Naturally Educational » Entries tagged with "Halloween"
Meow! Halloween Cats from Cardboard Tubes
I’ve always had a cat–and when I first met my husband, his family had four! You could say we’re cat people. Right now we have two, including the friendliest, fluffiest black cat. So, the kids were excited to craft black cats from cardboard tubes (toilet paper rolls) as part of our Halloween craft fest. Pin It A quick note–one teacher told me she was not allowed to use anything recycled from the bathroom or kitchen. So, I suggested … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Ecology, Featured, History and Culture, Science
How to Make Banana Ghosts (or “Learn from my #CraftFail”)
Last week, I promised the kids we would make Banana Ghosts. I bought my white chocolate and bananas and chocolate chips. Pin It I cannot recall where I first saw them but I had made chocolate covered fruit and pretzels before and so I did not do any research before diving in. Big mistake. At least you can learn from my #craftfail because at the end I will tell you what finally worked! I am not particularly crafty. No, … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), Featured, Home Arts, Taste
Witch or Wizard Hat Craft for Kids
With Halloween coming up, our crafts have focused on the spooky. Here’s a fun, simple craft you can wear: a sorcerer or witch’s hat. Pin It Materials: construction paper or oak tag, any color, at least 11″ x 14″ paper plate scissors tape materials for decorating (paint, crayons, markers, glitter glue, Halloween stickers, etc.) Directions: 1. Cut out the center of the paper plate and decorate. Pin It 2. Twist the top two corners of your paper down and in to create a cone. Adjust to … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), Featured
Crafty Owls
We’re big owl fans so when I saw the cardboard toilet tube owls over at Frugal Family Fun Blog, I knew I wanted to make them with my little ones! Pin It We made some (very minor) modifications to the process and, of course, you will find some educational suggestions at the end of the post! Materials: cardboard tube (cut to different heights if making a family) paint fun, patterned paper googly eyes glue (we like Elmer’s Glue-All) Directions: 1. Fold in the top of … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Ecology, Featured
4 Picture Books About Bats
Pin It Stellaluna by Jannell Cannon: When a young bat is separated from her mother, she joins a nest of baby birds. In a beautifully illustrated book with lots of loving close-ups, Stellaluna tries to fit in but learns that she is happiest being herself. Along with her newfound friends, she also discovers that sometimes friends can be very different in some ways but alike in the ways that count. This book is … Read entire article »
Filed under: 0-3 (Babies and Toddlers), 1-2 (Toddlers), 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergartners), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Ecology, Featured
The Monster Mash-Up
Pin It Because a monster can look like ANYTHING, it makes a fabulous open-ended craft for preschoolers, kindergartners, and early elementary-aged kids. Plus, you can use up all sorts of odds and ends from your craft cabinet. I still remember a collage-technique monster I made at school from magazine cut-outs. I named it after my mom and thought she’d be flattered! She didn’t love the likeness of “Linda the Jello Monster” but she did appreciate the creativity. Here … Read entire article »
Filed under: 1-2 (Toddler), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Educational Blogs, Featured
Beaded Pumpkin Jack O’ Lantern Ornaments
We made these easy beaded pumpkin Jack O’ Lantern ornaments to add to our Halloween decorations. Pin It My children love to bead and it is great fine motor skill practice. Materials orange and black beads chenille stems (2 orange, 1 green) fishing wire Directions 1. First, I put them to work sorting out all the orange beads. Pin It 2. Then they strung the orange beads onto a chenille stem. Pin It 3. Twist the ends of the stem together and shape into a pumpkin. 4. Then, … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Fall, Featured, History and Culture, Home Arts
Shaving Cream Pumpkin Art
My children have been asking me when we could do shaving cream art again. The tactile experience helps build learning and the kids have a ton of fun playing with paint and shaving cream. So, we made shaving cream pumpkins! Pin It Materials: posterboard foaming shaving cream paints (Halloween colors) 1. We traced and cut-out a pumpkin shape from poster board. Pin It 2. Then I poured foaming shaving cream and some paints (mostly orange with a little green and purple) into a … Read entire article »
Filed under: 1-2 (Toddler), 1-2 (Toddlers), 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), Art, Bodily-kinesthetic, Fall, Featured, Touch
Spooky Halloween Creature Votive Candles
I’m guest posting on Make and Takes today…come check out our spooky Halloween votive candles! Pin It … Read entire article »
Spin a Spider Web
Pin It OK, I know that they are generally benign and quite important to our ecosystem but the eight-legged things just freak me out, okay? Still, I got over my fear so that we could study some spiders. I didn’t even flinch earlier in the year when we visited Rosie the tarantula at our local nature center. To her credit, neither did my daughter (who got a heck of a lot closer): Pin It Since it is nearing Halloween, … Read entire article »
Filed under: 0-3 (Babies and Toddlers), 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), Ecology, Fall, Featured, Science



Candace Lindemann is a published children’s writer and educational consultant. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

















