I mean, come on, who doesn't love a *FREE* download? AND a free download for fall????!!! Double win! Last week I shared 5 free counting activities and this Dump Truck was one of them. Well I took that dump truck and we filled it with FALL! Check it out!
This is a fun dump truck with number cards 1-20. I hold up the cards, with the numbers towards me and the back of the cards facing Dutch, so he can pick a number. He puts it on the corresponding square on the dump truck and then he starts adding and counting his pumpkins. This is such a fun & festive way to work on our math.
To keep this exciting and fresh, we switch up the items that we're counting & adding into our dump truck. We also use pine cones & acorns. I'm certain that you could get acorns from your yard or purchase faux versions of these at Hobby Lobby or Michael's.
Isn't that so cute??? Goodness I love having fun in the classroom with my littes!
Acorns, pumpkins, leaves, ghords....... there are SO many different textures of fall! And this fall-fan wants to celebrate ALL of them :-)
I went through my box of fall decorations & pulled out a few things that I could bring into our homeschool room to talk about the fall. I had some felt acorns, pumpkins, plastic acorns, pine cones, & plastic leaves. I'm sure you could find something like this at Hobby Lobby or Michael's.
I honestly dumped all of the items into a big pile & got Dutch to sort them into their own baskets. He loved to hold each item, and takes great responsibility in sorting them into their own baskets. We talk about the colors and the shapes and how each item feels in his hands. This is great vocabulary work surrounding not just fall, but colors and shapes and textures.
If you can't tell, we're really enjoying fall in our home classroom! What are y'all doing to learn about fall???
I think with each season there are so many new opportunities to add excitement into our classrooms. This week I've got a few fall activities to share with you that I'm really excited about. Today I'm talking about colors :-) While I have done this color sorting task many times with just objects around our house and we are pretty good at colors these days, this was a fun NEW way to keep those little hands busy with an activity so we could TALK about the implications of colors changing with the seasons.
This is really an easy activity for mama/teacher to prepare. I just used some construction paper and wrote the color on top. I had some fabric leaves in my fall decorations box and so as I was decorating our home for fall I had Dutch sort the colors of the leaves to the corresponding paper. I mean this is so simple! I find that when little hands are busy doing a activity, their minds are primed to be poured into. So as he was sorting these leaves by color we had the perfect opportunity to talk about why leaves change and typical scenes associated with fall. After a while I also found that I had these small plastic leaves and so I got him to sort these leaves by colors also. This is super versatile activity so you can just use what you have.
He was so precious sorting his leaves in his fall hat...which looks like a Harry Potter Sorting Hat, right??? He was so pleased with himself & had such a good time talking with mama about fall and leaves.
I encourage you to try this with your little one! Please tell me how you're celebrating the season with your little ones!
Have you heard of a sprinkle? When a woman is having her first baby she is thrown a big baby shower. But when she has subsequent children her friends may throw her a smaller, maybe more intimate "sprinkle". And when your bestie is having a baby you do everything you can to make her feel special & celebrated. My bestie is due any day now (my phone is glued to my body folks!), and I took her out for coffee and cake as a little sprinkle a few weeks ago. People always assume that when mama is having a 2nd or 3rd child that she has everything. And honestly she really might have all that she needs (diapers & a swaddle), but there are some things that you can add to her collection to help her & also help her feel celebrated at the same time. These are my favorites and what I highly recommend giving to your bestie....so much so that I gave this all to my bestie!
1. Kashi Cookies- These are awesome for increasing lactation!
2. Plush animal.....because every kid needs one!
3. Natural Pacifier- a pacifier with all natural fibers that is also designed to be exactly like the breast to decrease nipple confusion.
4. Cozy Cover- I was gifted this as a hand-me-down and it is awesome, especially for babies born in the winter. Not only does it keep strangers away from the baby carrier but it also is lined with fleece so it is excellent at keeping baby warm. It has a nice elastic edge so that it will fit onto any baby carrier.
