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Halloween Dirt Cake photo by Martin Jarosinski

Cooking with children allow s them to explore a variety foods, learn food preparation skills, and practice cooperation. Cooking with children also allows children to practice fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are actions that involve the small movement of hands, wrists, feet, fingers, toes, tongue, and lips. In contrast with gross motor skills which involve larger muscles of the arms, legs and feet, fine motor skills focus on small muscle movements in coordination with the eye.

Some important fine motor concepts and skills that preschool age children learn to master are bilateral coordination, visual motor coordination, grasp, hand use, manipulation skills, pincer grasp, wrist rotation, pre-writing grasp, hand strength, and tactile awareness.

A Halloween Dirt Cake is a simple and fun cooking and snack activity to share with young children in your daycare center.  Create a spooky and edible centerpiece for your next classroom Halloween party that children will love.

Halloween Dirt Cake Lesson Objectives:

The children will practice counting and measuring with assistance.
The children will practice stirring, mixing, and pouring.
The children will practice pressing buttons on small kitchen appliances with assistance.
The children will practice taking turns and cooperating.

Ingredients:
1 package of Oreos
6 mint Oreos
12 ounces whipped cream
2 small boxes instant chocolate pudding
3-1/2 cups milk
Gummy worms
Halloween decorations

Directions:
Freeze the sandwich cookies overnight to create a dirt like texture.  Invite the children over and tell that you are going to be making a Halloween dirt cake and that everyone will get a chance to participate.

Allow children to add the cookies to a food processor and crush them very finely. Next, make the pudding with the children according to the directions on the box.  Show children how to swirl in the whipped cream. In a baking pan, add a layer of “dirt” and the pudding and whipped cream mixture.  Next, add another layer of the “dirt” and then the pudding and whipped cream mixture. Top with remaining crushed cookie crumbs.

Now children can add gummy worms to the “dirt”. Repeat with cake pan if making more than one dirt cake. Next children can add the decorations of their choice.

Some suggestions include:
Pumpkin Patch: Top the dirt cake with mini pumpkins and candy corn to create a pumpkin patch
Graveyard Cake: Decorate with iced cookie tombstones, marshmallow ghosts, and gummy worms

Refrigerate the cake for at least an hour before serving.

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Halloween Reading List, Photo by San Jose Library

Halloween is a great time for daycare providers to enhance their lesson plans with story time books and fun Halloween activities. Consider the following reading lists and resources for free Halloween worksheets, coloring pages, and handwriting practice sheets for your child care center:

Halloween Reading List

Halloween Picture Books and Early Readers, Baby – Age 8
My First Halloween by Tomie dePaola [Grosset & Dunlap, 2008]
Halloween ABC by Sarah Albee and Julia Woolf [Golden Books, 2009]
Here Comes Halloween by Caroline Jayne Church [Cartwheel Books, 2009]
Where is Baby’s Pumpkin by Karen Katz [Little Simon, 2006]
Boo Who? A Spooky Lift the Flap Book by Joan Holub [Cartwheel, 1997]
Boo (Halloween Glow Books) by Charles Reasoner [Price Stern Sloan, 1999]
Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino [HarperFestival, 1998]
Dora’s Spook Halloween by Sonali Fry [Simon Spotlight, 2006]
Maisy’s Halloween by Lucy Cousins [Walker Books, 2004]
Corduroy’s Halloween by B. G. Hennessey and Don Freeman [Viking, 1995]
The Night before Halloween by Natasha Wing [Grossett & Dunlap, 1999]

Halloween School Age Books, Ages 9-12
Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray and Brandon Dorman [GreenWillow Books, 2010]
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury and Joseph Mugnaini [Yearling, 1999]
The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson [HarperCollins, 2006]
Horrible Harry at Halloween by Suzy Kline and Frank Remkiewicz [Puffin, 2002]
Trixie the Halloween Fairy by Daisy Meadows [Scholastic, 2009]
Holidays around the World: Celebrate Halloween by Deborah Heiligman [National Geographic, 2009]
Who Stole Halloween? by Martha Freeman [Holiday House, 2008]
Mommy, Why don’t we Celebrate Halloween? by Linda Hacon Winwood [Destiny Image Publishers, 1994]

Halloween Worksheets and Printables

There are many resources for free Halloween worksheets for daycare providers to use in conjunction with lesson plans and activities. Worksheets with a Halloween theme should include coloring pages, handwriting worksheets, and printable craft patterns.

The following websites provide Halloween printables:

DLTK: Halloween coloring pages, crafts, and worksheets

ABCTeach:  Free Halloween worksheets, calendars, coloring pages, and other printables

A to Z Teacher Stuff: Halloween learning activities, finger plays, and craft printables

Activity Village: Halloween activities, printouts, cards, and crafts.

First-Preschool: Halloween themed activities, crafts, lesson plans, and coloring pages

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When teaching  young, preschool aged children about Halloween, keep lesson plans simple.  It is not necessary to discuss the historical background of Halloween at this time. Instead, young children in daycare centers can celebrate Halloween by having costume parties and playing special games like bobbing for apples.  Halloween can be fun and educational when you incorporate the following activities:

Halloween Art Activity

Hanging Halloween Spiders

You will need: black tempera paint, medium Styrofoam balls, wide black pipe cleaners, plastic wiggly eyes, a needle, fishing line, and tape.

Directions: Paint Styrofoam balls with black paint. Let dry completely. Next cut the pipe cleaners in half and stick four pipe cleaners in each side of the Styrofoam balls. Then, glue two eyes on each spider. Thread needles with fishing line and spring fishing line through each spider. Then Hang spiders by the string by taping them to the ceiling.

Halloween Cognitive Activity

Bat Sorting

Bat sorting teaches young children both classification and counting. For this activity you will need to cut both large and small bats out of black construction paper. You can use a template or draw them freehand. You will also need two containers. Ask the children to sort bats the bats into large and small placing the small bats in one container and large bats in another. Next ask the children to count the total number of small bats and the total number of large bats. Ask them which number is larger.

Halloween Cooking Activity

Pumpkin Milkshakes

As a special holiday treat, try Pumpkin Milkshakes. In a blender, blend ¼ pint of vanilla ice cream, ¼ cup of milk, 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and 4 tablespoons of fresh pumpkin pureed. Pour into frosty glasses and top with fresh whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon. Children will have fun pouring ingredients into the blender and scooping whipped cream. You can also make your own fresh pumpkin puree with the children.

Halloween Circle Time Activity

5 Little Pumpkins Finger Play (similar to 5 Little Monkeys)

“Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate;

The first one said, ‘Oh my it’s getting late.’

The second one said, ‘There are witches in the air.’

The third one said, ‘But I don’t care.’

The fourth one said, ‘I’m ready for some fun!’

The fifth one said, ‘Let’s run and run and run.’

‘Wooooooo’ went the wind,

And out went the lights.

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.”

Halloween Books for Preschoolers

Consider adding the following books to your child care resource center and reading them during your Halloween unit.

Halloween Treats:  A Touch-and-Feel Book by Tom Arma [Grosset and Dunlap, 2000]

Candy Corn by Kelly Asbury [Price Stern Sloan, 2001]

What is Halloween by Michelle Medlock Adams and Amy Wummer [Candy Cane Press, 2007]

Baby Strawberry’s First Halloween by SI Artists [Grosset and Dunlap, 2007]

It’s Halloween, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hillard [Modern Curriculum Press, 1980]

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