Halloween Archives - Page 2 of 2 -Imaginations Running Wild-

Zombie Books

October 10, 2021February 2, 2022 Jennifer

My son is really into zombies right now! He loves anything zombie related, so we’ve been reading a lot of zombie stories together. Here are 7 zombie books to share with your kiddo:

1.Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies by Jorge Lacera —

This is a humorous story about a young zombie who loves vegetables, not brains. The little zombie comes up with all sorts of schemes to get his parents to eat veggies! A little bit spooky and a whole lot of fun, this book is perfect for young monster-lovers.

2. Peanut Butter and Brains by Joe McGee —

Reginald, a zombie, bucks with tradition and goes in search of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of brains. This humorous book isn’t scary, but has great zombie pictures that preschoolers will enjoy. Will Reginald be able to convince his zombie friends that sandwiches are delicious? Read this one and find out! There are more Reginald adventures available too: Peanut Butter and Aliens and Peanut Butter and Santa Claus!

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Moldilocks.jpg — “Moldilocks and the Three Scares”

3. Moldilocks and the Three Scares by Lynne Marie. —

In this monster-filled take on the classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Moldilocks stumbles onto the home of a monster family. She tries 3 bowls of gross soup, sits in 3 spooky chairs, and tries out 3 monster beds before falling fast asleep. The 3 nice monsters return home, and to Moldilocks’ surprise, they welcome her into the family and all live happily-ever-after. My son really likes this book! It has the “spooky” elements that he loves and features a loving, parent-child relations that he enjoys in stories.

4. Zombie in Love by Kelly DiPucchio —

My son loves this book and its sequel, Zombie in Love 2 + 1. Mortimer, a zombie, is looking for love, but without any luck. DiPucchio’s story and Scott Campbell’s illustrations make this funny book a winner! Preschoolers will giggle at the kid-appropriate zombie grossness, such as of a limb falling off in another of Mortimer’s failed attempts at finding love. The reader will cheer for Mortimer through all of his dating attempts and be delighted when he finally meets the zombie of his dreams.

5. I Want to Eat Your Books by Karen LeFrank–

Get ready for a silly zombie story about a little zombie who wants to eat books, not brains! This one is perfect for kiddos who don’t want scary books, but still like zombies. Zombie loves books so much (me too) and the story talks about how awesome books are. When a mummy comes to school, zombie quickly shows the mummy the joy of books.

6. Zombelina by Kristyn Crow —

Zombelilna, a young zombie, loves to dance! She starts a dance class with human girls, and finds that her dancing gives them the creeps. Zombelina practices for the dance recital and her family comes to cheer for her on the big day! However, all of the zombies in the audience scare away the other dancers. Now it is up to Zombelina to get out there and dance to save the show. Will her stage fright hold her back? Borrow this book from your library to find out! Preschoolers will love the rhyming text and the cute illustrations in this book.

7. Abigail and Her Pet Zombie: Halloween by Marie F. Crow–

It’s Halloween and things look a little bit scary. Frightening decorations are put up and grinning jack-o-lanterns light up the night. Lilly is scared of the decorations and costumes. Abigail, a young girl, and her pet zombie set out to help Lilly enjoy the holiday by showing her that just because something looks scary, doesn’t mean that it is. Preschoolers can use this reassurance this time of year.

I hope you enjoy these zombie stories! My son is currently obsessed with zombies, so these have been a hit in my house. I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to help cover the costs of my site. If you purchase a book through one of my links, then I get a may small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 😉

Fall, Halloween

Preschool Ghost Craft

October 9, 2021October 9, 2021 Jennifer

How cute are these dot-painted ghosts?!? And they are so easy to make too! My son and I loved making this preschool ghost craft together. He really liked making the paint dots, and it was also a great fine motor skills activity for him.

Supplies Needed:

I love crafts that don’t require me to run out to the store! We made this craft with stuff we had home:

-cotton swabs (1 per paint color)

-washable paint

-paper

-marker

-paint pallet or paper plate

How To:

This preschool ghost craft doesn’t take very long to make depending on how many ghosts you draw. We decided to make 2 ghosts for our first attempt at this craft.

To begin, my son picked out the paint colors he wanted to use. He chose purple, yellow, and orange. We poured a little bit of each color onto a paper plate.

