*Super Stew_____ * 1 medium-sized pumpkin * 1 pound beef, cut into cubes * 1 package beef gravy mix * 3 cups water * 2 carrots, sliced * 2 stalks celery, sliced * 2 potatoes, cut into cubes * 2 tomatoes, diced 1. Ask an adult to cut off the top of the pumpkin. Clean out all the seeds and pulp. Wash the pumpkin. 2. Ask an adult to brown the beef. Add the gravy mix and water to the pan and stir it well. Bring the mixture to a boil. 3. Pour the beef mixture into the pumpkin shell. 4.Add the other ingredients and mix them. Put the top on the pumpkin and wrap the stem with foil. 5.Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake it at 350 degrees for 2 hours, until the pumpkin is tender. 6. Place the pumpkin on a hot pad on the table for a fun centerpiece. When you serve the stew, scoop out part of the pumpkin. *Seedy Snacks_____ Wash the seeds from a pumpkin. Sprinkle them with salt. Place them on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake them at 200 degrees for 30 minutes to 1 hour until the seeds are dry and crisp. Eat them for a healthy snack. *CLOTHESPIN BAT Paint a old fashioned clothespin black.Glue wiggle eyes on the head.(the rounded part of the clothespin).I folded a small amt. of black felt using the fan fold.Now slide the folded material into the end of the clothespin. The felt will become the wings.I'm sure this could be done with black paper instead of felt.Hang from the ceiling. *BAT MURAL Take a piece of paper & fold in half.Cut out a bat shape.Or make a template that you trace around on each paper & let the kids cut out.I let the children decorate.I show them pictures of bats >NOT all bats are black.Some are white.Some are black with white spots.Some are brown,red & gray & many other colors.I let the child pick out the bat that they want to color.We color them as they look in the book.The name of the bat is written on the bat's body.I draw a huge cave using brown paper.I hang all the bats around the cave.It really looks beautiful.Parents are amazed at all the different kinds of bats.Here's a few of them>wrinkle-faced bat,kitti's hognose bat,hoary bat,false vampire bat,spear-nosed bat,lesser long-nosed bat, spotted bat, pallid bat,Honduran white bat,red bat,Indiana bat, Mexican Free-tailed bat,short-tailed fruit bat,black-bearded tomb bat,fisherman bat,grey-headed flying fox,little brown bat, lesser long-nosed bat,frog-eating bat,little yellow-eared bat,townsend's big eared bat,Jamaican fruit eating bat,wahlberg's epauleted bat,gothic bat,Egyptian fruit bat, Chapin's free-tailed bat,& many others. When I make my bat mural with the children I always post this sign: The truth about bats is a far cry from popular superstition & mythology.In reality bats are intelligent,attractive animals,& one of man's best friends as well.Some species can gobble up to 600 mosquitoes & other insect pests in an hour;some species have an agent in their saliva that could dissolve blood clots in humans & their guano provides a rich soil nutrient. Tropical bats are important pollinators for many commerically valuable fruits,& aid in seed dispersal & reforestation.Nearly 1000 bat species account for about 25% of all mammals.Contrary to belief,bats are not rodents but are more closely related to monkeys than mice.Fewer than half of 1% contract rabies.Bats are not blind & use high frequency sounds to navigate.This echolocation allows them to avoid something as fine as a human hair. I also post the address to B.C.I. for more info.& tell them to request a free catalog. The children love this project.Make it educational. When you hang the bats>fold the wings to wrap around the body like real bats do.Some are hanging,flying etc...Write the name & kind of bat on the outside so that when it is hung >it will be seen. *AMAZING BAT TRIVIA The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand,weighing less than a penny. Giant flying foxes that live in Indonesia have wingspans of nearly six feet. The common little brown bat of North America is the world's longest-lived mammal for it's size,with life spans sometimes exceeding 32 years. Mexican free-tailed bats sometimes fly up to two miles high to feed or to catch tailwinds that carry them over long distances at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour. The pallid bat of western North America is immune to the stings of scorpions & even the seven-inch centipedeupon which it feeds. Fishing bats have echolation so sophisticated that they can detect a minnow's fin as fine as a human hair,protruding only two millimeters above a ponds surface. African heart-nosed bats can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking on sand from a distance of more than six feet. Red bats,which live in tree foliage throughout most of North America,can withstand body temperatures as low as 23 degrees F. during winter hibernation. Tiny woolly bats of West Africa live in the large webs of colonial spiders. The Honduran white bat is snow white with a yellow nose & ears.It cuts large leaves to make "tents" that protect its small colonies from jungle rains. Frog-eating bats identify edible from poisonous frogs by listening to the mating calls of male frogs. Vampire bats adopt orphans & have been known to risk their lives to share food with less fortunate roost-males. To learn more about bats write for a free catalog Bat Conservation International P.O.Box 162603 Austin,Tx.78716 (512)327-9721 * SPONGE BATS I use bats w/my HALLOWEEN unit. Cut out a bat shape on a sponge.You can buy those flat sponges @ Michael's Arts & Crafts.Trace bat shape >cut out.Let the kids dip in paint & press on paper. * Learn the anatomy of a bat. wrist forearm upperarm thumb finger 1 finger2 finger 3 finger 4 tail membrane wing membrane *Of all the enemies that kill bats,the most dangerous are humans.Humans, victims of wrong ideas about bats,have been killing them by the millons. The truth is that bats are much more helpful than they are harmful.They help to control crop pests & other insects that spread disease to humans & livestock.T hink how many more harmful & destructive insects there would be if insectivorous bats were not here to eat tons of insects pests each night to keep down the insect population.Bats are needed in large numbers to help maintain the balance of nature. *Spider Hats Make a black band out of construction paper to fit the child's head. The children cut 8 strips of black paper for legs. These are glued so they go up out of the top of the band. Each leg is bent down to make a knee and at the end up to make a foot. Make eyes (buttons, small yarn pom poms, construction paper, markers, crayons, etc.) and a mouth on the front to the band. You don't have to make these black, afterall spiders come in many colors. *1-5 One little bat was trying to behave. He hung upside down from his feet in a cave. Another bat flew in, and said, "How do you do?" The second joined the first, and then there were 2! 2 little bats were trying to behave. They hung upside down from their feet in a cave. To help pass the time, they sang "Do re me" Another bat joined the song, and then there were 3. 3 little bats were trying to behave They hung upside down from their feet in a cave From their cave perch, they looked down at the floor, A new bat joined the game, and then there were 4. 4 little bats were trying to behave. They hung upside down from their feet in a cave. One little bat zoomed inside and did a dive. He stayed to take a rest, and with him there were 5. *This project lets you make several different variations of a tic-tac-toe game to play and use as a decoration for Halloween time. Tic-Tac-Toe is a simple game where players take turns placing pieces on a 3x3 grid until someone gets 3 pieces in a row. This project is rated EASY to do. Young children might want help with the cutting out the small paper pieces if you make the all-paper version. Materials Needed: Crayons, markers, or colored pencils, computer paper, scissors. Optionally, you might want cardboard to make your board and pieces sturdier, or clay to make a 3-D version. Before you start 1.Find a place to work, and protect it with a large sheet of paper. 2. Gather all your materials. 3.Read all the directions. Making the Game Read all the directions before starting. This project is simple enough that you might not need directions, but check them once anyway. Step 1 - Patterns Choose the board you would like to use: The Pumpkin The Haunted House And if you are going to use the paper game pieces: Game Pieces - Color and make game pieces If you want to make the game pieces out of clay, make 5 each of two different kinds of pieces. We used ghosts and pumpkins, but you could also make witch hats, caldrons, black cats, or maybe even pipecleaner spiders. Be sure to compare your pieces to the board, to make them a good size to fit in the spaces, and flatten the bottoms of the pieces so that they don't roll away from where you placed them. Cut Out Cut around the outside edges of the pumpkin or haunted house board. If you want to keep your board square, just cut the row of pumpkins off the bottom of the pumpkin board pattern. If you made paper game pieces, cut them out, too. Very young children might need help with this. Step 4 - Reinforce the game with cardboard If you want your game to last for a long time, glue the base and pieces to some cardboard. Let the glue dry, then cut out the pieces again. It is a bit difficult to cut cardboard, be sure to use good scissors, and get an adult to help if needed. Step 5 - Play! Take turns with a friend putting the pieces on the board. Can you get 3 in a row? You're Done! Enjoy your new game. You can also use it as a Halloween decoration when you are not playing with it. We made the playing pieces with Sculpey (tm), which is a clay that needs to be baked in the oven and then becomes hard. It is available in many colors. * Pumpkin Bread *1/3 cup vegetable oil * tsp ground cloves *1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree *3 eggs *1 cup flour *2 tsps ground cinnamon * cup raisins *2 1/3 cups bisquik *pinch of ground nutmeg Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x5-inch loaf pan. Mix all ingredients together with wooden spoon. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Test with knife, if the knife comes out clean the bread is done. If it is not done put back in oven for 10 minutes. Cool before removing from pan. Store in plastic bag. *Chocolate Spiders ~4 cups semisweet chocolate baking chips Melt chocolate chips in top of double boiler. Let stand over the water until water is cool, about 10 minutes. Place wax paper on cookie sheet. Pour chocolate into a pastry bag that is fitted with a 1/8-inch or 1/4-inch tip. Squeeze chocolate onto wax paper in the shape of spiders. If chocolate is runny it needs to be cooled longer. Chill the spiders for about 10 minutes. When hard peel off wax paper. Store in refrigerator laid flat. *Mystic Punch *Make ice cubes with raisins in them *4 1-pint bottles cranberry juice * 2 cups peach juice *1 cup fresh lime juice *2 cups orange juice *Sugar to taste In a punch bowl mix all juices. Add the ice cubes (with insects in them)! *Devil Dogs with Blood *Hot dog buns *weiners *Ketchup Cook hot dogs as normal, either boiled or grilled. With scissors cut out little triangles in top part of bun facing outward. The bun should look like a mouth. Place weiner in bun and add ketchup for blood affect. *Vampire Punch *8 cups cranberry juice *6 cups sparkling apple juice *6 orange slices Put all ingredients in a punch bowl. Add ice cubes before serving. *Nightcrawlers *12 large apples *Boysenberry jam *4 tbsp butter *12 gummy worms Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apples from stem end to inch from bottom. Stuff each hole with 1 tsp jam and butter. Place in a pan and bake uncovered for 35-45 minutes. Remove apples let stand for 15 minutes. Set each apple in a bowl and spoon syrup from baking pan around it. Insert a gummy worm with half its body protruding. *Roasted Pumpkin Seeds *Pumpkin seeds *Water *Salt *Melted butter *Vegetable spray Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse seeds well. For every 2 cups of seeds, put 4 cups of water and 2 tbsps of salt into saucepan. Add the seeds and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Drain well in strainer. Place on paper towels and pat dry. Toss the seeds with melted unsalted butter in a large bowl until evenly coated. Spray cookie sheet with vegetable spray. Spread seeds over tray and bake for 30 minutes, stirring, and tossing occasionally. When seeds are golden brown they are ready. Store in airtight container in cool place. *Popcorn Balls *2 quarts popped popcorn *1 14-oz package light caramels *1/4 cup light corn syrup *2 tbsps water Keep popcorn warm in a 200 degree oven. Melt caramels in top of double boiler over simmering water. Add corn syrup and water and mix until smooth. Slowly pour over popcorn in a large bowl. Stir to mix well. With greased hands, shape into balls about the size of softballs. Let cool completely before wrapping with plastic wrap. *Candied Apples *12 red delicious apples *12 wooden skewers *4 cups sugar *3/4 cup light corn syrup *1 tsp red food colouring *1 cups water *1 cup chopped peanuts Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside. Wash and dry apples. Insert a stick through stem, leaving about two inches sticking out. In saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, food colouring and water. Cook, stirring constantly, until ingredients are dissolved and liquid boils. Set a candy thermometer in mixture and continue cooking, without stirring until temperature reaches 290 degrees, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile place shopped peanuts in a bowl. Remove syrup from heat and dip the apples, one by one, to coat evenly. Work quickly. As you dip each apple roll in peanuts to coat then place on prepared cookie sheet. Let apples cool for at least an hour. *Bobbing Apple Punch *1 cups orange juice *4 cups apple cider *1 cup pineapple juice *2 tablespoons sugar *4 cups ginger ale, chilled *6 to 8 small red apples * 1 orange, sliced In punch bowl mix orange juice, apple cider, pineapple juice and sugar. Chill of a couple hours. Before serving add ginger ale, apples, orange slices and ice cubes. *Witches Fingers *1 cup butter, softened *1 cup icing sugar *1 egg *1 tsp almond extract *1 tsp vanilla *2 3/4 cups all purpose flour *1 tsp baking powder *1 tsp salt *3/4 cup whole blanched almonds *1 tube red decorator gel In bowl beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in flour; baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Working with one-quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoons full of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into one end for nail. Squeeze in centre to create knuckle shape. Using a paring knife make slashes in several places to form knuckle. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet in 325 degree over for 20-25 minutes or until pale or golden. Let cool for three minutes. Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 5 doz fingers! *Caramel Marshmallow Apples *1 package (14 oz) caramels *1 cup miniature marshmallows *1 tbsp water *5 or 6 small apples *Wooden skewers Line baking sheet with buttered waxed paper; set aside. Combine caramels, marshmallows and water in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until caramels melt. Cool slightly while preparing apples. Rinse and dry apples. Insert skewers into apples. Dip each apple in caramel mixture, coating apples. Place on prepared sheet. Refrigerate until firm. For variety roll apples in crushed peanuts or drizzle with melted chocolate. *Pom Pom Spider *Black yarn *Small square of cardboard *Black pipe cleaners *Googly eyes *Red construction paper *Glue Wind yard around and around cardboard square until heavily covered. Using a small piece of yarn tie securely at the centre, cut edges and remove the cardboard. Insert three pipe cleaners into the knotted centre and bend to form legs. Glue on eyes if desired, or cut out eyes from red paper. Use thread or yarn to hang spider. *Egg Carton Spider *Cardboard egg carton *Black pipe cleaners *Black tempera paint, marker or crayon *Red construction paper *Glue *Thread or yarn Using paint, marker or crayons, colour the cup sections of the egg carton. Cut each egg cup apart. Push pipe cleaner legs into egg cup and bend to shape legs. Cut red paper and glue on for eyes. Use thread or yarn to hang. *Ghost Puppet *Tissue paper *Cotton ball *Rubber band *String Place tissue paper over a cotton ball and secure under ball with rubber band. Draw eyes on with marker. Tie a string around neck and hang or use as a finger puppet by hooking over a finger with rubber band.