Thanksgiving Centerpieces {Pumpkin Decorating}

Do you still have pumpkins or gourds laying around?

Let your kiddo in on some process art!  Maybe even create a little centerpiece for Thanksgiving!

I admit, what I'm about to show you is about a month old.  Carter and I made these the night before we flew to Texas.  I didn't want to leave Daddy without pumpkins to put out for Halloween.  But here we are long after and I'm just now putting them on the computer.  They were just going to be passed up and stuck in this thing forever so as a last resort I thought, maybe you can adjust these ideas a bit for a Thanksgiving decor! 

So on the blog they go.

Button a Pumpkin.

Doesn't get much easier than this!

1. Glue

2. Tons of Dollar Store buttons

Carter was having so much fun, we had to "button the back!"

 Tape Resistant Art!

My cousin (shout out to Lauren!) shared this idea with me!  And it was a blast!

Carter's painting attention span lasts about :45 seconds per color.  Ha!  So this was a perfect activity for him.

Using Painter's Tape, cut the shape onto the pumpkin.

For Thanksgiving I'm thinking, maybe trying to cut a turkey, leaves, simple polka dots, or stripes.  What are your ideas?

Paint away!

MOM!  I need a napkin!!

Almost done!

Pull the tape off!  Tada!!

Note:  We used Crayola Finger Paints.  Not the best for painting a pumpkin.  It flakes off.  Would it last a day or two?  Yes.  

(And Carter 21 months)

Halloween Costumes

Have you ever wondered about the children who are in the hospital during Halloween?  Where do they trick or treat? Why are they in there? How are their parents holding up?

My father got cancer when I was ten years old. I was a child. And hearing the word cancer was not scary. I had no idea, clueless and carefree. But, what I witnessed, what is burned into my memory, will always be scary.
I somehow get drawn to blogs of people who are battling cancer, or their children are. I feel like I have a bond with them in some strange way.

So years ago I found out about Princess Alexa.  I was reading through a good friends blog, who happened to be her cancer nurse.  I didn't have children then, but now I really can not even imagine what Crys Aigner went through watching her daughter have cancer.

Alexa lost her battle to Stage IV Neuroblastoma in 2008.  You can read Alexa's story here.
Her mother started a foundation in her daughter's name. It provides dress up closets to hospitals, so children can play and feel normal.  Since the children are undergoing various treatments, the costumes have to be NEW, not gently used.

So, here is what I think we should all do:
After Halloween, all the costumes go on sale.  We should all buy some and send them to the foundation! They don't know me, or know that I want to help out. I just always have this women and her story in my mind every Halloween.
The Dress Up Drive is held the first two weeks in November.
More details can be found here:
https://princessalexafoundation.org/Dress_Up_Drive.html

Just more of a PSA than a teaching blog tonight. Hope yall don't mind.

Sneak Peek of our Halloween Costumes:

Suzie

Sticker-ing a Pumpkin: Fine Motor Work

Source: curbly.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I pinned the above picture because it was cute.

No other/educational reason really!  Simply cute and I love that!!

The above blogger used star sequins and tacky glued them to the pumpkins for a Crafty Girls Night Out!  (She also made an amazing sequined drip pumpkin!  You have to check it out!)

Her picture reminded me of those little star stickers and I thought, what a fun Fine Motor Activity!

So we pulled out the sticker stars and stickered away!

(Iphone picture.  Sorry.)

Carter's chubby fingers hard at work!

*Notice the crumbled sticker sheet laying next to the pumpkin.  We had a mini-meltdown.

Fancy, fancy!! 

;)

Peeling those stickers is hard work!!  They were tiny and a bit challenging as the paper would pull up along with the sticker....which caused the meltdown.  Bigger stickers would have been a bit better for him.

Confession:  I totally tried to encourage to push him to pick the silver or gold stars but he wanted the blue.  Bad Mommy!!!

(And Carter 21 Months)

Kids in the Kitchen and a Halloween Craft

I found this recipe for Pumpkin Muffins on pinterest.

Source: sweet-verbena.blogspot.com via Susan on Pinterest

Two ingredients: cake mix and canned pumpkin. (I used spice cake and added chocolate chunks)
Seriously, you can't mess it up.
And they can eat it without having that raw egg thought in the back of your mind.  (Anyone else still eat raw cookie dough anyways... no, just me??)

And then I got bored waiting for Daddy to come home! And out came the paint and drop cloth.

Just fill the vase with candy corn and instant cuteness!! 

(I found the sticks next to the popsicle sticks at the craft store.)

Happy Halloween!

It is finally here! Halloween! Halloween has to be one of the favorite holidays of childhood. Seriously, How often do you get to dress up in your favorite costume and go outside at night to collect candy? It is the best!

Children start talking about Halloween in August and are still talking about it in January. Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays and the other fun days are sandwiched in there, but none of them compare to Halloween.

Little Reminder: With all of the excitement in the air, be sure to start early enough to feed your children something easy but with some nutritional substance. Once the doorbell rings, dinnertime is a lost cause. Everyone wants to be outside trick or treating. Order pizza, make spaghetti, your favorite sandwiches, soup, etc. The key is to make something your child will be sure to eat. After all, he soon will be coming home with a bucket full of candy. After Trick or Treating, have popcorn, pumpkin seeds or something sugar free to snack on while sorting the candy. This will kind of cut the desire to gorge on the sweets. (Wishful thinking.)

TEACHING TIPS:

1. A fun game is to sort the candy by the brand, size, type (chocolate, hard candy, gum, etc).
2. The next day you can even graph them by size, quantity, color, etc. Try gluing the wrappers to the graph! Each time a candy is eaten...send them to the graph to glue it in the appropriate column! The more sensory the better!
3. Be sure to sneak some of your favorites for a Mommy snack in the closet :) (Not really a tip just important to remember!)
4. The younger ones can use the wrappers to create a candy collage. There is lots of environmental print on those candy labels. When they read the labels mention to them "You can read!" or challenge them "Where is the Snicker's wrapper?" "Where are the M&M's?" Go deeper...."How do you know that is Snicker's?" You will be surprised!!

Looking Ahead:

Save your Jack O Lantern and any other pumpkins or gourds you might have for some fun activities next week on the blog.

Last But not Least: BE SAFE and HAVE FUN!!!!

Happy Halloween!

~Rita