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a FALL fave! five little pumpkins!

Friday, October 18, 2024

Halloween is less than two weeks away

and the excitement is building!

Our Littles love this season 

AND 

we love seeing the excitement in their eyes!


Yesterday, we shared 3 spooktacular and simple projects 

our own Littles are loving this October!

Each would be a perfect at-home activity

OR

even as a fun addition to any Halloween party

(dare we say, Boo Bash!) that you might be hosting!

If interested, you can find all the details here!


Today, we’re back with another Friday post!

We’re sharing a classic Halloween poem,

one that we’ve put our own GRAND spin to! 

Laurie and her Little D love the classic fingerplay 

5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate,

and they came up with this fun activity to go along with the story!


Have you ever heard this cute little Halloween rhyme?

It’s a well known verse that describes a spooky setting.

It's simple and easy to memorize!


Five Little Pumpkins… the Fingerplay!

Little D and I have recited this poem many times,

doing the actions… over and over!

If you are interested in reading the book to your Littles

below is a link to a cute version we like!




Five Little Pumpkins… Crafting Time!

Our project time started out with the plan to make different Halloween characters out of paper tubes for a possible Our Grand Lives post.  However, Little D had a different idea!  She had been chanting the pumpkin poem all day so she insisted on only making pumpkins!


As we flexible Grandmas do, I set aside the black, green and yellow paint, and added more orange paint to the paint tray.  I had Little D paint the entire tube, and helped her out by attaching a clothespin to help hold it so her hands wouldn’t get too messy.

When she was done painting three toilet paper tubes, we set them aside so the paint could dry.  Then I cut them each in half.  Little D curled up green pipe cleaners for the stems, and I taped them inside each tube.  (Yes… We had one “extra”!)


Then the “carving” began!

I just happened to have some jack o’lantern stickers available, so we used those for our pumpkin faces.  You could also use a black marker or you can glue on cut outs from black construction paper.

After we had admired the five pumpkins, Little D reminded me that we needed a gate, or as I had explained it to her - a fence.


We got out her blocks and constructed our “gate”.


Five Little Pumpkins… It's Showtime!

When we were done, Little D added the pumpkins to her gate 

and retold the rhyme a couple more times!

Little D lifted each pumpkin up when it was "their" turn.

She surprised me and added her own ending to the story….

She pushed all the pumpkins off the “gate” so they could “roll out of sight” 




Last year we shared several activities and crafts 

that celebrate this October holiday!

We’re highlighting a few of our favorite activities from that post below

but you can find all of the details by checking it out yourself - 


🎃  Window Cling Puppets!

We used a set of Dollar Tree window clings, construction paper, paper cups and craft sticks to make a set of Halloween puppets!


🎃 Stacking Ghosts!

Using a permanent marker, add ghost faces to 10 white paper or plastic cups.  Then let your Littles have fun building towers OR stacking the cups.  


🎃 Play Dough Monsters!

We pulled out 2-3 colors of play dough and some toothpicks.  Little L quickly got busy sticking toothpicks into the play dough balls - we said we were adding hair to each monster!  Little L then added googly eyes - one, two or three to each monster!  Pipe cleaners, buttons, feathers, noodles… The list of household materials to include goes on and on!


🎃 Find That Ghost - 2 Versions of a Fun Game!

Have you played The Elf on the Shelf during the holidaysIf so, here’s our Halloween version… Where’s Boo?   We’ve even thought of a way for Distant Grands and Littles to play together!  Remember, all the details can be found in this post.


A few weeks ago our Instagram, post recognized National Ghost Hunting Day.  We shared a fun way to celebrate the day that works great anytime, especially during the coming weeks… Hide ‘n Seek, Boo!  Make a couple of ghosts out of cardboard tubes.  Attach a Kleenex with a rubber band OR a sticker OR your own cut-out ghost.  Hide your ghost around the house and let your Little hunt for the ghost(s)!  BOO!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

We plan to be back next Thursday, October 24,

with one more Halloween post….

This one geared toward the adults in the crowd!

We invite you to subscribe to our OGL site 

so you always know when a new post is published!


In the meantime, follow our social media accounts

Instagram and Facebook -

where we share new content regularly!


And, don’t forget, we love connecting with our OGL community!

We welcome your thoughts, suggestions and ideas!

We love your comments!

Feel free to add a message at the end of this post

OR

If you prefer, you can also reach out to us directly


We started today's post with a knock-knock joke today,

and we'll leave you with a silly Halloween pun

for you to share with your Littles!



SPECIAL THANKS TO

A Morning Cup of Joe from The Cottage Market

Busy Monday from A Pinch of Joy

Handmade Monday from Sum of Their Stories

Thursday Favorite Things from Eclectic Red Barn

You are a Star from God's Growing Garden & Butterfly in the Attic


Thank you for featuring this post on your sites!

❤ We love our blogging community! ❤


💗 We are delighted to join the following link up parties and blog hops! 💗

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SUNDAY

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TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY


33 Comments


Guest
Nov 28

You two have some of the best ideas! These are wonderful. I have had the experience of working as a special ed bus para and the five little pumpkins is a great poem to say and act out during our ride. Thank you for sharing.


Debra | Gma’sPhoto

https://gmasphoto.website

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Guest
Nov 10

Sorry I missed these, they look a lot of fun. Thank you for your kind words over the previous few weeks on my blog posts, I really do appreciate it. x #pocolo @chickenruby

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Our Grand Lives
Nov 18
Replying to

You have been in my thoughts and prayers and will continue to be so as you journey on!

💕 Laura

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Guest
Oct 31

Wow, these are so adorable. As grandparents, you are the best. Congratulations, you are being featured on Thursday Favorite things. I hope you stop by.

https://eclecticredbarn.blogspot.com/2024/10/halloween-decor-on-tft.html

Hugs,

Bev

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Our Grand Lives
Nov 03
Replying to

We stopped by TFT before we saw this comment, Bev, and we were so surprised! Thanks so much for highlighting our "Five Little Pumpkins" post! Thank you!

❤️ Laura

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Michelle Finethy
Michelle Finethy
Oct 26

I love that this five little pumpkins cardboard craft uses recycled materials! I'm going to start saving my cardboard rolls to craft with my littles too :) - Michelle @ Treasured Craft Kitchen and Bath

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Our Grand Lives
Oct 28
Replying to

Thanks, Michelle! We do love using materials that are easily found around our house... we've found that kids love it, too! We're so glad you stopped by and took the time to comment! We'll be by to check out TCKB, too! - 💕 Laura

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Min G
Min G
Oct 24

Hi Laura, what a cute verse - I hadn't heard that before and such a great basis for craft and fun activity with the kids. There's loads of fun ideas here! Thanks for sharing with us at #WWWhimsy ! xo

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Our Grand Lives
Oct 26
Replying to

Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words, Min! "Five Little Pumpkins" and its rhyming verse was a staple in kindergarten for many years! It's fun to share it with our grandkids these days! - ❤️ Laura

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