Halloween Fun With Our Little Friends - Pumpkin Surprise!

My students are the BIG kids at our K-6 school.  Once a month we get together with our little friends (kindergarteners) to complete an activity together.  My students benefit from this because they get to be the leaders, they need to help and guide their little friend.  The kindergarteners benefit from this, because they get one-on-one support with an activity that would be too difficult for them to do alone.
In short, everyone wins!

Well, it's October and time for Halloween.  As promised, I am sharing an idea each day this week - fun and educational Halloween activities.

Halloween Idea #2:  Pumpkin Surprise

This is a really fun activity for younger students, generally a teacher does one in front of the entire class, but by making this an activity for our Big Friends/Little Friends get-together, each kindergartener goes home with his/her own Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin.

What you will need:

Each big friend needs a large piece of orange construction paper, scissors (they could tear it with their fingers instead) and a copy of the story.

What they will do:

The big friend will tell the story of the mouse and the clubhouse to his/her little friend, as the story is told the big friend will cut or tear the paper to fit the story.

The Mouse and the Clubhouse Story:

(Start with an orange piece of construction paper, folded in half with the fold on the bottom)

“There once was a little mouse scurrying about in the forest one Halloween day when he found a huge, enormous piece of cheese!  He decided this gigantic piece of cheese would be perfect for a clubhouse, but first he would need to round the top a little, to make it look more like a house.  He also decided that it would be a good idea to have a balcony off the side of the clubhouse, because what good is a clubhouse without a lookout?”  The mouse nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  ”Funny tasting cheese” thought Mouse.

(Cut or tear the top corners off of the paper, make sure you leave a step – the balcony – off to one side of the paper at the fold)

Mouse stood back to look at his clubhouse.  “Very good,” he thought, “but I need a door so I can go inside.”   So, the mouse nibbled a door just his size.  He nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  ”Funny tasting cheese” thought Mouse.

 (Cut or tear a triangle or an oval for the door – make this small like the mouse.  This should be in the middle of the fold)

 Mouse stood back to look at his clubhouse.  “Very good,” he thought, “but I need a door for my best friend to come inside.  My friend is much taller than me, and he has a long curvy tail.”  You see, mouse’s best friend was cat.  I know, most people think that cats chase mice and eat them, but the truth is that they are best friends.  True, the cat does chase the mouse, but that is just because it is their favorite game!  The cat would never really hurt his friend the mouse!  “I need a taller door with room for cat’s long curvy tail,” thought the mouse.  So he nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  “Funny tasting cheese,” thought the Mouse.

 (Cut or tear a tall, skinny door with a curve at the top curving toward the mouse’s door.  Make sure you do this on the side that is farthest from the balcony.)

 Mouse stood back to look at his clubhouse.  “Very good,” he thought, and he went inside.  “Oh no!  It is much too dark in here!”  So mouse decided that he would make a window to let in the light.  “I need my window to be up where it can let the sunlight in,” thought the mouse.  So he nibbled and chewed, and nibbled and chewed.  “Funny tasting cheese,” thought the Mouse.

(Poke your scissors through, and cut a circle or other shape.  You can have your little friend suggest the shape for the window)

 Finally the clubhouse was ready!  Mouse ran to get his friend cat to see their new clubhouse.  But while mouse was gone a big, scary Halloween wind blew through the forest!  It made all of those creaky, creepy Halloween sounds as it blew through the leaves and branches of the forest.  (Make scary wind sounds) It blew the clubhouse so hard that it tipped over.  When mouse and cat came racing back to the clubhouse, they realized that it wasn’t really a piece of cheese at all…It was a pumpkin, and Mouse had carved it into a Jack-o-Lantern!  “No wonder that cheese tasted so funny!”  said Mouse!

(Open up the folded orange paper, and show your little friend the Jack-o-Lantern that you made!)