Apple Days

Last week we focused on apples. 
This is the table that greeted the families as they entered the room.

Sorting apples by size, by colour or what the apple
was made of (plastic, rubber or wood).
 
Using tongs is a challenge and I provided three different types. 
Then they experimented with which set of tongs worked best for
the different sizes.

At the art table we used real apples and apple shaped cookie cutters to make prints.
 
I stuck old fashioned clothespins into the apples for handles. 
That made it much easier for the children to manage the apples in and out of the paint.

I told a story called “The Little House with No Windows and No Doors”.

And of course we cooked with apples.
 
Starting with peeling. 
The children love using this manual apple peeler.
The parents are always surprised that it peels, slices and cores all at the same time.

After peeling we cut the slices into smaller pieces.

 
Last week we made apple turnovers. 
The children mixed the apples with a cinnamon, sugar and flour mix.
 
Then they rolled out the crust.
I find the best way to roll pie crust is between two pieces of wax paper.
Means less mess.

I found this cheddar cheese crust recipe and it was delicious.
 
After placing the apple mix on their flatten crust
the tricky part was to fold the crust over.

We used a fork to seal it.

I didn’t get a picture of the children’s little turnovers
but here are the ones that I made for my family. 
Delicious.

Then today we made applesauce.
 
More peeling and cutting.
And checking out the peel.
Love the smell that fills the room when it is cooking.
Finally eating,
and licking the bowl clean.

Play Trays

These are the trays that were available the week before Thanksgiving.

Autumn leaf counting. 
I found the tree clip art on Google images,
then added the number and the word underneath.
 
Not just for counting though. 
By providing a basket the little ones enjoy taking the leaves
out and putting them back in or just dumping.

Turkeys! 
Little plastic finger puppets of male and female turkeys.
You can tell by the hats they are wearing.

It wasn’t a very popular tray,
except for the dumping factor.

Matching and patterning of leaves and nut pictures.

Attaching the pictures with velcro makes it easier for
the pictures to stay in place and less frustration.

And finally the favourite tray this week and the easiest to put together.

Zippers! 
Yes these are real zippers that I hot glued onto flexboard
(I think that’s what it’s called).
 
They loved unzipping and zipping them up, over and over.
I’m sure there were a few parents that went home and made this for their child.
Amazingly the glue held pretty firm.
 Only once did I have to touch it up.

Scarecrows

This post started a few weeks ago when I brought in our scarecrow child.
He was created several years ago and each year he gets a new head.

I set him in the hallway to welcome the families
and the rest of the school as they arrived or passed by.
 
There was an immediate attraction. 
Some had to check out his shoes, no they are not attached. 
Others wanted to swap hats. 

One morning we attempted to make scarecrow hats at the art table.

I learned quickly that children do not enjoy having
large pieces of paper covering their heads. 
It’s noisy and it covers their face, not a pleasant experience for them. 
So no luck making hats.
Till a parent (I learn so much from them)
suggested that we use something else to mold the hats, like a bowl.
I found a few different sized bowls.
Success.
 
Some hats were flippy floppy and that led to singing Dingle Dangle Scarecrow.

The next day I added a collection of floppy hats to use when we sang the song.

And it was a nice lead in to the story “The Old Woman Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything”.

And finally a fellow StrongStart facilitator from another school district shared this game idea. 

Scarecrow, scarecrow, I beg your pardon
But who is hiding the pumpkin in your garden.

Thank you Linda, it's been great sharing ideas with you.

Pom Pom Sensory

For the past couple of weeks the children have been exploring
pom poms with scoops and tongs.

The table is a Little Tike’s Sand and Water table
that I found at a kid’s consignment store. 
I’ve yet to use it for that purpose.

Notice the holes in the white lid, I’ve learned tonight
that there should be gears and gadgets to attach but
didn’t come with my table.

The children discovered a use for them – stuff the pom poms in to holes.

But not all pom poms would fit.

“Why do you think some fit and some don’t?” I asked.
The first answer was '”they’re too big” but as we experimented
we noticed that some big ones could be squeezed in the little holes
while others just couldn’t.

“What do you think is different from this large pom pom and this large one?”

As he continued to try the different pom poms,
he began to notice that some big ones were soft and could be squished. 
The pom poms that were big that wouldn’t fit felt harder.

 
Then yesterday I noticed this little guy pushing the pom poms
in a hole in the middle of the table. 
They would disappear.

“Oh, Oh”  I said “where do they go?” 
The tone of surprise in my voice got him interested.

He soon discovered they were on the floor under the table.
It took him a few more tries to make the connection of them
going through the hole and coming out underneath.

By the big pile on the floor, I discovered that he, obviously, wasn’t the first to do this.

Witch Hat S’mores

Today was a mixed up day – closed this morning, field trip this afternoon, then open this evening.

We offer evening sessions every couple of months so parents that work during the day can see what StrongStart is all about.  They've heard about it from their children now they can see it.

Since it’s at night we offer a pot luck dinner.

Tonight I provided ingredients to make a dessert – Witch Hat S,mores.

I saw this idea at Cooking Classy.  I just renamed them for the season.

They are super easy to make.

I didn’t want to fuss with cutting graham crackers into circles so I
used Nilla Wafers. Cut the large size marshmallows in half
and left the Hershey Kiss candies wrapped.

Place the marshmallow on the wafer then top with the Kiss candy.

“Unwrap them first” was the advice given from one child to another.

Something we should have done was push the chocolate deeply into the marshmallow.  Because we didn’t, the chocolate titled to the side when the marshmallow melted.

Finally slip them under the broiler for about 75 seconds
– yes just a minute and a half. 
Watch closely!

I liked them too because we don’t have to wait too long to eat them.