Autumn Sun Catchers

Here is one of my all time favorite Autumn craft projects. It's an easy craft for very young children and involves getting outside and collecting, which many 2 and 3 year olds especially enjoy doing.

You will need:

• An eager child and a fall day
• Natural materials
• hand made paper (if available & desired)
• clear contact paper
• hole punch
• yarn
• twig
  

Take a nature walk and bring a bag to collect pine needles, grasses and leaves. Natural items that can be placed between clear contact paper without causing too much of a wrinkle. Also provide natural fiber color papers that can be cut or torn to add to your Autumn collage.
Arrange items on sticky side of contact paper, reposition if needed, and cover with another piece of clear contact paper. These collages I've found work better if kept on a small scale but can be created large too. With sticky paper like this young children can get frustrated.
To display: Punch two holes at the top and thread a piece of yarn, attach yard to a twig (also found outside) and hang like a picture in a window.

Our Autumn Sun Catchers have been up since last fall and visitors often notice them, making my son feel very proud. He usually says, "You can make one too, they're really easy, want me to show you?"

~~~MM (original)

A Fall Poem

May the glory of the passing away
of autumn
lie about us
fresh gold
for a time.
And when the dark comes, and
the cold
may we remember how today we stand in glory,
how we walk in bounty
heaped upon earth's dark carpet,
how we move knee deep in
abundance
flung against night's winter
curtain.
We are thankful for its coming
and for its passing.
Let it be.

~~~Barbara J. Pescan

Gourd Friends

Move over, Jack. There are new gourds in town. These fanciful little folks will put a whole new face on decorating for the season. Here's how to craft your own.

GATHER YOUR MATERIALS
You'll need an assortment of gourds or ornamental pumpkins. Choose ones that are free of mold and bruises (they'll last longer), and wash and dry them once you get them home. You'll also need a variety of natural trimmings, such as pine needles, pinecones, leaves, seeds, and the like, plus a glue gun or glue dots for tacking everything in place. Thinner glue dots (often labeled "paper thin") are fine for light items, but we preferred thicker ones (1/16 inch or more; 3-D dots work especially well) for pinecones and large twigs.

CHOOSE A DESIGN
Once you've gathered your supplies, play around with how to arrange them, starting with the body. (One, two, or three gourds? Smaller ones stacked atop larger ones, or vice versa?) Next, try out some features. We used leaves for Maude's hair, Frank's bow tie, and Myrtle's arms, while our gallery of noses includes a berry for Frances, a single pinecone scale for Myrtle, a peanut shell for Neville, and a piece of a stem for Harriet. Small, round items, such as beans, berries, and Indian corn kernels, make great eyes, noses, and buttons, while sticks and stems work well for hair, arms, and smiles. But anything goes, have fun!

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
If you're using multiple gourds, glue them together (remove the stems from the lower ones first), then add the features. You can also connect them with round toothpicks or trimmed skewers (use a small nail to make pilot holes if necessary). If you plan to sandwich leaves between two stacked gourds, as with Neville's and Myrtle's collars, be sure to glue the foliage to the bottom gourd before gluing the top one in place. Gourd wobbly? Glue nutshells or small pinecones to its base to help stabilize it, as we did with both Frank and Neville. Your fall friends will likely last two to four weeks in a cool, dry spot.

Another fun idea from Family Fun

Story excerpt: Gwendolyn Makes a Friend

Gwendolyn is four years old. She loves make-believe, the color blue, molasses cookies, hair ribbons and of course her best friend, Puppy, a stuffed dog with a jewled collar. When Gwendolyn dreams, she tells her Mama,

“My dreams are in color there is lots of blue and there is a little girl who I haven’t met yet but I know I will, and she has hair ribbons just like me! She is my best friend in the whole world Mama”

Mama smiles. Gwendolyn has wanted a friend for so long, “four whole years” she tells her Mama, “I’ve waited four whole years to make a friend.”

Gwendolyn was very excited. Tomorrow would be her first day at The Children’s House, the Montessori school her Mama had signed her up for. She had been told all about her new school, how rugs needed to be rolled up and plants needed ‘misting’, and Gwendolyn was very much looking forward to being helpful in her new classroom, she liked to help. There were many new and interesting works to try there, like a tower of pink cubes and a map puzzle with bright colors.

Gwendolyn hoped her new teacher Sandy would let her have a turn to feed the gold fish one day. When Gwendolyn first visited The Children’s House she met Sandy, her teacher, and right away she new they would be good friends. Sandy smelled like vanilla cookies and flowers mixed together and she had a quiet voice, like a fairy princess. Mama said the smell was probably just Sandy’s hair shampoo but Gwendolyn was sure that Sandy had picked flowers and made cookies often and that was why she smelled like that. Gwendolyn already loved Sandy and she knew she would love The Children’s House too.