I drew 2 ghost shapes with a black maker for my son to paint.

He dipped a cotton swab into one of the paint colors and made paint dots along the ghost outlines. He chose to alternate between 2 paint colors for each ghost, using a different cotton swab for each color. I’m impressed with his pattern making skills at age three!

When he was done with his dots, we let his project dry before making faces. My son wanted the ghosts to look like they were saying, “Boo,” so we made open mouths on our ghosts.

We loved how our dot-painted ghosts turned out! This preschool ghost craft was a simple activity, but using cotton swabs instead of a paintbrush, made this extra fun.

Check out my GHOST STORIES post for book recommendations to read after the craft! My son picked six of his favorite ghost books to share 🙂

Preschool Ghost Stories Recommendations — Ghost Stories

Halloween

12 Monster Stories for Preschoolers

October 6, 2021October 6, 2021 Jennifer

Preschool Monster Stories — Monster Stories

Here is a list of 12 preschooler-approved monster stories! All of these are fun, not-scary stories to share with your kiddo anytime of year.

1.Spooky Wheels on the Bus by J. Elizabeth Mills —

This book is so much fun! Your preschooler will love this Halloween version of the song The illustrations are fantastic and the spooky rhymes will have kiddos singing along. This one has been a favorite in my house for a couple years. My son loves counting all of the Halloween guys and looking at all of the details on the pages.

Amazon has it in paperback and Kindle. Both are pretty inexpensive. https://amzn.to/3oEE0xM

2.How to Catch a Monster by Adam Wallace —

My son loves Adam Wallace’s “How to Catch” series. In this monster tale, the child sets elaborate traps to get the monster who lurks in the closet. The child actually succeeds in catching monster. The monster, however, is nothing like the child imagined. The monster is very nice and just wants to play. It brings the child home to meet its family and a friendship is formed. It goes to show that just because something seems scary, doesn’t mean that it actually is.

3.Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley —

Not only is Ed Emerberley’s green monster a preschool favorite, but its is my favorite monster book! The die cut illustrations and bold colors make this book a visual treat. The monster slowly builds as the reader turns the pages. But we aren’t scared, so go away big green monster! The reader then gets to turn the pages and the monster disappears until it is completely gone. This empowering story is a great way to help kids conquer bedtime fears.

Ed Emerberly made a companion book called, Nighty Nighty, Little Green Monster, and it is adorable. It has the same awesome die cuts in the illustrations. The reader gets to say goodnight to the cute little monster and watch it slowly disappear with each turn of the page. Sweet dreams little green monster.

4.My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck —

This sweet, rhyming story is an ode to a mama’s love for her little one. It chronicles all of the loving things mom’s do for their little monsters. Mom’s play with, cheer-on, protect, comfort, and take care of their little ones, whether they be monsters or humans. Preschoolers will giggle at the gross things little monster likes, such as lizard juice and bugs.

5.The Haunted Ghoul Bus by Lisa Trumbauer —

Preschoolers will enjoy this rhyming story filled with fun, Halloween characters. On Halloween morning, a little boy accidently gets on the ghoul bus instead of the school bus! Yikes!!!! At first he is afraid of all of the spooky riders boarding the bus. Soon he learns that new friends come in all forms and that ghouls just want to have fun. The bus arrives at ghoul school and the little boy has to say to bye to his new friends until next year.

6.Spooky Hour by Tony Mitton —

In this rhyming counting book, preschoolers meet a number of spooky characters. Kids will love counting all of the monsters, wizards and cats who make their way to the party. The story is filled with fun sounds that preschoolers will want to say, making it an interactive reading adventure.

7.Vampirina Ballerina by Anne Marie Pace —

Before she was a TV star, Vampirina appeared in a series of cute picture books that are beautifully illustraed by LeUyen Pham. In this story, Vampirina sets out to become a ballerina. The story shows her vampire ways at odds with the humans around her, causing preschoolers to giggle. Despite some setbacks, Vampirina doesn’t give up and her supportive family is there to encourage her to keep trying. The fantastic message of hard work and resilience is certainly a great one for kids to hear.

