DAYS OF THE WEEK

Here's another great song for your morning routine.

Days of the Week (Tune: “The Addams Family” – Sing in sign language.)
Days of the week. Days of the week. (Snap fingers.)
Days of the week. Days of the week.
Days of the week.
There’s Sunday (Open palm and circle out.)
And there’s Monday, (Make an “m” and circle.)
There’s Tuesday (Make a “t” and circle.)
And there’s Wednesday, (Make a “w” and circle.)
There’s Thursday (Make an “h” and circle.)
And there’s Friday, (Make an “f” and circle.)
And then there’s Saturday. (Make an “s” and circle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JsfKTNAL50

*Point to the days on a calendar as you sing.

Days of the Week Active Chant
(Stand up to begin this rhyme.)
Sunday, Sunday,
Clap, clap, clap. (Clap hands.)
Monday, Monday,
Tap, tap, tap. (Tap foot.)
Tuesday, Tuesday,
Hop, hop, hop. (Hop on one foot.)
Wednesday, Wednesday,
Stop, stop, stop. (Hold up hand.)
Thursday, Thursday,
Jump, jump, jump. (Jump on two feet.)
Friday, Friday,
Thump, thump, thump. (Pound fists together.)
Saturday, Saturday,
Turn around. (Turn around.)
Now smile quietly
Without a sound! (Sit down and smile.)

Roller Coaster Days
Start your hands low and move them up slowly as you say the days of the week. When you get to the current day raise your voice high and then lower your voice and hands as you say the final days in the week.

For example, Wednesday would go like this: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, WEDNESDAY, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Spelling Days with a Song

https://bit.ly/drJHappyDays

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TODAY IS SUNDAY

Yep, I know today is FRIDAY, but you can check out my video of "Today Is Sunday" any day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JsfKTNAL50

This is an old camp song that's good for helping children learn the days of the week. And, yes, going forwards and backwards is actually good for the brain.

Write the days of the week paper plates as shown. Let children draw the foods in the song on the plates. Pass these out to seven children and let them stand in front of the room and hold up their plate at the appropriate time in the song.

Calendar Time
Every morning you can sing this song and insert specials for the day.

Today is day of the week.
Day of the week music (P.E., art, etc.)
All you lucky children, well, that's O.K."


My Favorite Foods
Fold two sheets of paper in half and staple to make a book. The children can write a different day on each page and then draw their favorite foods. (The teacher who shared this idea years ago said one little boy who was a picky eater drew macaroni and cheese on every page!)

PUMPKIN TALES

NOTE!  Here's the video where you can watch me tell these stories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JetOeIrEnAU&t=52s

I must have told this story thousands of times over the past 40 years. The wonderful thing is that it's "old" to me, but most of the teachers and children have never heard it before. You'll need to practice a few times before doing it for your class, but I guarantee you'll hear, "Do it again! Do it again!"

Pumpkin House Cut and Tell Story
Materials: orange paper, scissors
Directions: Place the orange paper and scissors in your lap. As you tell the story cut out the different parts with the scissors. At end of the story, the children will be delighted with the pumpkin house!
Hint! You can also tear out the paper with your fingers.

Once there was a little old lady who lived in a funny orange house near name of your school. Her house was shaped like half a circle with the chimney at the bottom.

This little lady had a cat named child’s name in your room. This cat had a long, curved tail, so the old lady had a special door cut just for the cat’s tail.

The little lady always wore a pointed hat. She had a special door built for herself, too, so her hat would not fall off every time she went in and out the door.

The little lady had two pet birds. Their names were child’sname and child’s name. She had a window cut just for them so they could fly in and out and in and out.

It was getting close to Halloween, so all the children inteacher’s name classroom went to her house and knocked on her door. The little lady came to the door and said, “Close your eyes.” SURPRISE! It’s a jack-o-lantern!

Here's a link so you can download the directions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljYUVocVhRRTFHVGs/view?usp=sharing


Pumpkin Man Tell and Draw Story
Materials: large sheet of paper, marker 

Directions: Explain that you will need everyone to help you tell this story. Demonstrate the movements below. When you say the words in the story, then the children should make the motions.


“Knock” – pretend to knock on a door

“Rock” – move body back and forth

“Spin” – twirl hands around each other

“Come In” – make motion with hand


Draw the body parts on the paper as you come to them in the story.

Once there was a little old lady who would just sit all day and rock and spin and wait for somebody to come in.
 One day as she sat there rocking and spinning she heard a knock at the door.


“Come in,” she called. In came two big, black boots. (Draw boots on the board.) “I can’t talk to you big, black boots,” said the little old lady. So she just sat there and she'd rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.


“Come in,” she called. And in came two bony legs. (Draw two skinny legs coming out of the boots.) “I can’t talk to two bony legs,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.



