Tricks and Treats Blog Hop

October is here and what better way to start the month than with a  "Tricks & Treats" blog hop! This is my first blog hop, so for those of you who don't know what it is, let me fill you in.  Typically a group of teachers get together (in this case a big shot out to Jessica Plemons for getting this together!) and decide they want to celebrate the season by giving their fans a freebie, giveaway, sale, etc.  Something to THANK them for supporting us in what we do.  Basically you hop from blog to blog and check out what the teachers came up with for their blog posts.  In this case for the "Trick & Treats" blog hop each teacher should be offering a teaching trick and a treat!  You can hop from each blog by scrolling down to the bottom of each blog post and clicking on a different teacher-author and going to their blog.  You will then read their blog and again scroll down and pick someone else. It's super fun and totally addicting.  So with that being said....here's my Tricks & Treats Blog Post.  Hope you guys like it!  And hope you end up with some great treats :)

Let's start with my teaching trick!  Since I'm all about the crafts as you guys know, here's my quick tip (cause let's face it TREATS are way more fun and we want to get to that part).  When having your students trace patterns for a project always have them trace the patterns in the opposite direction that you actually want the pattern.  That way students can then flip their traced pattern over  and glue it in place and guess what? No lines!  No black marker or pencil! No erasing.  You will end up with a great looking project (bulletin board worthy!) line-free.  This is how I create all my cut and paste projects and save myself money on erasers. Haha.

Time for a treat!  Since Trick-or-Treating is a must on Halloween I created, "My Safety Rules for Trick-Or-Treating" Cut and Paste Freebie.  Follow these steps below to create your own and find my freebie at the end of this blog post!

 First thing you will want to do is download my freebie.  Then take the patterns on the left and copy them onto cardstock.  Now you can choose to have your students color the coloring page or do the writing prompt.  I recommend the coloring page for Kindergarten and under and the writing prompt for 1st grade and up.

Next take the copied patterns and cut them out.  Tracers are now made!  PS. Definitely put this in a bag and save yourself the work of having to remake them next year.

Take the tracers and trace them on to colored paper like so.  Please note: All of my cut and paste projects include two ways to do projects.  You can make tracers like I am showing you today (tracing is great for fine motor skills)  or simply take my construction paper templates and use them to copy right on to construction paper (be sure to check those out in the back of the freebie).  Talk about a time saver!

Now take the traced patterns and cut them out. 

Place the handle above the bag like this.

Then slide it under and glue.

Glue the bow on top of the left side of the handle.

Then have students complete the writing prompt and cut it out.

Next glue the circle on top of the bow, followed by the completed writing prompt (please ignore the fact that mine is not completed here!)...

Or coloring page and have them color.

I've even included a pre-done coloring page if you are really pressed for time.  So what do you guys think? Worth a try in your classroom?  I particularly like this project because it allows you to talk to your students about being safe on Halloween.  Be sure to have a whole group discussion about the topic and create a brainstorming web before having students write their safety rules.  To get my freebie go here:

My Trick-Or-Treat Safety Rules Craftivity

I have been very busy lately creating Halloween projects, so be sure to check those out as well under my "Halloween" category in my store.  As an extra treat I'm offering 15% off my whole store this weekend (October 3-5th)! Here are a few projects you might want to check out :)

 

Thanks everyone for coming by to check out my first blog hop!

An InLinkz Link-up