'J' is for Jack-O-Lantern

Ha ha right about now, I sure do wish I had started this about a week sooner, but oh well.  At least this way you can play with your Jack-o-lanterns for another week...right!?

This week we will cover:
The letter 'J'
'J' is for Jack-o-lantern
The color Orange
The Number 10
Hexagons
More and Less

Monday:  The Letter 'J'
-color a Letter 'J' coloring page
-while you are coloring, watch this, this, this, this, this and this
-have your kiddo trace the Letter 'J' on their coloring page with their finger
-glue your coloring page to a piece of Orange construction paper and Hang it on the wall
-make a set of Letter 'J' memory cards (one with the Letter 'J' on it, and the other with a Jack-o-lantern on it)
-go through the Letter 'J' section of starfall
-go jogging for J's (go on a jog through your neighborhood and look for things that begin with the letter 'J' like jeeps, jump ropes, etc)
-'J's' in a jar game (cut out 10 pictures of things that begin with the letter 'J' from magazines.  Glue them to pieces of construction paper so that only the side with the 'J' item on it can be seen.  Place the letter 'J' pictures in a jar and fill the jar with rice or beans--anything to cover the pictures.  Leave about two inches of head room in the jar.  Have you kiddo shake the jar and try to find all the letter 'J' pictures)
-sing your ABC's


Tuesday:  'J' is for Jack-o-lantern
-color a Jack-o-lantern coloring page
-while you are coloring, watch this and this.
-glue your Jack-o-lantern coloring page to a piece of Orange construction paper and hang it on the wall
-make a paper plate Jack-o-lantern (use washable paint to paint a paper plate orange.  Cut out eyes, a nose, and a mouth for a Jack-o-lantern face.  Let your kiddo decorate their "Jack-o-lantern")
-Make a Jack-o-lantern "stained glass" picture (use crayons to color a Jack-o-lantern on a plain white piece of printer paper--not construction paper.  After your picture is finished, use a cotton ball to rub baby oil (cooking oil would probably work just fine too) all over your picture.  The oil will make the paper transparent and the crayon will look sort of like stained glass!  Just be sure to do this on a table or surface that you can wipe clean after you are done!  Hang your Jack-o-lantern stained glass in a window to enjoy)
-sing this fun pumpkin song:


I'm a Little Pumpkin
~ adapted by E. Lassiter
Tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" 

I'm a little pumpkin,
orange and round.
I grow on a vine from
a seed in the ground.
When I get all grown up,
give me a face.
Put me outside,
in a very safe place. 

Wednesday:  Fun Day
-we are going to have a Fall Fun Day today!  We will go on a walk and look for any Jack-o-lanterns still lurking in our neighborhood.  We will collect some pretty fall leaves in all different colors.  And we'll probably enjoy a picnic in a local park too.
-Whatever you do, just have fun!!  :0)  And remember to do fun 'J' things like Jump in some leaves, Jog down the street, and sing a Joyful song or two! 

Thursday:  The Number 10
-color a Number 10 coloring page
-while you are coloring, watch this, this, this, this, and this
-have your kiddo trace the number 10 on their coloring page with their finger
-glue your coloring page to a piece of Orange construction paper and hang it on the wall
-make a set of number 10 memory cards (one with the number 10 on it, and the other with 10 stickers on it)
-hand-print art (get out a piece of construction paper and some colored paint.  Help your kiddo dip their hands in the paint and put two hand-prints next to each other on your piece of construction paper.  After the hand-prints dry, count the fingers.  You can even write numbers above each finger as you count them.)  
-sing 10 Little Indians
-review More and Less--talk about each one and what they mean
-play the More and Less candy game (Here's a fun way to use some of that leftover Halloween candy!  Get several jars or clear bowls.  Put different amounts of candy in each one.  Show your kiddo two jars at a time and have them tell you which one has more and which one has less)

Friday:  The color Orange
-watch this
-go on an Orange scavenger hunt (look around your house or yard for things that are Orange)
-make Orange Play Dough (divide the play dough recipe in half.  Use red food coloring in half of the recipe, and yellow food coloring in the other half.  Once the play dough cools, mix the two colors together and watch them turn into Orange!  You can also do this with paint, or icing, whatever floats your boat!)
-eat a fun orange snack (you can drink Orange Juice, and eat something like carrots, goldfish, peaches, cantaloupe, cheddar cheese, orange jello, orange bell pepper slices, macaroni and cheese etc)

Just as a side note, this will be the last week that we make number memory cards.  I don't know about you, but I don't think I could fit many more stickers on our cards!  You can continue them if you would like to, but the number memory cards won't be included in my weekly lesson plans.  And be sure to play your memory game every now and then...they really are great for review purposes!  


I hope you had fun learning the Letter 'J' with us!!  If you have missed a previous week, you can find it here.  Please check back next Sunday for 'K' is for Kite!