This is the culmination of previous posts showing how to make spooky noise effects, ghosts, spiders and witches.
A warning for parents. Children may be frightened by this video. Please watch first!
If however your family has been involved with the previous posts then they will understand how the effects came to be.
Make a Spider’s Web for your Jumble Tuft Spider.
This is a bit fiddly plus I use wooden skewers which have sharp ends so it is not suitable for young children and older children will need help and supervision. I suggest clipping off the pointed ends o& the skewers before you start or pieces of wooden doweling could be used instead.
The Cappuccini Gate in Spello.
What’s the connection between this gate in Spello, a cappuccino, an order of monks and Lizzie Witch.
Well, if you are a child it’s all about frothy milk and Lizzie Witch so for children go to the programme here: Frothy milk
If you are an adult then read on!
Around 1520 a friar from Marche in Italy said that God felt that the lifestyle of friars of his day was not that intended by their founder, St. Francis of Assisi and He endeavoured to return to the original primitive lifestyle
The Church tried to surpress this movement and Friar Matteo and his followers had to go into hiding. They were given refuge by the Camaldolese Monks and later adopted the hood or Cappucio worn by that order as a mark of gratitude. From this came the name of the order. Capuchin Momks.
Legend has it that when a Turk army fled after marching on Vienna in 1683 they left lots of sacks of coffee beans behind. The coffee made with these beans was very bitter and so milk and honey was added to make it drinkable. The drink was called Cappucino after the capuchin order of Monks the habits of which also just happened to be the same colours as a Cappuccino.
Above: the road in Spello leading from the Cappuccini Gate.
Bubbles are so much fun and kids love them. It’s incredible too how often we come into contact with bubbles during our every day lives without even thinking about it. Bread making, whipping up cream, whisking egg whites, fizzy drinks, washing etc etc.
We see them and use them so often that we take them for granted.
But to children , they are MAGIC!
There is so much to be learnt from bubbles but to kids it’s all just good fun. A perfect example of learning through Play.
The theme of one of my learning programmes for preschool children has a theme of Bubbles. If you haven’t watched it yet you can use the link below to view.
BUBBLES. Stories from Jumble House
If you are looking for some more activities on the ‘bubble ‘ theme then here they are! I’ve made short videos on most of the activities so just click on the links to view.
Why are bubbles different colours?
My kids loved this activity!
We half filled a bowl with water and added lots of soap to make masses of strong bubbles. Then we placed our hands under a pile of bubbles and walked around inside and out observing how the colours changed. Children will realise quickly what is happening but they won’t probably know the term ‘reflecting ‘ so this is a good opportunity to introduce and explain.
Are bubbles always round?
No matter how you try the bubbles you blow will always be round because they are free. There is nothing pushing on them. But, look at the shape of the bubbles on a bubble print. There lots of bubbles are squashed together and so push each other into all kinds of shapes. Can you make a square bubble? With a bit of an effort yes! Learn how on the link below:
Where else do you find bubbles?
Play a game, ‘Spot the Bubbles ‘ . It can last a whole week!
There are bubbles everywhere!
Make some bread. Yeast produces bubbles when it is given warmth, sugar and liquid. Make some bread using fresh yeast then they can appreciate the process.
Click on the link below the photo to watch how to make delicious ‘ Yummy Srummy Good for my Tummy Bread’!!
Bubbles on the surface of a pond or lake.
Ask questions later like: ‘where do you think they come from? ‘what is in the water that produces these bubbles? ‘
Click on this link to find out more: What’s making the bubbles?
Some foods have bubbles. Just look at a block of Aero chocolate!
Bread. Chocolate Mousse You can make a fun bubbly jelly too.
So how do we get the air into the liquid?
Here are some good ways to demonstrate this:
Whipping (cream and egg whites)
Blowing
Steam-like for Cappuccino.
Using a milk frother – .These little milk frothers are really good and providing the milk isn’t too hot Children can make themselves a frothy milk drink.
Early Learning
Of course, while your little ones are discovering bubbles they will also be learning basic scientific and mathematical concepts like temperature, weighing and measuring, density AND accumulating lots of new words.
This IS so easy! Takes less than ten mins and is SO effective! The easiest prop I have ever made.
All you need is a large piece of white fabric. An old sheet is perfect. A football and a toilet brush! Yeah! A toilet brush. New of course. I was trying to find something which was wide enough to support the head with just a wiggle but had a handle to hold and a toilet brush is just perfect!
Watch the video to see.
