Fall, Halloween, Math, STEM

Halloween Graphing Preschool STEM

Halloween Graphing Preschool STEM

Add some spooky STEM fun into your preschooler’s learning with this Halloween graphing activity!

Halloween Graphing Activity:

Start by printing this free template. The Halloween graphing template includes the di, colored tiles, and graphing chart. I used regular printer paper; however, if you use cardstock, then your dice will be much sturdier.

Halloween Graphing Di

Begin by cutting out the dice. Gently fold the gray tabs inward. Then begin to fold your squares into a cube shape. Add some glue to the tabs and glue them onto the underside of the squares as you form your cube. The very last tab is hard to glue and might require tape. Once your cube is formed, set it aside to dry.

Cut out all of the colored tiles. You will have 4 of each color–red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Each color corresponds with one of the Halloween pictures. Here’s the color scheme: witch=red, pumpkin=orange, moon=yellow, Frankenstein monster=green, bat=blue, and spiderweb=purple.

Now it is time to begin Halloween graphing. Ask you child to gently roll the di. Which Halloween picture is on top? Is it a purple web? Take a tile of the same color and set it on the graph above the corresponding-colored Halloween picture. Keep rolling the dice and setting tiles in the correct columns until you reach the top of the column. Since you are not gluing the colored tiles to the chart, you can use this activity over and over again. The witch was the first to reach the top for us. Which Halloween picture made it to the top of your graph first?

Why STEM?

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. It is important to introduce these concepts to preschoolers in a fun way so that as they get older, they are excited about STEM subjects. What are preschoolers learning in this activity? Preschoolers are learning their colors (science)! They have to identify the color on the di, find the same color on the chart, and then correctly add the same color tile to the graph. Preschoolers are learning how to graph, an important math concept! Add some extra math into this activity by counting how many of each color tile is on your graph and how many tiles your have altogether. Preschoolers are also learning about engineering as they help build the di!

More STEM Activities

If your child enjoyed this graphing activity, I made a free blank di template so you can customize it with your own pictures. You can add computer images, stickers, or draw whatever you want on the dice and graph for your child to practice more graphing skills.

Check out my STEM activities: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/stem/

Fall, Halloween

Pumpkin Books

Preschool Pumpkin Books
Preschool Pumpkin Books

My son loves Halloween and I love pumpkin spice, so pumpkin stories are a natural fit for us! We own a few of these and have checked out the rest from the library. Check your library for these pumpkin books too! It was hard to narrow our choices down to a dozen, but I didn’t want this post to be too long πŸ™‚ We hope you and your preschooler will enjoy these pumpkin books as much as we do!

Splat the cat and the Pumpkin-Picking Plan

1.Splat the Cat and the Pumpkin-Picking Plan by Catherine Hapka–

Splat is a good-intentioned, lovable kitten who finds himself searching for the perfect pumpkin for his mom. He and his mouse friend, Seymour, scour the pumpkin patch, but none of the pumpkins are quite right until Splat finds a gigantic, round orange pumpkin! How is Splat going to get this huge pumpkin home? Well he’s going to roll it all the way home by running on top of it, of course!!! Your preschooler will love Splat’s runaway, rolling pumpkin and sympathize with his quest for the perfect pumpkin.

Christopher Pumpkin

2.Christopher Pumpkin by Sue Hendra–

Christopher Pumpkin is the cutest pumpkin! Created by a witch to help get ready for a scary party, Christopher Pumpkin struggles to do anything the way witch wants. Christopher P. likes pink and sparkles and unicorns, not scary, spooky stuff. The witch gives him one more chance to do something scary or else she’s going to cook him. Will Christopher be able to turn his sparkly, cutesy decorating style into something scary? Check this one out from your library and find out! Told in a rhyming style, with bold, bright illustrations, preschoolers will love reading this one over-and-over again!

