Monthly Archives: October 2018

Going on a Leaf Hunt

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Last week we had a warm, sunny beautiful fall day. It was such a wonderful change from the cold and rainy weather that Buddy and I spent an hour and a half after school playing outside. We headed to the park, and after playing for a long time on the playground, we were looking for something else fun to do.

I’ve seen many fun fall scavenger hunts on Pinterest, and almost all of them had printable resources that can be used to guide the hunt. I had planned to do one of those hunts, but since we decided to do this activity spontaneously, I didn’t have anything printed. But it didn’t matter; we had a great time.

I asked Buddy if he wanted to go on a leaf hunt, and he loved the idea. I asked some general questions, and then we went looking for leaves. Here are my guiding questions (asked one at a time):

  • How many different colors of leaves can you find?
  • What is the largest leaf you can find?
  • What is the smallest leaf you can find?
  • How many different shapes of leaves can you find?
  • What other fun things can you find on the ground?

Buddy had a blast finding a bunch of different leaves! He found ones that were red, yellow, green, black, brown, and a light tan. We also found some different sizes of pinecones, an acorn, dandelions, and a couple fun sticks. While we were walking, we also saw some dogs, ducks, geese, and a squirrel. We made up a leaf hunt song that we sang as we walked around the park.

Once we were done, we took our findings home and spread them all out to analyze. We pointed out the biggest and smallest, discussed all of the colors of leaves, and picked favorites. Buddy wanted to bring everything inside, but he was content when I told him we’d have to leave them outside where they belong. 

Buddy had so much fun with this activity that he suggested another leaf hunt today. It was a lot colder than last week, but it was still nice enough to play outside. We stayed close to our house, but we were still able to find a lot of different leaves. Buddy put all of his favorites inside of his tricycle. 

I highly recommend doing a leaf hunt of your own this fall if you live in an area where the leaves changes. (And even if you don’t, a nature walk of any kind is a lot of fun.) We had a blast, and I know we’ll do it again soon.

Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe

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Buddy loves games, so I’m always looking for fun new ones to play with him. When I saw this candy tic-tac-toe Etsy listing, I thought that it would be fun to do with Buddy. He first learned how to play tic-tac-toe this summer, and it’s a go to game for us when we are waiting at a restaurant. I knew this candy version would be fun to play.

I cut out a piece of black cardstock and drew my lines with silver sharpie. (Mommy musings’s blog has a free printable Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe board that would also be fun to use.) Then I grabbed some candy corn and pumpkins, and went to go find Buddy.

Buddy was super excited to play tic-tac-toe! It was great having actual pieces to move instead of just drawing in each square. Of course, Buddy asked immediately if we would be eating the candy. Fortunately, these candies aren’t favorites of Buddy’s, so he was willing to play with them instead.

This was so easy and fun! It’s definitely an activity that will probably move into our diaper bag for restaurant fun.

Spider Web Spelling

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Last week, a friend of mine posted about a spelling activity she did with her three year old. I loved it so much, I had to do it with Buddy too. We went trick or treating for letters while walking on a spider web!

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

To set up this activity, I used painters tape to make a spider web on the floor. Then I made some Halloween spelling cards. I originally was going to print out some words, but I decided to just use some Halloween stickers on index cards. I wanted to use words that had few letters, and I wanted a picture so Buddy could “read” the word before he spelled it.

Buddy is better at identifying capital letters, so I decided to make this activity a lowercase letter activity. Fortunately, our magnetic letter set has both upper and lowercase letters to choose from. After I wrote the words, I pulled out the letters. Some letters I had multiples of in the set, but I chose just to do one of every letter that was needed.Once I had the words and letters set, I put one letter on each intersection of the spider web. I put the extras at the top vertex of the web.

I told Buddy he needed to pick a word, and then he would go trick or treating for the letters. To make this a little more challenging, I told Buddy he could only walk on the line when he was going through the spider web. Buddy did a good job of remembering the letters he was looking for, but sometimes he wanted to bring the card with him in the spider web. 

