A Peek Inside Our Playroom: Fall Farm Dramatic Play

After a month of holidays, I just want to play! Not that we didn't play here over the last month, but with so many holidays back to back, we are just now getting into a Fall routine. And speaking of Fall, it seemed like a perfect time to set up a Fall Farm Dramatic Play theme in our play area. So come on in, take a peek inside our playroom and get ready for some Fall-themed fun at our farm!
When it comes to setting up new play themes I need it to be time and budget efficient. That means we repeat themes here--and why not? Every time my kids explore a play theme again, they bring new life and learning to it. I use what I have on hand and many of our resources and props cross over from one theme to another. Storage is always a work in progress so I can actually find the resources and props I want, but I like 2 gallon ziplock bags for flat and smaller materials and larger plastic bins for dramatic play props and costumes. I get the kids on board to create new props and materials because it's less work for me and more fun for them. I also make my setup a gradual process rather than a massive project. For one thing, this is what time and energy allows for right now and it also gives the kids a chance to explore and experience activities one at a time rather than being overwhelmed by so many new things that they end up not playing at all. And with this particular theme, I'm actually going at an even slower pace, intentionally adding in props that the boys will help to make and new activities that I will join in with them so that we can squeeze a bit more use out of one play theme before I transition to another.

In our month of endless holidays, we totally missed pumpkin picking season this year. Last year we spent an afternoon at a dramatic play pumpkin patch, and I knew I wanted to incorporate that into our Fall Farm this year. Printable resources for dramatic play are a great, time saving resource. I especially like the dramatic play sets from Pocket of Preschool and in this setup I used materials from both the Apple Orchard Dramatic Play and the Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play sets. I print and laminate materials once and store them between use.

So far our Fall Farm includes:

• a build your own pumpkin patch for planting and growing pumpkins
• hayrides
• pumpkin picking
• a snack shop
• a "face painting" station
• a kitchen for preparing and selling foods served in the snack shop
• a weighing station for pumpkins, gourds, candy, cookies, etc.
• a cashier's station with tickets for purchase, a cash register, receipt pads and order forms
• "cameras" for taking pictures
• handmade snack and food props (with more to come...)

At the Build Your Own Pumpkin Patch, our shelves our stocked with planting pots, a gardening shovel and rake, a watering can, "seeds" (I used rocks), "dirt" (I used pompoms and also a large piece of fabric to lay down on the floor as a garden bed, real mini pumpkins and gourds (you could make your own or use artificial ones if you prefer), and artificial vines. You can get creative with your props here, using what you have, making what you don't have.

S really liked putting the fabric down as a garden bed and then sprinkling "dirt" and "seeds" overtop. The photo at the head of this post is how his pumpkin patch looked once they had grown and were ready to harvest!

When it's time to harvest, guests can ride "tractors" (scooters--I later taped a photo of hay on top) to the pumpkin patch and pick their gourds and pumpkins. They can take them to the weighing station and weigh them. The boys especially love putting things in bags (I have no idea why!) and some brown lunch bags were perfect here.

They have also really enjoyed baking pies, selling treats and visiting the snack shop. I used some printables from the Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play Set I mentioned above and laminated different foods that they could velcro on to the snack menu each time they play.

We made the "caramel apples" using some foam decorative apples we had left from a few years ago. I stuck in some wooden craft sticks and we drizzled glitter glue over them to look like caramel coating. We made some "pumpkin cookies" using leftover felt shapes I had from last year, fabric paint and glitter for icing. I recycled some empty fruit cups and turned them into "applesauce" by painting the inside yellow and adding a laminated label from the Apple Orchard Dramatic Play set with velcro dots to open and close. Later this week we will be making model magic cookies and perhaps some other delicacies.

Our "face painting" station is just a laminated picture of face paints and some clean brushes. I might b adventurous after October 31st when real face paints go on sale!

This has given us a lot of "food for thought" as we begin our play adventure. Stay tuned for more additions and updates and until then...

Happy Playing!

