A Spooktacular Idea?  You Decide!

The other day I was out walking our puppy, Chloe, in the dark and misty morning.

Perhaps it was because she was wearing her adorable little pumpkin hat, or maybe it was because my brain never shuts off, but when we passed a rubber glove lying in the leaves, it made me think of a craft project—ghost finger puppets.

We happened to have a box at home so I quickly snipped off the finger sections.

I wanted the edges to be a little jagged so they would look more “ghostly”.

Just as I had envisioned, their semi-transparent appearance gave them an eerie and spectral look-making them perfect little ghost finger puppets for a child.

To see which I liked best, I made some with black-magic marker eyes and then used mini glue dots to fasten some with wiggle eyes. You decide which "look" you prefer for your students.

They’re not only super-easy, quick and inexpensive to make, you can use them for a multitude of fun activities with your little punkins!

What to do with the digits:

Make a quickie center by putting up a TV tray covered with a black plastic tablecloth.  You can buy round ones at The Dollar Store.

Put some safety scissors, the wiggle eyes, black markers and a Halloween bowl filled with the rubber gloves on the table.   Demonstrate what to do and post your sample.

When everyone has made their puppet, gather your students together in a circle and do the Ghost Pokey.

Students should be wearing their finger puppets and do the movements with the ghost puppet.  Click on the link to view/print the Ghost Pokey song.

Have your students sit in a circle and practice counting by 1’s, 2’s , 3’s, 5’s, and 10’s with their finger ghosts.  When you count by 5’s and 10’s, have 5/10 students stand in front of the class and flash their finger ghost in unison as everyone counts.

Read stories like Three LIttle Ghosties, or 10 Timid Ghosts in a Haunted House and have your students follow along, adding and subtracting with their finger puppets.  Click on the link for some ghost activities.

Students can also use their ghostly finger to follow along as they read aloud or use it as a pointer to show the correct answer on the board or on their paper.

Click on the link for a skeleton “I Spy”.

My students LOVE doing these each morning.

Fill them in with numbers or letters.  Students point to the number/letter that you call out and then trace it.  They take the sheet home and play the game again by tracing the circles.

I hope the rest of your October is simply boo-tiful !