Painting & Washing A Pumpkin

I've been suggesting that the girls paint their mini pumpkins for weeks, but they haven't been interested. However, as soon as I set up the activity as a "work" on a tray, they were all over it! Luckily, I had 2 pumpkins, and they both got to work immediately.


After they finished painting their pumpkins, I asked if they wanted to wash them. O(5) initially said "no," but she changed her mind almost immediately. (you can see her hand on the spray bottle in the picture...she couldn't wait to get started!)

O said that washing the pumpkin was more fun than painting it!



E(2) had difficulty with spray bottle, but didn't want any help. She didn't stay with the task very long, but she still seemed to enjoy it.

Spooning Candy Corn

E(2) enjoyed this spooning work a little too much this week! She kept grabbing and stuffing the candy corn in her mouth, so I had to put it away. I told her she could have a piece of candy after she finished the work, but she doesn't yet understand the concept of delayed gratification!

Fun with Letters

Since we've been "studying" letters of the week (or weeks...as we usually stay on one letter for at least 2 weeks), I've put together this fun ABC activity for E(2).

In the basket are the 3 letters that we've "studied." We take out one letter at a time, and I hand her one object at a time to place on the letter. We say the letter name and sound, and then label the object as she puts them on the letters. She thinks this is a lot of fun. Eventually, she'll take the basket on her own and match the objects to their correct letters.




Edit to add: I did not make these letters. They are from a set that my mom bought and used when she was a teacher many years ago.

Halloween Spooning Work

E(2) enjoyed this spooning work using white beans. I drew eyes on the beans to make them look like ghosts using a black sharpie marker. I should have drawn eyes on both sides of the beans because E did not like it when they were accidentally turned over backwards! She did a great job spooning the beans from one bowl to the next, and I'm looking forward to setting up more spooning activities for her.

Halloween 1-to-1 Correspondence Activity

E(2) really loved this Halloween activity which works on developing 1-to-1 correspondence. She picks up one pumpkin at a time and places it in the container...1 in each opening. As she placed the pumpkins in the container she counted them (she LOVES to count!).


While completing this task, she is strengthening her pincer grasp and increasing her concentration skills as well as developing her 1-to-1 correspondence skills.

The best part about this activity is that she got to eat a pumpkin after she was finished!

Placing Marbles on Suction Cups

E(2) LOVES this work! She picks up one marble at a time and places it on a suction cup. (I watch her closely to make sure she doesn't put a marble in her mouth). This is a great activity for strengthening the all important pincer grasp. It's also great for builidng concentration skills and developing the ability to maintain focus on a challenging task.

Pouring Corn Kernels

E(2) has been learning to pour corn kernels this week for "C" week!

She poured them perfectly the first 2 times, but then she started putting her fingers on the spout. She really enjoys pouring, and she's been asking to pour water. That's definitely an activity that we'll do outside!

Our "B" Weeks!

We have had fun doing lots of "B" activities for the past 2 weeks! E(2) received several fun "B" items in her ABC Fun Pack...bugs that stick to the windows, balloon punch balls, blue bubbles, gummy bears, B printables, etc.

She loved the bugs, and we started playing with them immediately after opening the package.


She loved feeling the bark on the trees in our yard.

She decided that she was going to climb a dogwood tree.

We kicked and bounced balls.



We played with our balloon punch balls.

She and O(5) both LOVE the stories from our Action Alphabet book which we read almost every day (at their request).


She pretended to be a ballerina.


She painted with blue paint.




We made butterflies out of coffee filters and clothes pins.


They spread their wings and flew like birds while on an afternoon walk.


We wrote E's name using glue and black beans. She was excited about this activity at first, but lost interest because she preferred to play with the objects from the black bean bowl.


We had a wonderful time playing with unit blocks on our porch.


We had fun playing with our Noah's Ark balancing blocks.


E loved matching the blocks.


E loves to hold the bugs from our dead bug collection.


We had a fantastic time playing with pop beads! I kept a close eye on her though since she is still a bit unpredictable about putting things in her mouth.





We read about bats in Stellaluna, and she ran inside to show me that she could hang by her feet to sleep.


She loves to paint with her dot painters.


We played on the beach. E(2) kept dipping her head in the water.



She met Smokey the Bear.


We played with our miniature bowling game.


We went for kayak rides and "bumped the buoy"...always a favorite activity!


She traced the sandpaper "b" while saying the "b" sound.


She loved playing with her nesting blocks.


We played the Mystery Bag game with "b" objects.


She played with her 3 people in a boat toy.


She also balanced on the balance beam, had "boat school" (at her request), made homemade (bread machine) bread, made butter, picked and ate basil leaves, etc. I never realized how many things/activities start with "b" until I started making a list of "b" activities...we could stay on "b" week for months!