Sukkot: "Building" on the Theme with Loose Parts

Just when you're feeling about holiday-ed out, the Jewish month of Tishrei throws in a few more, beginning with Sukkot and culminating in the grande finale of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. The whole month is like the hokey pokey! You're in Shabbos and Yom Tov [holiday] and back out to weekday and school/work mode, then back in and back out. So walking in and out of the house to get to our sukkah seems only fitting. Y described it best, perhaps, when he said "Mommy, this week is outside." He also tried to convince me this morning that I should not brush his hair because "it is Shabbos and yomtov." Touche, little man, touche!






And with the boys both busy at school creating decorations and learning about the holidays, and C still too little to do much more than pose adorably with our handmade felt lulav and esrog set, I wanted our home activities to be a little more child-led and open-ended. I also wanted something that would, eh em, maybe keep the kids a little busier while I get some cooking done... Loose parts play to the rescue! And the best part about building on the theme of, well, building, is that you can use just about anything you have on hand. Man-made objects, nature-made objects, fabric, toys, seasonal decorative craft supplies, even recyclables. You can also decide how much or how little to set out. I tend to err on the side of less is more--it is usually easier to add something in than to reign it all in when you've added too much. It also tends to work better for the children using the materials when there is not so much out because they can really hone in on what is there, how they'd like to use it and how they can creatively expand if and when they choose to.

When selecting what to use in my loose parts play-times, I tend to choose based on my own curiosity. My favorite things are those for which I cannot think of a purpose; I know the children will. This time I did have in mind the idea of building a sukkah, but I also incorporated the current season of Autumn and left the activity entirely open ended. The children could build a sukkah or anything at all. I also wanted to incorporate objects in different sizes and different textures. I started out by setting out some dollhouse tables and chairs, little dolls, some felt and Fall themed fabric swatches, small wood blocks and a wooden salad bowl filled with Fall shaped acrylic gems, tree cookies, cinnamon sticks, artificial leaves and decorative mini Indian corns and apples. Later in the week, I added in a basket of real mini gourds and pumpkins.

These have been used for stacking/building, feeding dolls and stuffed animals, playing floor hockey and creating a pumpkin patch on our living room carpet...

Fabric swatches have been made into backdrops, carpeting and even the roof or schach of a sukkah... 

Felt rectangles in coordinating colors make great backdrops or sometimes help designate a space for a structure to be built...

The dolls, chairs and tables allowed the boys to have guests come eat in a sukkah. S invited some Carebears and My Little Ponies and mini fairies and gnomes from our Nature Table to join in as well.

Smaller loose parts have been used here for everything from schach on top of the sukkah to delicacies served to guests inside of the sukkah. Y asked if he could bring some things in from our Nature Table as well and I was eager to see how he incorporated some collected natural loose parts and even our china tea set into the scene.

Our wood blocks are all second hand and collected from old Jenga sets. They are a perfect size for a smaller play space and easy to store in a basket between play sessions.

I introduced the materials simply by showing the boys that they were there. I said that I had thought about building a sukkah with them but they could be used for anything at all. S got right to work building a sukkah, but then moved on to making a road across the length of our carpet for skateboarding Carebears! He also asked to use a ruler to measure his road. Loose parts play lends itself quite nicely to STEM skills development.

Meanwhile in our art center, I added in some graph paper, some printed sukkah blueprints, and some printed blueprint/sketch templates. In our Writing Center drawers I also stocked some Fall themed paper, stickers and sight word strips (S is very interested in writing words these days). The boys kept quite busy making decorations and pictures for Sukkot as we got ready for the holiday to begin last week. Open ended activities like this help busy adults foster busy children. Don't get me wrong, we've spent a bit of time watching videos here as well! But I feel good that in between it all, the boys are having fun playing, building and creating and all the while delving into the important themes of this holiday season.

Whether you're looking for a quick way to squeeze in some entertainment and learning as we wrap up the Jewish holidays or a great Autumn themed invitation to play, here are few tips I'd recommend as you choose and set up your materials:

• Use what you already have. Don't go shopping (unless you really want to). Objects can be found in nature, around the house, in old/broken toys and games, your recycling bin, your craft supplies,etc.
• Portion control is hard for children (and many adults). You do not need a LOT of each material, especially if you don't have a LOT of children using them at one time. When I set out materials, I keep in mind how much clean up will be involved if they [re: when they] get all dumped out. 
• The use of baskets, bowls or trays helps keep everything organized. That said, I try to be a little loose about organization of loose parts. If you are really set on things being individually sorted, first off--don't look in my wooden salad bowl! And secondly, you might want to minimize the number of different materials you do introduce at one time.