As Gwendolyn went to bed that night, she had trouble falling asleep, she was so excited and wanted her first day at her new school to begin she couldn’t wait to make a friend.

Having trouble posting a comment?

Hello Everyone,
If you are having trouble posting a comment please feel free to email me at spirals@gwi.net
I will respond either way and would like to answer any questions parents may have. If you are able to comment please do, your feedback is very helpful. Many thanks to you who have commented and to everyone for stopping by and reading! More to come.
In PEACE, MM

Make a Harvest Banner

What to do with all of those garden veggies? Besides eating them you can make a beautiful Harvest Banner for your front door. Here's how:
Select sturdy fall veggies to make prints from: peppers, potatoes, carrots, corn (you can also throw in a couple apples and pears as well, they make interesting shaped prints, or leaves even~~ be creative & have fun!). Next using tempera paints in recycled yogurt or cottage cheese containers, dip your veggies in the paint to lightly cover or use a paint brush to apply a thin coating. Next print, print print! On a large piece of fall color construction paper (we used orange) create a Harvest Design. To Hang: Simply punch a couple holes in your paper and string a piece of hemp or ribbon to hang your banner. Our Harvest Banner is hanging on the front door and has received many complements from guests. This activity can be extended using fabric paints and decorating a light colored table cloth for a special Harvest Dinner or Thanksgiving.

Apple faces

Submerge a peeled apple for about 5 minutes in water with 2 tablespoons of salt and the juice from one lemon. Then use a skewer to carve eyes, a nose, and a mouth. The bigger the features, the more dramatic the outcome. Set the carved apple in a warm spot and watch the face of your wise friend emerge over the next two weeks.
--another cool idea from Wondertime

A Day Away from Toddler Land

A typical Toddler Land conversation goes something like this: What's that? Mine. Are you eating a crayon? No. Mine. That's not safe. Come down, I know you want to climb but you could fall. Listen to Mama. NO. This little piggie...The itsy bitsy spider...Laugh..Scream..Moo cow. No. Mine. Please? This book? No. Up Mama......

You get the idea. I was in need of something more. So recently my husband and I took a mini vacation in celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary. We went just a couple hours south and while away we visited the Portland Museum of Art
We had a lovely afternoon together. We also enjoyed Sushi (our favorite food) and a little early Christmas shopping. Honestly the best part of the whole 30 hour trip wasn't the Museum, shops or the restaurant, it wasn't the hotel or the room service although that was really special. It wasn't where we went it was the company we kept while there. Just to be in each other's company, to share a real conversation with full sentences and without interruptions. Holding the hand of my husband rather than the hand of my toddler was such a nice change.
Now we are back home again and my toddler is so happy. I'm happy too, I know this hand holding stage is short lived. They are only little for a brief minute of time really, then one day they don't want to hold your hand anymore. I know it comes too fast, I've been through it twice already. Hopefully when the day comes I will be blessed to still be married to my husband.
He has really nice hands. :)

Maya Angelou quote

"I think a role model at home is invaluable. Each one of us is a teacher, whether we like it or not."

Apples & Art

Art & Play at Waterfall Arts Belfast Maine. Thursday mornings I lead a parent and child art class for one hour. It is shaping up to be one of my favorite hours out of the week. Being that I am not teaching this school year, I have to say, I love being in the company of two and three year olds again.

I enjoy the children's observations and genuine delight in the process of an activity. It is as 'living in the moment' as I am able to be these days. I so long to be of that place of mind, like a two year old, centered and focused on the feel of paint on their skin. I envy them and their ability to let all other noise and distraction fade away when a blank piece of paper and paint is ready and waiting.

Here is a lively and beautiful creation by two year old Stella. Although provided with cut apples and leaves to make prints from, Stella found her flow in using the paint brush. She blended and mixed and made a lush shade of dark green. She was lost in it and it was simply lovely to watch.

Thank you Stella and all the Art and Play participants (big & small) for letting me share my Thursdays with you! [For more information about Waterfall Arts programs for children please visit their web site found under my list of 'Links that Inspire'.] Today's Art & play Activity: Leaf and Apple Prints, was inspired by the picture book illustrations from the book: Turtle Splash! by Cathryn Falwell
To do this activity at home:
You will need the following supplies:
Washable non-toxic paints, a child size brush, water, several sheets of paper. An old saucer or plastic lid will work nicely for dipping apples. Leaves, cut apples, whatever else you desire to make prints from (preferably found in nature).
Directions:
Brush the vein side of a leaf, make sure you cover the entire leaf. Now carefully put the leaf, paint side down, on your sheet of paper, cover it with another sheet of paper, press down and rub the leaf area. Gently lift the top sheet and the leaf. You may find a beautiful print where the leaf had been. Keep trying, experiment and play with your art. Enjoy different colors, overlapping prints, and have fun!