Halloween, Treats and Food Allergies

If you have a child with food allergies, you know how scary a holiday like Halloween can be, and I'm talking about more than just scary costumes or creepy yards.  Most kids who participate in activities such as trick or treat, trunk or treat or even church harvest festivals will unwrap and pop a piece of candy in their mouth before you even notice.

Last year, I heard about the teal pumpkin project.  Basically, if you have a teal pumpkin outside, it is a symbol that you are offering non-food treats for the kids.   Although I had already bought candy before I heard of this, I thought it was a good idea.   I have a daughter who has struggled with some dye allergies so I can appreciate it when something other than candy is offered.  It's also nice for kids with braces who can't eat the chewy treats.  I did not put out a teal pumpkin because I had candy but I also offered non-food items like spider rings, Play-Doh, sunglasses, etc.  I let the kids decide which bowl they wanted to choose from.  Glow sticks would be another fun alternative and you can get them inexpensively from Dollar stores.  For anyone who might consider participating, here is more information on the Teal Pumpkin Project.

This year,  I'm thinking I will buy some books of Frosty coupons from Wendy's.  A book of  5 Jr. Frosty coupons is only $1.00 and the proceeds go to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.  100 coupons for $20.00 seems like a great deal.  The money goes for a great cause and I think most kids would love a free frosty.

Autumn Leaf Mason Jars & Fun Idea's with Leaves!

Although the heat of summer is still here, Autumn is quickly approaching!   I've already noticed some of the leaves on the trees starting to change.   Most of the leaves are still green but I see splashes of orange, red and yellow here and there. 

When I was teaching preschool, I took my students on a leaf collection nature walk every fall.  I gave each of the children a bag to collect pretty leaves on our walk.  The leaves were used for sorting, rubbings, our sensory tub and all sorts of fun activities.  I recently found a really easy and pretty fall craft to do with my own children.  Autumn leaf mason jar candle holders.   All you need is a collection of leaves, a mason jar, Mod Podge and a paint brush or sponge brush.   Even very young children can help collect leaves for this project.  When working with young children, the adult may want to do the Mod Podge but older children can do this with supervision.   The festive jars would be a beautiful decoration for the Autumn months.  I think they would look really pretty on a table decorated for Thanksgiving.   Put a tea light candle inside and enjoy!  Check out the link for pictures and directions.  Autumn Leaf Mason Jars.

Fall Leaf Art & Animals

I  found this adorable art project today.  Another fun way to use the beautiful leaves that kids love to collect.  Leaf animal art.   I especially love the fox and hedgehog!  So cute!  Happy fall!

Fall Leaf Art's and Crafts

Are you looking for some fun and easy fall projects?  Take a nature walk and collect leaves with your children or students.   Provide construction paper and glue to make leaf animals!   Here are some great ideas to get you started.  Let the children be creative and just have fun!

Leaf Animals

Here is another fun way to use some of the collected leaves.  Provide some string and beads and have fun with Leaf Threading.

Of course, you can also make leaf rubbings.  Lay a leaf between two pieces of paper, use the side of an unwrapped crayon and instruct the children to rub the crayon over the paper.  The outline of the leaf will appear.

You can also make a leaf wreath.  Provide one paper plate for each child.  Cut the middle out of each plate.   The children can glue leaves all over the plate.  Add a string to hang your pretty fall leaf wreath.

Autumn Fabric Wreath

I was searching online for ideas for a fall wreath to make with my kids.  Check out what I found!  Adorable and so easy!   Autumn Fabric Wreath   I can't wait to get some fabric and give this a try.  I happen to have wire hangers.  I'll do the hanger bending part but my kids can easily tie the fabric onto the wire.   Love this!

Fall Cuteness!

Happy Fall from Peppermint the bunny!

Peek-A-Boo!

 

We had a fall fun day on Saturday.  We went to a couple of apple orchards, went through a corn maze and picked our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.  When we got home and set up our pumpkins, I thought it would be fun to take a few pictures of our new bunny (Peppermint Twist) with the fall decorations.  Turns out, she loves to play with straw.  Thankfully, she did not take a bite out of any of our pumpkins during my photo shoot with her.  She's such a little cutie!

Fun and Cute Apple Themed Treats!

The leaves are just starting to have a hint of color and the temps are getting a bit cooler.  Fall is in the air!  This has me thinking of apples!   Today I was looking for some apple themed treat ideas and I found some cute stuff to try.  Check these out!

