Barnyard Small World Play

The boys are getting more interested in small world play, and I'm excited to think of all of the possible scenarios we can set up. Although we've experimented with small world play a little before (including setting up a beach small world and a Lorax small world) it's not something we do often. For this small world set-up I had Little Brother in mind. He's such an animal lover, I knew he'd be interested in a farm scene.

We've also been eating a lot of clementines lately, in fact the boys just can't get enough of them, but that also means we have several clementine crates itching to be used for a project. Which inspired us to try using the boxes as containers for small world play.

Tabletop Cork Turkeys

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, yet there is still plenty of time to make these tabletop cork turkeys.

We love using corks in projects, like printing with them to make cork spiders or crafting cute cork bats. These little tabletop turkeys were just as quick to put together and just too cute! We're planning to put a whole flock on the table this coming Thursday.

Fall Textures Basket

There's something about November that is so drab and brown, but yet also can be really pretty. Recently Little Brother and I had the chance to get out for a walk just the two of us. Because the weather was beautiful and sunny the dried plants, leaves, and trees really captured our eyes. We love finding ways to explore nature connections, especially when we take a walk. 

This time we brought the materials home with us to create a Fall Textures Basket, an easy way to create some toddler sensory play. 

Potato Stamped Tea Towels

We were really excited to be able to participate in the Kid Made Gift Series that is being hosted by Teach Me Mommy. We really like making homemade gifts, especially around the holidays. These potato stamped tea towels were something I'd been thinking of trying for a while now, and we just love how they turned out! 

Potato stamping is always fun and versatile, as you can create just about any kind of stamp you want. In our case, we want these to be holiday gifts to we made Christmas themed ones. 

Create a Dinosaur Pop-Up Card

This is a fun design for a pop-up card that we've used a few times now for friends' birthdays. We like to call it a "dinosaur" but with a few changes in color it could also be a monster!

We had the chance to make one this past weekend for a friend of Big Brother's sixth birthday. It's also a great project now that the new movie The Good Dinosaur is almost out in theaters!

Shape Search in a Fall Backyard

The weather this week has been amazing, and we were really pleased to be able to get out and enjoy the nice temperatures again. Little Brother and I had a ton if fun playing with shapes outside in the fall sunshine and leaves.

We had a blast bringing our large, foam pattern blocks outside and involving them in some great backyard autumn play. 

Monthly Goals: November 2015

With new schedules and new routines this fall things are definitely feeling different, and a little more frantic than they were in the past.

For some reason at the end of the October I really started to feel the new changes to our family routine and weekly schedule.