Fun-tastic Fall: Magic Drawings

You will need:

• white paper
• cotton swabs
• baking soda
• water
• purple grape juice

Here’s what you’re going to do:

1. Have your child combine one tablespoon of baking soda and one tablespoon of water in a cup.
2. Let your child dip cotton swabs into the mixture and make designs on sheets of white paper.
3. Let their designs dry completely so that their papers look blank.
4. Have them paint over their designs with purple grape juice.
5. Watch what happens!

For more fun-tastic fall crafts, recipes, stories, activity ideas, and poems, download and print our Fall Funtastic Book!

Ideas for Fall Outdoor Activities

As the weather changes, outdoor activities change.  The cooler days of fall are ideal for long walks of discovery.  Pack a snack of cut fruit, cheese curds, crackers or finger sandwiches and some water to drink.  Walking in familiar places makes changes more noticeable. 

Watch for:

• Flowers turning brown
• Leaves changing colour and drying
• Birds and animals gathering food
• Pets growing heavier coats

Encourage children to:

• Look, smell, feel and think
• Collect pebbles, twigs, leaves, pine cones, wild flowers
• Hug some trees and decide which is largest, smoothest, friendliest

Use nature collections for crafts and to decorate at home:

• Make a branch mobile with leaves and nuts.
• Dip leaves, feathers, evergreen sprigs, etc. in paint and then press onto paper.
• Adopt an abandoned spider web by sprinkling it gently with talcum powder – lift it by placing a sheet of black construction paper underneath.
• Create a table centrepiece of acorns, pine cones, pebbles in a glass jar, or flowers dried by hanging upside-down.
• Preserve leaves by pressing between wax paper (cereal and cracker boxes have super wax bag liners) or use a placemat-size piece.  Place gathered “treasures” on one piece of wax paper.  You could shave crayon pieces with a grater, cut out magazine letters to create a name or add magazine pictures for added interest.  Place another piece of wax paper on top and iron gently (no steam) to melt together.
• Press leaves between sheets of wax paper placed under a heavy book.  Preserve leaves permanently by covering with clear MacTac.  Cut around leaves leaving 1/16” MacTac around edges.  Hang these in a window to twirl and sparkle in the sunlight.
• Place a leaf or two under paper, rub the top of the paper with a crayon to see the leaves appear magically.
• Create an apple face with miniature marshmallows or raisins.
• Use apple chunks to add to muffins or pancakes.  Share a cooking experience!
• Use apple pieces dipped in paint or pudding to make apple prints.

The colder weather of early winter brings out mittens and scarves.  The changing textures of clothes and dropping temperatures can be discovered.

• The ground is hard.
• We see our breath.
• We hope for snow.
• Watch the grey sky, and move quickly when outdoors to stay warm.  Play FREEZE! – then HOP – FREEZE, JUMP-FREEZE and so on.  Let the children take turns calling freeze.

Apple Poems

I’m a Little Apple (to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”)

I’m a little apple
Short and round
I make a crunchy
Munchy sound
If you bite into me
You will see
I’m delicious
As can be

Two Green Apples

Way up high
In an apple tree
Two green apples
Smiled at me.

So I shook that tree
As hard as I could
And down fell the apples
Mmm, mmm, good.

Serve with apples.

Fall Activities

 

A Walk on the Wild Side

What a terrific time to shuffle through dry leaves and watch autumn unfold during a walk in the woods or around the block.  Nature will provide collectibles that can be used in the following ways:

 

·           Dip leaves, feathers, evergreen sprigs, etc. in paint, and then press onto paper.

·           Place a leaf or two under paper, rub the top of the paper with a crayon to see the leaves appear magically.

·           Press leaves between sheets of wax paper placed under a heavy book.  Preserve leaves permanently by covering with clear Mac Tac.  Cut around leaves, leaving 1/16 “ Mac Tac around edges.  Hang these in a window to twirl and sparkle in the sunlight.