5. Robe- Every mama deserves a nice fresh robe for those initial postpartum days when life is difficult and all you want to do is wear jammies but sometimes you need something to feel like a real person.
6. Nursing gown- Again in those early days you need easy access so a nursing gown is so helpful!
7. Solly wrap- This is hands down my favorite baby wrap/carrier (and I have 8 so this is very telling!). This is the most natural wrap I've ever experienced. Baby can be held so close & secure in the most natural way but the fabric is so thin so you wont get hot and stretchy so that you can get the most secure wrap. I used this, and still do, with Ellis.
8. Nursing pads.....obviously, right?
9. Clothes- Even if this is baby number 20, it's nice to have a few new pieces of clothing for them. Personally I love Burt's Bees organic line so I always purchase that for my own kids and others.
10. Wooden Teether/pacifier clip- We all know I love everything wooden for babies and this was perfect because it also matched his nursery, so I had to get it for him.
11. Natural Nipple Cream.....I think this is another obvious one.
12. Natural Bottom Spray....well if you've had a baby before you know that this is also a very necessary product
13. Mother's Milk Tea- This is just awesome to have in the hospital bag so as soon as baby is born mama can start working on her production.
14. Little Unicorn- When I was pregnant with my first everyone was all about Aden & Anis swaddles. Even I thought they were great, until I discovered these organic muslin blankets. These are awesome. Not only are they organic but they are bigger, which is better for swaddling and covering the baby carrier. Not to mention they are perfect for baby pictures. Ellis' Fresh 48 Pictures were done with one of these.
15. Sippy cup- After older brothers/sisters terrorize the sippy cups, they will most definitely need new ones lol
16. Books- A few new special books that this new little one can call their own. I love this edition of this organic collection.
So here ya go, this is what I gave my bestie who is due any day now. I would highly recommend all of these tried-and-true products to your bestie too!
Nope. Not Granny's recipe! I remember the brick that my grandmother would put on the table for dinner & call meatloaf when I was a kid. Ewwwwwww! This recipe I have been tweaking for a little over 10 years, and honestly I don't think I can do anything to make it better at this point. It's fairly healthy, easy, and fast.....that's a recipe for success. Growing up I never liked my Granny's version of meatloaf, but my dad made a mean meatloaf! I've been meaning to write this recipe down for y'all for a while, but a phone call with my dad recently finally got me to write it down. We were comparing our meatloaves, & since you sent me yours Dad, this one is for you! Ingredients:
2 tbs unsalted butter (I use grass-fed, or coconut oil)
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 16 oz. beer (This is a key ingredient, so don't skimp here! It could be dark or amber. I've used: St. Arnold's Christmas, Rahr & Sons Winter Warmer, Newcastle, Blue Moon, Real Ale Brewhouse Brown, & DFH Indian Brown.... they're all worked great!)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground pepper
2 lbs ground beef (or 2 lbs venison)
1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup bread crumbs (whole wheat, regular, panko, or 2 slices of bread...I've used them all & they all work)
Sprinkle of dried parsley
2 eggs, beaten
1.5 cups ketchup
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp (heaping) dried mustard
Worcestershire sauce, to taste Directions: Take your rings off for this recipe! You're get'n messy!
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet, y'all know I used cast iron, combine butter/coconut oil, onions & pepper. When they start to soften (about 5 minutes), add in the beer. It will smell amazing! Then add in the thyme, mustard, sea salt & pepper as the beer begins to evaporate. Then turn off the skillet.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together beef, pork, bread crumbs, parsley, & eggs with your fingers (you might start with a spoon, but you will abandon that plan quickly; I promise ;-). Then add the onion/green pepper mixture. Toss it all together just until mixed. You don't want to over-handle the meat.
3. Line the bottom layer of a broiler pan with foil (you'll thank me later when you're doing dishes). Then form your meat into a loaf on the pan. Cook for an hour.
4. While the meat is cooking, mix the sauce: ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, & Worcestershire sauce. After the meatloaf has cooked for an hour, turn the oven up to 475 degrees and apply this sauce to the top & edges and then cook for another 45 minutes.
