Fall – Page 2

Fall Nature Walk

October 15, 2012 by Betty

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: Fall Nature Walk, Leaf Art

Fruit Stamping

September 26, 2012 by Betty

I made some fruit stamping with my 2^nd graders back when I taught public school. This is a fun way for them to learn about shapes and use their imagination on creating other shapes.

Today I tried it with my three kiddos since we have lots of fruits from our recent fruit picking outing. First, we just made geometric shapes, and then we used those shapes to make different designs like flowers and trees. It’s a little messy but sooo much fun! Just make sure everyone wears a smock. Here are the results:

The kids use a foam brush to get the paint on the fruits and to get the extra paint off the fruits as well.

These are flower designs made with pears, tomatoes, and mini bell peppers.

Geometric design on a small Gala apple.

Layered designs of pears, apples and peaches.

I drew the branches with black marker before stamping this purple pear tree.

Do you have fun activities or crafts that you have done with fruits? Share them in the comments section.

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

Fruit Picking

September 25, 2012 by Betty

One of the autumn family activities that we like to do is apple picking. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, now’s the time to enjoy a fun day at a local farm and pick some juicy apples, scrumptious peaches and pears. Not to mention how much fun it will be for the kids.

We packed up our kids, some snacks, and drove to Mountain View Orchards for our annual fruit picking event. Our homeschool group introduced us to this Hood River Fruit Loop farm that we have enjoyed visiting. We chose the Hood River area, even though the distance is further, for its breathtaking view of the Columbia Gorge and the spectacular sight of Mt. Hood. It’s just magnificent!

The orchard have some activities for the whole family. On the weekends, they have free hay rides for the whole family, you can sample fresh squeezed apple juice, and various jams. Your family can also take a tour of the farm on your own and check out the sunflowers, corns, pumpkins (no U-Pick) and some animals. Our three kiddos had a great time picking the fruits and simply just pulling their wagons around the farm.

We ended our day with a picnic right between the isles of apples trees. If you’re interested in the Mt. View Orchards, it runs through October 31 with daily hours from 9-5. Click here for their contact info. Plan ahead: call the farm before you go.

If you’re interested in checking out other farms/orchards. Click here for a map of the Hood River County Fruit Loop.

BTW… we didn’t get any reception for our GPS once we got into the Fruit Loop, so make sure you make a hard copy of your Google map.