·           Adopt an abandoned spider web by sprinkling gently with talcum powder and then lifting by placing a sheet of black construction paper underneath.

 

Kid-Art Portfolio

Help your child prepare an envelope to save art treasures.  You will need Bristol board (18” x 24”), stickers, markers, stapler or masking tape.  Place Bristol board with 18” at top and bottom. Fold lower edge up 7”, crease it; then tape or staple the sides to form a pocket.  Fold down 6” to form a flap.  Decorate as you wish, then fill with wonderful projects made at home or school.

 

Masks

Bases for masks can be paper plates (1/2 plates), brown paper bags, construction paper, cardboard shapes, and paper mache.  Supply your child with a large variety of materials, and let them create on their own.  Material ideas include wool, cotton balls, scrap material, scrap paper, crepe paper, sparkles, toilet paper rolls, wrapping paper, macaroni, rice, leaves, sticks, string, markers, pastels, stickers, etc.  Remember for Halloween, the safest mask is face paint.

 

Cookie Decorating

Let children decorate large cookies.  Supply a couple of colours of icing (possibly a cream cheese icing if you want to reduce the sugar) and granulated sugar or other decorative edibles.

Ideas for Fall Outdoor Activities

 

As the weather changes, outdoor activities change.  The cooler days of fall are ideal for long walks of discovery.  Pack a snack of cut fruit, cheese curds, crackers or finger sandwiches and some water to drink.  Walking in familiar places makes changes more noticeable.

 

Watch for:

·        Flowers turning brown

·        Leaves changing colour and drying

·        Birds and animals gathering food

·        Pets growing heavier coats

 

Encourage children to:

·        Look, smell, feel and think

·        Collect pebbles, twigs, leaves, pine cones, wild flowers

·        Hug some trees and decide which is largest, smoothest, friendliest

 

Use nature collections for crafts and to decorate at home:

·        Make a branch mobile with leaves and nuts.

·        Dip leaves, feathers, evergreen sprigs, etc. in paint and then press onto paper.

·        Adopt an abandoned spider web by sprinkling it gently with talcum powder – lift it by placing a sheet of black construction paper underneath.

·        Create a table centrepiece of acorns, pine cones, pebbles in a glass jar, or flowers dried by hanging upside-down.

·        Preserve leaves by pressing between wax paper (cereal and cracker boxes have super wax bag liners) or use a placemat-size piece.  Place gathered “treasures” on one piece of wax paper.  You could shave crayon pieces with a grater, cut out magazine letters to create a name or add magazine pictures for added interest.  Place another piece of wax paper on top and iron gently (no steam) to melt together.

·        Press leaves between sheets of wax paper placed under a heavy book.  Preserve leaves permanently by covering with clear MacTac.  Cut around leaves leaving 1/16” MacTac around edges.  Hang these in a window to twirl and sparkle in the sunlight.

·        Place a leaf or two under paper, rub the top of the paper with a crayon to see the leaves appear magically.

·        Create an apple face with miniature marshmallows or raisins.

·        Use apple chunks to add to muffins or pancakes.  Share a cooking experience!

·        Use apple pieces dipped in paint or pudding to make apple prints.

 

The colder weather of early winter brings out mittens and scarves.  The changing textures of clothes and dropping temperatures can be discovered.

·        The ground is hard.

·        We see our breath.

·        We hope for snow.

·        Watch the grey sky, and move quickly when outdoors to stay warm.  Play FREEZE! – then HOP – FREEZE, JUMP-FREEZE and so on.  Let the children take turns calling freeze.

Fall Programs

Hey, we’re still here.   It’s the middle of August already!  Time is flying by!  

I have good news though.  All the fall calendars and program flyers are up on the Childreach website.   There is lots happening in the playroom and out and about in the community, and now’s the time to start registering for parent workshops and our family enrichment programs!

Infant Massage classes begin in October!