Fall Leaf Colour Sort

10 / 8 / 1910 / 9 / 19

Honestly? I wasn’t ready to dive into all things fall just yet, but when we returned home from our Seattle and Vancouver trip to freezing cold weather (we’re talking zero overnight and 4 degrees by the time we were heading off to school), I decided we’d better get on it in case we skip fall altogether this year and transition straight into winter {fingers crossed that DOES. NOT. HAPPEN.} So today, while Sam and I were out on our morning walk / scoot, we kept our eyes peeled for beautiful fall leaves and collected them in a little bag along the way. Once we got home, we rinsed them off, dried them, and put them to work in all kinds of really fun, really simple activities, one of which was this fall leaf colour sort.

Here’s what we found… There wasn’t ton of colourful leaves on the ground just yet, but we still managed to find several leaves in browns, reds, oranges, yellows, and greens which was good enough for us!

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Now just for fun, we decided to do this little activity in our beloved Ikea sensory table… When we were down in Vancouver, I picked up 4 of the smallest TROFAST bins with sorting activities just like this in mind (previously we just had the 2 larger bins) and they worked perfectly. I folded pieces of brown, red, orange, and yellow card stock in half, pressed them down into the base of the bins, and our fall leaf colour sorting game was ready to go!

That being said, you certainly don’t need a fancy sensory play table for this activity… You can just as easily tape 4 pieces of card stock or construction paper to the table or floor or use a set of 4 bowls or containers. Work with what you have on hand!

Next up, I set the leaves around the edges of the table and invited Sam to come and take a look.

Given that he’s 3 {soon turning 4} and we’ve done plenty of sorting activities (our car and truck colour sorting was one of his faves), this leaf colour sort was a total breeze for him even though I wondered if a few of the leaves might be a little tricky….

They weren’t (hah!) He basically moved at this speed until every last leaf was in the bin of the corresponding colour.

Sorting is such an important skill and building block for other future skills that I absolutely would not consider something like this – something that’s really “easy” for him – a waste of time. Reinforcement is super important for kiddos and “easy” activities are excellent for building confidence, so go on and do those too easy activities anyways!

See that yellow and read leaf over the edge of the table? When activities are fairly easy for your little one, it’s a great opportunity to guide the learning a little further, really discuss what’s happening, and model new language. When Sam decided that that leaf should go in the yellow bin (I would have done the same), I said, “Oh interesting. How did you decide to put that leaf in the yellow container?” We then went onto to talk about how it’s MOSTLY yellow, more yellow than red, even though the TIP is red, etc. and it was the perfect chance to reflect on his choice and use some comparison language in our conversation.

Here’s a peek at the other two fun little things we used our leaves for…

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A post shared by Jen | Mama.Papa.Bubba. (@mamapapabubba) on Oct 1, 2019 at 1:01pm PDT

This simple leaf matching game from Little Pine Learners…

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A post shared by Jen | Mama.Papa.Bubba. (@mamapapabubba) on Oct 1, 2019 at 7:50pm PDT

And our super simple fall leaf crown from years past. {Isn’t he darling?? I just want to smush on him!}

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Fall Leaf Bath

10 / 9 / 1810 / 9 / 18

We’re in full-on fall mode here in the Okanagan and the kids and I have been collecting beautifully coloured leaves since they’ve started falling. Some have become part of the little nature table below our autumn bucket list, some have become leaf creatures, and tonight, a pile of them become part of a fall leaf bath.

I actually set this little fall leaf bath up for Sam last fall and it was such a hit that I had to do it again.

It couldn’t be easier, which I love. Just give your leaves a good rinse and place them on the surface of a tub of water.

This time around I also put some up on the wall – a trick Sam discovered last year. All you have to do is get either the leaf or the wall wet, and so long as the leaf is fairly flat, it’ll magically stick to the wall.

What he discovered this time around? That he could stick a leaf onto a leaf!

While he was playing, we also briefly talked about the different types of leaves in his fall leaf bath… Well, the ones I knew at least. {#momneedstodosometree/leafresearch}

And of course there were leaf hats, leaves stuck on legs and bellies, and several rounds of leaf peek-a-boo.

