Punchbowl Falls

We went for a hike at Punchbowl Falls earlier this week. We strapped our boys on our backs and off we went. Every time we do this I always think "why don't we do this more?". I forget how much I love being outdoors.

When we arrived at the fall we were a little disappointed  Here's the thing about Punchbowl that we failed to find online. In order to see the waterfall you either have to hike up and look at it from above or you actually have to walk into the river to see it. The water was low but we didn't bring any waterproof shoes so we settled with tossing rocks in the river and enjoying our time anyway. It was beautiful.

We let the boys play for a while before heading back. They were both troopers and seemed to enjoy their time as much as we did. We are already planning our next hike. I really hope we make this a habit.

Jack O'Lantern with Simple Shapes

I was planning on doing a Jack O'Lantern project to introduce triangles to Bear. I searched YouTube for a kids jack o'lantern song and found this little cheesy song. I loved the fact that it starts with a blank pumpkin and slowly forms the face piece by piece starting with the eyes. I introduced the pre-cut shapes (green triangle for the stem, black triangles for the eyes and nose and circle for the mouth since these are the only two shapes we are working on.) first and we went through them. We then watched the video.

I then pulled out our pumpkin stamping picture and used it as the base of this project. If you don't have this you can have a pre-cut large orange circle out of construction paper or have your little one paint one prior to this.  Then I replayed the video bit by bit. I would pause when a new piece of the face would appear. I would then name the facial feature and ask where his eyes are and count how many eyes he had. I handed him two triangles with glue already on them and had him place them on the picture. We continued this process through each feature. Playing and pausing the video with each step.

Here are a few objectives of this projects

1. colors (green, orange, black)
2. shapes (circles, triangles)
3. facial features  
4. counting 

Once complete I had him paint leaves and vines to connect all his pumpkins.

** Mommy Confession** this one was REALLY hard for be to be hands off. I usually can just watch the process but maybe I really wanted it to look more like a Jack O'Lantern. Who knows? I had to remind myself that this was HIS work and I needed to back off. Do any of you ever get that urge to get in and make things look "perfect"?

Pumpkin Stamping

 After we had our pumpkin science we decided to be resourceful and use our gutted pumpkin again. This time we did pumpkin stamping. Although you will only get a stamp of the outline of the cut pumpkin it still worked out. I gave Bear a brush and he traced around the pumpkin which was a great way to reinforce CIRCLE which we have been working on this past week.

Wolf of the other hand flipped that little pumpkin half right over and painted the inside. Well after the attempted to eat the paint of course. What is it with my boys and their silly faces? W in this last picture makes me laugh every time.

Pumpkin Science

 This by far has been one of the cheapest, most fun activities I have done with the boys thus far. At a total of  47 cents for this little pumpkin at our grocery store, my only regret is that I didn't purchase a ton to decorate with. One of my very favorite types of activities to do with the boys are the ones where all I do is set up and watch the show.

First of I set up their small work table in the kitchen. I cut the pumpkin in half and gave a half to each of the boys. Wolf only stayed at the party for  a little before he had to take his nap but I am so happy he got to experience this.

Bear got right in at first and I helped describe the texture using words like "squishy, slimy, sticky, yucky" he wasn't totally sold about the texture so I gave him a spoon to help him keep playing. He began sorting out all the pumpkin seeds so I gave him a few small bowls to sort out the guts and the seeds. And like any toddler with a spoon of course he had to taste test it. Apparently not a big fan of the taste but I believe that may be the only thing he disliked from this whole experience.

Fall Leaf Headbands

Woohoo! Day 2 of Pumpkin Fun is behind us and this one was a blast! Although I must admit that there were actually no pumpkins in this one. Our focus was positional and opposite words. IN, OUT, UP, DOWN. 

First on the agenda was our reading trying to focus the most on the words listed above. Second was our art portion of the day. We made simple leaf headbands. All I did was cut out a few leaves out of construction paper that I had Bear color with crayons. Wolf was even involved, I cut a long strip of paper that I had him color and later used as the headband piece. It's a good thing we had our Wee Can Too crayons because this little guy is still really oral and I am so happy that I have peace of mind that these crayons are totally safe and edible. Once they were done I fitted and taped the headband together and glued the leaves. Let me just say that these were a total hit.Both the boys loved them and kept chasing each other around pointing out each others headbands. 

 I guest posted on Love Play Learn a few weeks ago about this little game  which is one of the boys favorites and today was no exception. (For full description of the game click on the link) This time I emphasized putting the leaves IN the basket and taking them OUT. Also throwing them UP and the leaves falling DOWN. This game lasted the rest of the morning and it was the first time that Wolf took an interest in all the fun. He especially liked collecting all the leaves and putting them back in the basket. 

The last picture has nothing to do with the actual game but my goodness is that brother love so sweet. My heart was swelling with love at this sight. 

