Fall is here!

Make HOMEMADE Applesauce!

Peel and dice apples...

cover in water in saucepan and boil until soft...

add some sugar and cinnamon...

mash...

enjoy!

Stained Glass

Materials needed: yellow, green & red tissue paper cut in 1" squares; clear contact paper; an apple pattern ran off on construction paper; green construction paper;

Procedure: Cut out the middle of an apple from red, yellow or green construction paper and lay it on a piece of clear contact paper. Have your child lay down pieces of the red, yellow and/or green tissue paper squares on to the contact paper. Magically it sticks! :) Add a stem and a leaf from green construction paper if you wish. Hang in your window.

P.S. Back in my teaching days, it was a fun idea to celebrate Johnny Appleseed's bday (Sep 26th) and have an apple party. It was the perfect way to kick-off fall! :) Due to our lack of storage, my teaching files are tucked away in my SIL's crawl space, but I do remember some fun apple activities involving math, science, art, music etc. If you are interested feel free to send me an email at kellygirl562@gmail.com

Glurch, Glop, Goop

This is a classic concoction from the play dough family. It is neither a solid nor a liquid...but a colloid.

You just mix one cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water. You mess with the ratio until the glop feels just right.

I did this with my 4 year old son. Before playing with the glop, we talked about liquids, solids and gases and found examples of each in our kitchen. Then we played with the glop, glurch...whatever you choose to call it, and about it's properties that are like a liquid and others that qualify it as a solid.

Have fuN!

Photo Finish

Items Needed: photo, paper, crayons, markers, or colored pencils

Find a picture of your child or cut one out of a magazine. Take the picture and glue it in the middle of a large piece of paper. Continue drawing an extension of the photo. Make your extension realistic or make believe!

Jello Finger Paints

This activity can be fun in all kinds of ways. Take the chance to practice letters, shapes, numbers...or just have fun with the texture.

Materials: gelatin powder, water, paper, and fingers :)

Mix a small amount of the powder with water to form a thin paste, about the consistency of white school glue. Using their fingers, help your child paint a picture with the Jello paint! Best part: the paint is edible. No worries about them licking their fingers between colors.

One note:

This activity can get messy, but it's easy to clean up with a warm washcloth. Just be careful that there aren't any fabrics nearby that you don't want tie-dyed.

Toothpick Pictures

Last week while my husband was gone my daugther and I made him a "family picture" to welcome him home. It was quick and easy and really fun.

Materials Needed:
Large cardstock, cardboard, or sturdy paper
ToothpicksCottonballs or craft puff balls
Glitter Glue (optional)




Create a picture on your paper using the toothpicks - use colored puff balls to embelish. You could make a picture of most anything (people are pretty easy though). Let your child decide who or what is in the picture. After the picture is all set up use Elmer's glue to put everything down on paper. You can let your child help by having him/her put the puff balls onto the glue. When you are finished you can write in a message or put more details with glitter glue.

Wet Chalk Art

Sometimes the most simple activities will produce the greatest results and biggest smiles. Here an easy art activity that my little one has loved:

Get a wet piece of dark paper and draw on it with chalk. Children really enjoyed dumping water on the paper. If you want to do this activity, I recommend putting the paper in a cookie sheet to keep the clean up minimal.

How easy and fun is that? :)