8.The Monsters’ Monster by Patrick McDonnell–

This is a not-scary monster book starring 3 little monsters who love causing trouble and wreaking havoc! They decide to create the biggest, baddest monster ever to help them carry about their sinister plans. However, instead of carrying out trouble-filled ideas, the big monster that they bring to life teaches them an important lesson about gratitude and saying “thank you.”

9. Moldilocks and the Three Scares by Lynne Marie. —

“The House that Monsters Built” by Steve Meztger

10. The House the Monsters Built by Steve Metzger —

Steve Meztger’s books are favorites among the preschool crowd! This book, a spooky version of The House that Jack Built, explores all of the monsters’ house-building contributions, complete with rhymes, spooky sounds, and humorous illustrations by Jared Lee. I have read this one so many times at library preschool storytime and to my own son. Preschoolers and kindergarteners love this book!

11. Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler. —

This is a cute story about a skeleton named Bonaparte who keeps losing his bones. He is literally falling apart and is nervous about starting school with his condition. His monster friends, including Franky Stein, try and help ease his fears by coming up with creative ways to keep Bonaparte’s bones together, but all of their attempts are unsuccessful. Finally the friends come up with a great idea — a service dog! The dog fetches Bonaparte’s bones and brings them back to him. This enables Bonaparte to participate in all of the fun activities his friends are doing at school.

12.There was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberley —

This is an Emberley family collaboration: art, words, and beat by a talented family. This monster story is made to be read as a song, with a fun “scritch, scritchy scratch” refrain. The story follows the tale of a monster who ate a tick and felt sick. In an ongoing effort to rid itself of tummy problems, the monster keeps eating things to alleviate itself of its tick problem. Ed Emerberly’s fantastic artwork adds to the zaniness of this monster tale.

These 12 monster stories are sure to delight your preschooler! Check you library for these and other monster stories. Looking for more spooky stories, check out my GHOST STORIES post for more book recommendations!

I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to help pay for my website. If you buy a book through one of the links that I have posted, then I get a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂

Fall, Halloween

Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Craft

October 3, 2021January 16, 2022 Jennifer

For everyone with a Mickey Mouse-obsessed child, here is a Halloween craft for you! Make this tissue paper Mickey Mouse pumpkin craft with your little one and celebrate the holiday Disney style 🙂 My son loves Mickey and Halloween, so this craft was perfect for him! It is easy to make and doesn’t need many supplies.

Supplies Needed:

1 paper plate

Orange tissue paper cut into squares

Black construciton paper

Glue stick

Scissors

Pencil

How to Make the Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Craft:

First glue orange tissue squares all over the paper plate. We found it easiest to slather the plate in glue and then add on the tissue. For tissue that hung over the side, we just folded it over and glued the extra to the back.

Next, draw eyes, mouth, and ears on the construction paper. (I used a container lid to trace the circles for the ears.)

If your preschooler wants to practice their scissors skills, then they can cut out the shapes, otherwise the grown-up can cut them out.

Glue eyes and mouth on top of the tissue paper. We found it easier to apply the glue stick to the back of the black paper, rather than on top of the tissue paper. When we tried to add glue on top of the tissue, the tissue moved a wrinkled a bit.

Glue ears to the back of the plate. My son and I each pressed an ear against the back the plate for 30 seconds to let the glue set in.

More. . .

I hope you enjoyed this Mickey Moues pumpkin craft! Mickey is always a hit with my kiddo:) We paired this craft with reading one of his favorite Halloween board books, Haunted Clubhouse, featuring Mickey and friends at a Clubhouse Halloween Party! This book is pretty cute, but short. It has pictures of your little one’s favorite Clubhouse friends and fun, see-through cutouts in the pages that keeps children enthralled with this book.

Check out my Fall Books and Activities post for other fun ideas and more great pumpkin activities.

Fall, Halloween

Ghost Stories

September 30, 2021October 1, 2022 Jennifer

At ages 3-4, my preschooler loved what he called “spooky” books — they were books that had ghosts, monsters, and creepy drawings, but they weren’t actually scary. Here’s a list of 6 not-so-scary ghost stories for your preschooler to enjoy:

The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! by Elaine Bickell and Raymond McGrath–

In this rhyming story, a young ghost is in search of her missing “boo.” She meets many animals that make sounds similar to “boo,” but they just aren’t quite right. Preschoolers will love mimicking the sounds they hear in the story and will enjoying McGrath’s fantastic illustrations. Check your library for this book to see if the little ghost ever finds her missing “boo.”

