October Shelves

Halloween ideas are haunting blogs everywhere right about now so I thought I would throw our's into the mix:

I'm not sure where I first saw this but I was reminded of the idea of hammering nails into pumpkins in a recent post on LivingMontessoriNow (always my first stop when I'm looking to find a variety of activities Montessori mom's are posting around the blog-o-sphere). The texture of the pumpkin is perfect for practicing pounding. I knew my boys would love it.  They directed me in drawing the faces, one on each side so each boy would have their own space.  My oldest started pounding nails in after lunch and didn't stop until we headed to Grandma's house this evening.  Even then he took the pumpkin and the nails with him to finish his work.

I can't believe how many nails he got on those lines...there were at least a couple of hundred nails in the package I picked up this morning, which is now empty.

When we got there his cousin grabbed his own pumpkin and joined in the fun.  It turned out to be the perfect solution for a boy who was anxious to carve his pumpkin but didn't want it to shrivel before the fun of tricks and treats.  My nephew decided he could simply pull the nails out a few days before Halloween and carve on the lines left behind.

Transferring acorns with tongs.  My baby, who will soon be 1, liked moving them back and forth between baskets with his fists.

Pattern work I ordered through Scholastic a while back.  These manipulatives are really fun and could be used in other work as well.

Transferring water left to right.  Include a sponge to clean up spills.

Three shapes of mini erasers from Target.  We used them as counters with our sandpaper letters but they'd be great for sorting as well.

Autumn cutting strips.  The ones pictured are for Halloween but the file included apples and Thanksgiving themes as well.  I picked them up through a link on this great cutting post at Living Montessori Now.

More pumpkin counters from the dollar store. Throw in a set of dice for instant addition problems.

The boys will use tweezers to sort these leaves into this 3 part tray.

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin.  Print it free through Montessori For Everyone.