Want to do more?

• Bring loose parts play into your art and writing areas by encouraging children to draw up blueprints of their ideas or record drawings and/or photos of their finished structures.
• Add an art component and use small loose parts to have children make their own mini holiday themed props. These can then be brought back in to the loose parts building space and used in small world play. Last year the boys loved using loose parts to create their own lulavs and esrogim. S even made me an esrog bracelet--which reminds me that I'd better go find that and wear it before the holiday ends!

• If you're feeling quite ambitious and weather/time permits, bring your baskets of loose parts outside to your actual sukkah and have a blast working and creating in the fresh air! This type of activity is a great one for spaces and groups that include members of varying ages.
• On a larger scale, introduce and offer larger sized materials and loose parts for building a play sukkah that can actually be used by children. Cardboard boxes, old blankets/sheets and fabric, recycled tissue boxes and large cardboard tubes, toys like fort magic or cardboard brick blocks, clothes pins (for connecting) can all be used. Outdoors, large sticks and logs and branches can be incorporated.
• Use edible loose parts for building a sukkah that is good enough to eat! You can go the sweets and treats route and use graham crackers, frosting, pretzel sticks and cereals or candies. You can also go the more nutritious route and use fruits and veggies, perhaps some peanut butter and/or humus for sticking things together.
• For a fizzy fun Sukkot themed science experiment, try your hands at some Exploding Esrogim (our holiday themed version of this fizzy lemon volcano experiment). It was a huge hit at a community event I ran with kids of all ages (and maybe also some grownups). You'll just need some lemons (those are your esrogim), baking soda, some additional lemon juice and optional red food coloring. This one can get a bit messy, so it's a great candidate for outdoor play.

• Check out some of our other favorite Sukkot related and Autumn related activities as well!

We are about to hokey pokey back in to Shabbos and holiday mode here, but we'll be back to routine and reality soon! Until then...

Chag Sameach, Happy Fall, and Happy Playing!

Winter Story Stretcher: "The Fox and the Falling Leaves" by Julia Rawlinson

Most folks would probably think of Julia Rawlinson's The Fox and the Falling Leaves (also under the title Fletcher and the Falling Leaves) as Fall themed book and, indeed it does whimsically share the tale of a young fox, Fletcher and his fruitless attempts at "saving" his favorite tree from this thing called Autumn that is responsible for causing all of its leaves to fall off. As Fletcher tries again and again to help restore his poor, beloved tree to its leafy Summer self, he is confronted again and again by Autumn's seemingly gravitational pull and some other woodland critters who are of little help. There is a magical Wintry surprise at the end that makes this the perfect book to transition seasons. We chose this book for a star role in our Winter Break Story Stretchers Playcamp on the afternoon before Winter solstice and to celebrate and honor Autumn's departure with a fun STEAM activity to go along with it.

Lest you think that our Story Stretcher times look picture book perfect, there's Y wandering in the background and S trying to hear the story over his singing...

"Tree, tree!" shouted Y, gleefully bringing me the pipe cleaner tree from our activity setup at the table!

We gathered (more or less) on the rug for our story together, and then took to the table for our STEAM Challenge to Build a Winter Tree. This is the perfect activity to combine fine motor skills, art, engineering and creativity as the children got to use cotton ball "snow" and a prepared pipe cleaner tree trunk (I found a great tutorial and the inspiration for this project on the blog Play Trains!) If you have older kids, they can shape and form their own tree trunks and branches from pipe cleaners. Cotton balls have a lovely way of sticking to the pipe cleaners and Y even discovered how to pull them apart and stretch the cotton like drifts of snow. I was quite impressed! S followed suit. The harder challenge is getting loose parts like glass gems, sea glass and mosaic tiles to withstand slipping through the branches to taking the whole tree down! It's a challenge we were up for! As the boys were busy building, designing, constructing and reconstructing, I thought it might be fun to add in some Fletcher to Fox characters, and offered them each a small toy fox from our collection of winter forest animals.

