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Felt Monsters

Felt Monsters

Posted by on Oct 15, 2013 in Activities for Halloween, Fall Crafts and Activities, Fun with Felt, Halloween | 0 comments

I’ve been meaning to make a felt board for my bugs for a while now, and finally got around to assembling one the other day. I made our felt board simply by stapling a sheet of black felt to a foam board. In the spirit of Halloween, I thought it would be fun for the boys to be able to create their own silly monsters. This activity is cheap, easy to make, and a lifesaver for when you are in dire need of some quiet time. When I’m making dinner, and tempers are on the brink of boiling over, I pull out the felt board and monster pieces, and my bugs are settled and engaged for at least 20 minutes. I will definitely be making more felt activities to go along with our felt board!

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Kool-Aid Play Dough: Monster Gifts

Kool-Aid Play Dough: Monster Gifts

Posted by on Oct 15, 2013 in Activities for Halloween, Fall Crafts and Activities, Gift Ideas, Halloween, Playdough | 1 comment

M and I made these cute Kool-Aid Play Dough Monsters, as gifts for his friends at preschool, to help celebrate him turning 4! Usually his teachers advise against bringing in treats (due to allergies, etc.) so I thought it would be fun to mix up some Kool-Aid Play Dough for each of his classmates, and package them up as silly monsters.

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Leaf Art: Leaf Man

Leaf Art: Leaf Man

Posted by on Oct 10, 2013 in Contact Paper Art, Fall Crafts and Activities, Literacy Activities, Outdoor Activities, Picture Book Activities, Science Activities | 0 comments

Yesterday the boys and I went for a walk to the park. Autumn is such a lovely, fleeting season, which is why I try to fully embrace it while it’s here (in fact, while I’m writing this, I’m sitting on the steps in my backyard as the boys play in their toy house)!  As we walked, I tried to get the boys to appreciate the  rich coloured leaves that were littering the pathway and dancing around us on the crisp, fall breeze, but they were more interested in chasing one another and tromping through the leaves rather than admiring the scenery. I always end up collecting at least a few leaves on our walks; I find their vibrant colours and unique shapes to be too enticing to pass by, but I never really know what to do with them afterwards. Yesterday, when we returned home, my eyes were drawn to the book Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert, which happened to be sitting on our coffee table from a recent library trip. If you are not familiar with Ehlert’s Leaf Man it is a beautifully illustrated book about the imagined journey of a ‘leaf man’ who encounters other leaf animals and objects along his way. I really enjoy this book because it not only encourages children and adults to look more closely at nature, but it also inspires its readers to be creative and to compose their own leaf art, which is exactly what we did!

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Apple Taste Test and Mini Apple Pies!

Apple Taste Test and Mini Apple Pies!

Posted by on Oct 8, 2013 in Apple Themed Activities, Fall Crafts and Activities, Kids in the Kitchen, Math Activities | 0 comments

Apple Taste Test and Graphing

I took my bugs with me to the grocery store to pick out some apples for our apple taste test. M was surprised with all of the different varieties of apples he had to choose from. I explained to him that apples are in season this time of year, which is why there is such an abundance of them. We ended up purchasing 6 different types of apples:

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