Fall Leaf Rubbings

October 17, 2012 by

If you have not done leaf rubbings before, it’s a fun and easy activity for you and  the kiddos. For you, it’s not messy making cleanup a breeze. Also, you can transform the product into notecards or thank you cards.  For the kids, it’s an art project that is easy to learn and fun for all ages! Here’s the process and how I made the thank you cards.

Materials:

fall leaves (preferably flat ones)
tape (any kind)
scissors or sliding paper cutter
crayons (without paper wrapper)
thin white paper
colored construction paper (or other colored card stocks for notecards): Optional

Put a leaf or leaves facing down so veins are facing up. Put white paper on top of the leaves. Tape down the paper corners to hold it in place.
Rub the side of crayon where the leaves are.

Beautiful leaf rubbings framed or simply tacked onto your bulletin board for a touch of fall.

I trimmed some leaf pictures and pasted them onto precut construction-paper notecards.

For further study of leaves, being the homeschool mom, I printed out this leaf-part diagram and used it as a study tool. I went over it with my kids before starting this craft project. They decided to color this page after their leaf rubbings.

Click Leaf Part Names for a copy of this leaf coloring page.

For beautiful pictures of fall leaves, check out children’s books Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert and Leaf Jumpers by Carole Gerber. For a list of fall books for children, read 10 Fall Books for Children.

What fall activities does your family enjoy? I’d love to hear from you. Please share in the comments.

Filed Under: Crafts, Fall, Indoors Activities Tagged With:

Fall Nature Walk

October 15, 2012 by

Inspired by the children’ books Leaf Man and Leaf Jumpers, we went on our first fall nature walk this year. Excited, the kids gathered their beach buckets and we headed down our neighborhood streets in search of fall artifacts. They picked up twigs, cones of various sizes and leaves of different colors and shapes. It was just a fun time of observing signs of autumn. As we walked, we had conversations about fall. Buddy saw a tree with leaves that hung down low, and he asked me if it’s a willow tree. It was neat to see them put their book knowledge into real life experiences. Below are some pictures of our walk and projects that we made with our findings. We tried to glue our leaf animals together, but that didn’t work because the leaves were all dried and uneven, so I told the kids that we’ll have the nice pictures for memory and they were all fine with that.

Buddy’s bird

Chicco’s trying to make a butterfly.

Mei’s butterfly that Buddy made for her.

Buddy asked for pipe cleaners for his pine cone spider.

If you’re interested in some great fall books for children, read 10 Fall Books for Children.

What fall activities does your family enjoy? Please share in the comments.

Filed Under: Crafts, Fall, Outdoor Activities Tagged With: ,

No-Carve Pumpkins

October 11, 2012 by

My three kids love crafts, so what better way to celebrate this pumpkin season with some fun pumpkin crafts. I bought some mini pumpkins and provided them with some craft material and here’s what we came up with.

Materials: Pipe cleaners, school glue, googly eyes, scraps of paper, strings, foam stickers or whatever leftover craft material you have at home will work.

I squeezed out some glue on a piece of scrap paper and using strips of scrap papers, they applied glue as they needed. Buddy cut out mouths and noses out of the green construction paper for everyone. But Mei decided to just glue googly eyes all over her pumpkin. Buddy added some arms to his pumpkin with pipe cleaners. The boys wanted some hair for their pumpkins, so I untwined some gardening strings and hot glued some hair for the boys. If you have never worked with a hot glue gun, it gets pretty hot, so please be careful when working with young children.

Here’s a little girl pumpkin that I made with googly eyes, black permanent marker for nose and mouth and gardening twine for braid.

Do you have a favorite craft for the fall season to share. Please post in the comment section.

Filed Under: Crafts Tagged With:

10 Fall Books For Children

October 10, 2012 by

Fall is upon us! The air is cooler. The days are shorter. And what a better way to usher in the season than to curl up and enjoy some great fall books. Here’s a list of ten childrens’ books that I have found that help us appreciate this time of year. Hopefully these books will spark you and your family excitement about this season of harvest. I was able to find most of these books in our local library. I’ve also linked them to amazon.com for those of you who prefer to purchase them.

 

Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson

I love the layout of the photographs in this book. They are bright and just beautiful. In addition to the great descriptions, this book is excellent on learning the life cycle of pumpkins. I highly recommend it.

 

How Many Seeds in a pumpkin? By Margaret McNamara

A great book not only on pumpkins, but for introducing different ways of counting. This book is about a little boy who really disliked being the last one in line because his teacher, Mr. Tiffin, always makes his students line up by size. One day, Mr. Tiffin brought in three pumpkins and asked his students to estimate the number of seeds in each pumpkin. Everyone thought Charlie’s smallest pumpkin would have the least number of seeds.  But to everyone’s surprise, the smallest pumpkin had more seeds than its bigger counterparts. As a result, Charlie learned that it’s okay to be small. I love the diversity of the students presented in this book. Among them, six were girls and four were boys. They seemed to be ethnically balanced. Very fun illustrations as well.

