Alphabet Adventures: M is for Maze

This past weekend, Labor Day, marked the unofficial end of summer. It also marked our half way point through the alphabet on our Alphabet Adventures. So while we had originally hoped to complete the alphabet over the course of the summer we have decided to continue on the weekends this fall.

With the letter M we had lots of ideas for an adventure, but in the end our late summer timing gave us the opportunity to try a corn maze. None of us had ever done one before. We were able to go through the maze on opening day. For our local readers we went to Riverview Farm. Although known for their tasty pick your own apples, the maze was really fun and creative. Not only was the maze complicated enough to keep us all entertained, but there was a story line written like a fairy tale with large props throughout the maze.

The Adventure: M is for Maze

The three guys are ready to head into the maze. 

The corn was tall and upon entering the maze we quickly felt like we'd stepped into a different place. My husband is pretty tall, a little over 6 feet tall, and in this picture you can see how much taller the corn is than he is. This meant you really couldn't "cheat" and peek your way over to find the way out.

At first Big Brother was kind of just following the paths, not very clear on what a maze was. However, as soon as he hit the first "dead end" he started to get the idea of what we needed to do. 

We had a lot of fun finding our way out. The whole adventure took about a half an hour. The fairy tale story line proved to be over Big Brother's head but as grown ups we found it interesting. Mostly we all enjoyed the feeling of being "lost" in a jungle of corn as a group of four. 

I had thought it would be fun to end with a "m" themed snack like a muffin. But in the end, we couldn't resist the fresh cider and cider doughnuts at the farm stand. 

The Project: M is for Marble

We've done a lot of marble painting before and knew it would be a great project for the letter M. The materials are simple: paint, paper, marbles, and a flat container of some kind. (We used a gift box lid for this round.) I have particularly found that marble painting is great for toddlers and preschoolers with high energy (which I think is all of them) as they get to shake the container to roll the marbles and mix the paint. For this project we chose to use yellow and orange paint on blue paper. I always tape the paper down on two ends so that the marbles don't roll under the painting. 

A special weekend side note: Coincidentally we wound up on several other "M" adventures over the weekend. We went to Massachusetts to visit my alma mater Mount Holyoke College where we visited an art museum. 

Other M adventure ideas: mountain, museum, movies, magic show, and Maine. 

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