Tag Archives: Halloween

Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe

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Buddy loves games, so I’m always looking for fun new ones to play with him. When I saw this candy tic-tac-toe Etsy listing, I thought that it would be fun to do with Buddy. He first learned how to play tic-tac-toe this summer, and it’s a go to game for us when we are waiting at a restaurant. I knew this candy version would be fun to play.

I cut out a piece of black cardstock and drew my lines with silver sharpie. (Mommy musings’s blog has a free printable Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe board that would also be fun to use.) Then I grabbed some candy corn and pumpkins, and went to go find Buddy.

Buddy was super excited to play tic-tac-toe! It was great having actual pieces to move instead of just drawing in each square. Of course, Buddy asked immediately if we would be eating the candy. Fortunately, these candies aren’t favorites of Buddy’s, so he was willing to play with them instead.

This was so easy and fun! It’s definitely an activity that will probably move into our diaper bag for restaurant fun.

Spider Web Spelling

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Last week, a friend of mine posted about a spelling activity she did with her three year old. I loved it so much, I had to do it with Buddy too. We went trick or treating for letters while walking on a spider web!

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

To set up this activity, I used painters tape to make a spider web on the floor. Then I made some Halloween spelling cards. I originally was going to print out some words, but I decided to just use some Halloween stickers on index cards. I wanted to use words that had few letters, and I wanted a picture so Buddy could “read” the word before he spelled it.

Buddy is better at identifying capital letters, so I decided to make this activity a lowercase letter activity. Fortunately, our magnetic letter set has both upper and lowercase letters to choose from. After I wrote the words, I pulled out the letters. Some letters I had multiples of in the set, but I chose just to do one of every letter that was needed.Once I had the words and letters set, I put one letter on each intersection of the spider web. I put the extras at the top vertex of the web.

I told Buddy he needed to pick a word, and then he would go trick or treating for the letters. To make this a little more challenging, I told Buddy he could only walk on the line when he was going through the spider web. Buddy did a good job of remembering the letters he was looking for, but sometimes he wanted to bring the card with him in the spider web. 

Once Buddy found the letters, we took them to our front door. I used a magnetic chip clip to hold up the word card, and then Buddy spelled his word underneath. Before we started each new word, we looked to see what letters were needed, and which ones he’d already found. 

I was surprised that Buddy liked the longer words. When I was making the word cards, I almost skipped pumpkin because I thought it would be too long for him. But Buddy liked having a lot of letters to find, and he was really proud when he was done. 

Buddy had a lot of fun with this activity. When we had picked up all of the letters, he put them back down on the spider web. It did take a little bit of time to set up and pick up, but it was worth it. It was such a fun way to practice letters and work on gross motor skills.

Do you have any other ideas for activities with magnetic letters? Please share in the comments.

Fun Fall Books For Preschoolers

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I love reading seasonal books with Buddy. Over the last couple years, I’ve been able to purchase or check out many fun fall books. I’m going to share our favorite fall books for preschoolers in case you’re looking for some new reading material.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween

This is Buddy’s favorite Halloween book. It’s a board book with flaps to lift. Each flap is a masked animal and under the flap is the unmasked animal. It’s well written with rhyming stanzas. Buddy loves seeing all the animals and the costumes.

Peppa Goes Apple Picking

Buddy likes Peppa Pig, and he’s enjoyed every book we’ve read in the series. This one is special because we go apple picking every fall. I like having a fall book that isn’t Halloween based.

It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse!

This is a book in the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. Buddy loves these books, and this Halloween one is no exception.

Halloween Jack

Buddy got this book as a gift last October, and it’s really fun! There are large googly eyes that are in different Halloween figures (witch, mummy, vampire, etc.) It is a silly and not scary book.

I Love You Little Pumpkin

This is another lift the flap book with Halloween costumes. It’s a cute book that Buddy liked when he was younger, and he still enjoys it now.

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

Buddy has loved Duck and Goose books since he was one. This one is our favorite because it’s funny. Duck and Goose look for a pumpkin in strange places (“Is our pumpkin in the tree?” “No.”) and eventually they find what they’re looking for. It’s a simple story that’s a lot of fun.

Duck and Goose Honk! Quack! Boo!

This book is longer than Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin and is best for kids ages 3 and up. It is also funny, and Buddy really enjoyed it. It made him very excited for dressing up for Halloween and going Trick or Treating.

Click Clack Boo

Buddy really likes the Click Clack Moo series, and this Halloween version is a lot of fun.

The Night Before Thanksgiving

This is a version of Twas the Night Before Christmas with a Thanksgiving spin. It’s a good way to get ready for the excitement and chaos of Thanksgiving with a large family.

Do you have any other favorite fall books? Please share your ideas in the comments.

DIY Puppy Costume

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I have always been a fan of homemade costumes. No one else has a costume just like yours, and you can make it to look exactly like you wanted it to. My mom always made our Halloween costumes every year. She loved to sew, and she put a lot of effort into our costumes. My favorite was a Snow White costume with puffed sleeves. And my sister’s homemade Glinda costume won her the best costume contest in 8th grade.

Me at age 5 in my Snow White costume.

While I don’t have the same high level of sewing skills as my mom, I do still enjoy using my sewing machine. Buddy really wanted to be a puppy, so I wanted to make an easy DIY puppy costume for him. I started by buying a sweat pant suit and some white fake fur. Buddy and I went fabric shopping together, and we both fell in love with the fake fur. I thought it would make the costume extra special and fun. It was a huge mess though, so if I were to do it over, I would use fleece or felt instead.

I used printer paper to sketch out a pattern for the ears and belly circle. I used the same pattern for both sides to make it symmetrical. To make sure it didn’t slip, I pinned the paper to the fabric before I cut it. Hubby thought my original ears were too short, so I used one folded over to make the tail.

I used my sewing machine to sew the ears, belly, and tail onto the hoodie. Since I want Buddy to use the pants again, I left them plain. (I did have to hem them though!)  It wasn’t too hard to sew through the fake fur, but it dulled and eventually broke my needle. I sewed the ear on the underside, and the belly and tail through the furry side.

The final costume, and the only picture where you can see the tail.

Aside from the huge, furry mess, I was pretty happy with the costume. Then, we went to a Halloween party and everyone thought he was a bunny. Buddy was happy with that, but I wasn’t.

Buddy in his costume for the first time.

I trimmed the ears a bit to make them look a little less like bunny ears. Also, I made a collar by sewing a circle of felt onto ribbon. I attached it in the back with Velcro. Those two details made a huge difference, and at our next Halloween event, everyone knew he was a puppy.

I had originally hoped that Buddy would be able to keep his hoodie for dress up, but there’s no way that will happen with the fake fur. I plan to take the fur off, and redo the hoodie as a dinosaur. In my ideal world, I will be able to do that in time to make it a Christmas gift, but we’ll see if that actually happens. Whenever it does, I’ll make sure to blog about it.

I’m looking forward to trick or treating with Buddy tomorrow. I hope you and your family have a very happy Halloween!

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