Use fall nature objects to paint a masterpiece. This multi- sensory activity helps people of all ages to use their imagination and creativity. Younger children have fun and learn through the painting experience. Older children and adults can put thoughtfulness and detail into their designs.

Fall nature items can include:

Gourds, Potatoes, leaves, pine cones, gumballs, nuts, sticks, grasses, and weeds. There are many more. Go on a scavenger hunt and you will discover many interesting objects that God has made.

A fun advantage to using nature is that your painting will look different each time you paint something. You do not need to paint in straight lines. Try different directions and techniques.

1. Choose what nature objects you want to use.
2. Put down a plastic tablecloth or a sheet of plastic for EASY cleanup. Keep this for simple cleanup of craft projects.
3. Gather a variety of paint colors, dishes with paint to roll your objects in, paper plates to set your painted nature objects on, and a cloth for quick wipe-ups.
4. Roll or thoroughly coat the item you are using  in the desired color of paint.
5. Have fun! Drag, roll, dab, spin, twist, flop, and swish. Try ideas that pop into your imagination. Use a new color and mix the designs together.
6. Watch this video for more ideas and techniques.

Make your paintings into fall or thanksgiving cards. Give them to older people, shut ins, out of town relatives, or anyone who could use a smile.

Have fun painting and teaching your children how God has made each detail of nature!

God Made Me

Preschoolers love to play and learn about themselves. Let them use their wiggles to learn that God made them special.

There are many activities you can use to engage children in learning. Incorporate all of the senses into play to keep the child’s interest and help them to learn. Confucius said “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand”. Try some of these ideas and add your own to teach Genesis 1:27 “God created man”.

Throughout the activities use repetition and be excited. Use these phrases and fill in the blank with the body part you are talking about. ” God gave you___.”  “Where are your___.” ” What do you use your___ for?”

• God made my hands

Have a small pan of water and a cloth. Let them use their hands to wash a toy. When they are finished put a few ice cubes in the water. Talk about how God gave them hands to feel the warm and cold water.

• God made my feet

Allow children to take off their socks and shoes. Let them walk on different textures. Examples – a plastic bag, play dough, hard flooring, carpet, packing bubbles, leaves. Use your imagination. Join in on the fun. Children love it when you have fun with them. Talk about how God gave them feet to walk and run.

• God made my eyes

Let the children throw colored scarves or beanbags in the air. Call out a color and have them bring it to you. Cheer and clap as you tell them that God gave them eyes to see the colors.

• God made my mouth

Sing fun songs with actions. Between songs tell the children that God gives us a mouth so that we can sing and talk. When you are finished drink juice. Tell them we can thank God that we have mouths to drink and taste the yummy juice.

If You’re Happy And You Know It – author unknown

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands

Repeat with:

Stomp your feet
Shout “Hooray”!
Do all three!

Head and Shoulders – author unknown

Head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
Head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,

Head and shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes  God made them all!

• God made my ears

Go for a walk and listen for sounds or use a wooden spoon to bang on objects that are safe to hit. Talk about how some sounds are loud and others are quiet. Tell them God gave you ears to hear sounds.

• God made my nose

Have different foods, flowers, and perfumes for the children to smell. Add in a few things that don’t have a smell. Let them tell you what they can smell and what doesn’t smell. Ask them if they like to smell cookies baking. Explain that God gives us a nose to smell many things.

• God made me special

Puzzles and books are another good way to see and hear the ways God makes us special. He makes everyone different but exactly how he wants them.

For this activity I recommend using Create a Face from Lois Graham at Story Time Felts. It comes with multicultural facial parts and the children are able to use the felt pieces to see how God makes everyone different and special. The pieces are washable so you can also use it for the God made my hands water activity.

Give each child a felt nose and have them set it on something that they can smell. Continue using a variety of pieces.  Here are some examples of places they could pick: mouth – food or cd player, Eyes – toy, ears – vacuum. When they are finished let them choose a piece and put it on their felt face. They can make serious or funny faces. Explain that God loves them and made them just the way he wanted them.

• God made you!

Have fun! As you learn with the children remember that God made you special. There is no one exactly like you. God has plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” NIV. Teach others that God made them special!

Ready? This is EASY as ABC…

• Find a good nook! It does not have to be huge. Certainly does not need to be expensive.  All that is needed is a place that invites your children (and YOU!) to think, work through the studies (writing, reading, studying, proofreading, projects, experiments…). Ask yourself, “Where do they gravitate toward to read…to research…to write…to print?” Keep in mind that each and every student in your family will be very different during the learning process, but most will appreciate having all of the supplies and equipment in a safe, quiet, comfortable place to study. When deciding on a spot, make sure that the spot has good lighting and a good, solid, clean, work surface.  Make sure it is a good spot to think AND work on lessons.” Set up the area with a nice table or desk with plenty of work area…comfortable chairs…limited distractions…shelves for books and notebooks…space for a computer and printer…convenient power supply…space for you to sit down and work with them during their lessons…and a specific spot for organizational bins that will hold supplies.

• Get supplies together! You probably have supplies ALREADY in your home. Use our list to remind you of which supplies you will need to gather for homeschooling. Gather them and organize them so they will be ready to use when your children can snatch time to dig into their studies.

• Give easy access to materials and supplies! Don’t just gather supplies, give your children easy access to those supplies! Nothing else can encourage your children to dig deeper into studies like having the materials needed to learn AND free reign to use them. Gather the supplies you will need and store them in clearly marked plastic bins and containers. There are SO many options available. Find what will work for you and your family. Get paper and printable pages together. I have always stored ours in our school materials so the children had their materials on hand as they needed it. A quick glance can remind me that we need more. I buy all of our paper, ink pens, pencils, 3-ring binders, etc in bulk at Sam’s Warehouse. During the school breaks, many stores have supplies and paper in bulk for better prices than all year round. That is when we also stock up. We store it on our school shelves and have what we need as we work.

• Invest in the best tools! It may seem to be an added expense, however tools make all of the difference in the world! For example, you can buy a cheap stapler for under $5.00 OR you can buy a long-arm stapler for $29.95 at an office supply store. The difference? Well, we have bought SO MANY cheap staplers. They simply do not last. Plus, they are limited in what they can do. Now, contrast that with the long-arm stapler? They are built to last. You can use those for making any size booklet and for regular stapling. Just watch your most reluctant writer when they figure out ALL that they can do with one stapler! $29.95 will be the best investment ever!  Buy the best as you can. The investment is more than just for equipment, it is investing in your child’s education!

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This is written by my friend Cindy Rushton. I use, love, and highly recommend her resources. Find more help and ideas in her Back to School Blast Set.

Keep younger and older children busy and learning with winter activities. Pretend it is winter and have fun!

1. Freeze water in a tray and let your kids play with plastic animals on the ice. Younger children can choose what animals live in snow and what animals live where it is hot. Older children can name where the animals live and place them on a map in the correct location.

2. Fill baggies with shaving cream or spray it on a table. Children can draw winter shapes in the “snow”. Teach shapes by drawing snowmen in different shapes. Ask questions. Example:  Is the square snowman taller than the rectangle snowman?

3. Use crumbled newspaper to make snowballs and have a snowball fight. Count, add, subtract, multiply, and even divide the snowballs.

4. Take two ice cubes and put each in a bowl. Put one outside in the sun and the other indoors. Time how long it takes each one to melt. For younger children freeze plastic animals in the ice cubes. Older children can experiment by setting the ice in different locations and make a graph with their findings.

5. Make an igloo out of a white sheet or plastic draped over chairs or a play tent. Sit inside and read winter stories or books about winter animals.

6. Use packing bubbles for ice. Have fun coloring the “ice” with sidewalk chalk. Use the opportunity to teach younger children colors. Let older children make a picture by popping the bubbles into a design.

7. Use marshmallows, containers, and toothpicks to make snowmen, igloos, forts, animals, or something else imaginative. Be creative!

8. Have a snowflake making contest. Use a variety of art supplies to design one of a kind snowflakes.

9. Look through your house finding things that begin with the letters in SNOW. See how many you can find. The first one to a certain number gets the first popsicle. Younger children can look for colors that match winter items. Examples: white – snow, black – penguin

10. Younger children can use cookie cutters to cut bread into winter shapes. Then frost with marshmallow fluff. Older children will enjoy making this recipe RBP’s Polar Extremes Bible school.

• Tasty Snowflakes

What you need:

Large flour tortillas, waxed paper, kitchen shears, cinnamon, cooking spray, and sugar

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Fold tortilla in half. Fold tortilla in half a second time to make a triangle.

3. Cut out snowflake designs from the tortilla triangle.

4. Unfold the tortilla triangle and place on waxed paper.

5. Lightly spray tortilla with cooking spray.

6. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on tortilla.

7. Bake tortilla for 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp.

Go bananas with this rhyme:

• First we pick, bananas
• Pick, pick, bananas
• Pick, bananas

Pick, pick, bananas [picking invisible bananas off trees]

• Then we peel, bananas
• Peel, peel, bananas
• Peel, bananas

Peel, peel, bananas [hold up one finger and "peel" it with the other hand]

• Then we eat! Bananas!
• Eat, eat! Bananas!
• Eat! Bananas!

Eat, eat! Bananas! [tossing invisible bananas into mouth]

• Then we GO! BANANAS!
• GO, GO! BANANAS!
• GO! BANANAS!

GO, GO! BANANAS! [self-explanatory…]                                                                                                                                           From http://parentsblog.scholastic.com/librarian_mom/2008/10/rhyme-time-goin.html

Monkey snack:

• Bananas
• Lace round cereal (fruit loops) onto a string to make a monkey tail.

Craft and Activities:

Children can make a monkey mask from a paper plate or cardstock. Let them use their imagination! Let them cut, paste, draw, color, or paint. The possibilities abound. Designing their own project will help them gain confidence in their accomplishments. Encourage them to be creative!

When they have their mask completed they can act like a monkey and sing 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped her head.
Papa called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped her head.
Papa called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”

One little monkey jumping on the bed,
He fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the Doctor and the Doctor said,
“Put those monkeys straight to bed!”

Watch 5 monkeys teasing Mr. Crocodile fingerplay video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p2PtKG-6XY If you enjoyed the fingerplay the felt it is available at my website http://www.funfelt.com/lois.html

Read monkey stories. You can choose from real or made up. My son loves Curious George. He enjoys the adventures that George finds. Let them tell you what they think will happen or have them make up their own ending. Pull out paper and crayons and let your children have fun creating their very own picture book.

Have fun, act like a monkey, and swing through a rainy day!

Want to make the new school year better than ever? Want studies
that are interesting for the whole family? I think I can help you!

How about some quick tips for making your history studies fun? I
think you will find these to make lessons fun and easy. Let’s dig
in…

* Get Out to See History as Much as Possible…  Hunt up any
Living History Days scheduled in your area.  Get out to all
historical sites and museums…even hands-on children’s museums.
Don’t miss any historical reenactments and plays within driving
distance! These all give wonderful opportunities to get your
children in touch with those that love History and know it best.

*  Begin a History Notebook… This is the cure to dull, lifeless
texts.  Let your children create their own notebooks of study!
Include anything from great quotes to poetry to pictures to
sketches to newspaper clippings to photographs to mementos from
history sites, reenactments and postcards from friends to
narrations from books read.  These personalized curricula will
bring life into all areas of study.

* Tap Into Grandparents, Elderly, Family, and Friends… Our
family and friends have been a key source of finding out neat
stories that are not recorded in the history books. Sitting at
their feet, we have learned many details from history that would be
long lost without the gift of story telling. The key to making this
come alive is to listen and record their stories for your History
Notebooks. Keep this part of history alive for you and for
generations to come!

* Find Treasures at Antique Stores… One of our favorite
past-times is “junking” at antique stores, junk shops and flea
markets.  Take your time to find wonderful treasures from the past,
which will breathe life into your History studies.  You can find
journals, uniforms, books, dress up clothes, and even play gadgets
to make history come alive for your little ones!

* Let the Little Ones Make Up Their Own Costumes… I have always
enjoyed researching and creating authentic costumes from other time
periods.  I used to have more time and energy to create costumes
for every time period we studied.  Now, my children are using their
extra time and endless supply of energy to create their own
costumes.  I love to see them as they pull together little things
from around the house to create their own costumes!

* Let Them Make Doll Clothes… This tangent began for us when my
daughter got her first American Girl doll.  We combined my love of
creating authentic doll clothes with my deep passion for making
doll clothes.  Each year for the past five years, I have spent time
each December creating matching outfits for Elisabeth and her
dolls.  This is easy to do with today’s patterns.  Just take basic
designs and create your own “historical” costumes for the dolls.
If you have a beginning seamstress interested in some quick
projects, this would be a wonderful way to learn the basics of
sewing while learning History!

* Make a Timeline…Timelines are priceless!  We have had two
different kinds of timelines for our studies in History.  We had a
huge one that took up an entire wall in our old home. It was
fascinating to watch the little ones as they would “review” and
“test” each other on history as they went by! When we built our
home, my husband would not allow that one back on the wall, so we
made our own Book of Centuries on our computer, which includes all
of our history facts. We simply developed a notebook with the dates
marked.  We record key events, people we study and the key events
of their life, our family’s key events, illustrations which remind
the children of those historical figures and events, pictures that
the children have collected from books and trips that we have
taken, information from our Computer Encyclopedias and Internet
Sites, and even charts we have collected or made ourselves. These
are another “text” that we create about our studies. How priceless!

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Need MORE Help?

Check out our Ultimate Homeschool Expo! Cindy Rushton is the hostess of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, the very first online homeschool convention. This is  NEVER ENDING because it is an ONLINE Convention!. Check out all of the details here:

Ultimate Homeschool Expo