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

3.Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills–

I adore Duck and Goose. They have the best friendship and such sweet adventures together. In this short, sparsely worded story, Duck and Goose go looking for a pumpkin in very unusual places. Your preschooler will giggle as they look for a pumpkin in a lake and on top of a tree stump. Fortunately, their friend, Thistle, comes along and tells them about the pumpkin patch πŸ™‚ (non-holiday story)

Too Many Pumpkins

4.Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White–

This story is about a woman who HATES pumpkins! She won’t even look at them. So when a truck accidently spills pumpkins in her yard, she does everything she can think of to keep them from growing. The pumpkins, however, thrive in her yard. When fall comes, she finds that she has too many pumpkins! The woman devises a great plan to get rid of the pumpkins and along the way, ends up making new friends with her community πŸ™‚ This sweet story is perfect for fall / Halloween and a heartwarming display of the joy of sharing and connecting with others.

The Runaway Pumpkin

5.The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis–

In this funny story, siblings Buck, Billy, and Lil, go up a hill search of a big pumpkin. The one they find is gigantic and soon, they have it rolling down the hill and destroying everything in its path. The family members below are too intrigued by dreaming of eating eat it to be concerned about the damage its causing. It finally comes to a stop and Granny turns this gigantic pumpkin into a whole bunch of yummy pumpkin foods for a Halloween feast.

Pumpkin soup

6.Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper–

Duck, Cat, and Squirrel and three good friends who like to make pumpkin soup together. Everyone has a specific job to do. One day, Duck decides he wants to switch jobs, which leads to a fight among the friends. Duck leaves in a huff. Soon Cat and Squirrel go in search of their friend. Will Duck want to come back and make soup with them? Kids will love Cooper’s illustrations and enjoy going on the fall journey with these characters. The book also includes a recipe for pumpkin soup that you and your kiddo can make together! (non-holiday story)

Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin

7.The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin by Stan and Jan Berenstain–

I loved the Berenstain Bears when I was a kid and I’m excited the their books are still available so I can share them with my son! In this Thanksgiving-themed story, the Berenstain Bears are entering the pumpkin contest. Of course the cubs and Papa really want to win first prize! Mama Bear gently tries to teach Papa and the cubs about the true meaning of Thanksgiving, but the bears are too consumed with the idea of winning to listen. When the family doesn’t win first prize, the Bears begin to understand the true meaning of Thanksgiving and being thankful for what they do have.

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever

8.The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll–

This is the story of two little mice who unknowingly fall in love with the same pumpkin! One wants to make the biggest Jack-o-lantern and the other wants to win the town’s biggest pumpkin prize. When they realize that they have both picked the same pumpkin, the mice work together to help it grow.

A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Pumpkin Monster

9.A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Pumpkin Monster by Amy Young —

Lucy and Sparkle have fun doing autumn things together. They visit a pumpkin patch, explore a corn maze, and play games. Things get a little too spooky for Sparkle, who is afraid of a pumpkin monster. Lucy, who enjoys being scared, learns that not everyone likes to be a little scared. This is a sweet story about two friends who learn to respect one another’s feelings. Plus it ends with an awesome rainbow from Sparkle’s magic horn and yummy treats for the friends to enjoy together.

Pumpkin Trouble

10.Pumkpin Trouble by Jan Thomas–

This short book will bring out the giggles as farmyard friends run from the pumpkin monster! Wait a minute, did that pumpkin just quack? Slapstick comedy, bright illustrations, and a confused duck make this book a preschool winner πŸ™‚

Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins

11.Pete the Cat: the Five Little Pumpkins by James Dean–

Preschoolers’ favorite cat, Pete the Cat, brings the pumpkin finger rhyme to bedtime in this fun book. Count along with these cool, rhyming pumpkins sitting on a gate. Kids will love the pumpkins’ costumes and the fantastic Halloween illustrations!

12.The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiane–

The Disney Jr. Halloween movie started as a book! This is a sweet story about a square pumpkin who just doesn’t seem to fit in the with round pumpkins in the patch. The round pumpkins make fun of Spookley for looking different. But one Halloween, a storm starts blowing the round pumpkins all over the place! Oh no, there is a hole in the fence. Will they roll right out into the bay? It’s up to Spookley, the square pumpkin to save the day. Preschoolers will enjoy this rhyming story and will be keeping an eye out for a square pumpkin next time you go to a pumpkin patch.