The Apple of our Eye Cupcakes from Family Fun


Krispy Apple Treats from Gourmet Mom on the Go


Caramel Apple Cookies (on a stick with no caramel or apples) from The Decorated Cookie


Mini Oreo Apple Pops from The Crafting Chicks

Toilet paper Tube Turkeys and Scarecrows

I meant to post this project several days ago but I got busy and forgot. If you need a last minute fun craft idea to keep the kids busy tomorrow, give this a try. They also make cute table decorations.

Supplies Needed for Scarecrow:
Toilet paper tube
Muffin tin liner cup (for hat)
popsicle stick
yellow construction paper (for hair)
Wiggly eyes
Markers
Glue

Supplies needed for Turkey:
Toilet paper tube
Construction paper
Wiggly eyes
Glue
Markers

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I've been in the mood for making pumpkin cupcakes with my kids so I went on an online search for some simple cupcakes. I found some super cute and simple pumpkin theme cupcakes at Family Circle. You could even use a boxed mix if you wanted and just decorate with orange frosting but I think the pumpkin flavor would be great! Enjoy!

Pumpkin cupcakes!

Fabric Pumpkin Craft

I discovered this adorable fall craft today. These little fabric pumpkins are so cute. Although an adult or older child may have to do the simple sewing, small children could help gather sticks from outside. They could also help stuff the pumpkins/squash. Enjoy making these Squash Softies.

Pick Your Own Pumpkins and Apples!

My family and I enjoy visiting several "pick your own" farms.  It's a fun experience to pick your own produce.   A few years ago, I found a wonderful site that I love!  You can chose your state, decide which seasonal produce you want to pick and get a list of all of the pick your own farms in your area.   Since Fall is in full swing here in the midwest, we are all about apples and pumpkins right now.   Check out www.pickyourown.org to find an orchard or farm near you!   Enjoy!

Pumpkin Mousse Recipe

It's Pumpkin Time!  Do you enjoy pumpkin treats?  My kids like to help me make Pumpkin Mousse.  It's easy and delicious.  It's also diabetic friendly.  My dad was diabetic so I often made this yummy dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  The credit for this recipe goes to Mr. Food.
Creamy Pumpkin Mousse:  Ingredients: 1 can (16 ounces) of solid-pack pure pumpkin.  1 package (6-serving size) instant sugar-free vanilla pudding mix.  1/4 cup low-fat (1%) milk.  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.  2 cups frozen light whipped topping, thawed.  Directions: In a medium bowl, with an electric beater on medium speed, beat the pumpkin, pudding mix,milk, and cinnamon until well blended. Fold in the whipped topping until thoroughly blended then spoon into a serving bowl. Cover loosely and chill until ready to serve. 

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/2 cup):Calories: 65, Fat: 2 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 207 mg,Carbohydrate: 11 g, Dietary Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 3 g, Protein: 1 g Diabetic Exchanges: 1 Carbohydrate

Back to School Traditions

My twins are in first grade this year. Everyday for the first week of school I leave little surprises on their beds. It gives them something fun to look forward to while they are at school. When they come home they run to their rooms in anticipation of their small gifts. I started doing this last year when they were in Kindergarten. My mom actually did this for me way back when I was in Kindergarten. She left me small surprises on my bed each day but I think it may have gone on longer than a week. I needed bribed as I wanted to continue staying home with my mom. My kids love school but I such had fond childhood memories of this. I wanted to create the same great memories with my kids so I decided that the first week of school would be the perfect time frame. My kids enjoyed this so much last year that I decided to make it a tradition every year. It's just something fun and inexpensive (I buy little things from places like Target, Dollar stores, etc.). I only spent about $10.00 for a week of surprises for two kids but the joy and memories from the tradition are priceless.


Another tradition that I want to share:  Back when I was in school, my dad woke me up in the mornings with a silly song that he had made up. He started out singing softly but got louder and louder until I would get out of bed. It was funny when I was little but by the time I was in high school, some days it would drive me a little nuts because I was not a natural morning person and didn't always enjoy my "dad alarm clock". It was something that my dad and I laughed about in adulthood though and it became a good memory. My dad passed away unexpectedly on August 15th, 2010, at the age of 62. My girls and I have been sharing good memories about my dad, their beloved grampy. One of the stories I shared was his silly wake up song. My kids thought it was funny. My girls started school this week (just 3 weeks after my dad died). In memory of dad, I decided to wake them up with dad's silly song. I'll bet he was looking down on us with his big smile and contagious laugh, maybe even joining in with the song.

