A look at our week:
Labor Day=a day off=a short, but still busy, week! Since we spent our weekend in Minnesota (read about that little adventure here:
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/09/labor-day-weekend-getaway-twin-cities.html and
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/09/labor-day-weekend-getaway-twin-cities_2.html) we took our extra day off to clean up the backyard (the sandbox got left open during the heavy rains), fall-ed up our house, cooked, baked, and took naps.
Fall pasta was Tuesday's lunch for daycare. We added zucchini and squash to the mix and talked about what fall foods we liked to eat.
The newest fall sensory bin, made with split peas and rice (dyed green, which was re-used from our spring sensory bin), Little People, and my fall finds from Dollar Tree in Minneapolis.
I bought this numbers rug at IKEA (mostly because it was adorable and only $15). This has been the "it toy" of the week! The kids have attempted to play hop scotch (which is mainly just jumping from number to number or seeing how far they can jump), they've counted the numbers thousands of times, and the cutest of all, sat on the numbers for storytime. After lunch I have them go into the bathroom to wash up, potty, etc. and then sit in the livingroom and wait for stories. When I emerged from helping wash little hands thoroughly, I saw all of the kids scrunched together, each sitting on a number, smiling at me. $15 well spent!
Since the sand was ruined, we emptied it out and made a cornbox for fall! Mostly the kids have loved burying the Little People and claiming "they're all gone!" and then having them fly out of the corn. I moved the turtle sandbox to the patio so I could easily sweep up any corn that made it's way out of the box....already I know this was a smart move.
This is where the turtle sandbox was in the yard. We've temporarily made it into a "digging for dinos" area.
The new puppet theater. Mostly the kids just enjoy wearing the finger puppets and claiming they're wearing "finger gloves" but a few times they acted out finger puppet plays.
The kids painted the last of the animal figurines (found at Wal-Mart for $2.50 for an eight pack a few months ago...and of course I can't seem to find them anywhere now). The kids insisted on putting glitter on them as the paint dried.
We finally tried out bubble wrap painting. I saw this on Pinterest a while ago, but haven't have any bubble wrap. Finally got some and most of the kids thought it was too weird to do much with. Their pictures turned out pretty neat though.
Harrison helped Daddy open up his birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa Sheaffer. He got a HUGE box of K-cups......it seems this gift will benefit both of us on those too early mornings that happen too often!
The kids colored these stick people and then put on a show using the puppet theater.
The kids were told to color their trees fall colors and these are what I got.
Big H started back to school and did great!
4 year olds don't take naps anymore....instead they wear themselves out in the backyard on gorgeous days and go to bed at 5:40 p.m. We're working on a better schedule for him the next few weeks!
The kids love these grow capsules (found at Dollar Tree in the toy section). They take a while to come out of the capsules, so the kids tried to "help" them along by squeezing them and were disappointed when a few of them didn't turn out (shocking). Once they dried (during naps), the kids used them for sponge painting. We try to get as much use out of things as we can around here......
Like our used (but cleaned out!) containers from Baskin Robbins and Scratch Cupcakery.....and now you know our guilty pleasures as well.
We had what looks to be our last hot day of the year. We pulled out all the stops with the little pools, including the first time putting a pool under the big slide. We will definitely be doing this again next summer! The young kids (I had all 2 and 3 year olds) were a bit hesitant to try out the "big slide pool" but once they did, they couldn't get enough. I have a feeling all of the older kids I'll have back next summer will love it too.
Putting together Lego's (mostly organizing so I can stop stepping on those things!).
We cut open apples and examined them. We looked at their color, shape, and the funnest part: picked out all of the seeds and counted them. Then they used the apples for apple prints/painting and ate apples for snack while watching a cartoon about fall.
Play Doh time! The kids love using my cookie cutters (think we have enough??) to make shapes. I had one rule for the kids: keep the Doh on the table and off the carpet. I was pleased with how well they did with that.
The kids "made the coolest tent ever!" on the couch. It wasn't so cool when it was clean up time and they had to put away ALL of the stuff piled on the couch.
End our week with our first new chili recipe of the season. Find the recipe here:
http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/15/one-pot-chili-mac-cheese/ Definitely a keeper!
Next week we'll be doing more fall activities, including reading fall books and discovering why leaves change colors. We'll also be playing catch with the football in the backyard and finishing up a few art projects we've started.
