Halloween Projects

Took some time off blogging for some much needed R & R :) Did a bunch of things that needed doing, read a few great books, did a bunch of projects with the little one, created a few recipes (more of that to come!) and spent some time with the hubby :) All is going great, recently we've been decorating the home for Halloween! I got really into this year because my lil guy is 3.5 and what better age to decorate, create and just have a bunch of fun!

Our first project was our Scarecrow! He is hay/straw free (in case of allergies) and costs zero dollars to make! You won't have to spend a nickel on this guy, just use what's around your house. We had a bunch of preschoolers walk by with their teachers and they were giggling and yelling "Yay, Halloween Scarecrow!" It will be a hit with the kiddies!


Scarecrow Project

Materials:
1 long sleeve plaid shirt
1 pair of pants (jeans, jogging pants, etc)
1 pair of boots
1 pair of gloves
1 old hat
1 brown bag
Black marker or crayons
A couple pieces of string
Newspaper




Directions:
Tie the end of the plaid shirt with string and then start stuffing it with crinkled up newspaper till it feels full. Set aside and then stuff the pants with crinkled newspaper till full. Use the brown bag and marker/crayons to draw the scarecrows face. Then stuff the brown bag with crinkled newspaper and tie the end of the bag off with string.Decide where to place your scarecrow either indoors or outdoors, on a chair, stairs, ground, etc... Prop your scarecrow up carefully, boots, pants, shirt, gloves and finally his head and hat. I placed ours on a chair so it supports him well. Then add some decorations. We collected pretty leaves and scattered them around the ground and on him. We also placed some creepy crawlies and spider webs, that I had purchased for a dollar. Enjoy your scarecrow!
~~~
I spent only about $20 dollars on decorations this year, which is amazing considering I had no decorations at all! The main part of our house and our front porch is all decorated! I shopped around and tried to buy everything at 50% off. I captured a sneak peak of our home for ya. I tell ya there sure is some spooky stuff happening! :O







Happy Halloween everyone!

Trying new things...

I usually find myself wanting to try out new recipes or projects, that many of you amazing bloggers write about. I appreciate how much effort everyone puts in to share with their readers. I love that sense of sharing and learning within a community. This weekend I took the time out to try out one recipe and one project from the blogging community and had a blast doing so. I really want to try to take more time to do these things because not only is it fun, but I really discover new tastes and creativity.

Here is KATH's Classic Oats recipe, which was the best oatmeal I've ever had! It's been rainy and cold here the past couple days, so everyone in the family appreciated this one. I substituted organic cow's milk for almond milk and it turned out delicious. I loved the banana, flax and vanilla in this recipe :) Yum!


Then we topped it with blackberries (of course), homemade peanut butter, and mini chocolate chips. My lil one loved decorating the oatmeal. Yay, super kid friendly :)





The project that we worked on was an activity that I found at Raw Mom Blog. I love Ruth's ideas, they are always fun for the kids and for parents too! Thinking about it now, i'd probably do her projects even if I didn't have a child.
"The Cowboy's Chia Garden!"
I helped my lil one collect soil from our composter, which was exciting! There was so much of it, I can't believe how fast it's breaking down and turning to soil. Awesome!!! Then he decorated and placed the chia seed paste in the garden :)


Originally the project calls for a fairy for your garden, but I didn't have any small fairies on hand and my lil one LOVES this teddy bear cowboy statue. I'll take more pictures as the chia starts to sprout.




The best part about this project was that he was able to do every step himself, with my direction on what to do next. He was so happy and excited! He ended up wanting to make another one, so instead of using a planter tray like the project asks for, we used a frisbee!


The rest of our weekend was filled with family visits and blackberry picking when it wasn't raining.
Did you try anything new this weekend?
~Maggie

Fun with Colours

A few days ago I decided it would be fun to get my 2.5 year old in the kitchen with me. At the moment he is really into picking out the differences in color. His favorites in our kitchen were red and yellow fruits, so we made a bowl of each. I made a bit of game out of prepping our snack, which taught him color, taste and texture differences.

The Fruit Fun Game

1. Ask your little one to pick out their favorite fruits. If you have a well stocked fruit selection more than likely there will be at least two fruits of similar colours.

2. Lay them on the table and then ask them which piece of fruit is what color or vice versa.

3. Once they colour co-ordinate (lol) the fruit, start chopping and dicing it into pieces (parental supervision here).

4. My little one really likes being part of every step, so this is a good time to ask them to put the pieces of fruit into a bowl (seperating the colors).

5. Once complete, start snacking!

6. Wait...we are not done yet! This part is even more fun, ask your little one what each fruit tastes and feels like after they eat it. This can help add new words to their vocabulary and help them recognize differences in taste and texture.

The great part about our game was that you can do this with vegetables too! My little one wasn't really into trying out different fruits. He immediately thought based on appearance that certain fruits wouldn't taste delicious. Keeping things fun, like color co-ordinating their favorite colours and letting them take part in the preparation of foods helps encourage them to try new foods.

In case you were wondering my little one ended up picking out...

Red: Strawberries and Watermelon
Yellow: Mangoes and Oranges

Now go have fun with your little ones in the kitchen!
~Maggie