Sharla Kostelyk

How to Make Pumpkin Slime

If you’re looking to make a Hallowe’en slime that’s not too scary, this pumpkin slime is a great choice. It’s festive and fun but still good for preschoolers. Once you learn how to make pumpkin slime, you’ll be able to easily make it anytime.

Looking for a creepier version of Hallowe’en slime? You might want to check out our spider web slime or make some glow-in-the-dark slime. Slime is a great addition to a classroom party or an October gathering.

Pumpkin Slime Recipe:

Supplies needed:

1 6 oz. bottle Elmer’s clear glue*
1/4 to 1/2 cup warm water, as needed
1/4 to 1/2 cup liquid starch, as needed
orange food dye
pumpkin confetti

*Note: You can use other brands of clear glue, but in my experience, Elmer’s washable clear school glue gives the best results for slime.

Directions:

Pour the bottle of clear glue into a medium-sized bowl.
Stir in 1/4 cup warm water using a fork.
Add 1/4 cup liquid starch. Stir well for 2 minutes or so.
Mix in a drop or two of orange food dye.
If the slime is too stiff, add more water. If it’s too sticky, add more liquid starch.
Continue stirring until the slime forms into a ball.
Knead for about 2 minutes, adding more water or liquid starch if necessary to reach the desired consistency.
Once the slime is stretchy and no longer sticky, knead in the pumpkin confetti.

Slime should be stored in an airtight container or sealed bag when it’s not being played with. Be sure to wash hands thoroughly after handling slime.

Variations of pumpkin slime:

Instead of pumpkin confetti, mix in actual pumpkin seeds.
Skip the orange food dye and keep the slime clear. Depending on which confetti you use, it may dye the slime orange over time anyway.
The stretchy pumpkin slime is a good one to use for our Halloween sensory game.

As with all sensory play recipes, adult supervision is recommended.

Check out these other Hallowe’en slimes:

Spider Web Slime

Black Glitter Slime Glow-in-the-Dark Slime

Halloween Sensory Bottle

By Sharla Kostelyk

When we think of Halloween, we may think of dark, black, or scary, but the October holiday can also be celebrated with cheerful colours like purple and orange. That’s what I like about this Halloween sensory bottle. This is a simple activity to do in a preschool class or at home. Because the glitter and confetti travel slowly through the glue and water, it makes a great calm down bottle for kids to observe when their emotions get too big.

Halloween Sensory Bottle:

Supplies needed:

1 (16 oz.) plastic bottle
2-3 bottles Elmer’s Glue in clear, 6 oz. each
approximately 1 cup warm water
Halloween foil confetti
orange glitter
orange and purple sequins
plastic aquarium rocks, orange and purple
optional: hot glue
optional: washi tape or duct tape

Directions:

Empty one bottle of clear glue into the plastic bottle.
Fill the empty glue bottle about half full with warm water and seal with the lid. Shake well to combine the remaining glue with the water. Pour into jar with glue and shake to combine.
Add some of the glitter, sequins, and aquarium rocks.
Seal the jar and shake well. If the glitter or confetti do not move easily, add more warm water. If the glitter or confetti move too quickly, add additional glue. Continuing adding in layers of water and glue with the glitter, sequins, and orange and purple rocks until you achieve the desired effect.
When the contents of the bottle move the way you want them to, seal the bottle with the lid.
You can use a hot glue gun to secure the lid in place to avoid spills.
If you want to make the sensory bottle more festive, you can cover the lid with Halloween themed washi tape or glow in the dark duct tape.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play ideas? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

Check out these other Halloween sensory ideas:

Black Glitter Slime perfect for Halloween

Hallowe’en Sensory Game Spider Emotions Matching Game

Spider Web Slime

Black Glitter Slime Easy Recipe

By Sharla Kostelyk

Use this easy recipe to make your own black glitter slime. It’s great for Hallowe’en or just for sensory play. The glitter gives it a unique look.

