N is fascinated with Halloween decorations, and with every animatronic witch and 10-foot spider that we see around town she decides that we, too, need to own “that!”. We decorated with some cobwebs, pumpkins, and a 3 foot spider, but apparently that’s not enough! After seeing a ton of ghosts yesterday, followed by lengthy discussions about our spooky friends, with my daughter asking “how could we make a ghost?”, this ghost bonanza emerged. I’m not an early child educator, but I’ve taken an interest in emergent curriculum, which is planning a curriculum based on students’ interests, and the proof that this concept need not be relegated to preschools was in the HOURS of ghost decorating and play that followed.
While N was napping, I cut up some fabric for ghost-making.
The remains of the t-shirt I cut up for the Upcycled Circle Scarfs would become ghost heads.
I laid these out during naptime, and when she woke up she threw them across the room. Really! Anyone else have kids who wake up grumpy from their naps?
Once the dust settled and bellies were filled with snacks, we made our ghosts and hung them from a tree.
And had fun swinging at ’em like a pinata. Pinatas are big around here.
We drew ghosts on the sidewalk.
Then we came inside and made more ghosts out of paper. I pre-cut them into blobby ghost shapes…
…and then N went to town.
The ghost family kept growing and growing. At one point my darling daughter proclaimed, “I’m making our house really spooky!” True that! Then N decided to embellish with stickers, sequins and pencil. After dinner, the ghost-making continued. I was truly floored by her commitment to this project.
I am also amazed at N’s focus and dedication. Simone has friends who can sit and focus and it always amazed me. Though it shouldn’t. All personalities are different. I am sure Simone amazes most with her endless physical energy.
she has recently been interested in learning to read. her friends who can sit still are doing really well and this inspires her. but sitting is such a challenge that we are now creating physical games so she can practice her sounds and get excited. it’s really fun.
when i take inspiration from other blogs, i always think about my own child’s disposition, and how she’d take to the project. we’re all so very different!! that’s great that you’ve paid attention to simone’s interest in reading, and you’re balancing it with her desire to bounce around. brilliant! you’ll have to tell me more about how you’re doing that 🙂 xo
I love the way their play takes off when they are interested in something – so special and exciting.
i agree! it’s wonderful when they arrive in the zone and forget about everything around them.
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