More Books!

I hope you and your preschooler enjoy these pumpkin books! There are so many pumpkin books available that we love, and we hard a hard time narrowing down our choices for this list.

Looking for more great stories to read together? Check out my FALL favorites, ZOMBIE book recommendations, 12 MONSTER Stories post, and my GHOST Stories for preschoolers.

I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support! Happy Reading πŸ™‚

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and more Pumpkins!

Make Pumpkin Fizz

Pumpkin Fizz

Incorporate fun, seasonal STEM activities into your preschooler’s education with this fun, fall-themed science experiment.

Pumpkin Find the Differences

Pumpkin-themed Find the Differences worksheet

It’s time to put your observation skills to work! Can you find 5 differences between these 2 pumpkin scenes?

Pumpkin Handprint Craft

I love handprint crafts! They preserve your little one’s prints and you get to look back at them and ooh and ahh over how little and cute they were πŸ™‚

Five Little Pumpkins Finger Rhyme–

Halloween, Math, STEM

Preschool Halloween Worksheets:

Preschool Halloween Worksheets for alphabet and math learning.
Preschool Halloween Worksheets

Add some spooky fun to your learning activities with these preschool Halloween worksheets! Download these free worksheets and practice writing letters, phonetic sounds, counting, and writing numbers 1-25 in numerical order. Read some Halloween books too and make it a spooky day!

ABCs

It’s almost Halloween and the alphabet has never been this spooky!

Complete the Haunted Alphabet: write the missing letters in alphabetical order.

Fall Leaves Alphabet Letter Tracing: Practice writing all 26 letters in the alphabet with this tracing worksheet. Color in the fall leaves too!

Pumpkin Patch Alphabet Maze: color the pumpkins in alphabetical order to make your way through the maze from A-Z.

Spooky Phonics: draw a line from the letter to the word that begins with the same letter.

Math

Pumpkins, bats, and spooky characters make counting tons of fun!

Pumpkin Counting: color the same number of pumpkins as shown.

Halloween Party Math Maze: fill in the missing numbers 1-25.

Halloween I Spy: count of many of each picture you spy and then write the number in the corresponding box.

Color the Bats: color the same number of bats as shown.

More Halloween Fun:

Check out my book recommendations: MONSTERS, GHOSTS, SKELETONS, BATS, and ZOMBIES

Halloween Crafts: Mickey Mouse Pumpkin, Handprint Pumpkin, Coffee Filter Bats, and Dot Paint Ghosts

Science Experiment: make this fall-themed Pumpkin Fizz and watch as the fizz forms when the vinegar mixes with the baking soda!

I Spy Counting Worksheets: my son loves the “I Spy” challenges, so I have made a lot of them. Try the Bat I Spy, Fall I Spy, and Owl I Spy worksheets too.

Fall, Halloween

Handprint Ghost Stick Puppet Craft

Make this adorable ghost stick puppet craft with your preschooler’s cute little handprint!

handprint ghost stick puppet craft
Ghost Stick Puppet Craft

Supplies Needed:

-black construction paper

-washable white paint

-craft stick

-black sharpie

-scissor

-white school glue / or glue dot

How to Make:

First, paint your child’s hand white. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints. They are easy to wash off which is fantastic since we somehow seem to get paint everywhere.

Second, stamp your child’s hand onto black paper. Tip: have baby wipes or a wet paper towel nearby to quickly wipe the paint of your kid’s hand.

Third, cut out hand print. I cut an oval around my son’s handprint. Let the paint dry.

Fourth, draw a face with your sharpie. It’s easier to draw the face before you attach it to the craft stick. My son wanted a happy ghost, so his has smile πŸ™‚

Fifth, attach the ghost handprint to a craft stick. I used glue dots because they do a great job at instantly attaching craft pieces together without having to wait for anything to dry. If you aren’t familiar with glue dots, think of them as super sticky, clear round stickers. They are easy to use and don’t leave any mess! These are my go to for gluing/attaching crafts together. If you don’t have glue dots, then use white school glue.

