How about a story. It takes up a little time and this one makes a "Jack-O-Lantern"right in with your theme. The Little Orange House (One of many versions!) A storytelling Activity Needed: Scissors and a large piece of orange paper Once upon a time a very small witch was walking in the woods. The cold wind was blowing the dry leaves all around her. The little witch was frantically searching for a house for the winter. She could not find one. Suddenly a piece of Orange paper, blown by the wind landed at her feet. She picked it up. The little witch looked closely at the paper and then she said, "I shall make myself a little house from this piece of orange paper." She folded the paper in half. Then she took her scissors (she always carried a pair in her pocket) and cut off the two corners to make a roof. (Cut the construction paper as the story indicates).I round these off. "This will do just fine," she said as she looked at her new house. "But I will need a door." With her scissors she cut a door. Since witches always wear pointed hats,she cut a special door. Cut a triangle shape with one end pointed up(near the bottom right of the paper) this is the door/mouth. The little witch walked through the door into the little orange house. It was very dark inside. She quickly hurried back out. "I will need to make a window to let in the light," said the little witch. She cut a window/eyes. (Cut a square shape in the top middle of the paper opposite end of the paper than the door. Cut through both sides of the paper.) Oh, it was a very fine looking house. Her very own little house with a roof, a door, and windows was all finished. But just as the little witch started to go inside for the winter, she saw a tiny ghost floating down the wind swept path. As the tiny ghost came to a stop near the little house, the little witch saw that she was crying. "Why are you crying?" asked the little witch. The tiny ghost stopped crying and answered, "It is cold and windy. It is getting dark. And I have no place to spend the winter." "You may spend the winter with me in my new house," said the kind little witch. "Oh, thank you, " the happy tiny ghost said as she peeked in through the window. "This is a very nice house." "First," said the witch,"I will need to make you a little door of your very own." She took her scissors again and began to cut. She cut a very tiny door. (Cut a half triangle on the folded edge of the paper between the big door and the window. Make the longer part of the triangle point up towards the window) The two happy new friends went inside. The tiny ghost went in the very little door, and the little witch went through her own special door. All winter long they lived happily together inside the little orange house. If you want to see inside their little orange house,just open your piece of paper and Surprise! The kids really love to see that the house is really a jack o' lantern.

Hi everyone, I thought Id share this page with you, it has some great ideas for the fast approaching Halloween. This forum seems be a bit slow lately, I hope this helps move it along. p.s the site I am mentioning has tons a of great advice tips ect about saving money ect. http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic-g.htm#halloween Kathy

Punk...we must have been posting at the same time 'up there'..lol Thank you for your always 'lovely' compliments! DH will get a kick when I tell him about the witch and his painting...although my DD is in agreement with me that she does look like a witch. She was always afraid of her when she was growing up. When I moved the painting out of my Bedroom I hung it on a wall at the bottom of our staircase. DD said she was always afraid when she came downstairs in the mornings 'alone' because 'the eyes' would always follow her!! I guess that was a good way of keeping her in her room longer in the mornings, before I was up...Poor Child...lol Gee you got that right...those Halloween Heads 'just jumped' into my hands..love your reasoning! lol No those candles are not the remote ones. I wish they came in colors, but I've only seen white. Did you get yours? Thanks again...love reading your fun comments. jane

I am dressing my DS)9) as a UPS man this year. I bought brown cargo shorts and a brown button down shirt at Childrens Place. Got a brown UPS cap on clearance at K Mart months ago for $1.20 (thats what inspired me). I already have the perfect size Amazon box for him to flip open for candy as he says "trick or treat". His eyeglasses turn dark in the light so they will look like sunglasses I think. All I need is to get short brown socks and to figure out an easy way to make a UPS logo for the shirt. hmmm....as for Grant, it reminds me of when my daughter was 2. She cried and carried on not wanting to wear the hat to her lion costume. In our pictures inside, she is not wearing the hat, but once she got outside in the stroller to trick or treat I was able to put the hat on while she stared at costumed kids. She didn't even seem to care anymore. The following year she was a clown and I painted her blond hair with pink hair mascara. It came out nice-no hat needed. You could probably get Grant some caped kid pjs at Target. They used to carry Superman and Batman, I think they still do. I had to buy them in 2 sizes because my son and daughter both liked to wear them. Does Grant like any particular characters?? He'd be a cute Bob The Builder! Someone mentioned a mailman-when my other daughter was in 1st grade they had Career Day. She dressed as a 'mailgirl' and delivered her homework in a priority mail envelope LOL!! I like the scarecrow idea! Thats not something you normally see.