Pumpkin day!

Today was Pumpkin day at the library! I knew when we were making our calendar this year that I wanted to get a real pumpkin for the kids to dig into and explore. Then I saw this post from The First Grade Parade on pinterest.com.  We played a game of will it float or will it sink? Most of the kids thought it would sink. We put it in a big container of water and the kids were thrilled to see it float. We also talked about how the pumpkin is not solid, but hollow and filled with air, and that is why it floats. We also played the game of, "What is heavier than a pumpkin and what is lighter than a pumpkin?" The kids came up with some great ideas. Heavier: me, table, a giant, wood, a log. Lighter: paper, feather, pencil, a small cup of water. I then cut it open and put it on the floor on a towel. The kids had fun digging in. I asked them if it was hot or cold, wet or dry, slimy or smooth? They had fun describing the pumpkin guts, and digging for seeds.

We made paper plate pumpkin pies, and a pumpkin face book found on themailbox.com.
Supplies to make the pie:
paper plate
orange and brown markers
glue stick
cinnamon
cotton ball

Color the inner circle of the plate orange, and the outer rim brown for the crust. Put a nice dab of glue in the middle for the cotton ball (whipped cream), and then coat the orange circle with the glue stick. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Smells just like a real pumpkin pie!

The pumpkin book we made had the kids draw faces on the pumpkin in different moods, and it all ends up in a pumpkin pie. The kids all had fun, and enjoyed a glass of apple cider and pumpkin cookie at the end!

All the supplies ready to go!

 cider and cookies!

 The kids digging in and getting messy

 Hey there are seeds in there

 Drawing pumpkin faces

 a finished pie

 Sprinkling the cinnamon. I had it set out in coffee filters for easy clean up.

The fun books we read.

Pumpkin Day by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Pumpkin Shivaree by Rick Agran
The little old lady who was not afraid of anything by Linda D. Williams

Halloween crafts 2011

So yesterday was our group Halloween craft day! We had 7 stations this year, and it seemed like all the kids had a blast. 

This was marble painted spider webs. I was told about this one by L's teacher.

 Our finished webs

 Egg carton spiders. These we cut the cups of a paper egg carton, punch holes in the bottom, and slide in black pipe cleaners for the legs. Add 2 eyes, and you are done!

 A bunch of the kids finished projects.

 D working on her witch hat.

 Paper plate ghosts. Construction paper eyes, and mouth, and crepe paper streamers.

 Recycled Box Mummies. We wrapped white crepe paper around empty boxes and glued giant eyes to them.

 Tissue paper pumpkins. Paper plates, with glued on tissue paper. I showed the kids two ways to put the tissue paper on the paper plate. Most did the flat method.

 Toilet Paper Tube Bats. Wrap black construction paper around the tube, and glue on bat wings and eyes.

 And two gross snacks both found on pinterest.  These are bloody band-aids. Graham crackers with colored frosting.

 And dirty q-tips. Mini marshmallows on tooth picks, dipped in melted butterscotch chips.

Books we read:
Where's my mummy? by Carolyn Crimi 
Corduroy's Best Halloween Ever! by Don Freeman
Boogie Knights by Lisa Wheeler

Apple Picking 2011

Once again we headed out to Garwood Orchards to do our apple picking this year. It was perfect weather! We are enjoying an Indian summer out here in Indiana. September was a freezing cold month, and we were all prepared for the upcoming season. Well October is throwing us a curve ball. This whole week has been sunny and almost 80 again. But the trees are all a beautiful shade of orange, yellow, and red right now, like they have all been sun-kissed.

We picked around 40lbs. this year and did mostly Honey crisp and Red Delicious. We were a bit disappointed in the Honey crisp this year. There were very few left on the trees, and those that were, had nasty black mushy spots all over. We found more on the ground that were in better shape. After we filled 3 reusable bags full of yummy apples, we headed to the pumpkin patch. The kids were so excited to go pick out a pumpkin, and ended up picking pumpkins close to 25 lbs! Next year the rule will be that they have to carry their own out. We waited for the tractor to come back around to pick us up, and we happily discovered that it was the wagon pulled by 2 horses headed our way. The kids were so pumped, and then the driver asked if they would want to sit up by her. Well, that just totally made their day! Overall, what a fantastic time and the first thing off our fall bucket list.

apple picking 2010
apple picking 2008

Happy apple picking family

 Which one will you pick D?

 "I see it!!!!!"

 I stake a claim on this one!

 Waiting for the tractor

 WE ARE SITTING BY THE HORSES!!!!!!

Comic Book Day

I tried to post this last week, but blogger was acting up! The last week of September, the group had a comic book day. The kids got to dress up as their favorite superheros, and join us at the library for a fun craft day. I had homemade comic books for the kids to make, banners to celebrate a superhero, and fun coloring pages. For a snack I made funfetti cupcakes, with funfetti frosting, and then made candy stars in superhero colors with candy melts to top them with.


It was just a half hour before we had to be at the event that I came up with some fun ideas that I just wish I had thought of earlier! One was to build a "brick" wall with these Melissa and Doug blocks for our heroes to punch through! Another one was to draw a building side on a large sheet of paper, lay it on the floor, and tape a rope to the top on the floor. Then take a picture of your hero climbing up the side of a building!

Superhero cupcakes

 Super D and Super S coloring pictures

 Super B hard at work

 Super L very happy with his pictures

 Their best superhero poses!

 L's comic book that he drew all by himself. He can even tell you a story with it. Very cool!

Books we read:
Charlie's Superhero Underpants by Paul Bright
Super Friends: Flying High by Random House

Fall Bucket List

We had so much fun with our Summer Bucket List, that we decided to do a fall one as well. We limited the number of activities do to our normally busy calendar, plus with L in school it really limits most things to the weekends. I picked up a few months back some pre-cut fall shapes at Dollar Tree in their school stuff section. There were pumpkins, leaves, and corucopias, so I wrote our list on these, and taped them to the front door. I figured I could whip up a fun title with scrap construction paper. I got this done just in time, since we are planning on going apple picking tomorrow and that is on the list! And since we do these things every year, I can re-use the shapes again next year.

Our Fall Bucket List:
-pick apples
-play in a leaf pile
-go trick or treating
-make a thankful tree
-make pies
-carve pumpkins
-make homemade applesauce
-roast pumpkin seeds
-attend our local zoo boo (2008)
-make leaf rubbings
-attend the local fall festive
-make pumpkin pie playdough
-make a 4 season poster
-drink caramel apple cider
-make fall cookies (found this one and this one that sound great!)