After Sam was done, it was Miss G’s turn for a bath, and this is what I walked into when she was done… She had separated the leaves by colour and created a game for me by having one misplaced leaf on each wall that needed finding. : ) Gosh, how I love my girl…

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Autumn Spice Play Dough with Whole Spices

9 / 20 / 189 / 20 / 18

Welp, the first official day of fall is nearly here and I’m doing my best to embrace it despite the fact that the arrival of fall means we’re that much closer to another loonnnnng winter in our small town. A loonnnng winter in our small town that nearly did me in last year. Now if it were to stay fall for a few months and we got to soak in that crisp fall air mixed with little bursts of sun, the beautiful autumn colours, and sweater weather for a while before transitioning into the snow, freezing cold, parkas, and permanently feeling like a block of ice, I’d totally be down for that. Come on Mother Nature, work with me here! {Pleeeaaase.}

I usually switch up our play dough and play dough kits each season despite the fact that our go-to homemade play dough can last even longer than that {our black, sparkly play dough that was part of our tinker play dough activity is still going strong!}, so this week Sam and I whipped up the most delicious smelling autumn spice play dough.

It’s just our basic no-cook play dough recipe {made without food colouring or flavour packets} with a few of our favourite fall spices added to it, and let me tell you – it smells divine! {We chose to use cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, but if we would have had allspice on hand, I would have added that too!}

To make it, we measure out our dry ingredients plus our vegetable oil and glycerine into a large bowl.

Then we whisk it up really well.

Next, I add the boiling water and immediately mix it {quite vigorously} to get the texture as uniform as possible. As soon as it’s cool enough to handle, I get my hands in there, bring it all together in a ball…

And then dump it out onto a clean, dry countertop.

The one question I always get asked about our play dough is how we get such a smooth texture, and it’s all about the kneading! I knead our play dough for probably a solid 2 or 3 minutes, or until it’s pretty much cool. I know that there’s a proper way to knead doughs, but when it comes to our play dough recipe, I start with it all in a mass close to me…

Then I push it away from me while using a decent amount of pressure to flatten it right out. Then I pull it back and repeat. (Many, many times.) I find that this method works well when the dough is still a little sticky {our recipe tends to feel a little wet until completely cool} and it really works to get rid of any little lumps an bumps that might be hiding in the dough. By the time it’s completely cool, the dough should be smooth as can be and should no longer be sticky.

Can you tell how smooth it is?

I’m pretty sure we’ve made some version of this play dough every fall since Miss G was one or two years old, and I love pairing it with natural loose parts. We often go out on a nature walk and collect conkers, acorns, pinecones, and pretty leaves to pair it with, but another favourite over the years has been whole spices and that’s what we decided to go with this time around.

Sam and I popped by our local bulk store and picked up some cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, whole allspice, whole nutmeg, some anise stars, and some whole cloves – all of which smell amazing and have interesting shapes and textures. Then I popped everything into one of my favourite divided trays {I got this one in Kuwait at City Star in Egaila} and set it out on the table with a couple of placemats for the kids to discover after school.

I love having some sort of invitation to play or create out on the table in the afternoons… It’s always something that is open-ended and requires very little / no adult help, which means that they can just dive in and play or create independently, which I think is good for all of us, but especially Grae.

After a long day at school, I really find that she just needs some time to unwind and decompress… Some time when there’s nothing expected of her and nothing she has to do on a timeline – and creating or reading seem to be two really good options for her.

I often pick a chilled out, calming playlist on Spotify and play that too, which really sets the mood for some low-key, focused play.

Of course with play dough and loose parts, there’s really no end goal. Miss G usually works on some sort of careful creation…

While sam loves to burry and poke and dig and hide.

Both of which are equally valuable, important ways to play.

Here’s our autumn spice play dough recipe…

Autumn Spice Play Dough

1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of table salt
1 tablespoon of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ground cloves

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of glycerine

3/4 cup of boiling water (measured in a dry measuring cup – this is important as wet and dry measures aren’t the same)

Place all of the ingredients, save the boiling water, in a bowl and whisk well. Measure the water using your dry measuring set and add it to the bowl. Give the mixture a quick mix with a wooden spoon, banging off it off every once and a while. At this point, the mixture may seem too wet and sticky to make good play dough… Do not fret! Once the dough has cooled just a little, use your hands to carefully bring it into and ball and then dump it out onto the countertop and knead really well. You’ll know you’re done when the dough is fully cooled, soft and squishy, and no longer sticky

Enjoy!

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Sweet and Simple Fall Leaf Crowns

10 / 12 / 161 / 6 / 17

Fall has officially arrived here in Vancouver and it is absolutely beautiful. So today when Miss G suggested finishing off our day by going for a walk and park visit after school, she certainly didn’t have to convince me.

Glittery Bejeweled Mini Pumpkins

10 / 6 / 1510 / 14 / 15

This afternoon’s invitation to create was a very simple one… Tons of glitter, jewels, glue, and a few adorable ‘baby boo’ pumpkins.

