{Playing Through Autumn Day 21} Pumpkin Patch Adventures!

All autumn long I look forward to visiting the pumpkin patch, and this year it was especially meaningful, as I got to share it with a wonderfully curious, stop-and-smell-the-flowers kind of kid. Though we did visit a pumpkin patch last year, L was not yet walking and so her ability to follow adventure wherever it led was a bit limited. This year, however, we had been talking about our trip for over a week, reading books about pumpkins and pointing them out everywhere we went. I was so excited to share this experience with her, in fact, that I woke up at six a.m. on the morning of the trip - and we didn't even venture out until after her afternoon nap!

Upon arrival at the patch, L did pause just long enough for an obligatory photo op before trundling off to check out all of the farm animals and kiddie attractions. For a moment there, I thought we might have to remind her of why we went there in the first place - the pumpkins, of course!

We hopped onto one of the tractors heading out to the pumpkin fields - finally, we were going to search for our pumpkin!

My curious little adventure seeker headed out into the fields right away. She of course wanted the first pumpkin she touched, which would have been fine except for the gaping hole on the underside. We convinced her to move on and sure enough, after that lesson, no one pumpkin was a good as the next one!

Finally we managed to narrow it down to just one perfect pumpkin. We hopped back on the tractor and got ready to head home - but not before a quick photo op with the big winner for the day. Victory!

Of course, getting the glorious pumpkin out to the car was only the beginning. We had to make sure our find made it home safely, of course!

{Playing Through Autumn Day 20} Ziploc Bag Painting

We absolutely ADORE painting activities in our house, and more often than not painting activities turn into sensory activities, with L slathering paint on every available surface of skin she can find. Generally this isn't a problem, but when I'm trying out ideas for my classroom on my beloved tot, I have to be a bit more clever in the mess department. Recently I tried a color mixing/painting activity with my kiddos at school (originally designed for a child with some sensory issues, who loves art but hates to be messy) inside a Ziploc bag. They turned out so great that I decided to give it a try at home with L. I wasn't sure how she'd like this one, sans mess and all, but she really enjoyed the whole process and the paintings turned out really cool.

I slid a piece of paper into a Ziploc bag and squeezed in a bit of red and a bit of yellow. Autumn colors, yes, and also primary colors that ended up mixing to create another lovely autumn hue - orange!

At first, L wasn't really sure what to make of this sandwich bag glob of paint in front of her. Once she touched that amazing squishy texture, however, she was won over in an instant!

She had us laughing so hard, as she kept looking at her hands for the mess! She definitely missed the opportunity to cover her body in paint, but she enjoyed herself all the same.

It was such fun to watch the yellow and red blend together to create orange. The leaves are finally starting to change in our area, so these colors have been a hot topic of conversation for us lately. Once she was finished, I very gently peeled the bag away from the paper and laid it out to dry. As a delightful bonus, the inside of the bag was a lovely work of art in itself, and it will look fantastic hanging in our front room window! Two for the price of one and nothing to clean up besides!

{Playing Through Autumn Day 19} Spider Sorting

L has been all about counting lately. She just mastered counting to ten by rote, and she's well on her way to counting with one-to-one correspondence. I wanted to capitalize on this interest of hers, so we recently did a little sorting and counting with a Halloween twist.

I found this irresistibly cute silicon baking tray while out and about the other day. Who could resist all that Halloween fun? To this I added those cheap little plastic spider rings (I had a bunch left over from our Halloween rainbow rice sensory bin). Voila! Instant Halloween counting activity.

L quickly got busy sorting those spiders into the baking cups. We placed one spider in each section, counting as we went. Once we hit six, we dumped it out and started all over. It was great fun!

After a few rounds, counting to six lost a bit of its luster, so L went to her rice table and retrieved several more spiders. We lined them up in rows and counted them again and again. There is nothing like engaging a child with something that interests her - we've been at this spider counting thing for several days now!

{Playing Through Autumn Day 18} Autumn Discovery Basket

Discovery baskets (or bins) are fantastic for open-ended play: just fill up a basket with any number of materials and present them to a child - she'll take it from there! I have been having a lot of fun presenting L with various discovery bins over the past several months, and of course I couldn't let autumn pass me by without letting her get her hands on some of the best things the season has to offer: in this case, miniature pumpkins, gourds, and fabulous red Indian corn.

I decided to put the items in a wicker basket rather than a plastic bin (which I typically use) to carry on the natural feel of the gourds and corn. Actually, L had helped me pick these things out at the market a couple of days before we did this activity, and she was so surprised and happy to see everything again!

She especially loved the corn - we talked about the bumpy texture and the crinkly stalk. She even tickled my nose with it!

After the initial exploration, L took emptying and refilling the basket with all of the items. She has been very into counting lately, so I used the opportunity to work on counting with her, using one-to-one correspondence.

As the activity began to wind down, we also learned something new about gourds: if you drop them, they bounce!

We both loved this activity! It was so simple and yet presented us with so many opportunities for language, math concepts, and sensory experiences. 

Have your kiddos had a chance to experience some of these fall items? What else would you add to your own discovery basket?

{Playing Through Autumn Day 17} Books We Love: Autumn Poetry

Poetry is perfect for little ears. The cadence, the (sometimes) rhyming, the short little bursts of lovely words...L absolutely adores it! There are some really fantastic collections of seasonal poetry out there, and we would like to share our favorites with you.

Autumnblings

Poems & Paintings by Douglas Florian

Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic

Written by Steven Schnur

Illustrated by Leslie Evans

A Chill in the Air: Nature Poems for Fall and Winter

Poems by John Frank

Illustrated by Mike Reed

Do your children enjoy poetry? What sort of books are you reading this season?

{Playing Through Autumn Day 16} Halloween Rainbow Rice

Happy October! This is my absolute favorite month of the year (so I feel really lucky to have been born within it!). It's just such a feast for the senses. If you've ever happened to find yourself reading this blog, you know how much we love sensory activities in this house! L has been making the most of autumn rainbow rice, sensory bottles, and cinnamon play dough, among other things, which has made our house just full of autumn-themed play opportunities. Now that we've entered October, I wanted to present her with a sensory activity with a Halloween twist, and so I give you Halloween Rainbow Rice.

I made up two huge batches of rice, one in black and one in orange. (For the method, click here.) I was so excited to come across black food coloring - I'd never seen it before, so I snatched up a bunch! You never know when you might need to color something black.  After the rice dried, I mixed it together and tossed it into L's sensory tub.

For added fun, I included some miniature jack-o-lantern buckets and some small plastic spiders. (They're hard to see in this photo, but trust me, they're there! They have managed to startle me a time or two since we started this tub!) L loves scooping the rice into the pumpkins and pouring it out - such a fun and simple activity!

Has Halloween play started yet in your house? What kind of fun Halloween activities are you doing?

Happy October!

Happy October!