I love using the collection of building prompts from Pocket of Preschool's Winter STEM pack to introduce our activity at the table. It supports the print rich environment I strive for and provides visual inspiration as well. To try this activity at home you will need pipe cleaners (black or brown) for your tree base and cotton balls for snow (alternatively you could use fiber fill or wool batting). Glass gems, mosaic tiles and/or sea glass make a lovely optional addition and the addition of a toy fox or other small toy woodland animals could make for some great small world play and storytelling.

I almost never know what activities will draw the boys in (one or both) and which will sustain their attention and curiosity. This one was a huge winner!  I aim to set up our area in ways that are thought provoking and visually appealing. The formality of wooden bowls added a sense of beauty and reverence to their work area and I think that goes a long way in capturing their interest. I love finding these at secondhand stores. I find them super inexpensively and they are great for storing and organizing art materials, loose parts, small toys, even jewelry and small personal objects. They are also a lovely addition to dramatic and sensory play. Both boys really had a great time with this activity and were quite pleased when I showed them that all of the parts to recreate it are readily available in our Winter STEAM drawers or other easy to access areas in our play space. I think it is especially important when children do take an interest in an activity like this to make it available for recreation and repetition.

With that, we've officially said so long to Autumn and welcomed Winter! And we will be back soon with some more Winter themed Story Stretcher fun. Until then...

Happy Reading and Happy Playing!

Pumpkin Patch Playtime!

It's November 1st, and allow me to be the first to wish you a Happy Buy Your Purim Costumes and Dress-up Clothes at 50% Off Day! We don't happen to celebrate Halloween, but Autumn just isn't Autumn without pumpkins here. We [I] even [toiled and slaved and cursed and cried] in the garden to grown our own mini pumpkin and gourd. Yes. Only one. Of each. Costing me roughly a total of $54 when all was said and done, but worth every penny. I think. We also purchased some mini pumpkins and gourds, painted white pumpkins with acrylic paints, picked our own pumpkins at S's school field trip and needed an indoor way to have some playful and active fun yesterday while handing out [and eating] candy.
Introducing Pumpkin Patch Playtime! Whether you're looking to give those pumpkins one last hurrah today or trying to burn off some of the post-Halloween calories and energy, these simple activities are sure to please and simple to set up and execute at home or in the classroom.


Our Pumpkin Patch hosted a small selection of gross motor and dramatic play activities. You could include them all, add your own, or choose your favorites. You could do this outside if your weather permits, but it works just as well indoors given enough space.

The boys were invited as they came downstairs from their nap to take a hayride to the Pumpkin Patch. I used a small riding toy, but you can also use a cardboard box, bike/tricycle, scooter, skates or your own two feet! I used masking tape to make a path toward the pumpkin patch that would later double as our corn maze. If you have carpeting and are worried about tape, carpet safe tape options are available. I've never had a problem with masking tape as along as you remove it the same day. You can implement labels and sentence strips if you want to support a print rich environment.

Once they arrived at the Pumpkin Patch, the boys were greeted by the sight of artificial leaves strewn about the rug (you can also cut your own from paper or use the real thing outside). A couple of child sized rakes and a recycled brown paper bag were at the ready for raking leaves. If you have reservations about using rakes indoors, you could probably substitute in child sized brooms or children could use their hands or even tongs or tweezers to pick up leaves. If you have a larger group, this would be a really fun activity to do with a parachute and to use the leaves on the parachute to toss into the air before having the children rake and collect them.

The Pumpkin Patch itself was set up using artificial floral/foliage garlands I bought from the Dollar Tree earlier this year to use in our play sukkah as vines and our collection of pumpkins and gourds starring as themselves. You could use artificial/toy pumpkins, or even make your own by painting and stuffing brown paper lunch bags (as I did for our basketball game). At the Pumpkin Patch, the boys could "pick" pumpkins and gourds, fill up their shopping cart and bring them to The Pumpkin Patch Store (their kitchen set and cash register) to pay. You can get as detailed as you want here and make price tags, signs, etc. You can also keep it simple (as we did) and just go with the flow. S had the idea to use the pumpkins in the kitchen and make pumpkin cakes, pies and something he called "pumpkin juice" that I'm willing to try at least once to find out if I like it! He also wanted to use some brown paper shopping bags for carrying pumpkins and gourds, which became its own lesson in measurement, weight and structural integrity...