Leo, a Ghost Story by Mac Barnett with illustrations by Christian Robinson–

Friends come in different shapes, sizes, and forms, including ghosts. A ghost is looking for a friend, but he accidently scares people away with his attempts at making friends. When he stumbles across a little girl who can see him and who isn’t afraid, Leo is excited to finally have someone to play with. However, his friend thinks he is imaginary, not a ghost. Not wanting to scare her away with the truth, Leo doesn’t tell he is actually a ghost. When a robber breaks into the girl’s home during the night, Leo springs into action, leaving the little girl to wonder how an imaginary friend was able to help capture the bad guy. It is the moment of truth: will the girl be afraid of a ghost or will they stay friends? Read this one to find out 🙂

The Scariest Book Ever by Bob Shea —

My son LOVES this story about a ghost who is scared of the dark woods surrounding its home. The ghost refuses to leave his house and comes up with all sorts of silly excuses as to why it needs to stay home, rather than admit that it is scared. The reader, however, isn’t scared and goes out to investigate. Turns out the woods are not so scary after all! Can the ghost be convinced that it is safe to venture out and enjoy the fun? A funny and clever “spooky” story.

Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara —

A girl and her cat move into a haunted house! Turns out this little girl is actually a witch and she knows exactly what to do with ghosts! This is a fairly short book, with not a lot of text per page. The illustrations are done in orange and black and really capture the reader’s attention. Your preschooler will enjoy studying the pictures and seeing the girl’s creative uses for ghosts.

Gustavo, the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago —

Gustavo really wants to make friends with the other ghoulish monsters, but he is too shy to talk to anyone. This book really shows the struggles that shy people go through and how they sometimes feel invisible. Determined to make friends, Gustavo invites his classmates to attend his violin concert. They all come out in support of him! From here out, they all become friends 🙂

Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O’Connell —

This is a cute, preschool counting book featuring ghosts! A mean with moves into the ghosts’ home and causes them to flee. Preschoolers can help count the ghosts as the flee and gather in the woods. The 10 ghosts form a plan to retake their house by Halloween night! Get this one from you library and find out if the ghosts’ plan works 🙂

Check out my other posts for book recommendations and fall activities to enjoy with your little one: FALL-THEME post and APPLE post.

Fall, Halloween

Handprint Pumpkin Craft

September 29, 2021September 29, 2021 Jennifer

I love handprint crafts! They preserve your little one’s prints and you get to look back at them years later and ooh and ahh over how tiny they were 🙂 This is my son’s 3 year-old pumpkin handprint craft. We made a bunch of these to give out to family. It is a great way to personalize the holiday. Plus my son loved stamping his handprint on the paper!

Supplies Needed

This craft doesn’t need many supplies, which makes it a winner in my book. I hate having to run out to get supplies when I just want to get crafting! You will need:

orange and green construction paper
white paper (I used printer paper, but any white paper should work)
non-toxic, washable orange and green paint
paintbrush
scissors
glue
baby wipes / paper towels (to get paint off of hand quickly)

Handprint Pumpkin Craft

First I painted my son’s hand orange and then he stamped it onto the white paper. I had the baby wipes right next to us so that I could wipe off his hand right away.

Next, I painted his index finger green and he stamped it on the white paper.

While his prints were drying, I cut out the pumpkin shape from the orange paper and a green rectangle.

Once his prints were dry, I cut a circle around his handprint and a rectangle around his finger print.

My son glued the handprint onto the pumpkin and he also glued the finger print onto the stem. Then he glued the stem onto the pumpkin.

And ta-da, we were done! Not only do I love this pumpkin handprint craft because it is his little prints, but it was a craft that we could do together and both enjoy.

More Pumpkin Fun

I love fall and pumpkin spice, so my son and I have read a ton of fall and Halloween books and made lots of crafts together. Check out my Fall-Theme post for more fall ideas and my Pumpkin Fizz post for a STEM pumpkin-themed activity to enjoy.