5. Enjoy!
I'm taking a little shift today, but just a little one hehe I know lately I've been sharing a lot of our alphabet activities. Today I want to share FIVE FREE activities that we used the in the spring to practice our numbers. My kiddos enjoyed them and I bet yours will too!
First up, and proof that we actually did these activities in the spring noted from the length of Dutch's hair (Ha!), is this Dump Truck Counting. What you do first is download this dump truck mat & number cards and then laminate it (I promise you're going to want to reuse this). You place the number card on the truck and your child gets to "fill" the dump truck. I used blocks (this kind and this kind) as well as snacks as "filler". Your little student will have a lot of fun counting with this dump truck.
The next one I want to share with you makes me laugh a little. My kids have NO idea what a gumball machine is in real life lol But I do! So this is exactly like the dump truck idea above, but with a gumball machine. You download this gumball mat & numbers (and laminate of course!) and let your child fill the gumball machine with gumballs (I use these discs) according to the number card they draw.
Dutch loves the Pittsburgh Penguins so I try to bring penguins into our home classroom as much as possible. These penguin snowflake cards you can print off (and laminate) and get so creative with. The student counts the snowflakes and then covers the correct number. For covers I've used these bears, transparent discs, & these glittery pom poms. You could also use whatever you have for snack time.
These counting stripes are the most basic, but in being the most basic leaves you with a lot of room for creativity. Download the counting stripes, laminate, & start counting. You could easily just count the dots, or you could cover them with snack, coins, transparent discs, counting bears, or pom poms. These bumblebee cards I could NOT resist! Being a former yellow jacket, and loving all things black and yellow (Go Steelers!), I just had to have these. Go ahead and download these Bumble Bee Counting Cards & laminate. Your child counts the items and puts a clothes pin over the correct number. If you don't have clothes pins you could use snack, or anything that I've linked above.
So there you have it, five FREE and fun number activities to keep your preschooler engaged & excited about learning! Mamas, please share some of your fun activities that you use with your preschooler :-)
From the love of my own comfort
From the fear of having nothing
From a life of worldly passions
Deliver me O God
From the need to be understood
From the need to be accepted
From the fear of being lonely
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God
And I shall not want, I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want
From the fear of serving others
From the fear of death or trial
From the fear of humility
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God
And I shall not want, I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want
No, I shall not want, I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want
I really feel like everywhere you look there are opportunities for learning. Even in the trash lol My husband surprises me with gallons of tea from Chick-fil-A every now and then, and the other day I was about to throw an empty gallon jug out when I had an idea.
All you need is an empty gallon jug, toddler-sized tongs, & marbles and you've got a great set of activities at your finger tips. Let me tell you about all the ways we used this activity:
I put the marbles in a dish and we focused on colors, counting, numbers, math.....and then music! And obviously fine motor skills also.
As you ask your toddler to add marbles to the jug with the tongs, you could work on color recognition & identification. They could only add yellow marbles or blue marbles or whatever color you ask. As they add the marbles to the jug with their tongs they will be working on some fine motor skills AND their colors.
If you've got a really young child you could count each marble that is dropped into the jug. As they advance you could start asking things like, "How many blue marbles are in the jug?" Later you can begin with some math problems like, "You need six blue marbles, but you only have four in the jug. How many more blue marbles do you need to add to the jug?" So with this you've added numbers, counting, and math to your fine motor task. And notice that this task can progress as your kiddo grows. That is my kind of task lol
I think it would be ludicrous of me to not think that once all of those marbles get added to the jug it wont be shaken. It absolutely will be shaken like a loud maraca. lol Embrace it! Start talking about rhythm and beats. Your child will love to mesh together fine motor skills and marbles. I know that mine have enjoyed this.
See isn't that a super fun & easy task that you can just pull together really quick, but have great impact? What activities do you have like this that you can share with me??? Obligatory Blogger Disclaimer: I was not provided any compensation for this post. I just really like these products.