The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs

This book is great for Christian families that wish to bring the Christian perspective to Halloween.  While it’s written for children with pictures, this book creatively presents a Christian message. For this reason, it’s a story for any age. The book tells of a farmer who turns a pumpkin into a glorious sight. In the same way, God can turn us into a new creature, full of light, shining for Him.

The seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons

A great book to illustrate the changes in an apple tree during the four seasons. Arnold takes the readers through the seasons and shows the types of activities he does with his tree. An excellent book for your apple or season unit.

The very best pumpkin by Mark Kimball Moulton

This story is about a boy, Peter who lived with his grandparents, Mimi and Papa on a farm. One day, Peter discovered one little pumpkin that was all alone among the weeds. Every day, Peter took great care of this puny little pumpkin. Then there was Meg, a new neighbor who had been watching Peter tending to his lonely pumpkin. This is a sweet story of patience, friendship and sharing. Pictures in this book are brightly colored and fun to look at. We also love the to-grow-your-own-very-best-pumpkin guide at the end of the book. My kids wanted to grow their own pumpkins next year so guess we’ll be revisiting this book again next spring.

Leaf jumpers by Carole Gerber

Wonderful book to teach children about fall leaves. The illustrations are outstanding with great descriptions of different types of leaves. My kids smiled when they heard what the children did with the leaves in the book. It reminded them of some of the things they did with the leaves too. It also inspired my kids to learn the different trees: birch, willow, basswood, etc. In the back of the book, the author provided some facts for further learning of leaves. Overall, this is a great book for your fall book basket!

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

This book has lots of beautiful pictures of fall leaves. It portrays leaves as a man, traveling where the wind takes him. Throughout the story, as a result of the wind, different leaves come together creating different animals. My big boy who loves making things took to this book. He’s really looking forward to collecting various leaves and making his rendition of leaf animals. Great companion for leaf art projects.

Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano

A friend gave us this book as a gift and it’s one of my kids’ favorites. The excellent wording and silly pictures will make your kids and adults giggle and laugh. Turkey doesn’t want to be the Thanksgiving meal, so he tries to disguise himself. Turkey is happy in the end as the family enjoys an unusual Thanksgiving dinner. A fun book!

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington

Apple Farmer Annie has an orchard full of apples. From applesauce, to apple muffins, to selling her harvest at the farmers’ market, Farmer Annie shows us what she did with her apples. A simple and straight forward book with colorful pictures.

Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson

The family celebrates this season by working together to make the first batch of applesauce. Excellent, detailed descriptions of how the applesauce was made and the team work of the entire family help us visualize this delightful story. A great story for apple season.

 

What are some of your favorite children’s fall books? I’d love to hear what you and your kids are reading. Please share in the comments.

 

Filed Under: Children's Book List Tagged With:

Papaya Salad in Raw Ginger Vinaigrette

October 4, 2012 by

I love the Vietnamese style papaya salad so when I saw this raw ginger vinaigrette, I couldn’t resist not trying it out. This delicious marriage of raw ginger and almond dressing is packed with tons of protein and other nutrients. Did you know that ginger has lots antioxidants and cancer-fighting properties? Click here to read more on ginger. This salad is so nutritiously dense that it can be eaten either as a stand-alone meal or served as a side dish. I’ve done both.  I’ve served it as a light lunch one day and my three kiddos were totally satisfied. I’ve also added some shredded chicken to it to make my meat-loving husband happy. Everyone agrees that this is definitely a repeater in our household!  Here’s what I did. Recipe adapted from Shape.com.

Ingredients for Ginger Vinaigrette:
1 cup raw almond butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
3-4 tablespoons fresh peeled and chopped ginger
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
3 tablespoons tamari (a gluten-free soy sauce)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 small garlic cloves
1/4 Jalapeño pepper with seed (remove if you can’t take the spiciness)
Directions for Ginger Vinaigrette:
Mix all ingredients in a blender. Add more water if you prefer a thinner dip/sauce.

Directions for salad:
Using a Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler (or any julienne peeler), I julienned a zucchini, carrot, and ½ green papaya, covered, and set aside in fridge. When we were ready to eat, I drizzled some ginger vinaigrette on it. Lastly and optional, sprinkle some raw almond slices, cashews or your favorite nuts.

The julienne peeler that I use is called the Kiwi Pro Slice Peeler.

Here’s a close-up picture of the salad. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe could easily be replaced with peanut butter. I love peanuts with bananas, peanuts on bread, and peanuts as my midnight snack. Peanuts have health benefits in themselves, however, peanuts is one of the most pesticide-contaminated crops. They are often contaminated with a carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin.

Do you have a favorite version of ginger vinaigrette, or green papaya salad recipe? Please share in the comments.

References:

Ginger Inhibits Ovarian Cancer Cell Growth

Nutritional value of ginger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger

http://www.openeyehealth.com/2011/05/dangerous-mold-in-peanut-butter

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/aflatoxin.php

Filed Under: Salads Tagged With:
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