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)

Pumpkin Spice Play Dough

Beware: This was also created on the Coffee-High, long nap day!!

Time for some fall flavored Play Dough!!  

It smells so good, you can't blame your child for wanting to taste it!  Ha!

I saw a yummy Pumpkin Spice Play Dough picture on Pinterest. 

And it didn't look like this.  Mine didn't turn out so nice.

It was too globby at first.  So not my favorite recipe.

But hey, after a little kneading, it was fine.

My suggestion for a recipe is:

 Teacher Tom's Recipe

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Use Red and Yellow food coloring.  LOTS of it.

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Then add 3 Tbs. of Pumpkin Pie Spice OR Cinnamon.

Changing out the COLOR and SMELL of your play dough add a new dimension to their Sensory Learning!  

Teaching Tips:

1. Play with them.  They will learn by watching you!
2. Let them explore on their own too.  
3. Mimic what they do with the play dough.  It will affirm their exploration.
4. Talk to your kiddo about the new color and smell. Great way to naturally have a Color Lesson!
5. See if they can roll it into a "snake" or a "ball."  This is skill they have to build up to!! (Note:  The play dough above was NOT rolled by Carter.)

Now, I need a Pumpkin Spice Latte!  Adios!

Glitzy Christmas Pumpkins!

Fall is over and Christmas is on its way with gusto! The stores have been decorated with lights and tinsel for months, just anticipating everyone packing away the Fall decorations and finally pulling out the Holiday Glitz!

If you are looking for a fun activity for your little one to work on during your dinner prep ,"witching hour", try this fun alternative to TV. It is a fun way to bridge from Fall into the Christmas season!

1. Pull out your fall pumpkin, glue, small scraps of Christmas wrapping, ribbon, lace, bows, etc.
2. Put the pumpkin on a tray or newspaper and let your children collage the pumpkin with the Christmas supplies. Children can snip the supplies on their own, or you could offer them "Mom (pre)cut" supplies.

3. After the glue has dried, they can paint the collaged pumpkin with Modge Podge for a hard, shiny finish.

Remember, enjoy the process and HAVE FUN!!!!!

Mini Pumpkin Basketball

Hey, Suzie here.
Have I told you I have twins? That is my excuse for everything. Just ask my husband. It's the reason why the house isn't clean, why my kids have no pants on, and why I am lucky if I get lip gloss on everyday!
Anyways, teaching your children does not have to be hard, or time consuming. It just has to be meaningful! Just spend 10 minutes with them on this activity--- and everyone will be happy! In fact, as I am blogging this, he is still sitting there playing learning!

What you need:

Mini Pumpkins
A container, mine happens to be a plastic Jack-o-lantern

Just grab the pumpkins you have decorating your house for Fall!

Just checking it's still in there!

SCORE!

Things to remember while playing:

Count out loud with your children. Count by 1's, Count by 2's... like actual basketball!

When done playing, pull them out and count backwards!

Then, sit and count the ridges on the mini pumpkins!

Have Fun!

Pumpkin Recipes

I received this email today from my good friend, Martha Stewart, about all of these delicious pumpkin recipes!

Here are two I might try...

Pumpkin Cookies seem at my level.

Pumpkin Pudding. What a cute way to serve it!

She is good!

Halloween's over so use your pumpkin!

Trick or treaters have gone and your pumpkin should be getting a little soft. Before it starts to grow hair and turn colors (a great science experiment) put it to use as long as you can!

Try This:

1. Use your pumpkin for wood working by letting your child hammer golf tees into the pumpkin with a wooden play dough hammer. Put the pumpkin in a tub or bin to contain it from rolling and let him go. This is great for building fine motor and eye/hand coordination. Start this project with children 3 years and older. Boys and girls alike love this activity.

2. Cut different hand-sized shapes out of your pumpkin and put them in a bowl. Have your child match them up, put them in the appropriate hole and make a pumpkin puzzle. A variation to this activity is to use the cut pumpkin shapes to paint with. Just dip the pumpkin shapes into paint or pudding and press on paper.

3. If you have a small pumpkin, use it for corn bowling. Partially fill six 2 liter bottles with unpopped popcorn or deer corn to weight the bottles. Set them up in a triangle as bowling pins. Stand back and roll the small pumpkin to knock down the pins. FUN!!!!!

Keep reading for more pumpkin activities.

*Pictures from http://www.hummingbirded.com/pumpkins.htm

Pumpkin Painting with Pumpkin Puree

Art in the early years is all about exploration. You want your little one to explore new textures, smells, even tastes (yeah, tastes, you know it's going to happen, right?) You also want them to learn that creativity has no limits. You won't end up with a masterpiece but that is okay! That isn't the point, remember? Exploration and limitless creativity!

One of the activities that I loved doing in the classroom was pumpkin art. This could mean lots of different things. However, in the spirit of fall, pumpkins and mainly a 9 month old baby, we decided to paint a pumpkin with pumpkin puree! (Major tongue-twister!)

Here is how it went:

1. Observing the pumpkin very carefully. He was so interested. Of course, he leaned over to put his mouth on it!

2. He rolled it around. Took a peek inside and went for the seeds!

3. In comes the puree! Straight to the mouth!

4. Not too sure about the texture. But still going strong!

5. He lathers up the pumpkin, chair, himself (notice his hair) and he's done!

This activity is great for my little 9 month old for so many reasons!

1. Super sensory oriented.
2. Age appropriate. Use purees, yogurt, pudding instead of paint if they are still putting everything into their mouth.
3. It is about the process of the activity, not the product you get at the end! Remember?

TEACHING TIPS: For older "not eating everything" kiddos

• Try using marker on the pumpkin. This is fun because they can wipe it off and do it again!
• Sticker collage. This is a good fine-motor (finger muscles) activity! It's hard work to peel those stickers!
• Paint a pumpkin. (Process, not the product! A pumpkin doesn't need eyes, nose and a mouth!) Give them paint, brush and a pumpkin then sit back! (Even go for some glitter!)
• Paint paper, using a pumpkin. Ditch the paint brush! All you need is paper, paint and a pumpkin. They can stamp the paper, roll the pumpkin...who knows what they will come up with! But let them lead the way.

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