It's 11:30pm & I am eating this right now as I write this post! Yum! Sure wish you were here to have a slice with me :-) This just might be my new breakfast for Thanksgiving & Christmas this year. This is dag-on good y'all! Here's the recipe, because I know you're going to want to try this! Ingredients:
8 stripes of good thick bacon, chopped
pie crust
1/4 white onion, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, chopped/sliced
1 tbs thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz. gouda, 1/2 in. chunks
4 eggs
1 cup cream
1/2 tsp paprika side salad (optional) lemon vinaigrette dressing (optional) Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook bacon in skillet (I use cast iron) until nice and crispy. While the bacon is cooking, roll pie crust into pie pan. When the bacon is done, go ahead and create a layer of bacon at the bottom of the pie crust.
2. Add onions, mushrooms, thyme, salt, & pepper to the same skillet you cooked the bacon in (with the bacon grease). Cook on high for a few minutes until the onions begin to soften. While the mushrooms are cooking, top the bacon with the chunks of gouda.
3. In a bowl, mix together eggs, cream, & paprika. When the mushroom/onion mixture is ready, layer it over top of the bacon and gouda. Then pour the egg mixture over top. The eggs and cream will begin to fill in all of the nooks and crannies. Bake for 60 minutes, and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
4. Enjoy! I served my quiche with this side salad, asparagus, tomatoes, & basil with this lemon vinaigrette dressing.
There is a phrase that we use that goes something like, "every time I turn on the news, I see something else bad". There are so many versions of this, but it isn't a phrase. It is real life. Every morning I do wake up I turn on the Today Show and they are reporting another tragedy that happened while I was sleeping. It's not a phrase. It isn't something that we just say. It is something that happens in real life. So we do we stop watching the news?! Because we can't handle it? Because it brings you down? Because you want to ignore it? Because you're scared to step out in faith?
I know I'm not the only one who noticed Facebook on Mother's Day & Father's Day this year. Did you see how oddly sweet it was? Did you notice what a pleasure it was to scroll through and see people expressing gratitude and loving words? Does this mean life is perfect? Absolutely not, but it was unfortunately strange how kind the words were. I made a comment about how I wish Facebook, and honestly our world, could be that kind every day. Someone commented "well that isn't how our society is". This makes my heart even heavier. Just because that isn't how we are, doesn't mean that we are stuck in this pit. It doesn't mean that we all can't work together to change the direction for good. The state of our society isn't an excuse, but the complete motivation.
We are commanded to love our neighbors. Do you know who your neighbor is? The person you least want to be your neighbor & love is the one you are commanded to love. It is EASY to love your friends and family (mostly), but it is hard to love your enemy. It is hard to love someone who is different from you, or someone who takes you out of your comfort zone, but that is the second greatest commandment.
We can't complain about the state of our world if we have no intention of whole-heartedly participating in turning the negativity ship 180 degrees. Do not leave it up to someone else. Do not think that this responsibility lies on the shoulders of someone else. It's your turn. It's my turn. DO SOMETHING!
advocate for the helpless
love
listen
smile
hug
be less focused on your problems & your agenda; instead, put yourself last....which is not the norm for our society but that doesn't mean that it isn't possible
love
adopt
laugh
be the salt of the earth
give
feed the hungry
be different
don't take everything so personally; not everything is a personal offense
forgive
don't just sympathize, empathize
smile at strangers.....they're not that different from you
communicate like you speak to your best friend
give grace
love
be different
offer the benefit of the doubt
console
act
heal
love
love
love
STOP shaking your fist and DO something!
"Do Something"
I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, I created you”
If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something
I’m so tired of talking
About how we are God’s hands and feet
But it’s easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It’s alright, “somebody else will do something”
Well, I don’t know about you
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire
I wanna be the one who stands up and says,
“I’m gonna do something”
If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something
We are the salt of the earth
We are a city on a hill (shine shine, shine shine)
But we’re never gonna change the world
By standing still
No we won’t stand still
No we won’t stand still
No we won’t stand still
If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something