Autumn-Themed Writing Tray

10 / 1 / 1510 / 6 / 15

Without a doubt, one of my most used resources in my Kindergarten and Grade One classes was the stack of coloured plastic plates filled with salt that I kept in my teacher’s cupboard. They were the simplest thing ever – literally plastic plates in a bright colour {aqua and gold always seemed to be the favourites} filled with a very thin layer of salt I’d bought at the dollar store. Despite their simplicity, we used them constantly… When practicing letter and number formation, when learning to draw shapes, when learning about different types of lines used in art, and when doing literacy and math centres… The list could go on.

Mini Pumpkin People {An Invitation to Create}

9 / 30 / 1510 / 6 / 15

Yesterday while visiting The Apple Barn out in Abbotsford, Miss G fell in love with the itty bitty pumpkins scattered throughout the u-pick pumpkin patch. While we’re planning a family trip to pick the pumpkins we’ll carve later in the month, she totally convinced me to buy a couple of mini ones by telling me all about her grand plans to decorate Rosealina and Harold {yes, she even had names for them} with some of the fun craft supplies we keep on our art cart. {I mean how can you say no really?}

Fall Play Dough Kit

9 / 26 / 159 / 27 / 15

As usual in our house, a new season means new play dough kits, and what better way to start off fall than with a fall-themed play dough kit?! Grae and I have been collecting little odd and ends for this one for the last couple of weeks, so we were really excited to finally put it all together and play with it this morning… {Fyi, It smells amaaaazing!}

Fall Nature I Spy Bottle

9 / 17 / 159 / 17 / 15

Ahhh…. Autumn. It’s something we haven’t experienced in the last couple of years, and though I certainly would mind being poolside soaking up Kuwait’s 40 degree heat currently, I’m loving seeing all of the beautiful fall colours pop up early around Vancouver this year. Of course, Gracen {my little collector of sticks, rocks, and all things nature} is loving it too. There are just so many fun things to be discovered outside right now!

Mini Apple Pies Kids Can Make

12 / 1 / 1412 / 13 / 14

Grae and I are very lucky to be part of a fabulous little play school co-op here in Kuwait. The whole thing is very low key. We meet at someone’s house every Sunday morning to partake in a few fun activities that go with our weekly theme, and then we meet on again on Thursday mornings for a less structured outdoor outing or ‘field trip’ of some sort. Since this week’s theme was apples, I helped to set up an apple pie making station for our little ones {ages 1 to 4} to enjoy.

Play Dough Turkeys

10 / 11 / 1410 / 12 / 14

Gosh, I love setting out fun play invitations for my girl. This one, set out today for our Thanksgiving celebration is nothing new, but the classics are classics for a reason, right? My kindergarten students used to love creating colourful feathered play dough turkeys at our play dough station and Miss G loved it just as much too!

Garland of Thanks {things Miss G is thankful for 2014}

10 / 6 / 1410 / 6 / 16

Last year Gracen and I created our first ever showcase of gratefulness with a giant thankful tree. I loved having a visual representation of all of the things she felt thankful for and the process of creating the tree together provided the perfect opportunity for us to discuss just how much we have to be grateful for. This year, we decided to switch things up a little bit. We once again created fall leaves {but this time using real leaves as stamps} and then turned them into a beautiful garland of thanks.

Leaf Rubbing Collages

9 / 29 / 1410 / 29 / 14

Today before starting on our stamped leaf garland of thanks, Miss G and I did a classic kid project – leaf rubbings! Although we’ve tried rubbings once before while still in Canada, Grae was only 2 then and the process was still a little tricky for her. At 4 though? She rocked it!

Simple Apple Tree Addition Game

9 / 23 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Simple Apple Tree Addition Game | Mama Papa Bubba

Throughout our days together, it’s not unusual for Gracen to come up to me and say something like, ‘Okay, Mama. There are 3 little ducks swimming in the pond at the park. 2 more ducks come to swim. How many ducks are there now?’ The girl comes prepared, too. More times than not, she has a pencil sketch on a huge piece of white paper in her arms to help illustrate the problem. She waits for my response eagerly, then pauses to calculate the total herself once she’s received my answer. I get a peppy ‘Yup! You are right!’ and then it’s my turn to create a story problem for her to solve. This goes on again and again.

Chai Latte Play Dough

9 / 21 / 1410 / 8 / 14

Chai Tea Latte Play Dough | Mama Papa Bubba

While fall may not be in the air here in the desert, that certainly doesn’t stop us from pretending. One of my favourite things about fall back home in Canada {besides the crisp air, the colourful leaves, the scarves, layers, and boots}, is walking outdoors with my girl with a steaming hot chai latte in hand. It’s the way we began many of our mornings during our most recent two years in Vancouver… G would be bundled up in her stroller, I’d push her up the big hill on Fraser Street, we’d pop into Breka for my hot drink, and then make our way to a nearby playground where we’d stay for an hour or two. Ahhhh… Those were the days!