More Fall!

We are right in the midst of fall now.  The temperature has gotten cooler, the leaves are changing colors and its almost time to rake up the leaves that have fallen.  That means it's time for another great fall read aloud!

The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger is a sweet story about a little yellow leaf holding on tight, not ready to fall.  Other signs of fall are happening all around the little yellow leaf.  He sees geese flying away, pumpkins growing and leaves being raked into piles, but he is not ready to fall.  Finally, snow falls and it is turning to winter but the little yellow leaf will still not fall, even though he is all alone.  But then, the little yellow leaf realizes he is not alone after all.  There is a little scarlet leaf hanging on tight to a branch above him.  Together, they decide to let go and drift away in the wind.  This is a delightful story that has such vivid language and a calming flow to it.  This book is perfect for an afternoon read aloud after playing outside in the fall weather!

After we read this book we decided to make our own little yellow leaf.  Here is what we did:

Materials:
- Finger paint
-Marble
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Pan or tray

1) Cut out a leaf shape in the construction paper.
2) Lay the leaf in the pan or the tray and squeeze 3-4 dots of finger paint on the tray (I used read, green and yellow)
3) Add the marble to the pan or tray and show the child how to move the marble around on the tray by tilting the tray. (Side note: Since I was doing this with my 18 month old I used a aluminum foil tray with a plastic lid so that the marble would not fly out.  It worked great!)
4) When the leaf is painted to your satisfaction take the marble out and let the leaf dry in the pan.

Ours turned out great!  Here is a picture.  My little boy loved shaking the tray to make the marble move around.

If the weather is nice where you are take the read aloud outside!

Happy Reading!

Laura

Orange is the New Black

Ok- I just wanted to get your attention.  I am not posting about the show Orange is the New Black on a children's book blog.  I am sticking with my fall theme and sharing a great fall book all about the color orange!

Autumn Orange, by Christianne C. Jones, is a perfect fall book.  If gives kids a chance to talk about all things fall as well as build their vocabulary a little by using the word autumn.  This book of course focuses on finding the color orange in the fall scenery.  Kids love searching the pages for all things orange like orange scarecrows, cats, pumpkins, butterflies, leaves and so much more.  Another plus is the rhyming and rhythm in the books (I know I mention this a lot but that is one trait of a great read aloud!).  

After we read this book we used the color orange to make a pumpkin craft.  Here's how:

Materials:

- black construction paper

- orange tissue paper cut into small squares

- clear contact paper

1) Cut a pumpkin out of the black construction paper.  Then cut out the inside so that you have just the outline of a pumpkin. 

2) Place the pumpkin outline onto the contact paper. Leave sticky side up. 

3) Take the small squares of tissue paper and stick to the contact paper inside the black outline.  Keep doing this until you have filled the entire pumpkin. 

4) Lay a piece of contact paper over the tissue paper. Trim the excess contact paper and here is what you end up with. 

My one and a half year old was able to do this art project so it is great for anyone!  We love to hang ours in the window so that the light shines through!

Happy Reading!

Laura

Fall Leaves Fall!

I decided to write about another fall book today.  This is one that I found at the library and paired with an art project for my toddler.

Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall is all about many people's favorite season... FALL!  The book starts out with the season changing from summer to fall. It is the perfect book for the beginning of fall because it reminds you of all the fun things you can do with leaves!  You can collect leaves, rake leaves, crunch leaves and of course jump in piles of leaves!  The words are so simple and the paper cut out illustrations paint a scene that goes right along with the words.  They are so detailed that this book can spark great conversations about fall.

To get even more in the fall mood here is a little art activity that goes along with the book.

Materials
- Paper
- Brown, yellow, orange, red and green paint
- paint brush

1) Paint the bottom of your child's foot and press onto the middle of the paper.
2) Paint the palm of your child's hand and press onto the paper at the top of the foot.
3) Let your child dip their fingertip into the different fall colors of paint and press onto the hand print.  This will make the leaves of the trees.

Here is what you will get! My kiddo had such a great time painting that he wanted to make two!

What are some of your favorite reading and art projects?

Happy Reading!

Laura

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Today is the first full day of my favorite season... FALL!  It's time for picking pumpkins, apple cider, cool weather and leaves falling.  What better way to celebrate the first full day of fall than with a fall read aloud?

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro is one of her many books that is a play on the classic There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  In this version the old lady swallows all sorts of different fall items like pumpkins, leaves and hay.  In the end it all makes her sneeze and out comes a scarecrow.

Kids really like the familiarity of this book.  From the beginning they can begin to read along and say parts of the story.  To engage in some pre-reading activities ask the child or children to guess what the old lady might swallow.  Encourage them to use background knowledge like, what they know about this author and the season to make the predictions.  For post reading discussion ask them to use their imaginations.  What would you change about the story?  Are there any fall items that the author did not include that you would have?

I hope you all have a great first day of fall.  Perhaps take your read aloud outside today to enjoy the cooler weather!

Happy Reading!
Laura

PS I will be posting more fall read alouds throughout the season!