Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Colored Ghosts

I was reminded of this story by my friend, Meagan.  We told this over and over again when we were teaching together.  I honestly have no idea who I learned it from, I'm thinking it was in a college class a million years ago!  All you need is some colored paper and white paper. You don't even need to put them on puppet sticks, just makes them easier to hold.  Cut out a colored ghost and a white ghost together and glue them together back to back, so one side is colored and one side is white.  I drew happy faces on the white side and surprised faces on the colored side. I am telling you, the kids will want this one over and over again.  I told it 3 times in a row yesterday.  It just never gets old.  So this is how I tell it, obviously, you can use whichever colors and foods you want.




Once upon a time, there lived a family of ghost.  The mommy ghost needed to go to the grocery store to buy some more white food.  Ghost only eat white food such as, mashed potatoes, milk, vanilla ice cream, yogurt, cauliflower....(what ever other white food you or the kids think of). She warned the ghosts not to eat any food that wasn't white while she was gone.
So the ghost went outside to play.  While outside, one of the ghost found a strawberry in the garden.  "One little strawberry will be okay," said the first little ghost. Hold up the red ghost so the kids only see the white side.  So she popped the strawberry in her mouth and POP, she turned red. Turn around the ghost and show the kids the red side.  OHHH NO, and she floated away to hide.



The next ghost found a blueberry in the garden and popped it in his mouth without even thinking about it.  Whoops, he turned bright blue, then he floated away to hide.


The next ghost was very hungry.  He didn't want to turn blue or red like the other ghost. He found some broccoli and it looked so delicious that he couldn't help himself.  So he gobbled up that broccoli and POP, he turned green.  He floated away to hide.


The next ghost had been playing so hard and was very thirsty.  Mommy had told them not to EAT anything, so maybe it would be okay to have a drink.  So she drank a nice glass of orange juice.  POP!  She was orange!


The last ghost thought about it very carefully.  He was hungry, but didn't want to turn any color....he was happy being white.  So, he found some chocolate chip ice cream.  "It is mostly white," he thought.  So, he ate a whole bowl of chocolate chip ice cream.  POP! He turned chocolate chip!!  Oh my goodness, and he flew away to hide with his brothers and sisters.


When the mommy ghost came home and saw her colored ghost (Hold up all the ghost, colored side out), she knew what had happened.  She gave them all a big glass of nice white milk and sent them to bed.  When they woke up in the morning, they were all nice and ghostly white again (hold up the ghost white side out).



That is how I tell it.  I would love to hear if you have a different version or if you tell this story too!
Thank you Meagan for the reminder!

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20 comments:

Deborah Stewart said...

I like how open ended this is - you can tell the story using any color of fruit!

Time For Play said...

Hi Deborah! Thanks for sharing this post with your readers. I love that the kids can shout out which ever food they think of. When I was teaching preschool, the kids made their own set to take home. They were able to choose whatever colors they wanted! Such a great verstile story!

Anonymous said...

I love this! A great follow up would be to make a collaborative book in which each child chooses a food and colors the ghost to match! We could name each ghost in the book to match the child, "The little ghost name Catie ate..." I am going to do this this week. Thanks for sharing!

Julia said...

Love this! Can't wait to do it with my Littles next week!

Time For Play said...

Kymberli, what a great idea!

Stacey said...

just so stinkin' cute! Using this next week at preschool!

Amy A @ Child Central Station said...

I just passed a blog award along to you! Thank you for continuing to inspire! http://www.childcentralstation.com/2011/10/versatile-blogger-award.html

teacheranne27 said...

Cute cute cute can't wait to do it with my ones

Mardelle Sauerborn said...

Oh, I can see my kiddos wanting to find places for the ghosts to hide - camouflage ghosts in the room - Thanks love the simplicity

Karen said...

Cute, fun, and simple to recreate! I used to let my girl loose in the produce department at Whole Foods, so she could pick out our veggies for the next couple days. You know how they say, 'eat the rainbow' to ensure you're getting a balance of vitamins? Well, no problem there...that was basically how she made her selections...by colors. She picked the most colorful foods and often ones we had never tried before. I loved it. (She's in school this year, so I lost my shopping buddy.) But, I digress (I'm really good at that!)... I like that the story is so easily adaptable to whatever fruits and veggies your kidlets will recognize! :>

Stopping by JDaniel's Mom's Halloween Traditions! :>

Time For Play said...

Lol, Karen! That is great. We do that too, letting the kids choose new fruits and veggies. Thank goodness for Google because sometimes I am stumped with how to eat the items they choose. Ever eaten a starfruit? Too funny!

Liz Mays said...

That is just too cute!

Unknown said...

This is so cute! This is my kind of ghost story!

Thank you for linking to Halloween Traditions and sharing your idea with my readers!

Unknown said...

Love this project! Keeps everyone involved and makeing them think on their feet! Thanks so much!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Thanks for the inspiration. We did this story for my son and daughters classes and they loved it.

Kyle & McCall said...

Perfect activity for me to do with my two wee ones. I bet that if I "perform" it just once, my 6 year old will be able to do the encore performances for her 4 yr old brother.
Wow. Thanks so much... Not just for being so dang creative and inspirational, but mostly for taking the time to shoot photos of it all, step by step, and explaining in detail so that we can attempt to replicate - while simultaneously keeping activities like this "open" to our own personal nuances. You deserve an award!

Kinderaffe said...

Hi! Found your "Colored Ghosts" and had my class make them last week. What a great hit! Thanks! I added a blog about it and included a link to your blog. Happy Halloween.

Kinderaffe2ndgraders.blogspot.com

Sara

MIla said...

such a wonderful story!!!Thanks so much!

Unknown said...

Love it!!