If you’re looking for a fun Hallowe’en activity that uses slime, check out our Hallowe’en Sensory Game for kids. It’s easy to put together and great for the classroom or for parties.

Black Glitter Slime Recipe:

Supplies needed:

1 (6 oz.) bottle black glitter glue
¼ cup warm water
½ tsp. baking soda
1½ Tbsp. contact lens solution that contains boric acid
1 Tbsp glitter (if you want a more glittery slime)
optional: pumpkin confetti

Directions:

Empty the black glitter glue into a medium sized bowl.
Add 1/4 cup warm water to the empty glue bottle and seal with the lid. Shake well to combine the remaining glue with the water.
Pour into the bowl with the glue and stir to combine.
Add the baking soda to the glue and stir to mix thoroughly.
If you are adding extra glitter or confetti, stir them into the glue mixture at this point.
Add contact lens solution to the glue mixture and stir well.
Remove the slime from the bowl allowing any excess liquid to remain in the bowl. The slime will be sticky. Begin to play with the slime, kneading it as if it were bread dough, to bring the slime together. The slime is ready when it is no longer sticky.

Note: Glitter glue requires more contact lens solution than making slime with regular clear or white glue. Add the contact lens solution slowly, mixing between additions, and add only enough to bring the glue together into a soft ball.

Slime should be stored in an airtight container or resealable bag when not being played with.

Possible Variations of Glitter Slime:

To make this black slime more appropriate for Hallowe’en, you can add different types of Hallowe’en confetti.
You can change the look of this slime by adding different colours of glitter.
Try adding tiny Hallowe’en themed erasers.

Are you looking for more easy sensory play recipes to try? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.

You might also be interested in checking out these other easy slime recipes:

Camo Fluffy Slime Googly Eyed Monster Slime

Stretchy Butterfly Slime

October Emotions Printables for Kids

By Sharla Kostelyk

Fall is in full swing where I live. In fact, there is a frost warning for tonight. No more denying that summer is over. But fall is full of great consolation prizes like colourful leaves, crisp fresh air, and candy corn!

I like candy corn so I thought they would be the perfect visual to help kids talk about their emotions this October. This month’s free emotions printables include copywork pages, sheets to consider thoughts on trick or treating, and a feelings log.

Now I know that trick or treating is something that may be up in the air this year, so if it’s not happening in your area or your household, you can slip the word “not” in there and allow kids to express how they feel about not trick or treating this year.

October Printables for Kids about Emotions:

October Copywork Emotions Sentences:

Supplies needed:

October Emotions Printable pages (download the Emotions pages here)
pen or pencil OR
plastic sleeve AND dry erase marker

If you want sheets to be reusable, laminate the pages or simply slip them into a plastic page protector. Students can then use a dry erase marker to do the tracing and writing themselves. Or they can write directly on the pages with a pen, pencil, marker, or coloured pencils.

Copywork Sentences Instructions for the child:

Read the sentence.
Fill in the outline.
Trace the dotted words.
Write the sentence on the lines provided.
Discuss the various emotions.

Copying sentences may not seem like it would be impactful, but these sentences do more than simply give a child practise for their penmanship! Copying out sentences about feelings can be a good launching off place for discussions. They help create a culture in your home or classroom where it’s normal to hear about and talk about feelings.

You can also expand this activity by having your child talk about a particular time or situation in their life where they felt that particular emotion and how that was for them.

October My Feelings Log:

Supplies needed:

printed October Feelings Log (download Emotions pages here)
scissors
glue stick
markers, pencil crayons (coloured pencils), or crayons
pen or pencil

My Feelings Log Instructions for the child:

Choose one apple icon each day to colour, cut, and paste into your log to represent how you are feeling at that time.
At the end of the month, you’ll be able to look back and see all the different emotions you felt.
Discuss your feelings with a parent or trusted adult.

Use the Feelings Log as a jumping off point for discussions about the different feelings your child is experiencing and what is underneath those emotions. This is also a good way to help them manage their emotions in healthy ways.

