Fun with Foam Pumpkins

During our last trip to the dollar store, "A" spotted these little cuties. Foam pumpkins! I am so glad she noticed these because when I saw them I knew we could use them for a few Halloween games and activities.  

If you don't know about some of the cool activities your child can do with foam, check out our Foam Window Clings.  This is a variation on that activity.

Supplies you will need:

• Foam sheets, foam pumpkins (you can also cut out your own)
• Googly eyes
• Glue
• Cup with water and paint brush

This is a very frugal activity as almost everything came from the dollar store.  They sell these foam sheets in the craft section of the dollar store and I cut out some Halloween shapes from the foam.  I wanted to jazz up my shapes a little more so I added some googly eyes and mouths to these ghosts I made.  I also cut out some green monsters, a moon, a haunted house, and a gate for our pumpkins to sit on.  I bet some of you really artistic types can make some great stuff out of the foam.  You can also trace some stencils or cookie cutters and cut out some fun shapes.

Each kid got a tray like this with supplies.

A, B and C set to work "painting" the back of the foam with their water and brush and sticking the foam to the window.

B was really determined to stick her moon high in the sky.

"A" puts her pumpkins on the gate.  We had a teachable moment here as I asked A to put one pumpkin on the top of the gate and one on the bottom of the gate.  We reviewed top and bottom by playing the same game with our ghosts and the gate.

B prefers her pumpkins on top of the gate.  

We were able sing a favorite song, Five Little Pumpkins.

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one said, Oh, my it’s getting late!

The second one said, There are witches in the air!

The third one said, But we don’t care!

The fourth one said, Let’s run and run and run!

The fifth one said, I’m ready for some fun!

Then Wooo went the wind

And out (clap) went the lights

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

C's pumpkins rolling out of sight.  

This was a relatively clean activity.  At one point C stepped in her cup of water and then sat down in the spilled water, but that's a pretty good day for us.  You can leave these shapes up as part of your Halloween decor or you can take them down and use them again somewhere else.  I have a feeling we'll be seeing these foam pumpkins again...

Linking to: Preschool Corner, Friday: Growing Up Gardner, Stay At Home Nation