Craft Ideas

copied over from: 7ValleysHomeschool

1. Paper towel leaf painting- Cut a white paper towel into the shape of a leaf. Put the towel onto wax paper. Then drop food coloring on with a dropper. They turn out beautiful and look amazing stuck to the window. I have also used a paintbrush to drop the paint but watch out for the little ones . They try to rub it around and then tear the paper towel.

2. Nature walk- It wouldnt be fall if we didnt go on a nature walk. Bringing those nature journals along and taking the afternoon to explore all the changes. We also collect things that we see that have fallen. My children are only allowed to collect things that have fallen. If its still attached they aren't to pick it - they are to draw it. Then we go back and look up the different flowers, leaves, and nuts we found. So we can have fun and learn a little about them too.

3. Leaf pictures and book markers- This craft I did with my kids long ago. So I don't think the little ones have had a chance yet to try it. So this year we are going to do it again. I cut paper grocery bags into bookmark shape or the size of a picture frame. You could make fall cards too. Then we used Clear contact paper like you use in your kitchen cabinets. This is an easy way to laminate. These bookmarkers lasted us a long time before they began to turn brown. I am not sure I didnt even throw them away and they still werent brown after a year. You want to contact the leaf inside with the paper and cover it solid trimming the edges. You could also use some leaf punches if you are into scrapbooking or stamps.

4. Math Acorns- I take advantage of all those acorns the kids bring in. We use them for math practices. Also for my little one I cut out a squirrel shape. Wrote a number on each squirrel then had the little ones feed that many to the squirrel. We have also used Cheerios since acorns can get wormy.

5. Pumpkin seeds- We will probably also make a fall decoration for our table. Cutting a pumpkin and scrapping out the inside. There is also a bible lesson in there about how something appears to be on the outside or a person appears to be and how it really is. We will roast the seeds . Some we will dry for a pumpkin counting books (since I mentioned them I will tell you about them at the bottom) or for math practices for the younger again. We will add a mum to the inside and some leaves we found.

6. Pumpkin seed books- I cut out the shape of a pumpkin (11) We write the numbers 1-10 . Add that many seeds to the page and white yarn strips about an in long. The yarn represents the stringy stuff in the pumpkin. Continue to do this on all the pages.

A book to consider

The Edison Trait: Saving the Spirit of Your Free-Thinking Child in a Conforming World

Reviews can be found here.

Quick Study labs

This is an online distance class also labeled as a “teacher assisted Internet class” for homeschooled children in the field of electronics. The teacher is a college professor of engineering and his children are homeschooled.

referenced by: The Thinking Mother.

Quick Study Labs can be found here.

Might be something to look into further if Justin has an interest in electronics.

This lady goes on in the article to explain the value in referencing people who are experienced in a certain line of work and how they can help homeschoolers by sharing that information with them.

Questions to ask when looking at paintings

Three questions that can be asked of any painting:
1. What is it a picture of?
2. What does the picture mean?
3. What meaning might this picture have for the viewer's life?

You might faciliate a discussion within which students consider these questions.

Ask students to imagine that they are inside of this painting.

• What would it feel like to exist within the painting.
• What feelings would they have?
• What thoughts would they have?

(You could also ask students to develop dramatic presentations in which they answered these questions.)