Now your cute little ghost stick puppet craft is ready! Booooooooooooo! What adventures will your stick puppet go on?

More Ghost Fun:

Check out my Ghost book recommendations. These stories are all preschooler-approved and should be available at your local library!

Ghost Dot Paint Craft

Want to make another ghost craft? Try this cotton-swab dot ghost painting craft. Not only is it cute, but it helps preschoolers work on their fine motor skills too!

I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. I get a small percentage of the sale if you purchase something through the links I provided. Thank you for your support! Happy reading πŸ™‚

Animals, Fall, Halloween

Coffee Filter Bat Craft

Coffee Filter Bat Craft

My son and I really love coffee filter crafts. After the success of our Coffee Filter Leaves craft, we decided to make bats. Our coffee filter bat craft turned out awesome! We experimented with colors and liked the way the purple, blue, and black markers looked together.

Supplies Needed:

Coffee Filter Bat Craft supplies: markers, paint, paintbrush, clothespins, coffee filters, scissors, and a spray bottle.
Coffee Filter Bat Craft Supplies

-coffee filters

-markers (NOT permanent)

clothespins

paint and paintbrush

-scissors

-spray bottle filled with water

-OPTIONAL: googly eyes, glitter glue, or metallic sharpie to make eyes

How to Make Coffee Filter Bats:

Clothespins:

First paint your clothespins. We painted ours purple and black. I like to use Crayola Washable Paints; they are easy to wash off. Begin by painting one side of the clothespins. Let them dry. Later, you can paint the other side while your coffee filters are drying.

Coffee Filters:

Color your coffee filter with markers. It is important to use markers that easily wash off of surfaces because the color will bleed through the coffee filter. Don’t worry about how your coffee filter looks. The colors will run together after your spray it with water and any design you had will be gone.

Now it is time to spray the coffee filters! This is my son’s favorite part. Once you begin spraying the coffee filters with water, the color will immediately bleed onto your surface. We chose to spray ours on the grass. If you don’t have an outdoor area that you can make a mess on, then make sure that whatever surface you are using is cleanable. You can also put wax paper under your coffee filters to catch the run off liquid. We learned that the more water your spray, the less vivid the colors are. Experiment with lightly versus heavily spraying your coffee filters and see which way you like best.

We left our coffee filters on the grass to dry in the sun. They dried in about 20 minutes (it was a warm afternoon). They will take longer to dry if they are on wax paper.

Now, to make them look like bat wings you have to fold the coffee filter in half. I trimmed semi circles along the edges of the coffee filters, which gave them a bat-wing look.

Keep the folded side at the top. In the middle of the coffee filters, pinch the coffee filters (from top to bottom) to tuck them into the snap-end of the clothespins. Now you have bats!

Coffee Filter Bat Craft
Coffee Filter Bat Craft

We didn’t have any googly eyes small enough to fit on the clothespins. My son and I used silver glitter glue to make eyes on a couple of our bats. We gave one a smile too! Experiment with metallic sharpies, glitter glue, and googly eyes to see which you like the best for your coffee filter bat crafts.

More Bat Fun!

Check out my book recommendations for great bat books to read after you make this craft.

Bat I Spy: count how many of each bat you see.

I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. I get a small percentage of the sale if you purchase something through the links I provided. Thank you for your support! Happy reading πŸ™‚

Halloween

Skeleton Stories

Skeleton stories for preschoolers
Skeleton Stories

My son loves Halloween and “spooky” things in general . We read tons of monster/zombie/skeleton/ghost books all read round! Here is a list of 8 skeleton stories to enjoy with your kiddo for Halloween (and all year long):

Skeleton Stories

The Nightmare Before Christmas

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton —

We are obsessed with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas!!! We had to include our favorite skeleton, Jack Skellington, in this list πŸ™‚ This book is based on Burton’s poem, but closely resembles an abbreviated version of the film. Jack lives in Halloweentown, where the inhabitants celebrate Halloween, but no other holidays. Growing bored with the same thing every year, Jack decides to take Santa’s place at Christmas and spread joy not only to Halloweentown, but to the whole world. Despite his good intentions, nothing goes right. However, through this series of trials and errors, Jack learns the true meaning of Christmas.

