Too Many Pumpkins!

Have you read about Rebecca Estelle and her cat Esmerelda?  If not, you are missing out.  These two are a delight, as is this fun fall story.  I do not want to spoil the plot for you, but I will tell you this, the book lends itself well to enriching vocabulary, practicing past tense, making predictions, sorting verbs and adjectives, not to mention that it is just plain fun!

Too Many Pumpkins, by Linda White is not a book about Halloween. There are no scary parts, no trick-or-treat or costumes.  It is mostly a story about too many pumpkins with a few Jack-o-lanterns, a couple of laughs, some problem solving, and a very feel good ending!

The first time I read this book was years ago while volunteering in my son's 2nd grade class.  I wasn't familiar with the story, but I loved it so much I rushed out to add to my collection.   If it's one you haven't read I suggest you check it out ASAP.   If you already know how wonderful it is be sure to check out the literature activities I have designed to compliment the book for use in your classroom. I do hope you love it as much as I do!

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Pumpkin Art

This has got to be one of my all time favorite art projects!  I discovered  the idea during our homeschooling years and decided to give it a go.  The results far exceeded my expectations.  I loved my son's end result so much that I had note cards printed.

NOTE: this is a multi-day project, as you will need to give the white glue time to dry before you can ink and watercolor, but it was so worth it!

Are you familiar with Artsonia? They describe themselves as the "largest student art museum in the world!" Every child can have an online art gallery and preserve their masterpieces for all time.  It really is quite a wonderful place.  Not to mention that there are tons of fantastic ideas to be found for teachers, homeschool parents or those who just love being artsy with their kiddos!

I mention Artsonia because that is where I got the idea for this project and where I had the note cards printed too!  They can print student artwork on all kinds of neat things and they will give a percentage of sales back to your school.  Pretty fantastic!

Here is the link to this project:
Pumpkink

If you haven't been to Artsonia yet I highly encourage you check it out!

Also be sure to check out my Halloween Fun Pinterest Board for more ideas to use in the classroom this Fall!