Halloween "Learning Centers"

Our school prefers for us to have 2 parties a year- one at the end of each semester. Since I am a former Kindergarten teacher, I prefer to have a celebration with every holiday. My 5th graders got so tickled when I used air quotes and called them "learning centers." It's important for them to learn how to complete an art project and how to decorate cupcakes. =)
I usually have 4 centers with a 15-20 min. rotation. Here were mine this year:
1. Art- making a black cat. I had precut the tail and tiny nose. They traced the other parts.

2. Game: Roll-a-Pumpkin: These are great to use with any object. They started with a basic pumpkin. Then with each roll, they can add one detail (according to a chart).

3. Halloween word problem: Lots of fun questions as they add more and more objects on a fence.

4. Snack: I showed them a picture of Frankenstein's monster and told them about Mary Shelley's (author's) purpose to entertain. They were very interested to hear the basic, kid-version of the story. We then put together a treat: green icing on a graham cracker, marshmallows for the bolts, crushed Oreos for his hair, and various candy items for facial features. AND it was yummy! Some even felt some retribution in being able to eat Frankenstein's monster! =)

We also had Book Character Dress Up day at our school. Some of my students did a great job being creative! I was not so creative this year and came as Pocohontas. Here's a shot at my fellow second grade teachers (minus one) in our costumes:

This morning I made these gross little goodies for my students. The cream cheese is actually much harder to spread- into a perfect square- than I thought!