“Come in,” she called. And in came a funny body. (Draw a pear shaped body on top of the legs.) “I can’t talk to a funny body,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.


“Come in,” she called. And in came two wiggly arms. (Draw wiggly arms coming off the body.) “I can’t talk to wiggly arms,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.


“Come in,” she called. And in came two big hands. (Draw hands at the end of the arms.) “I can’t talk to two big hands,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.


“Come in,” she called. And in came a big pumpkin head. (Draw a pumpkin head on the figure.) “Well, I can talk to a pumpkin man,” said the little old lady. And she did! 


Adaptations: End by singing “Do You Know the Pumpkin Man?” to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”

WITCH WICHES

My students loved to say this rhyme and giggle when the witch tore her britches! (I don't why that was so silly to them, but it was.)

3 Little Witches
(Tune: “Ten Little Indians”)
One little, two little, three little witches. (Hold up 3 fingers.)
Flying over haystacks, flying over ditches. (Fly fingers in the air.)
Slid down the moon and tore their britches! (Touch pants and then cover eyes.)
Hi, ho, Halloween’s here! (Clap hands.)

Choose three children to be witches and act out the song. Make brooms by rolling up several sheets of newspaper. Tape. Cut down 8” from one end and fluff.

Stirring Our Brew
Stirring and stirring and stirring our brew… (Pretend to stir.)
Wooooooo! Woooooo! (Cup hands by mouth.)
Stirring and stirring and stirring our brew… (Stir.)
Wooooooo! Wooooo! (Cup hands by mouth.)
Tip-toe. Tip-toe. BOO! (Pretend to tip-toe.)


Witch’s Stew
How about a little witch’s stew for snack. You will need lunch sacks, 1 large bowl (or plastic witch's pot), Cheerios, pretzel sticks, fish crackers, raisins, M & M’s, peanuts, chocolate chips, and ice cream cones.

1.Write “frog eyes” on one sack and fill with Cheerios.
2 Write “salted bones” on the second sack and fill with pretzel sticks.
3.Write “dead fish” on the third sack and fill with fish crackers.
4.Write “worm pieces” on the fourth sack and fill with raisins.
5.Write “lizard gizzards” on the fifth sack and fill with M&M’s.
6.Write "bat toes" and fill with chocolate chips.

Place the large bowl on the floor and make up a story about collecting all the items for your witch’s stew. One at a time let children come up and dump the contents in the bowl. Stir with a spoon as you sing the above song. Serve in ice cream cones.
Hint! You can substitute miniature marshmallows, gluten free snacks, or other foods for any of the ingredients.




Ghost Busters
Cut ghost shapes out of white paper. Write letters, numerals, words, or whatever skill you want to reinforce on the ghosts. Staple ghosts to a bulletin board and let the children identify the information as they swat the ghosts with a fly swatter.
*You can make a similar game from a file folder. Glue a hand to a craft stick and use to swat the ghosts.


Scary Things
Halloween is a good time to talk about things that are real and things that are pretend. It’s also helpful to talk about things that scare us. I always talk about things that scare me, and that usually encourages the children to open up and talk about things that scare them. Everybody’s afraid of something, and that’s O.K. Make a class book called “Scary Things” where each child draws their fears and dictates or writes a story about them.

WELCOME TO MY PUMPKIN PATCH

I might be an "old lady," but I'm still a kid at heart when it comes to Halloween. This was always a happy time of year for me and for my children.

Once I Had a Pumpkin
(Tune: “Lassie and Laddie”)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin.
(Hands over head like a pumpkin.)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.
With no eyes and no nose and no mouth and no teeth.
(Point to facial features.)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.
So I made a jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.
(Draw a jack-o-lantern in the air.)
So I made a jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.
With big eyes and a big nose and big mouth and big teeth.
(Draw facial features in the air.)
So I made a jack-o-lantern with a big funny face.

*Draw a jack-o-lantern on the board as you sing the song.


Pumpkin Paint
Mix equal parts of flour and salt. Stir in orange tempera paint. (Obviously, if it’s powdered, you will need to add some water, too.) Add a spoonful of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the paint and stir. Children can paint a pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or whatever they want. Their painting will be textured and smell good, too!

Pumpkin Seeds
Before carving your pumpkin, have the children estimate how many seeds they think it will contain and write down their estimations. Have the children separate the seeds and count them. Who guessed more? Who guessed less? Who guessed the closest amount? Cook some of the seeds by rinsing them and frying them in a little butter and salt. Save some of the seeds to plant in the spring.


Paper Plate Pumpkins
Make pumpkins out of paper plates. Choose five children to hold the pumpkins as you say the rhyme. You could also cut pumpkins out of felt and use on a flannel board.




