A week with fall and apples

Happy first day of Fall!

Die Cut Leaves - I pulled out my die cut machine (from Stampin' Up) for the kiddos to punch out fall leaves.  They LOVED doing this.  I suspect we'll be doing this all week.  I sent some of the leaves home in their bags the rest they helped me hang up in the preschool.

Fall Walk - Even though we knew there wouldn't be too many fall leaves on the ground yet, we decided to take a walk and see what bits of fall we could see.

We were excited to find this tiny slug on a pine cone (look at the top of the cone).  We also found a few fall leaves on the ground.  Our bush in front of the preschool steps has about 5 red-ish leaves and a neighbor had a few on a tree.  We'll have to look again in another week or two (or four - ha).

 

Stamping with Apples - The kiddos helped stamp apples for a project on Wednesday.  So fun!

This was a great way to cut the apples to make it easier to stamp with.  I saw this idea on Preschool Alphabet blog.

Apple Wreaths - Using the wonderful apples the kiddos stamped on Monday, we created lovely apple wreaths.

 They turned out lovely!  I just cut the center out of paper plates to create their wreaths.

Circle Time! - We read one of my favorite apple books:
 
Then we decided to try balancing apples on our own heads.  The kiddos did very well with this.  Here am I looking a bit overly excited that I could do it too!

Apples Up On Top! - This was an easier balancing act.  The kiddos glued craft foam apples on their heads - on a photo of themselves.

Science - Apple Investigation - We labeled the parts of an apple and talked about their functions.  Then we cut it open to discover the hidden star in our apple.  The kiddos were way jazzed about the seeds, they each took some home.  We cut open several different kinds of apples for tasting.  They were all yummy.

Silky Apple Scented Play Dough - Ok, we tried a new recipe today.  We mixed a box of cornstarch (12 oz.) and apple scented hair conditioner (about 10 oz.) to create a lovely, silky and yes a bit crumbly play dough.  

The preschool smelled lovely!  I found this recipe on Kid's Activity Blog.

Pine Cone Soup - Just for Fall fun, I put together a pine cone soup for the kiddos to play with.  It was warm water, cinnamon and pine cones!  We were amazed to notice that our dry pine cones closed right up when they got wet.  Nature is so cool! 

 Apple Baking - Muffins & Pancakes - We had requests for both, so we made muffins from half our batter and pancakes from the other half.  The kiddos were expert helpers at this.  We even had extra apples to make chunky applesauce with!  The kiddos helped measure in all the ingredients, then we let the mixer do the hard work.

Here's our pancakes on the griddle.   They were a bit thick, but still tasty.  I guess we should have added some milk.

Here's our muffins.  We made mini muffins.

Here's our chunky applesauce cooking. 

Tp Apple Cores - While we waited for everything to bake/cook, we made these super cute apple cores.

Apple Trees - We made these apple trees using squares of tissue paper to scrunch up for the lovely green leaves.  The kiddo on the right really, really scrunched his tissue paper up.  Ha!

Oh Happy Day! - Cement Truck!

Today we were delighted to hear a cement truck coming down the road.  

Imagine how much more excited we were when it stopped two houses down from us.  Workers were creating a cement pad for our neighbor to put her trash cans.  We were able to watch it all from the park path.  Here's the cement coming off the truck...

Some of the cement spilled out onto the path, with a mom's help we explored the cement a bit with some plates to scoop our own cement onto.

 

We brought our plates back to dry outside the preschool

We made predictions on how long it'll take our cement to dry:  "3 days!" -  "39 days!"  -  "100 days!"  -   "81 days!"

What a great way to start the day!  The workers were very nice and weren't bothered by our enthusiastic watching.  We made sure to thank them as we left.

Learning Station - Cut Bits

Today we did some cutting practice while decorating an apple.  The kiddos could choose red, yellow, or green strips to cut and glue.  

 The paper bits are scraps from scrapbooking.  Perfect size and shape for snipping.

Learning Station - Sorting Fall Scatter

Today the kiddos sorted fall bits.   I found this "table scatter" at Michael's last year.  The kiddos loved the different shapes (leaves, acorns and pumpkins).  They particularly liked the pumpkins.  Great tactile.

A Week on Pirates - Arrrgh!

Arrrgh!  Friday is "National Talk Like a Pirate" Day so we're celebrating all week!

Pirate Eye Patches - I found these eye patches at Target in the party section.  A pack of 10 for $2 or $3.  Sweet!  I didn't have to make any and the kiddos loved them!


Pirate Boxes - The kiddos created pirate ships from boxes and they LOVED the world map.

Treasure Tins - The kiddos decorated their Altoid tins to use for treasure boxes. 

Backyard Treasure Hunt - The pirates hid treasure for the kiddos to find in the backyard.  They looked and looked...

 In the treasure box, the kiddos found coins, swords and an envelope with their name on it.

The kiddos wanted to find more treasure, so we found some nature treasure that would fit in our tins.  Then I hid the treasure chest again (a few times).

Science Experiment - Cleaning Our Treasure - Inside each envelope the kiddos found 5 dirty pennies.  First we counted them, then we talked about shiny treasure and wondered how we could clean our pennies.

We decided to try three solutions:  water, lemon juice and vinegar (1/4 cup) with salt (3 tsp.).  The kiddos decided where to put their pennies, then we set the timer for 15 minutes.

We enjoyed snack while our pennies were cleaning.  When it was time, we took a peek.  The water didn't do much at all, the vinegar with salt was pretty good, but the lemon juice worked the best!   I gave each kiddo a toothbrush to scrub their pennies with (not necessary, just for fun).

Spy Glasses and Pirate Hats - We needed a few more piratey items....

I created spy glasses from a plastic cup and a tp tube.  Pretty quick and easy.  The pirates enjoyed decorating their spy glasses with electrical tape.  The pirate hats were simple too.  I just cut out the basic shape, glued a skull and cross bone on the front and then taped it to a headband made from discarded bulletin board boarders.  Easy peasy.

 

Maps! - Our pirates needed a map to sail with.  This summer when we cleaned out our map file I saved them for pirate week.  I also grabbed a few here and there on our summer adventures.  

Globe - The kiddos enjoyed using the globe to help chart their course while sailing in their pirate box boats.

Backyard Treasure - The pirates wanted to hide some more treasure, so they scoured the yard for bit of emeralds, diamonds and rubies.  They found some impressive jewels - oh, and a few swords as well.

 The pirates also found gold in the sandbox!

Juice Box Boats - Aha!  I finally found a boat craft that actually floats!  Yippee!  The kiddos were quite happy to empty their juice boxes (slurp!).  Then we put a sail and flag on each ship and they were ready to set sail.  We added a shark, dolphin, sting ray, and sea turtle to our mini ocean.

Pirate Tatoos - I was so excited when I found these this summer at World Market of all places.  So dang cute!  I mean, "Arrrgh!"

 

Coffee Cozy Pirate Ship - These were cute to put together.  The kiddos insisted on a shark in the water (I had to agree with them) so we added a shark fin.