Some of my other first day of school traditions are common such as taking pictures of my kids wearing their backpacks in the morning before leaving the house.   I also walk them into class and snap a picture of them in their classroom.

I would love to hear  about your school traditions too.  Whether you are a home school mom, a teacher or a parent sending your kids to school.  Please share with me.   I have always loved creating wonderful memories and starting traditions with my kids.  After the recent loss of my own dad, I see even more importance in the memories we make.  They are lasting.

My Favorite Thanksgiving Day Books for Preschoolers and Kindergarten Children

I've been reading lots of Thanksgiving books to my kids this week and I wanted to share some of our favorites with you. If you get the chance, see if your local library has any of them. Enjoy!

My First Thanksgiving ~ By Tomie dePaola

Thanksgiving Day ~ By Gail Gibbons

Thanksgiving Mice ~ By Bethany Roberts

The Story Of The Pilgrims ~ By Katharine Ross

The Best Thanksgiving Day (Pooh) ~ By Ann Braybrooks

It's Thanksgiving Day! ~ By Mary Packard

Clifford's Thanksgiving Visit ~ By Norman Bridwell

A Plump and Perky Turkey ~ By Teresa Bateman

Over the River and Through the Wood ~ A Thanksgiving Poem by Lydia Maria Child

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie ~ By Alison Jackson

Three Little Pilgrims ~ By Janet Craig

Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks ~ By Margaret Sutherland

The First Thanksgiving ~ By Jean Craighead George (Note...this book is more appropriate for 5+ year olds due to the length and more in depth history lesson)

Handprint and Fingerprint Turkey Craft

I love doing hand print turkey's with my kids each year (and of course I save them to look back on later). Most of you have probably seen or done hand print turkey's. Palm side facing up, the thumb is painted brown and the fingers painted in various colors. Press down on paper. When dry, have your child draw eyes (or glue on wiggly eyes) a beak and a gobble on the thumb and then draw legs onto the turkey. These are always a nice keepsake.

I recently found a cute fingerprint turkey craft that is also really easy so I wanted to share it with you. You can find the fingerprint turkey here on the DLTK site.

Thanksgiving Mazes

My kids love doing mazes right now so I decided to look for a few Thanksgiving themed mazes. I found some to print off from kaboose.com which saves me the time of making them up myself. They have a decent selection from simple to more difficult mazes. Here is the link for more of the mazes.

Edible Thanksgiving Craft - Pilgrim Hats

Check out this how-to video for a cool Thanksgiving treat: Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats.
http://familyfun.go.com/how-to-videos/familyfun-marshmallow-pilgrim-hats-762347-v/

Apple Time!

I brought my kids to an apple orchard this weekend. There is something about the apple orchard that helps me say goodbye to summer and embrace fall. I love the smell and taste of fresh crisp apples (especially Honey crisp!) and preservative free fresh apple cider. Whether or not you plan to visit an apple orchard with your children, I want to share a few of my favorite preschool apple books with you. I know you will enjoy reading them with your children. You may even be craving a juicy apple or a fresh baked apple treat when you are finished with the story so be prepared.

~Dinofours...It's Apple Picking Day! By Steve Metzger
~The Apple Pie Tree By Zoe Hall
~Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time By Jody Fickes Shapiro

Back to School!

It's been a wonderful and busy summer here. Some of our highlights were camping, visiting the beach, parks and picnics, blueberry and cherry picking and vacationing at a cottage on a lake (both of my kids caught their first fish!). I hope that all of you enjoyed your summer too. It always goes by too fast. I can feel a chill in the evening air and some of the leaves on the trees are already starting to change colors. It's the time of year when children start going back to school. When I was a kid, one of my favorite first week of school assignments was to write and/or draw a picture of my favorite summer vacation memories. I would encourage you this week to talk with your children about their favorite summer memories and then have them draw pictures. After they have completed their pictures let them give you a picture description as you write a small caption on each page. This will make a treasured book to look back on during the year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful new school year!

Fun Field Trip Ideas

If you are in need of some fun field trip ideas (and who isn't during a long, cold winter), check out our newly updated Field Trip page on LessonPlansPlus.com. We have compiled a list of our favorite field trips for young children as well as links to some other great resources. Now go get rid of that cabin fever...Enjoy!