Once Buddy found the letters, we took them to our front door. I used a magnetic chip clip to hold up the word card, and then Buddy spelled his word underneath. Before we started each new word, we looked to see what letters were needed, and which ones he’d already found. 

I was surprised that Buddy liked the longer words. When I was making the word cards, I almost skipped pumpkin because I thought it would be too long for him. But Buddy liked having a lot of letters to find, and he was really proud when he was done. 

Buddy had a lot of fun with this activity. When we had picked up all of the letters, he put them back down on the spider web. It did take a little bit of time to set up and pick up, but it was worth it. It was such a fun way to practice letters and work on gross motor skills.

Do you have any other ideas for activities with magnetic letters? Please share in the comments.

Fun Fall Books For Preschoolers

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I love reading seasonal books with Buddy. Over the last couple years, I’ve been able to purchase or check out many fun fall books. I’m going to share our favorite fall books for preschoolers in case you’re looking for some new reading material.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween

This is Buddy’s favorite Halloween book. It’s a board book with flaps to lift. Each flap is a masked animal and under the flap is the unmasked animal. It’s well written with rhyming stanzas. Buddy loves seeing all the animals and the costumes.

Peppa Goes Apple Picking

Buddy likes Peppa Pig, and he’s enjoyed every book we’ve read in the series. This one is special because we go apple picking every fall. I like having a fall book that isn’t Halloween based.

It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse!

This is a book in the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. Buddy loves these books, and this Halloween one is no exception.

Halloween Jack

Buddy got this book as a gift last October, and it’s really fun! There are large googly eyes that are in different Halloween figures (witch, mummy, vampire, etc.) It is a silly and not scary book.

I Love You Little Pumpkin

This is another lift the flap book with Halloween costumes. It’s a cute book that Buddy liked when he was younger, and he still enjoys it now.

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

Buddy has loved Duck and Goose books since he was one. This one is our favorite because it’s funny. Duck and Goose look for a pumpkin in strange places (“Is our pumpkin in the tree?” “No.”) and eventually they find what they’re looking for. It’s a simple story that’s a lot of fun.

Duck and Goose Honk! Quack! Boo!

This book is longer than Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin and is best for kids ages 3 and up. It is also funny, and Buddy really enjoyed it. It made him very excited for dressing up for Halloween and going Trick or Treating.

Click Clack Boo

Buddy really likes the Click Clack Moo series, and this Halloween version is a lot of fun.

The Night Before Thanksgiving

This is a version of Twas the Night Before Christmas with a Thanksgiving spin. It’s a good way to get ready for the excitement and chaos of Thanksgiving with a large family.

Do you have any other favorite fall books? Please share your ideas in the comments.

Ice Cream Shop Sensory Bin

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Buddy loves sensory bins, so I’m always excited when I see a new sensory bin idea. When I saw the Ice Cream Sensory Bin on Fantastic Fun and Learning’s blog, I knew Buddy would love it! He loves playing with cotton balls, and he loves ice cream, so it’s perfect!

I set up the bin by putting a bag of cotton balls into a silver bowl. Then, I put some toppings into old baby food containers. I used two different types of pony beads (circles and stars) to be sprinkles. Fantastic Fun and Learning used sequins, but I thought beads would be easier to separate back out after we’re done. I also found a few red pom poms to be cherries. I finished the bin by adding a few plastic bowls and spoons and an ice cream scoop.

Buddy was thrilled when he saw the bin. He immediately started scooping out ice cream and sprinkles into each bowl. Buddy loves to serve pretend food, and this was even better because of the sensory aspect. He seemed to really enjoy the scooping from one container to another. 

Once Buddy had played around with the materials for a bit, I was a customer to the ice cream shop. I would place an order, and Buddy would make it for me. Buddy thought this was a lot of fun!

Of course Buddy made himself ice cream sundaes and had a lot of fun pretending to eat them. 

This was such a fun sensory bin! Buddy loved it and has done it a couple other times since our original activity. It’s being added into our regular sensory bin rotation as a pre-dinner time distraction.