13 Days of Halloween 2018 - Day 10 Frankenstein Friday

Happy Frankenstein Friday! This holiday hoopla is celebrated the last Friday of October and pays homage to one of my favorite Halloween icons - Frankenstein's Monster (I was an English major - getting the name right is kind of a big deal to me).

What can you do to celebrate Frankenstein Friday? I'm so glad you asked!

First of all, watching the original 1931 film (featuring Boris Karloff as the monster) might be a bit over the top for some (most) kids, but luckily there's a great kid friendly adaptation by one of my very favorite freaky-family-friendly film creators - Tim Burton: Frankenweenie. I love the complete black-and-white filming of this movie and it easily lends itself to encouraging kids to explore their own mad scientist tendencies (STEM anyone?).

Of course, any good movie needs a good snack to accompany it, and there are a few fun options that tie into the Frankenstein theme. First, you can go the healthy route - here is a super simple Frankenstein apple idea from NonToy Gifts and a more complicated Frankenstein Kiwi idea from Two Healthy Kitchens.

Looking for some more crowd friendly, but still healthy, ideas that you can whip up and snap but will definitely be show stoppers? Here's a super cute (and super easy) idea from Blue Skies Ahead to make a Frankenstein veggie platter and a Bride of Frankenstein (he can't have all the fun, can he?) dip platter that looks amazing from Fork and Beans.

Now, with the snack options covered (not that there aren't a million more, remember, Pintrest is your friend). We can take a look at some fun craft ideas to keep hands busy. Our kids LOVE legos and I found this cool diagram (sorry, no instructions) for making a Frankenstein's monster out of legos that was part of the build together network (not absorbed by lego.com).We're going to expand the idea and have the kid create mad scientist labs to house their Frankenstein's monsters. I also found a fun game from House a Forest called Roll a Frankenstein. I personally love dice games because I happen to have quite a collection in various colors and shapes (I might be a self-proclaimed nerd).

Want something a little more crafty for your little hands to do? Here's a really cute Frankenstein sun catcher idea found at From ABCs to ACTs and and Frankenstein Foldable Craft from Artists Helping Children.

I love themed days like this because it lets me pull out all the stops for a special Thirteen Days of Halloween. Do you have any fun Frankenstein's Monster themed ideas? Are you celebrating Frankenstein Friday? Let me know!

13 Days of Halloween 2018 - Day 9

What to do when a perfect Artists Spotlight opportunity presents itself (it's Pablo Picasso's birthday!) in the middle of a Thirteen Days of Halloween roll? Combine the two of course! I must not have been the only person who had this game plan (thankfully) because I found a wonderful article from Arts and Activities October 2005 (so we're going back to the archives for this project) called If Picasso Made Witches by Cynthia H. Sheeler. Now, I couldn't find this project on their website (other than in their article list of purchase archives), but I found a full image of the article on Pintrest (I love that place!).

I highly recommend reading the article, it's a super quick read and has lots of good information on how to get kids invested in art. In our club, I try to do a different focus art project each month, something that will engage the kids and teach them about an important figure in art history. This project is perfect for that and because it uses limited supplies, it's also very budget friendly.

Supplies Needed: 

Construction Paper

 - lots of scraps

 - two full sized sheets (any color)

 - 1-2 full sized sheets of black for the witch's hat

 - 12x18-ish (we use what we have so ours isn't quite 12x18)

Examples of Picasso's works (we used those listed in the article and I just found pictures through google)

 - Girl Before a Mirror

 - Woman with Book

 - The Dream

 - Dora Maar

Black Markers (permanent if you're a brave soul)

Glue or glue sticks

Simple Breakdown of the Project:

Take the two full sized sheets of paper together and cut matching ovals from them. These will be your face. Glue the first oval (blue in the example above) to your background paper and use the second to cut the profile image (orange in the example above). Use the black piece(s) of paper to create a wonderfully wonky witch hat and all of the scraps to make the rest of the facial features. Use the black marker to create hair and add any finishing touch details. Of course, our own little Picassos added their own touches to the project. Here you can see three of our awesome Club kids and their creations.

Does your club have an artists spotlight or a special arts program? Have you created a great project to share influential artists with your kids? Let me know!

13 Days of Halloween 2018 - Day 6

I love, love, love pumpkins. I don't think it's healthy, actually. I go crazy for pumpkin spice anything, I can't get a cactus to live yet I muddle through an attempt at a pumpkin patch at least every five years (just long enough to forget just how bad I am at growing things), a visit to my favorite local pumpkin patch (shout out to Fredrickson Farms in Carl Junction, MO) is a necessity, and I have pumpkins everywhere! Imagine my delight when I discovered that there is actually a National Pumpkin Day!

So what does a devoted pumpkin-lover do to celebrate National Pumpkin Day? Um, can you say ALL THE THINGS?!? Okay, so I understand that the kids might not share my extreme love of all things pumpkin and so I turn down my pumpkin-meter just a smidge when I'm preparing activities for the club. First, we need a pumpkin themed snack. The kids are always excited when we have food, and even the big kids get happy with themed food (even if they are too cool to admit it most of the time). For our super cute snack we're having Tangerine Pumpkins found over at Bren Did. 

After we enjoy a healthy and super cute snack it's time for daily programs! First program is triple play where we often do games in the gym. For National Pumpkin Day, we are playing a pumpkin broom race that is super simple from One Charming Party. If your group doesn't have real pumpkins, some other options are to use orange balloons or foam pumpkins (I was able to find very inexpensive ones at Dollar Tree this year).

