Fall Handprint Art

O and I had fun making a handprint tree a few days ago. The idea for this activity came from Montessori Moments. I traced O's arm and hand on construction paper (she chose the colors) and then cut them out. She glued the arm and hand "tree" to a piece of paper and glued leaves on the tree. She really enjoyed collecting the leaves, and she especially enjoyed spreading the glue all over her paper!

Product Reviews

I have several product reviews coming up that I thought I'd tell you about...shoes from Wee Squeak Shoes, nursery decor from CSN baby, handmade gifts from Ranee Day Crafts & Kolon Beanie, Spanish curriculum from Boca Beth, and toys & other things from Let's Explore. Make sure to check back frequently for these reviews!

Cookie Cutter Cheese

Guh-guh (my mom) loves to make eating fun, so she has been using cookie cutters to cut cheese to put in O's soup and on crackers. O has enjoyed eating leaf shaped cheese and turkey shaped cheese this week! What fun!

Animal Groups File Folder Game

I've finally made a few file folder games for O (I printed the pages and started working on them months and months ago!), and she really enjoyed them! In this game, she sorted animals into the categories of reptiles/birds and mammals. I found the game at File Folder Fun.

Mixing Colors with Shaving Cream

O LOVES to play with shaving cream! We decided to mix yellow and red to make orange in honor of Autumn. We placed cardstock on top of the shaving cream and food coloring to make marblized art. However, O was not very interested in making artwork. She just loved playing with the shaving cream. She mixed it around with spoons, spatulas, and forks. She put it in her plastic ice cream cones and "sold" me an ice cream cone :) She also hid tiny plastic animals in the shaving cream. This kept her happily occupied while I cleaned the kitchen :)

2.99 Shipping at Let's Explore

Let's Explore has 2.99 flat rate shipping until November 8! I love a good deal on shipping!!! (Thanks to My Boaz's Ruth for pointing this out in the comments section of the Spinny Speller post!)

Spinny Speller

We LOVE the Spinny Speller!!! Amy from Let's Explore sent O a Spinny Speller as a "big sister" gift, and we "play" with it everyday. We leave it on our kitchen table and have fun making real and nonsense words during our meals. O has become VERY interested in sounded out words since we've had the spinny speller, and I've heard her on many occasions trying to sound out words that she sees around our house.

The Spinny Speller is 5 inches long and is made of hardwood. It has 3 four sided blocks that can be used to make 3 dozen "real" words and countless "nonsense" words :)

Time Flies!

Ema is 2 months old today! I can't believe it! I'm rereading Dr. Sears The Vaccine Book in anticipation of her 2 month appt which is in the morning. I can't wait to see how much she weighs (she's big!) and what her percentiles are. I'm off to write my long list of questions and concerns...

Autumn Sensory Box

Here is our Autumn sensory box! It's quite a hit! I filled the box with popcorn kernels, silk leaves, wooden acorns, wooden peg people, small wooden boxes, and a small basket.

A Candy Collage

What should you do with all of that Halloween candy??? Make a candy collage, of course :) I was surprised and pleased that O was so willing to use her candy to make a collage. She really enjoyed mashing the candy and making a sculpture, too. This may become a "day after Halloween" tradition!

Dark Chocolate Covered Apples

When I was a child, I loved candied apples and caramel apples. I wanted O to be able to experience something similar, but healthier, so we made dark chocolate apples :) I was surprised by how yummy the dark chocolate & apple combination was. O loved it since apples, chocolate, and sugar sprinkles are 3 of her favorite things :)

To make the apples, we melted dark chocolate chips in the microwave. This took quite a while, and I eventually added in a little canola oil to make it watery enough to coat the apples. O held the apples over a bowl while I spooned the chocolate on them. We then sprinkled them with orange, purple, and white sugar sprinkles. O was eating the sprinkles as fast as she could, and she lost interest in helping me finish the apples. Silly girl! The apples don't look very pretty, but they tasted good, and they are a lot healthier than candied apples or caramel apples!

Egg Carton Spiders

O and I recently made egg carton spiders. I cut the cups out of a cardboard egg carton. O painted the spiders and glued on the eyes. I cut slits in the side and put the pipe cleaners through them for legs. O had fun playing with her spiders in the rice pit.

Salt Dough Halloween "Cookie" Magnets

O and I made salt dough Halloween "cookies" a few weeks ago and finally painted them on Tuesday. We plan to glue magnets to the backs of the "cookies" and give them to her grandparents for special Halloween gifts :)

To make the salt dough you need 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of flour, and a half cup of water. Mix the salt and flour and add the water in slowly while stirring. Knead the dough and roll it out! We had a lot of fun making the "cookies," but O's favorite part of the activity was playing with the dough. She loves to experience different textures :)

Halloween Transferring Activity

O enjoyed this Halloween transferring activity since she really likes skeletons (while in the car last night she said "when I turn my head, my skeleton moves, too!). She used the chopsticks to transfer the squishy skeletons from one bowl to the next. The skeletons are in a bowl with black beans, and the beans tended to stick to the skeletons which was annoying. I've really enjoyed doing Holiday themed activities with O this month, and I'm looking forward to starting a few new non-Halloween activities soon :)

Patterning with Beads

We used Halloween colors to make bead patterns today (my bag of 1200 pony beads didn't have any black beads!). I made two patterns on pipe cleaners with the beads, which O copied. Then she created her own pattern on the 3rd pipe cleaner. This was a fun activity that helps strengthen fine motor skills, hand/eye coordination, concentration, and attention to detail.