Spooky Town

We visited my friend Valorie this week, who is one of the most creative people I know. She had made a big seasonal "sensory box" full of all kinds of fall goodies. She told me about the website she got the idea from, Pink and Green Mama. I could spend all day on that site!

So when we got home, the kids wanted to make their own "Spooky Town." First we went for a nature walk to collect all kinds of fun fall things, leaves, spiky balls, acorns, etc.
A quick trip to Michael's and we got the rest. It's basically a tray with beans, and all kinds of other seasonal little things for the kids to play with. We put spiders, a little pumpkin, a pirate and some treasure, some little guys, and all our nature stuff in there. We also got an unfinished wooden barn which the kids wanted to make into a spooky barn....

(Excuse Madeleine's hair, this was first thing in the morning the next day - they didn't even ask for milk, breakfast or a show!)

So I painted it with watercolors and drew some spooky details with a black marker.
And made a fence with sticks and a hot glue gun on the back.
Also I got the idea of making some little dolls to live in Spooky town (this came from Pink and Green mama). These were super easy and I already had all the materials, beads, yarn, pipe cleaners, and silk flowers. They both want some boy dolls... I'm gonna have to work on that!
I am just amazed at how much they've played with Spooky Town. I mean 5-6 hours a day. And they (most of the time) play nicely together with it! They bury everything in the beans then dig for the treasures, decorate the house, make up stories with the characters, and have a great time together. I'm planning on letting them play with this through October or November, maybe adding some things to it along the way, (saints for All Saints day, Thanksgiving stuff) and then making a Winter/Christmas sensory box. What a great idea!