such a dramatic statement.

Plus, this project can be adapted to suit all ages of kids. Use simple shapes for the younger kids and let your older kids get as artistic as they want.

Supplies Needed

Clear contact paper
Scissors
Black construction paper
Colored tissue paper (we used orange, yellow, and green)

How to make your Silhouette Halloween Suncatcher

Cut pieces of contact paper so that it is 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch bigger on all sides than your piece of construction paper. You will need two pieces of contact paper for each silhouette.

Take the backing off of one of your pieces of contact paper and lay it sticky side up on your table. I usually tape it down to the table so it doesn’t go all over the place while the girls are working.

Next, make a frame by folding your black paper in half and cutting a 1-inch border off the edges in one continuous line.

Once you unfold it, you will have a nice black frame for your picture. You can use the middle section to make your silhouette.

Now, use the extra black paper to make your silhouette.

This would look perfectly lovely with a simple shape, like a pumpkin, witch’s hat, or a ghost. But, the girls got their hearts set on a more difficult shape… ahem – black cats.

This involved a bit of googling, searching. and printing so we could trace our shapes. There is no need to get so difficult!

Cut out your silhouette and place it inside your frame.

Next, tear your tissue paper up into small pieces and layer it over the clear spaces within your frame.

Don’t worry about covering up your silhouette. You’re working on the backside and once you flip it over, you’ll be able to see the entire shape.

Once you’re finished, add your second piece of contact paper on top of your silhouette so your picture is sandwiched between two pieces of contact paper.

Flip your pictures over, trim the edges, and hang in a sunny window.

I absolutely love the way these turned out!

Glittery Spider Web Mask for Kids

October 14, 2014 By Terri Thompson

Masks are so much fun to make and for playing pretend.

We’ve already made black cat masks and spooky spider masks. But, now we’re making a fun spider web mask.

So, grab the glitter! You’ll need plenty of it!

Make a simple glittery Spider Web Mask for kids out of craft foam. It's perfect for Halloween or everyday dress-up time. So much fun!

Disclosure: Thank you craftprojectideas.com for providing some of the supplies used in these masks. All ideas are my own. This post also contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed

Black craft foam
Scissors
White glue
Iridescent (or white or silver) glitter
Stapler
Thin elastic

How to make your Spider Web Mask

Prep your project by cutting out a simple mask shape from your foam. Ours were 6-1/2 inches across, which fit my 5- and 7- year old perfectly.

Craft foam cuts very easily, so your older child can do this part on their own if they would like.

Once you’ve got your masks ready, find some old newspaper. This is the key to keeping the glitter mess to a minimum. Open your paper so that the crease is on the bottom. You want it to look like a valley. Get ready to work on top of the paper.

Start drawing your lines with your glue. Start from one corner and make lines toward the other side. Curve them just a bit to help with the spider web effect.

Next, draw curved lines across your lines, from one side of the mask to the other. It will look like your spider web originated from one corner of your mask.

Now it’s glitter time!

Cover the mask generously with your glitter. Don’t be afraid, the glitter will clean up.

Now, in the words of Taylor Swift, it’s time to “shake it off, shake it off.” But, don’t shake it too hard, try to keep all the glitter on your newspaper. Set the masks aside to dry for awhile.

Clean up is easy

Now, it’s time to take care of that glitter. Slowly lift up both sides of the newspaper so that all the glitter goes into the crease in the middle. You can then use that as a funnel to put the leftover glitter back in the container (or in the trash if you’ve got a container that you can’t take the lid off of.)

Once everything is dry, staple a cut piece of elastic to either side so that it fits on your child’s head.

Your masks are ready to go!

She looks quite serious, doesn’t she? I just know she was wondering why I didn’t make the spider web mask red with a black glitter spider web. I think she was hoping for a Spiderman mask.

The thought didn’t occur to me until we were done… I may have to go shopping for some red craft foam soon.

Ghost Pop-Up Cards

October 13, 2014 By Terri Thompson

Send a fun little ghost to your friends and family this Halloween with these simple-to-make pop-up cards. This craft is for your older kids or tweens. A good rule of thumb, if your child is comfortable cutting details with sharp scissors, then they can do this craft.

Supplies Needed:

Black card stock
Orange card stock
White card stock
Sharp scissors
Black Sharpie
Glue (nothing fancy, I just used white school glue)

Use the black card stock for your card. I had pre-cut pieces that were 5″ x 8″. This turned out to be the perfect size for these cards. Fold your black card stock in half to make the card.

Use the orange card stock for your cover image. Sketch the word “Boo” on your card stock. Make it big enough to stand out on the cover of your card. Cut around the letters. You don’t need to cut out any holes inside the letters. We’re going to keep this easy and use the black Sharpie for all the details.

Use your black marker to trace around all the letters. Go right up to the edge. (Do this on top of a piece of scrap paper to eliminate any mess.) Add your details, such as the holes inside of the o’s with the marker. We’re going for a cartoon-type look. Glue your “Boo” to the cover of the card.

Next, make a ghost from your white card stock. Make it large enough to cover most of the inside, but not too big that your ghost peeks out when the card is shut. Also cut a thin strip of white card stock, approximately 4 to 5 inches long. Add your ghost details with your black marker.

Fold your thin strip of card stock accordion style. Make sure there is a flat end on each end.

Glue one flat end to your ghost and the other to the inside of the card. Press it down for several seconds to make sure your ghost sticks.

Once it’s done, you’ve got a fun and not-very-spooky card to spread the Halloween cheer. Make several to surprise your friends. They’ll love it!

Halloween