I cannot even believe that it is Halloween in just a few short days! We have been very busy decorating for Halloween, reading Halloween books and buying pumpkins of all sizes and colors. To really get in the spirit of all things fall and pumpkin we visited Craven Farm, a real pumpkin patch with an actual field of pumpkins that you can into and pick the pumpkin of your choice off the vines! No trucked in pumpkins here. The pumpkin patch also happened to be a really great field trip to go along with our Mother Goose Time preschool curriculum. This months theme is Down on the Farm, so it was perfect to go down to the farm and see pumpkins on vines as well as corn stalks, and a huge variety of squash. It was a cold rainy day but we still enjoyed the apple sling shot, duck racing, and the 15 acre corn maze.
We also visited Apple Creek Orchard earlier in the month for apple picking. It's a yearly tradition of ours and we have been going to Julian for years. So this year I found this great orchard in Ferndale Washington and it provided another great real world example of farms and farm life. The people were so nice there and the owners of the orchard were originally from San Diego just like us! We picked about 50lbs of apples and checked out there chickens and turkeys that were wandering around. Paired with a picnic lunch under the apples trees and it was a really great day. I have spent this whole month making apple sauce, apple crisp, and just eating a lot of apples We also gifted some. Probably some of the best apples I've had.
So as we are coming to the end of October as well as the end of Down on the Farm I thought it was fitting to talk about the Sunrise/Sunset day. You know since the sun is setting on this month and all... See what I did there. First we started off with talking about what a farm is like in the early morning and asking about what our favorite time of day is. We chatted for a bit about this and then jumped right into the invitation to create. We really paid attention to the colors of the sunset on the inspiration photo as well as discussed the shadows and shapes that we saw. I then encouraged them to use the materials in whatever way they wanted. I didn't have any paint suitable for this so I improvised and watered down some acrylic paint. It worked alright, but this probably would have worked better with some water colors. They had fun though so I guess that is all that matters. There was a little bit of color mixing that I could point out so that was good. My son had a lot of fun painting on the coffee filter with the pipette. It made squishing sounds and blew bubbles sometimes so it was a hit with him. After he was finished using the coffee filter he decided that he wanted to press the black paper onto the filter. When he separated it he was very pleased with the results. I was very surprised that he came up with this on his own. I think the more we use the invitation to create prompts the more comfortable he is becoming with it. It has been fun to watch him grow in this way. He is not a very artistic or patient kid, but he is finding his creative side now and that has been fun to watch.
Next we spent a large part of the day making paper bag puppets to put on a puppet show about animals waking up on the farm. My daughter had a blast with this. She made all the puppets. I knew that my son would want no part in this. She made enough for him to use as well though and when the time came he loved putting on a show and making all the animal noises with her.
We also used the story pieces to act out the story that came with this months supplies. I must say that this has by far been a favorite book, and the cd comes with the song for it. We may or may not have heard it 100 times by now. I hear my son singing it all the time when he is playing. I have even caught myself singing it at work. It is VERY catchy. At the end of the day we watched a real sunset and pointed out the colors that we were able to see and then we talked about what the animals on a farm might be doing to get ready for bed.
We really had a great day of school today and I think they were excited because I announced that the next day we were going to have a Halloween inspired Poetry Tea Party. Poetry Tea Time is something I have been trying to incorporate into our schedule this year. Originally I thought I would do it every Friday but I think Once a month keeps it special. Basically we have a fun lunch and take turns reading poetry. Eventually I would like for my daughter to work on something to read of her own at the tea time, but for right now we are just reading fun poems and learning that poetry is not scary. So in preparation for tomorrow I made pumpkin Chocolate chip cookies. I do not remember where the original recipe comes from and I have been using it for several years now. They are egg free and nut free, and could easily be changed to dairy free as well if you needed. So since it is Halloween soon and we are enjoying the fall season I thought I would share my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 5 dozen depending on size
Pre heat oven to 375
Ingredients
1 15oz can pumpkin
1/4 cup applesauce
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
12 oz bag of chocolate chips
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Then in a separate bowl combine the next 5 ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. Then pour in the chocolate chips and fold them in.
I used a cookie scoop but you could use a tablespoon or something similar. Put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Or use a silpat mat, I love those for baking.
Bake for 10-15 min. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes to firm up. Then take them off the pan and let them continue cooling.
Hope you enjoy the cookies. Happy Fall!!
We also visited Apple Creek Orchard earlier in the month for apple picking. It's a yearly tradition of ours and we have been going to Julian for years. So this year I found this great orchard in Ferndale Washington and it provided another great real world example of farms and farm life. The people were so nice there and the owners of the orchard were originally from San Diego just like us! We picked about 50lbs of apples and checked out there chickens and turkeys that were wandering around. Paired with a picnic lunch under the apples trees and it was a really great day. I have spent this whole month making apple sauce, apple crisp, and just eating a lot of apples We also gifted some. Probably some of the best apples I've had.
 |
| The inspiration photo for todays invitation to create |
Next we spent a large part of the day making paper bag puppets to put on a puppet show about animals waking up on the farm. My daughter had a blast with this. She made all the puppets. I knew that my son would want no part in this. She made enough for him to use as well though and when the time came he loved putting on a show and making all the animal noises with her.
We also used the story pieces to act out the story that came with this months supplies. I must say that this has by far been a favorite book, and the cd comes with the song for it. We may or may not have heard it 100 times by now. I hear my son singing it all the time when he is playing. I have even caught myself singing it at work. It is VERY catchy. At the end of the day we watched a real sunset and pointed out the colors that we were able to see and then we talked about what the animals on a farm might be doing to get ready for bed.
We really had a great day of school today and I think they were excited because I announced that the next day we were going to have a Halloween inspired Poetry Tea Party. Poetry Tea Time is something I have been trying to incorporate into our schedule this year. Originally I thought I would do it every Friday but I think Once a month keeps it special. Basically we have a fun lunch and take turns reading poetry. Eventually I would like for my daughter to work on something to read of her own at the tea time, but for right now we are just reading fun poems and learning that poetry is not scary. So in preparation for tomorrow I made pumpkin Chocolate chip cookies. I do not remember where the original recipe comes from and I have been using it for several years now. They are egg free and nut free, and could easily be changed to dairy free as well if you needed. So since it is Halloween soon and we are enjoying the fall season I thought I would share my pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 5 dozen depending on size
Pre heat oven to 375
Ingredients
1 15oz can pumpkin
1/4 cup applesauce
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
12 oz bag of chocolate chips
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Then in a separate bowl combine the next 5 ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. Then pour in the chocolate chips and fold them in.
I used a cookie scoop but you could use a tablespoon or something similar. Put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Or use a silpat mat, I love those for baking.
Bake for 10-15 min. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes to firm up. Then take them off the pan and let them continue cooling.
Hope you enjoy the cookies. Happy Fall!!
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