Fall Trees

Last week we made some fall trees.

 

You first need a brown paper bag (lunch size).....cut strips down from the top (about halfway down).

Open it up.

And twist the bottom to make a tree trunk.

Then take the strips and twist 2 or 3 of them together to make branches.

Then if you have a leaf punch, punch out red, yellow and orange leaves......if you don't have a leaf punch, you can either cut out leaves or tear paper to resemble leaves.

I punched out a bunch of leaves ahead of time, but then let each of the kids punch some out as well.

Then it was time to decorate the trees.....Mddox didn't want his branches twisted, so we left his.

 Cooper wanted his leaves to be falling on the ground, so he had a big pile of leaves on the bottom.....love their creativity!

I think they look fantastic!

Fall Display

Remember last week when the children took coffee filters and dripped water colors on them??  Well, today we used those leaves to make a fall display.

 

We first had to find a tree branch......I should have had Ryan do this for me......it was quite comical!!

I then put it in one of my tall jars with some glass stones in the bottom. 

Then we just started glueing the leaves on the branch......wasn't sure how well it was going to work, was planning to use my hot glue gun but I left it in my Sunday School classroom and just realized when I went to get it.  So, we used Elmer's glue instead and it worked just fine.....and I didn't have to worry about any of the kids getting burned.

They just stuck them on all over the branch.......and then they put the leftover leaves in the jar!

 

This was such a fun project (the children love working together on projects) and it turned out beautiful (the colors are a little muted in this picture, but the leaves are a little more vibrant than it shows).  Great fall display!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

We will again be making some pumpkin goodies throughout the month of October.  This year, I am finding some new recipes off Pinterest to make.  Yesterday we made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies......delicious!!!

 

All the children helped dump in the ingredients and stir.

 

Teamwork getting the brown sugar out. 

Love that smile! 

YUM YUM!!!

Cooper was not a fan of the brownie!

I think for the most part, everyone else enjoyed it and most of them asked for more.

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 

 

Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Line an 11x7 inch pan with parchment paper.  (I put it in one of my Pampered Chef Stones and no parchment paper.....not sure if that's necessary or not, but ours came out just fine).

 

 

In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, eggs and oil until smooth.   Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar.   Add to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.   Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until passes toothpick test. Cool completely before cutting.

Fall Leaves

This week has been crazy busy, we are finishing up our basement (well step 1 at least) and my afternoons have just gotten away from me.  So I am just now posting our art projects from Tuesday.......this month we will be talking about fall, leaves, pumpkins and Halloween. 
We had 2 projects going at once that day......we melted some crayons on the warming tray, the children love this activity and it helps me to get rid of some old crayons as well and also used watercolors to color some coffee filters.....if you remember, we have done both of these activities in the past with different outcomes.  We used fall colors to make leaves in both of these projects.

 

Melting crayons on wax paper......Maddox helped me pick out red, yellow, orange, and brown crayons......I then sliced the paper with a knife and the paper peeled right off. 

 

The children can either lay the crayon on it's side and make lots of color at once or use it like they are coloring......either way works, just gives different looks to their paper.

We hung them in the window this afternoon, but don't think they will stay up very long......the children are excited to take them home.....I love how each one looks different!

 

We used watercolors for the other project......just drip the watercolors onto coffee filters (another favorite).  If you don't have watercolors, just take food coloring and add it to water and if you don't have coffee filters, you can also use paper towels and we just use the medicine droppers you get from the pharmacy......they work great and are FREE!

Once the coffee filters were dry, I cut them into leaves......we will be doing something else with them next week, so stay tuned!