Enter your email in the box below to download your free October Emotions Printable Worksheets. You can then easily print them off to use at home with your child or with your students.

You may also be interested in:

Pumpkin Emotions Game

By Sharla Kostelyk

This bingo style five in a row pumpkin emotions game provides a fun way for kids to learn about emotions. Because of the pumpkin theme, it is good for using in the Fall, around Hallowe’en, or even Thanksgiving.

As kids roll the different emotions, they can name what they are. They can then think of a time when they may have felt that emotion themselves. This will help children be able to better identify their feelings.

Pumpkin Emotions Game:

Two to four people can play this game at one time.

Supplies needed:

printed game cube and game sheets (you can download those sheets here)
scissors
glue or tape
markers, pencil crayons, or crayons
orange buttons, beads, or bingo dabbers to use as place markers (or you can colour them in)

Directions:

Print the pages. Print as many game sheets as needed for the number of people playing.
Colour the game die (optional).
Assemble the game die with instructions (provided on the die page).

Game Play:

Colour in the “Free Space.”
Roll the die.
Look at the emotion the die landed on. Give an example of when you feel that emotion. For example, if you roll “excited,” you can say, “I feel excited when I am going to go swimming!”
After you call out your example, colour in or cover the corresponding spot on your board. The first person to cover or colour five pictures in a row, wins.

collage of printed pumpkin game for kids Some children may find it more challenging than others to think of scenarios when they have felt a particular emotion. It’s okay for you to step in and give them verbal prompts to help them or to share one of your own examples.

To get a free printable copy of this game to use with your child or students, enter your email in the box below.

You may also be interested in reading:

Thankfulness Game for Kids

Spider Emotions Matching Game

Activities to Teach Kids About Emotions

Apple Tree Colour and Counting Playdough Game

By Sharla Kostelyk

Playdough is one of my favourite sensory materials. It lends itself well to all kinds of fine motor practise and leaning opportunities. As you may know by now, learning through sensory play is something I am a big advocate for. This apple tree colour and counting playdough game is a great example of that.This easy activity is suitable for preschoolers who are just learning these concepts or even for children in Kindergarten or early elementary to help reenforce colour and counting concepts.

Apple Tree Colour and Counting Playdough Game:

Supplies needed:

red, yellow, green, and brown playdough (you can use store bought or make your own)
number dice
colour dot dice

Directions:

Form the trunk of the tree using brown playdough by rolling it into a long rope. If you don’t have brown playdough, you can mix equal parts orange and blue playdough to create kind of a grey-brown.
Tear off sections of the green playdough and flatten them out. These will form the leaves of the tree.
Invite your child to place the leaves on the tree trunk.
Have your child roll small balls of yellow, red, and green playdough. These will be the apples.
Set out one colour dot dice and one standard number dice.
Have the child roll both dice.
Encourage them to count the number on the dice and name the colour shown on the other dice.
The child can then add that number of “apples” to the tree in the colour that was rolled.

Sensory and Learning Opportunities:

Through the tearing, shaping, rolling, and squeezing of the playdough, the visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory systems are engaged.

Kids get fine motor practise by shaping the small “apples” and carefully placing them on the tree.

This playdough game is a great way to learn or reenforce colours as the child matches what is rolled on the colour block dice to the coloured balls.

Early math skills are worked on both by counting up the numbers on the dice and by counting out the corresponding amount of balls to place on the apple tree.

If more than one child plays this game at a time, it can also work on social skills such as turn taking and encouragement.

Vocabulary and communication are also improved in children by playing games such as these.

Colour Dot Dice Regular Dice Play-Doh Modelling Compound

Get a set of free printable alphabet playdough mats by entering your email address below. You’ll also be signed up to receive our email series Sensory Activities and Solutions.
You may also be interested in these playdough activities:

Rainbow Colour and Counting Playdough Game

Rainbow Playdough Fine Motor Activity

Transportation Alphabet Playdough Mats (free)