Super Easy Halloween Activity!

Really, really short post to share a really, really easy and really, really cheap Halloween activity/craft.  This felt Christmas tree was one of the first things I pinned on Pinterest last year and I never got around to doing it.  It's obviously been floating around in my brain though, because the other day I was at Joann's and discovered the felt on sale.  I grabbed some orange, green and a couple more colors and thought that doing the Halloween version of the Christmas tree would probably be fun for both of my kids.  I got around to cutting the shapes out today while Zoe was at school and Owen was sleeping and got to surprise Owen with it first.  I was glad he got a chance to explore it on his own before Zoe got home because he LOVED it and had a blast sticking the shapes on.  It wouldn't have been so exciting/satisfying for him if he'd had an older sister telling him how you're "supposed" to do it.   Zoe liked it too but didn't  spend nearly as much time playing as Owen did (she was happy doing just one face), but that's okay--kind of what I figured would happen, and I'm always glad to find things that work specifically for him.  Anyway, it's pretty self explanatory because the felt just sticks to itself:

Zoe's

Also, I decided today that I think Zoe might be ready to start learning to read.  I've been resisting it because I think technically she's young for it, and I know there's a school of thought out there that believes you shouldn't start teaching them until they are a certain age, even if they ask but...she's just DYING to learn.  She has loved books since she was a baby and has shocked us with her ability to memorize favorite stories (when she was 2 or 3 she used to "read" the whole of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" almost word for word) and now she is constantly asking us to spell out words and sentences for her so she can write letters to  people...always asking what signs say....you see what I'm saying.  Anyway, part of the reason I hesitate to officially start teaching her is that she feels SO frustrated with herself when she doesn't get something immediately and I was afraid if we started before she was developmentally able, then we'd be setting her up for a lot of unnecessary frustration.  Either last night or this morning though, I suddenly realized she's been showing us so many signs that she is totally capable of learning and that she is clearly enthusiastic and interested enough.  Really, it could end up feeling very empowering for her so I downloaded some great free workbook pages from Education.com and a couple of books from the library and I feel like we are officially on our way.  As my sister Emily said earlier, "Look out, world"...here comes my girl.

She worked on these on and off all day and didn't want to stop when it was time for bed.  This is one determined kid.