After our game in the gym, we move to Power Hour and Project Learn. Power Hour is pretty basic - it's homework time, but for Project Learn we do a fun learning activity each day. For National Pumpkin Day, it's a great opportunity to incorporate some pumpkin science. I found a fun idea over at Little Bins for Little Hands I was surprised to find how many of our kids don't get the opportunity to actually experience "pumpkin guts" because so many families no longer carve pumpkins. Well, I felt like that was a kid experience that everyone should have, so the first step of pumpkin science is actually a bit of pumpkin dissection. I cut the top off our pumpkin and let the kid take the opportunity to feel the pumpkin guts and pull some out. Don't throw those guts away - clean the seeds off and roast them for kids to try. After the pumpkin is cleaned out, it's time to carve a simple face. As this uses sharp objects, it's an adult demonstration activity. If you want, you can do this in a two pumpkin-process so that you have one already carved and ready for the volcanic effect. Make sure if you're using a carved pumpkin, make sure you've got it placed on a large sheet pan or a hotel pan so that you don't have such a mess to clean up at the end.

Do you have favorite pumpkin themed activities? What does your club to do incorporate pumpkin science? Do you share my ultimate love of pumpkins? Let me know!

13 Days of Halloween 2018 - Day 5

Y'all, I'm going to be completely transparent for just a minute. Today is not only the 5th day of the 13 Days of Halloween, but it is the LAST DAY OF FALL BREAK. Now, I don't know about your Club sites, but around here, if school is out, the Club is in. For us that means that for the last three days we've had kids for at least 10 hours a day. Let me say that again TEN HOURS A DAY. Not only are we with these kids for a very long time, many of them are not regular Club kids. This means they don't really know the everyday rules and procedures of the Club. Fall Break is a bit of a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Winter Break and for new staff who have yet to endure experience a break, it can sometimes feel like a hazing. Now granted, our staff aren't working 10 hour days, but when you're neck deep in the trenches a 5-7 hour shift can easily feel like a 10 hour day. So, with all of that transparency (perhaps more than you asked for), I give you Day 5 of the 13 Days of Halloween: Back Pocket Ideas (or How to Make Breaks Not-Quite-As-Scary). For those of us who work with kids on a daily, these Back Pocket Ideas are like early Trick or Treating (although I try and make sure our staff have some candy hidden around the Club too).

Now I'm not sure what other organizations refer to these little golden nuggets as, but I learned the term over my years as a Girl Scout leader and trainer. Basically, Back Pocket Ideas are games, songs, activities, anything that keeps your group occupied for the extra five or ten minutes until the next activity starts. The premise is that you keep them tucked away in your Back Pocket until you need them and since they require no set up or materials, you can use them easy peasy anytime. So, since this is the final day of Fall Break, I can assure you our staff have been pulling out the Back Pocket ideas. Here are some of my favorite ideas that I've used over the years.

Who Has It? Who Doesn't?

Staff chooses an observable object such as hair ribbons, watch, white shirt, and says, "Ann has it, James doesn't." When someone thinks they know, they raise their hand and guess. Each youth may make only one guess per object until everyone has had a chance, or until a given time limit has passed. With younger children, the children who "have it" line up on one wall and the ones who don't "have it" line up on the other wall, so they can have visual clues to the criteria or concept.

Barnyard

Each child is given the name of an animal with three children having the same name. No one is allowed to tell another which animal he is. At the signal each child makes the noise of the animal that he has been given. The first group of three animals to find each other and sit down are the winners.

Machines

Groups of 6-10 must create a moving machine by miming it all together, (each person is a part of the machine). Others must try to guess what the machine is. No talking or noises are allowed.

Oh Deer!

A game where a herd of deer seeks food, water and shelter to survive. The group should be split into 2 even groups and they should be at either end of the playing space facing opposite directions. One group will be the environment and the other will be the deer. The environment and the deer will pick one of three signs; WATER (hand over mouth), FOOD (hands on stomach) or SHELTER (hands in a peak overhead). On the go signal from the leader, both groups will turn around and make their  symbol. The deer will run towards the environment that is the same as their sign. If they get an environment, both players become deer. If the deer cannot find the appropriate symbol, they will die and become part of the environment. Fluctuations in the deer population due to different causes can be shown in different rounds.

Okay, I'm going to be real with you all again... I know these aren't Halloween related. But, remember when I said it was the LAST DAY OF FALL BREAK. Yeah, I kinda need a break too. But, they really are great ideas and they are super helpful to have whenever you need them.

Do you have favorite Back Pocket Ideas that you pull out in your Clubs? Let me know!

13 Days of Halloween 2018 - Day 4

For the fourth day of Halloween my true love gave to me....chocolate cupcakes? Well of course, because it's National Chocolate Cupcake Day. However, we can't share just plain old chocolate cupcakes for a 13 Days of Halloween post, so instead, here are some fantastically freaky takes on cupcakes that your little ghouls will gobble up!

Witch Hat Cupcakes from Takes Better From Scratch

Graveyard Cupcakes from Your Homebased Mom

Marshmallow Ghost Cupcakes from Our Family of Seven

Halloween Dirt Cupcakes from Like Mother, Like Daughter

Mummy Cupcakes from Frugal Mom, Eh

And my personal favorite, Frankenstein Cupcakes from Your Cup of Cake.

While chocolate cupcakes aren't exactly a healthy snack choice, they are really, really yummy. If we were implementing a cooking lesson like these at our Club, we might do some easy healthy swaps - applesauce for the oil, and mashed bananas for the eggs in the cake mix for example. But, the truth is, there are times when I let "healthy" fly out the window and just embrace the "fun". I think this would be one of those times.