Saturday, October 19, 2013

Autumn

Honey Pot is 3 years and 5 months old
Little M&M is 19 months old

Books

We read a variety of books about autumn this week. Some of these include Apple Farmer Annie, Clifford's First Autumn, and Let It Fall. But here is our favorite from this week, which we read over and over!


Leaf Walk and Collecting

While Honey Pot was at preschool one morning, Little M&M and I went to a local park for a walk. I wanted to collect leaves for a couple of crafts, and he was super helpful!



When we got home we separated them into two groups: the old, brown leaves went into a baggie to crumble, and colorful leaves went onto a platter to rip.


Leaf Glitter Craft

This idea came from the Parents magazine website. First I printed out autumn clip art onto two pieces of paper, then I set the kids up with their leaves. We crumbled Honey Pot's into tiny pieces, and left Little M&M's larger.



I squeezed glue around the entire outline of the acorn, and dabbed just a little bit of glue onto Little M&M's tree. Then they got to work!



I don't have any process pictures of Little M&M, as he required constant help with this craft. But here are the final products!


Felt Board

I brought the felt board back out from last year! We've used this for a few different themes in the past. Feel free to browse how by clicking "felt board" in our labels list on the right! Or check out last year's full autumn theme here!

First, I let Little M&M explore it for the first time.


He loved throwing the leaves onto the board! They didn't always stick, but he had fun with it anyway.



When we were finished playing, I set it up in a corner in case anyone wanted to revisit it later in the week.


Honey Pot noticed it as soon as she returned from school!


She wanted to make a red leaf tree!


The next day the both of them played with it together!


Fall Addition Worksheet

We did a few worksheets as well. This one came from All Kids Network. Addition is a new concept for Honey Pot. But now that she can recognize her numbers and count so well, I wanted to introduce her to the idea of equations in some way. This was a good start!



Tracing Lines Worksheet

Honey Pot loves tracing lines. This autumn themed one came from the Education website.



Fall Beginning Sounds

I was prepared to create my own version of these in Photoshop, until I stumbled upon this set on Pinterest. I consolidated it a little bit, choosing just my favorites. Then I set it up on our cookie sheet with a few magnetic letters. Honey Pot rocked this activity! I would ask her what the picture is, then ask what letter she thinks the word starts with. She got all of these right!







Cookie Cutter Printing

We've done this activity before with other cookie cutters. Remember Memorial Day? It had been a while, so I wanted to try it out again. I set up the table with paper, and autumn paint colors each in their own plates.


I helped Little M&M get started first. I demonstrated how to make a print, then let him do as he pleased.


He made a few smeared prints, but mostly just painted with it like a brush!



"Bracelet!"



Then Honey Pot started her project.


At first she was so very neat, making rows of leaves and acorns!



Then she looked over at her brother's project and got some other ideas in her head...


Ah well. Process not product! :)


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