Friday, October 16, 2015

Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds

This is the first time we are living on *that* side of the world which celebrates Halloween (i.e. without sounding like a total wannabe!) So it's the first time I've introduced this concept to my kid. Well technically they did have a Halloween costume dress up party in his earlier preschool in India (I stitched him a cute little Fred Flintstone Costume) but he was only 1.5 yr old then. 

Buying English books in Chile is difficult. There are gorgeous bookstores full of Spanish books with only a teeny tiny shelf with English ones, if at all. So I've resorted to a lot of begging and borrowing from anyone and everyone I know *and* buying e-books from Kindle. I'd already stopped buying paperbacks for my reading purposes four years ago and now I don't mind making the subtle shift for my kid too. My latest obsession is with Kindle Unlimited, which allows you to 'borrow' up to 10 e-books at a time for a monthly fee. Want a 11th book? No problem, just 'return' one of the earlier 10! Obviously only a limited number of books are available under Kindle unlimited, but I'm still pretty kicked about the wide range of options available! 

So here are the books & crafts we're indulging in this Halloween month.


The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds




Cat Witch, by Una Woodruff: This is in fact his first chapter book. 7 long chapters and 80 pages in all. It is a wonderful introduction to the world of fantasy, with magical creatures like witches, wizards, fairies & unicorns. The story is a bit complicated compared to the usual 3+ age books I read. I don't know how much of it did he understand, but what's important is that he did seem interested and willing to complete it. One chapter every night. 

It's about a cat named Jules, who happens to land at the footsteps of Eva's house, one stormy night. Eva is a witch who trains him to become a cat witch. Eva desperately wants to perform the Great Spell that can be performed only on the Day of the Unicorn, so she can relive her glory days of being a successful actress. There is a wizard Alexander Wylie, who wants to perform the same spell and is looking for the missing ingredient too. The missing ingredient is called Alicorn and it takes some turn of events (including Jules tumbling into Fairy Land!) for Jules to discover what Alicorn is! So what happens when Jules stumbles into Fairy Land? Does he succeed in  helping Eva with her Spell? Or does Alexander Wylie end up performing the spell instead?

(Another reason I've realised why this chapter book worked while some others didn't is that *every* page had a picture! So even if I read that page endlessly for minutes together, it is okay- because he has something to "look" at. If the page has only text and *no* picture is when his interests falters! Plus the pictures are bea-u-ti-ful!



The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds


The Haunted House, by Helen Ketteman: Is a good "introductory" book to all kinds of scary & creepy creatures. It's a haunted house full of goblins, werewolves, vampires, bats, ghosts, mummies, spiders etc hosting a halloween feast! 

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds


Goopy Ghost of Halloween, by V R Duin: Is about the discarded goop of a pumpkin that wants to go back into his hollow, glowing pumpkin shell. My kid keeps asking me why don't we carve a pumpkin, well we might! (If I ever find a full pumpkin in this city!) 


The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds


Thomas & the Ghost Engine: Is one of his prized collection of Thomas  & Friends books. It's Halloween at Brendam docks and ghost engine comes back to look for his lost whistle!

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds


Halloween Hustle, by Charlotte Gunnufson: is his *absolute* favorite! It's about a skeleton who is invited to a ghost's Halloween party, and as he joins in with the other party goers- Frankenstein, Mummies & other monsters, they do the Halloween Hustle! But every few pages he trips and his bones scatter to the ground. He fixes himself with rubber bands or twines till he can get up and continue with the hustle. 

It says "Bones scatter! What a clatter! Spine's like a broken ladder!" Which inspired bony crafts with some black paper, white paint and ear buds that look like bones!

He made bony hands, skeleton & even a ladder with the material!


The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds



The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds



Think he liked the skeleton concept the most, so I got him a skeleton costume for his school Halloween Party. 



The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds

& Here's his costume 2 years back! for details on how I stitched this super easy costume, click here!

The Practical Mom: Halloween Books & Crafts for 3+ yr olds


| | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | | | | | | | | |


| | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | | | | | | | | |

Related links from around the world:


Fun Skeleton Books for Kids | The Jenny Evolution | click here 


100 Halloween Costume Tutorials | Mad in Crafts | click here 


This Post is linked to these Link Parties 

| | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | | | | | | | | |


10 comments:

  1. I've never heard of these Halloween books. They look like a lot of fun! Pinning to my Halloween board. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like fun! I have a 3 year old as well and always on the lookout for fun stuff to do. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cute activity with the cotton swabs as bones! Pinning.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These look like fun! I love the sound of the Halloween Hustle! Thanks for sharing at the Thoughtful Spot.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my, what little one wouldn't have fun with the cotton swabs and glue, great idea. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. So fun! I made skelly's out of q-tips for the nursery kids in my church yesterday. They loved them! Lots of wonderful Halloween books and I love his cute costumes! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Ladies for your lovely comments! I always look forward to them :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like so much fun for your little guy! Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The books sounds fab, especially love the sound of the Halloween Hustle!! The craft looks fun and easy too, may have to give it a try with my toddler. Thank you for sharing with #bigpinklink x

    ReplyDelete