Still need more inspiration? Don't forget to check out The Artful Year: Autumn E-book. With 78 pages of crafts and recipes for the whole season this book is well worth the price. Click on the link to see a sample of a few projects.

Pumpkin Fun Day 1: shapes and colors

Our first day of our Pumpkin Fun theme is complete and  I am pleased with how well Bear took to this. Actually he seemed to love the whole idea of spending this time together in the morning. Plus he got to paint, which probably rates in the top 5 favorite things he like to do. 

Here is what we did:

1. The night before I cycled out his toys. I added a few shape stackers and shape sorters and I added a ball (circle) basket I also placed a handmade card with an orange circle in the basket to reference when we are playing with the balls.                                                        
2. We read Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin and a simple shape book. The main thing we focused on was a PUMPKIN, CIRCLE, ORANGE
3. I wanted to see if he could identify a circle already so I placed three of the same type of items in different shapes in front of him to see if he could pick out a circle. He was able to do that. 
4. Secondly I places different types of items in different shapes in front of him and see if he could pick out the circle. He was able to do that as well. Then he decided to name all the shapes after Thomas characters. Typical. HA!
5. We moved to painting. Just a simple art project I drew a circle and he had to paint  it orange. It was a mix between finger painting and a brush because this little guys likes to have options. I was impressed by how well he stayed in between the lines. And like any proud mama it is hanging on our fridge as we speak. *fyi he has also named his painting after a Thomas character, Sir Handle to be exact and when he showed papa that is exactly what he said. *

Conclusion: He seems to recognize circles pretty well so I will be adding another shape to go over. He hasn't mastered colors yet so we will be going over them a bit more. 

Pumpkin Fun

Bear's first pumpkin carving 

I mentioned in my last post that my MIL wrote out a curriculum for Bear. It is primarily a  pumpkin curriculum with a few added fall items. It is for the first half of October. I am so excited to be able to share it with you. 

Here are a few of the objectives we will be highlighting in the next couple of weeks. 

• Sorting  and shape identification (in this case it will be a CIRCLE)
• colors (Orange) 
• positional words and opposite (down, up, in, out) 
• extending vocabulary (smooth, squishy, slimy)

I am giddy about this. Although we do activities often I have never used a more structured way to plan our days. I think this a great start. I am excited to think of more ideas within this theme and running with it.  So if you are interested in this little journey stay tuned we have some fun activities planned.

Check out all the links from this series
Day One: Shapes and Colors
Day Two: Fall Leaf Headbands
Day Three: Pumpkin Science
Day Four: Pumpkin Stamping
Day Five: Jack O'Lantern using Simple Shapes

It's Monday

Hello Monday. It's the start of the week already and despite everyday feeling the same and blurring together I am pleased to say we have made it through papi's first business trip. WOOHOO!!! Although I have made a mental note of good and bad ideas to do on your own with your little ones all day in order to make for the smoothest time possible I am crossing my fingers that I won't have to pull the list out for a while.

Papa is back at work today and we are all back to our new normal. My MIL has sent me a seasonal curriculum that she has written for Bear and I am so excited to start it and share the  process with you. So there you have it the highlight of our Monday .

Fall Playdough Table

working hard. This is my favorite picture 

okay well chubby baby hands poking things is pretty cute too. 

We whipped up some homemade play dough last week and had a simple fall themed play dough station.

We had:

• plastic leaves ( I liked the cheap once with the plastic veins since you could stamp with them
• chop sticks  Not fall related but I have a ton
• some Styrofoam pumpkins from the dollar store 
• mason jar lids since i didn't want to hunt for cookie cutters
• and of course orange play dough

Despite being such a last minute idea it turned out great. Bear actually squished and kneaded the dough for the first time ever and enjoyed stamping the dough with the leaves. While Wolf walked around the table occasionally touching it and walking away. It will definitely be used again in the next few days. 

Still looking for more Autumn ideas?  Don't forget to check out The Artful Year: Autumn E-book. With 78 pages of crafts and recipes for the whole season this book is well worth the price. Click on the link to see a sample of a few projects.

More leaf activties

       

       

       

   Well fall is officially upon us. How exciting!!! I have yet another leaf activity to share with you. (what can I say...we have been taking a lot of walks and leaves are free. It's a win win people!!!) This time it is from The Artful Year: Autumn crafts and recipe e-book.

Our first project we decided to make was her Fall Leaf Suncatchers. As you can see Bear was really focused on his work here. I mean seriously look at those chubby toddler hands at work. So cute. (okay doting mommy moment over). The results were lovely and I especially liked the fact that it was a craft that Bear could easily make.

If you are looking for Autumn activities to do with your little ones this season this e-book is well worth the money. With 78 pages of lovely pictures displaying each activity it is as much eye candy as it is instructional. There are so many great ideas. I have been reading the Artful Parent for some time now and am excited to be an affiliate for such a great book. For a sneak peek and info on how to purchase just click on the image above or on the sidebar. I can't wait to get started on a few of these.