Thanksgiving Fun and Fall Ideas
The holiday season is upon us! I love making holiday art projects with kids because they are so festive, make great gifts for family members, and center peices for the holiday table!
We're getting started on fall over here with two (yep, you guessed it--parent pleaser!) fall art projects:
Cupcake Liner Owls
It's a very simple concept--we just painted a paper plate with brown paint, and then added an orange triangle piece for the face shape, a folded orange diamond for the beak, and cupcake liner eyes. Inside the eye you can place a googly eye or button!
Paper Bag Stuffed Turkeys
For this project, you need a paper bag (size is up to you--and a family of different size turkeys would be so cute!) We colored on our bags with brown marker, and then glued multi-colored feathers I had cut from construction paper. The feathers get glued onto the bottom flat part of the paper bag. After that, we stuffed the bag with tissue paper (or whatever you have to stuff with), and twisted the end to make the neck. I had pre-cut a face shape from cardboard to which the kids glued a beak, waddle and two eyes. Then we attached the face to the neck and it was all done! It makes such a cute centerpiece!
Other fall ideas:
Indian Corn
Indian corn is an awesome science and art project all rolled into one. Kids will enjoy touching the texture of the corn and it can be used to roll intersting patterns into playdough, or onto paper with paint!
Bird seed play
Older kids can play in a tub of bird seed/deer corn/etc. For extra fun you can add fall items like pinecones and acorns, or fall shapes. Kids will enjoy scooping and pouring the seed into cups. It's a great science and large/fine motor exercise!
Scented playdough
It's fun to add essence like cinnamon, nutmeg or other fall scents to your playdough.
Playdough turkeys
Make a batch of homeade playdough and tint it brown. Buy googly eyes and feathers and store together in a tub to make playdough turkeys when the mood strikes! I love doing these, they are so much fun.:)
Fun Idea
Go on a fall nature walk. Bring a bag of popcorn with you, just for the animals. Throw handfuls as you walk. Did you know that you can pop regular corn in the microwave? You can dry pop corn in a folded paper lunch bag in the microwave, just as you would microwave corn. If you really want the squirrels on your good side, toss in a handful of peanuts.:)
Fall Book Suggestions
There are many out there but here are some of my absolute favorites!:)
 Rosie's Walk |  Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf |
 Nuts to you |  Owl Babies |
More Thanksgiving Links
More Thanksgiving Resources
This link has more project ideas and also great books on how to inspire thankfulness in your child.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and thanks for reading!
Fall, Harvest and Halloween Ideas!
Hey everyone!
I've got some cute art ideas here, one science project that is a spinoff from another that I've posted recently, two songs and a game!:)
I hope you enjoy. Read on!
THREE FALL ART PROJECTS FOR INFANTS, TODDLERS OR PRESCHOOLERS!!!
FINGERPRINT FALL TREE
This is such a cute project and quite simple. You just take a piece of construction paper, and either draw, paint or glue on a tree trunk base. I've used a tree trunk shape I cut out of a paper bag here, and glued it on.
Next you take your child's fingertip and dip it in fall leaf colors--I chose red, yellow, orange and brown for this. Also, I mixed my paint with a bit of Elmer's glue, because I knew that I wanted to shake glitter on afterward.
Next you just press the child's fingertip all over the tree! I decided to outline the basic shape of the tree once I was done with a permanent marker. My son was very interested in this project and I think it is one that will work well with children of all ages, even very young babies! Very cute.:)
PAPER BAG PUMPKIN
The cutest centerpiece ever! First, I took a medium size paper bag (any size will work, and if you make it a family project it is really cute to do different size bags for a little variation in your "pumpkin patch") and then I had Em fingerpaint it orange with some shimmer and glue mixed in. He did his thing and played in the paint for a while, and when he was done, I added the nose and mouth. Ofcourse older kids will really enjoy cutting and glueing their own eyes and mouth!
Then, I shook some red and orange glitter over the pumpkin and allowed it to dry a bit. Next, I stuffed the bag with 10 or so plastic bags to make it nice and fluffy, and twisted the top off to resemble a pumpkin vine. As a finishing touch, I made a pumpkin leaf out of green construction paper and added a bit of green rafia. All done and soooo cute!:)
WHITE HANDPRINT GHOSTY
A cute all ages Halloween project! Very simple to do--just take some white tempera paint and paint or dip your child's hand in it, and then apply to black construction paper! Ofcourse, I wanted to add glitter (yes, I'm a glitter ADDICT--LOL!) so again, I added glue to mine.:) Then I wrote, "BOO!" on the paper.
COOL VARIATIONS:
For awesome "poofy" ghost paint, try mixing white elmers glue with shaving cream! Dries poofy! So cool!
Instead of a handprint, have your older preschool age child glue marshmallows within a ghost shape that they have drawn, or you have drawn for them.
Try adding googly eyes to ghosts!
Add pumpkins to your ghostly scene with orange fingertips! Remember though--in order for orange to show up on the black tempera you will need to mix some white tempera into it.
HOPE YOU ENJOY SOME OF THESE FUN ART PROJECTS WITH YOUR CHILD!!!!:)
On to the science project--
COLOR EXPLORATION BOTTLE
Ofcourse, this is a spin off from the exploration bottles I've already posted. But I plan on adding all different color bottles to Em's science center, one at a time, and I thought October was the perfect month to introduce him to "orange". Simply find a small bottle with a tight fitting cap, fill with water (add GLITTER if you are a glitter addict like me!!!) and then objects of your theme color. I used orange beads in this one, and then finally taped the word "orange" around the bottle as well.
FALL THEMED SONG
I'm a Little Acorn Brown
To hear the tune of this song, download the midi file here:
Acorn Brown Tune: http://www.magicroot.net/supermoms/acorn.mp3
The "cluck, cluck" that you see is the sound of your clicking tongue.:)
Im a Little Acorn Brown
Lying on the cold, cold ground
Everybody steps on me
That is why I'm cracked you see
I'm a nut (say "cluck, cluck" and tap the top of your head with your closed fist)
I'm a nut ("cluck cluck")
I'm a nut, I'm a nut, I'm a nut ("cluck, cluck")
This song may seem silly but I will tell you, it is one of the ALL TIME favorites of my music students during the fall season. I guaruntee your child will love it.:)
And finally...a fun game!
"Hide The Pumpkin"
Well, it might be a no brainer, but it will keep your preschooler or toddler busy for quite a while! You can use real mini-pumpkins or a pumpkin piece of paper, or any other fall themed item. Tell your child to close their eyes and face the wall while you hide the pumpkin somewhere in the room. Then ofcourse, they try to find it!
For babies and toddlers, you can hide the pumpkin right in front of your child, inside a box, under a couch cushion, or under the edge of a blankie, and watch them come scrambling right away to get it out.:)
Simple fun that encourages great problem solving skills.
That's about it for now! Check back with me soon for more early childhood tips!:)
Cheers!
Channy
