Witchy Halloween Fun
- Amy Wolf
- Sep 24, 2020
- 4 min read
Ready to add some witchtastic fun this October?
Last year our morning basket topic for October was witches. To date, it is one my daughter's favorite month-long units. I decided I would share it, should you still be on the fence for an October unit. We enjoyed so many fabulous read alouds, played games, and had a super fun invitation to play. I'll share some of our favorite activities for you, and then I will include a few links for some additional activities that we didn't make it to.
If you read my unit study planning process, you know I start all my planning with fabulous books. Unfortunately we did not make it to all the books we collected, but we made a pretty good dent, made some great memories, and added to our list of favorites. Here are some from the top of our list...
Non fiction books
When planning the unit, I decided to weave some non fiction and learning opportunities to the unit by including some books on the Salem Witch Trials. It gave us a great historical event to learn about, as well as some geography. Some great books for this topic are:
The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen (we love all the books in this series)
Another fabulous nonfiction option is Season of the Witch: A Spellbinding History of Witches and Other Magical Folk by Matt Ralphs, which focuses on witches throughout history.
Fiction books
Some of our favorite chapter books were:
Tom & Tallulah & The Witches' Feast by Vivian French
Billie B Mysteries: Spooky House by Sally Rippin
The Thickety Series by J.A. White
We did not have time to get to our Polly and Buster series, but have heard fabulous things about them!
Hands down, our two favorite picture books were:
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Picture book activities
When we do picture books, we enjoy doing hands on activities as well. Some great ideas for Room on the Broom:
The Room on the Broom Party Book by Julia Donaldson
Room on the Broom Big Activity Book by Julia Donaldson
Make a yarn wrapped witches broom like The Pinterested Parent did here
Make a witches hat like Cutesy Craft's paper plate hats here
You can add some simple fun to The Pomegranate Witch by enjoying some pomegranates as a snack. My kids enjoyed retrieving the seeds and eating them while we read.
Poetry and Invitation to Play
One of our favorite ways to read poetry is alongside an invitation to play. We enjoyed some fabulous witchy poetry with the following books:
I love the dough and kits from Rever Hands-on Learning. This was not a kit from them, just the dough. I built this invitation myself from miscellaneous items I ordered on Amazon. Some items we added in addition to the dough were:
Board Games
In addition to reading, we love to throw a couple games into our unit. Here are some fabulously fun topical games to add:
Educational resources
Perhaps you would like to add in more of an educational flair. Have no fear. Here are some fun learning opportunities for your little witches in training:
Here are some Room on the Broom printables for Pre-K kiddos
Here is a free spell printable so your kids can concoct their own spells
You can find a list of commonly used witches tools here
This is a fun homophone mystery for kids
For older kiddos, here is a fun Salem Witch Trial investigation activity
Witchy paired reading comprehension practice sheets can be found here
Arts and Crafts
Finally, adding in arts and crafts is a great way to round out your unit. Here are some fun ways you can incorporate some fun art projects:
Try this amazing oil pastel witch hat drawing by Make and Takes
How about some fun witchy legs like these ones from A Faithful Attempt
This bat silhouette idea from Easy Peasy and Fun would be great with bats, cats, or witches hats... or maybe all three!
And if you are the kind of mama that likes a lot of options, check out this witch-worthy craft post from This Tiny Blue House
Keep in mind morning baskets can range from as simple or complex as you like. Whatever works for, for your month, or for your current season. In the case of our witch unit, we had two field trips (one of which was a 5 day trip) planned, and we had limited time. We ended up simplifying what I had planned, but still had a great time, and as I mentioned, my daughter still talks about it. So, just like curriculum, make this guide work for you. Pull your favorite ideas, and fit them where you can.
I absolutely love seeing my ideas recreated, so by all means, if you follow me on instagram, tag me and share! Happy October and well witches to you all!
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