Autumn

The Artful Year: Autumn

September 18, 2012 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

I love fall! The crispness, the colors, all of it! Most of all, I love that it is traditionally a time of celebration and a time to gather as families. It is a perfect time for building memorable scenes for our children. Whether is coming together to bake a special treat or to decorate for the holidays, our children build not only fine motor skills and creative abilities, but they build family ties and a sense of place in the process.

In my experience blogging I have been blessed to meet many amazing women. Jean Vant Hul of the Artful Parent is one of them. She is absolutely lovely and gracious. And she is splendidly talented.

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Fall Leaves and Gingersnaps! (Recipe at Bottom!)

October 7, 2010 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience, Snack Time, Uncategorized 2 Comments

We went on one of my favorite fall outings today! Armed with a great book, some craft supplies, and a pile of snacks, we headed up the canyon near our house to explore fall in one of its best displays!

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Falling Leaves Parachute Activity

October 16, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement, Positive Guidance and Social Skills

Parachute activities are always enticing to kids. They’re great for building motor strength and control, as well as self-control. They also strengthen the child’s ability to listen to and follow directions and to work with others as a group, all great social skills. Parachutes don’t have to cost much. I picked up a small, 6 foot version, to be used in small spaces and with groups of 10 or less children for about $10 (see where to order it here). You could also just use a bed sheet instead of a parachute.

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Autumn Leaves Song

October 15, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience, Music and Movement 2 Comments

Here’s a song you probably already know, but just in case you don’t I’ll share it with you! It’s so simple and perfect for the season. As we sing, I have the children float their hands back and forth down to the ground like falling leaves. Here’s the song:

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Book Activity: Leaf Man

October 6, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Get Outside, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert is one of my favorite fall books. I love Lois Ehlert’s unique brand of art. Generally, she uses collages to illustrate her books, which gives them an appealing texture and points of interest as children find familiar items used in new ways. In Leaf Man, Ehlert’s illustrations are done completely from leaves and other items from trees (seeds, acorns, etc.). The pictures show a man, cows, chickens, fields, everything created from leaves. (Ehlert collected the leaves, then photocopied them and created the collages using those photocopies.) These pictures are fascinating, and really open up the creative eyes of the children as they read it!

After reading the story, I like to have the children create their own leaf pictures. Some will create a leaf man, others will create a more abstract design, while still others simply create a place for as many leaves as they possibly can! You may want to provide the leaves for an inside activity, or make the activity more hands-on and meaningful by letting the children collect the leaves themselves- out in your playground, on a walk, or on a trip to the canyon.

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