2.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.

Skeleton Hiccups

3. Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler–

This is a silly story about a skeleton who gets the hiccups. The skeleton tries all of the usual human remedies, but nothing works! Preschoolers will giggle at all of the humorous results of skeleton’s attempts to drive the hiccups away. Finally a ghost friend comes up with the perfect solution–scare the hiccups away! Ghost holds up a mirror and skeleton shrieks and the hiccups jump away πŸ™‚

Dem Bones

4. Dem Bones by Bob Barner–

Get ready to sing-song your way through this book! This rhyming book, complete with awesome illustrations of a skeleton band, help teach kids about the bones in the body. There are excerpts on each page that provide more anatomical detail for older kids.

Skeleton Meets the Mummy

5. Skeleton Meets the Mummy by Steve Metzger —

This is cute, reassuring story about being afraid of the spooky creatures on Halloween night. A young skeleton named Sammy has to run an errand through the woods before he can go trick-or-treating. Uh-oh, something is following Sammy. Yikes, it’s a mummy! Turns out this scary mummy isn’t so scary after all; it’s just Sammy’s friend dressed up in a costume. Preschoolers will love the illustrations and want to read this one over-and-over again!

Bonaparte Falls Apart

6. Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler. —

This is a cute story about a young 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.

Skeleton Cat

7. Skeleton Cat by Kristyn Crow–

Kristyn Crow writes great spooky books for preschoolers! In this rhyming, rocking book, Skeleton Cat comes back to the land of living after his bones are struck by lightning. He goes searching for the perfect band to accompany his drumming. Preschoolers will love the illustrations and the rock-n-roll fun of this book!

Bone Soup

8. Bone Soup by Cambria Evans–

In this Halloween-themed version of the folk tale, Stone Soup, a hungry skeleton named Finnigan arrives in a new town on Halloween night. Looking for some yummy food to share, Finnigan finds that none of the spooky inhabitants want to share with him. Finnigan declares that he is going to make bone soup from a magic bone that he has! The town’s inhabitants are intrigued by the skeleton’s declaration and they come to check out the soup. Little by little, they offer ingredients to the skeleton to add to the soup. Soon, there is pot of yummy soup with plenty to share with everyone.

I hope you enjoy these skeleton stories! 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 small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support! Happy Reading πŸ™‚

More Books!

Check out my ZOMBIE book recommendations, 12 MONSTER Stories post, and my GHOST Stories for preschoolers list.

Fall, Halloween

Zombie Books

Preschool Zombie Books

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:

“Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies!”

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.

“Peanut Butter and Brains”

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.

“Zombie In Love”

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.

“I Want to Eat Your Books”

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.

“Zombelina”

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.

Abigail and her pet Zombie: Halloween

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 πŸ˜‰

Fall, Halloween

Preschool Ghost Craft

Preschool ghost craft made with cotton swabs and paint.
Preschool Ghost craft

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 πŸ™‚

Preschool Ghost Stories Recommendations
Ghost Stories
Halloween

12 Monster Stories for Preschoolers

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.

“The Spooky Wheels on the Bus”

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 πŸ™‚ 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

“How to Catch a Monster”

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.

“Go Away, Big Green Monster!”

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.

“My Monster Mama Loves Me So”

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.

“The Haunted Ghoul Bus”

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.

“Spooky Hour”

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.

“Vampirina Ballerina”

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.

“The Monsters’ Monster”

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.”

“Moldilocks and the Three Scares”

9. 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.

“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!

“Bonaparte Falls Apart”

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.

“There was an Old Monster”

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!

Ghost Stories

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 πŸ™‚

Fall, Halloween

Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Craft

Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Craft

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 πŸ™‚ 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.