Don’t forget to follow us. (Well actually , it’s follow ME because that’s all there is to this site and channel .just ME!}
There’s lots more Halloween fun to come plus great learning for little ones.
It’s fun making videos especially spooky ones and even more fun making your own sound effects.
It’s so easy to buy costumes and props and soundtracks and even laser shows to project onto walls and buildings. But to support and encourage a child to create their own is so rewarding. There are some ideas for sounds effects in this video but we need some more. What can we use for a clock striking midnight? Or a witches cackle? The clap of thunder?
Have fun. We’ll be back with a spooky ghost in a day or two.
Young children are so ‘open’ to learning. They are creative, inquisitive and just love learning new things. In the preschool days their learning is at a level they will never experience again as is their enthusiasm to learn. They are learning new concepts with every turn of their heads, to them learning is play and learning through play is fun not just for them but for parents too.
There’s no need to buy expensive equipment. No need to enlist them in special playgroups.
Just a small amount of time spent making a few resources and playing together is sufficient. They will learn so much and will be content to play on their own afterwards.
Letter recognition is an important pre-reading skill and one that can be acquired through play. There are so many fun activities to help with this. The old traditional game ‘I Spy with my Little Eye’ remains one of the best and requires no preparation or resources. It is great on shopping trips and journeys and children love it! With very young children beginning to learn sounds it is best to say ‘ ……something beginning with the sound ‘a’ or ‘d’ rather than the letter name.
The way the sound is said is very important. We tend to add an ‘rrr’ to our letter sounds which makes for confused soekking later. You know what I mean? We should say b.b.b.bor. baby but it sort of comes out like bur.bur.for baby! Cur.cur.cur for cat! Etc.. it’s a good idea to visit a good phonic site where you can practice the correct sounds. Here is one I recommend:
When my eldest was two I decorated the walls of her bedroom in lower case letters in pastel colours of paint. I don’t remember how this started but I do remember that her bedtime routine, in addition to a story, was to recite the letters painted on the walls. She refused to go to sleep till this had been done! We started with just three letters and when she knew these a new one was added. I guess it’s not everyone’s idea of good decor although it did look pretty and was cheap.and easy too!
Other less permanent ways of learning letter sounds and names are explained on my video which you can find by following the link below:
Letter Recognition Activities
I really hope you find the video useful.
Please take a look at the others in the same playlist. They are all for parents of young children.
Your children may enjoy the art and craft and science programmes. Everything is free.
Thanks for taking the time for reading this.
Judi Brereton.
Kids love rubbing. It’s a great family activity because Rubbings can be simple or sophisticated depending on age and experience.
Leaves are a great starter activity and the Rubbings produced can be used in so many ways.
Rubbing is a great activity to improve hand-eye coordination and strengthens little hand muscles thus improving fine motor skills.
Alfie shares the secret of his fir-cone weather station and Georgie shows you how to make this super cool Lizzie Witch Lamp.
The Lizzie Witch Lamp
This is SO much fun to make. Quick, cheap and easy.
Don’t blow up the balloon too much if you are making it for the table but a large balloon is great for outside.
The instructions are on video. Click on the link below:
The video showing how to make a Lizzie Witch Lamp
Another fun craft for Halloween.
These spiders are quick and easy to make and are great for decoration and for giving to children at the end of a Halloween party.
They are a bit bottom heavy so don’t hang well but look great on a web!
I made the web below from a hoop . You could spray the hoop silver or wrap it in fabric or crepe paper before making the web but I didn’t bother because it won’t be noticeable by the time I’ve filled it with spiders!
It’s better to make the web from string or a strong wool. A flimsy web will not secure the spiders. The hoop can then be placed on a wall but I think it’s more effective hung from the ceiling or a doorway. That way you can fill both sides with spiders and it will look really cool spinning round.
Do secure with a dab of glue, the points where the wool wraps round the diagonals otherwise your web will very quickly deteriorate! I need to do this with mine before I put any more spiders on!
What do you need?
Very little! Each spider uses four pipe cleaners, two eyes and a Chupa Chups lolly. That’s all.
It’s so easy that’s there’s really no need for instructions. The only thing you need to remember is to lie all four pipe cleaners together side by side and wrap then round the lolly stick together tightly. If you try to do it one at a time it’s fiddly and you will probably get in a mess! You can use a blob of glue to secure. The eyes are stuck on with glue too. It is possible to cut the sticks a little shorter if you feel they protrude too much.
Creative Learning for Young Children 