Pumpkin Play Dough
Make homemade play dough and add red and yellow food coloring to make it orange. Let the children knead in pumpkin pie spices. They’ll have fun making pumpkins, pies, and other characters.

Hint! Add pumpkin pie spice to make aroma play dough.

Math Games
Make games where children seriate pumpkins from large to small or put pumpkins in numerical order.

AVOCADO AND AUTUMN 


http://bit.ly/drjeanHalloween
AVOCADO Halloween!

Form the pumpkin
Carve the pumpkin
Jack-o lantern, funny jack o lantern

Form the mummy
Wrap the mummy
Walk like a mummy

Form the skeleton 
Dance the skeleton 
Shake your bones

Form the brew
Cook the brew
Stir the brew - oooooo

Form the cave
Go in the cave
Bats and spiders

Put on your costume
Go trick or treat
Eat the candy eat all the candy

Form the avocado
Peel the avocado
Guacoween – happy Halloween!




http://bit.ly/drjeanAutumn
AUTUMN AVOCADO

Form the tree 
Falling leaves
Rake the leaves

Form the pumpkin
Cook the pumpkin
Pumpkin pie – make pumpkin pie

Form the scarecrow
Dress the scarecrow
Dance the scarecrow

Form the apple
Dip the apples – make candy apples
Eat the apple 

Form the football
Throw the football
Catch the football

Form the nut
Crack the nut
Squirrels eat the nuts

Form the avocado
Peel the avocado
Guacamole - eat the guacamole and have an awesome autumn!

TAKE YOUR TEDDY TO SCHOOL DAY

October 11th is "Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day." Who would have thought??? However, everybody loves teddy bears and you could celebrate with a teddy bear party any day.  

Hint!  Wouldn't this Friday be more fun with teddy bears?

So where did this love affair with teddy bears begin? President Theodore Roosevelt was a hunter. While hunting in Mississippi in 1902, he refused to shoot a small bear. The Washington Post published a story about it and illustrated the event with this cartoon.

Brooklyn candy shop owner, Morris Michtom, saw the cartoon and asked his wife to make two stuffed toy bears to go in his shop window. After asking permission from President Roosevelt, he called them “Teddy’s bears.” Eventually Michtom started the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company.

About the same time a German named Margaret Steiff was making her living by sewing stuffed animals. An American saw a stuffed bear she had made and ordered many of them. These bears also came to be known as Teddy Bears…and that’s how the whole thing started.

"Teddy Bear Party"
Ask children to bring their favorite teddy bear (or other stuffed animal) and introduce him/her to their classmates. (Encourage them to name their bear and explain why they love their bear.)

*Let children draw pictures and write stories about their bears.

*Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast real bears and stuffed bears.

*Read some books about teddy bears. Let children vote on their favorite using a bar graph.

*Play “build a bear” which is similar to hang man. Think of a word and then make blanks for the letters in the word. As children call out letters, write them on the lines. If they call out a letter not in the word begin drawing a bear (body, head, ears, etc.).

*Make a teddy bear sandwich. You’ll need a cookie cutter shaped like a teddy bear. Cut out the bread and then decorate with cream cheese, peanut butter, or your favorite topping. Use raisins, chocolate chips, etc. to decorate.

*Let children make teddy bears from play dough.

*Peanut butter play dough makes cute bears you can eat. (Mix 2 TB smooth peanut butter, 1 tsp. honey, and 2 TB instant dry milk in a bowl. Stir until smooth.)

This is a delightful youtube video of Anne Murray singing about the Teddy Bears’ Picnic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxFIGWm9M6w

I SEE THE MOON!

I SEE THE MOON!

I SEE THE FULL MOON!

I SEE THE SUPERMOON!

OCTOBER 6, 2025

I see the moon
And the moon sees me...

From the time children are toddlers, most of them are fascinated with the moon. The moon is FREE and it belongs to EVERYONE! Wouldn’t it be interesting to have children look at the moon every night for a month with their parents and draw a picture of what the moon looks like? What a meaningful way for families to do a little science together.

Facts for kids about the moon:

The moon goes around the earth.

The moon has no light, but it reflects the sun’s light.

The light of sun on the moon creates the different phases of the moon.
That’s why it looks different to us throughout the month.

It’s called a new moon when you can’t see it.

When the moon gets a little larger at night it’s called waxing.

As the moon gets smaller it’s called waning.

The moon is always up in the sky, but during the day when the sun is bright you can’t see it.

*What other things can you see in the sky? Take children outside and let them draw pictures of the things they see.

*Is there really a man in the moon? The moon has craters that make it look like a face.
Give children uncolored play dough and let them make a moon/pancake. Have them make craters in their moon with a pencil eraser or the end of a marker.

https://www.freehomeschooldeals.com/free-printable-moon-phases-mini-book/

Don’t forget to read two of my favorite books GOOD NIGHT, MOON, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOON.