Autumn Leaves - Handprints

I LOVE Autumn!  There is a definite lack of the typical signs of fall in Vegas.  We happily drive to Mt. Charleston to see the leaves change color but I wanted to do as many crafts at home to help the kids realize the season actually did change.  As of yesterday it actually began to feel like fall, the Vegas skies weren't the usual gorgeous blue and I didn't constantly check the doors to make sure we weren't wasting our a/c.

I had my 18 month old do this handprint, it took a couple tries but she finally lost interest in squishing her fingers on the tiles slick surface.  Thankfully I have a box of baby wipes next to me to quickly wipe off the "mistakes" and re-apply the paint to her hands.  Yes, we did take a shower afterwards since she puts her hands in her hair immediately.

We used the washable Crayola tempura paint; Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red.  I painted her hand with the lighter colors first then dabbed on the darker colors.  I wanted the leaf to look as if it was laying down or falling so I had the tile diagonal when I placed her hand down.  As usual I painted my fingers a bit so when I took her hand I didn't take any of her paint off - oddly enough, if my hand isn't painted a little as well I seem to be concerned with getting some on me.  This is weird since I'm covered in paint or glue most of my day anyway but if you ever find yourself hesitating due to not wanting to get paint on yourself - PUT it on yourself and you'll be able to grasp your child's hand and move her fingers however you wish!

After her handprint dried I used the back end of the paint brush to paint on some leave veins.  I let that dry then outlined the hand print in a leaf shape with gold glitter glue.  This is at our Dollar Store almost year round so I use it often!

After its all finished I sprayed it with an enamel to seal it.

California Pizza Kitchen Fieldtrip

California Pizza Kitchen Fieldtrip

We LOVE this fieldtrip!  As the fieldtrip leader talks about how pizza's are made the kids start off by making their very own pizza's...and snacking on the toppings.  Then its off to the kitchen!  As the kids get a full tour of the walk in fridges, cooking area, and prep areas their pizza creations are cooking.  Once its over the pizza's are ready, they get to drink lemon aid as they dine on their creations.  After all that, the get dessert! 

It's now a weekly tradition to make our pizza's.  Next we'll work on making our own dough.  It's been great in earning our Discovery Scouts cooking badge!  The girls received their very own measuring cups and spoons from our best twin friends and future prom dates if I can convince them not to leave Vegas!  It's helped them both with numbers and even the beginnings of fractions.

Get into the kitchen with your kids!  Yes, its a mess, but that's what dust busters are for!

Halloween Ghost Foot Prints

I can't believe it's almost here!  Are you ready?  I haven't even bought the costumes yet or even decided what all the kids are going to be...breathe.  Well, at least I've started with getting the kids in the mood of Halloween with these fun family foot print ghosts. 

Halloween Family Foot Print Ghosts

This is a great playgroup activity.  We get our preschoolers together every year for these.  Its easy to have the kids sit in a chair as you paint their feet white then have them step down onto the paper.  This is best not done on carpet.  Keeping in mind your little one will want to put their foot down soon after you'll want to have a wet cloth near by to take the paint off.  You can use wet wipes but you'll go thru an entire box with just 5 kids trying to get thru the toes.  *We use the Crayola washable paints, 10 ct. 2 oz. Bottles - Assorted Color Washable Kid's Paint

I outlined these with glitter glue and went over the white with glo in the dark paints - it looks so cool at night!  I bought the googlie eyes at the dollar store, not the adhesive backed ones - it wasn't hard to put glue on the back.  We used the Dollar Store glitter paper for this one too.  It looks just as cute to draw on the eyes and mouth.

I'm a hand print/ foot print nut so I laminate all our projects...Scotch(TM) Thermal Laminator 15.5 in x 6.75 in x 3.75 in 2 roller system (TL901) for $39.89 its worth every penny!  I haven't had a single issue and honestly its been awesome!