Last week I met with Wiley’s Kindergarten teacher to discuss planning for the Halloween Party. She gave me a list of items to use to create a sign up sheet for parents to volunteer. We need the usual plates, napkins, juice boxes, fruit, mini bagels and a small sweet treat. On this point she did not mince words: NO CANDY, NO CHOCOLATE, but a mini cupcake or cookie is ok. Hmm, I can’t imagine why a woman who is charged with teaching 22 five year olds would want to limit their intake of sugar, can you?

So I created our fabulous sign up sheet. I even attempted to translate it into Spanish as there are 6 families who speak Spanish at home and whose parents know little or no English. After studying Spanish for 12 years I am embarrassed at how little I remember, but alas, I was able to piece something together with the limited vocabulary I could recall coupled with the online translations sites like wordreference.com. I am happy to report that all the slots were filled within 24-hours. (Can you say rock star room parent!? Ha!)

Are you planning a party for Halloween? If so, here are some tips for minimizing the SUGAR and WASTE factors, but maximizing the FUN.

With the party planning under control, I turned my attention to gathering a few books for the festivities. In addition to Over in the Hollow, these are three other books that are my list of must reads this fall.

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves This book has a winning combination—adorable illustrations and a meaningful storyline. The fox is just as cute as he can be and he is such an endearing character—concerned that his poor friend the tree is losing his leaves. Wiley’s Kindergarten class has been studying trees too so this is just perfect fit. Did you know, only broad leaf trees loose their leaves? Conifers are evergreen. We can’t take a walk anymore without discussing which trees are which.

Room on the Broom is a great read! Like Over in the Hollow, this book highlights the characters and antics of Halloween with a fun rhyming structure. The illustrations really bring the characters to life and while she’s not quite, Glenda the good witch, this witch is not the gruesome scary variety so it’s a safe bet for kids of all ages.

The House in the Night is not about Halloween or even fall per say, but the color scheme (just black & white with yellow) and the storyline: a house at night—makes it appropriate for Halloween. The illustrations are truly unique and remarkable. If they made a print of these pages, I’d order it and frame it! The words are so simple but as we read it together, we spend a lot of time on each page looking at the different items that are highlighted in yellow and talking about why they are highlighted.

I look forward to attending the class party and volunteering to read a story to the very subdued group of sugar-deprived children. Staying true to the CONTROL THY SUGAR mandate from the teacher, I ordered two dozen of these little treats for the kids. How clever! If you are enterprising enough, I am sure you can make them at home too. But I prefer to leave melting to the experts at Halloween ☺

What are you doling out this Halloween?

Happy Haunting!

Filed under: Kindergarten, education, fall, favorite read, gift ideas, picture book, preschool-age, seasonal