Both of the boys loved Pumpkin Basketball. S was quite inspired to try a real pumpkin in the game, but since we were inside, I put a damper on that one. Instead, I prepped some simple brown paper lunch bag pumpkin basketballs. I colored the bags with orange and green marker, stuffed them with tissue paper and taped them shut before smooshing them into a round shape. Alternatively, you could use actual balls and permanent markers to make them look like pumpkins. Everyone (yes, me, too) took turns having three tosses to try and make a basket.

These activities are meant to get everyone up and moving and active. When excitement and festivity are in the air (even and especially the day after), movement is a necessity. If you're needing a less active and quieter option or station, these DIY peg board geo-pumpkins are the way to go. They still encourage active engagement of muscles, strength and energy, but they are a bit more stationary in nature. This has been a favorite activity for S the last few years now, and this year Y got in on the fun as well. They hammered golf tees into a couple of our mini pumpkins last week for Table Time one morning. Yesterday, I set out the trays of rubber-bands and our pumpkin geo-boards. Y was able to loosely drape larger rubber bands over the pegs and S was able to make intricate shapes and designs.

We will likely give these gourds and pumpkins one last hurrah here as we explore the inside and maybe even do a little baking per S's request. But honestly, I'm pumpkin-spiced out and ready for what's next...Chanukah!

If you're gearing up for Chanukah as well and looking for a playful and educational way to bring some early math and literacy skills into your home or classroom, check out my Chanukah Counting Soup game on TeachersPayTeachers. It's a fabulous way to bring fun, festivity and a little bit of learning into your home or classroom this season.

And until then...happy playing!

Bring on the Pumpkin Spice, Autumn Apples and a Hurricane If You Must (An Updated Peek Into Our Playroom)

Shanah Tovah U'Mesukah from this
sweet little apple and honey bee!

 Ch-ch-ch-changes! S has returned to preschool for a new school year and we just finished celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Talk about busy, here! And that sense of the pace picking up is exactly what makes me feel like slowing down and stopping to smell the pumpkin spice. It's definitely still Summer out there (with a potential hurricane pending in the days to come), but Autumn is in the air (at least indoors). So whether you are hunkering down for a big storm, or just looking for some apple, pumpkin, or Autumn themed fun at home, we've got you covered!

With summer dwindling to an end, I began to make subtle changes to our play area. I realize I haven't posted in a while, and hopefully I'll get to backtrack a bit and share some great activities about sunflowers and bees that we did as part of our Sprout Scouts Playcamp. Our Nature Table is one of these new introductions. I set up a top shelf in one of our toy storage areas with a small world scene the boys could manipulate and explore. I included both natural loose parts (even the two mini gourds we managed to salvage from the squash bugs in our garden) and man made ones as well. The scene immediately drew both boys' attention, but it isn't meant to be merely a display--they are invited to play with it, add to it, change it and move things around the room at large for use in play and storytelling.

Speaking of storytelling, with school beginning and Rosh Hashanah starting just a few days later, I decided to spend an afternoon telling The Story of The Apple Star (available to print at Come Together Kids). S has seen this "trick" before but was still super excited to see the star magically appear inside our apple and Y was old enough this year to appreciate it as well. Nothing goes to waste in this house, especially not apples, so some of the results were used for snacking and some were used to fabric paint apple prints onto some new aprons for the boys to use during cooking and baking activities.

I strategically placed our toy Rosh Hashanah sets into our dramatic play area along with some toy apples and a makeshift felt apple pie play set. I rotated in some favorite Rosh Hashanah books and apple books as well. I find that the more subtle my play area updates are, the more they are appreciated. I rarely have to show the boys when something new is out, they almost always discover it with their usual excitement and glee! On occasion, S will ask about something that was out and got put away and I explain that it has been rotated out. If he felt strongly about having something back in the rotation right away, we certainly would, but usually it's just curiosity.

Our sensory table is a favorite area for both the boys right now. Our tree blocks made a reappearance along with some cinnamon sticks, toy apples, collected seed pods and objects found in nature and even the set of Seasons Dolls I painted last Winter. I thought S would get really into storytelling in this one, but he actually only played there once. Y loved it.

When I made another rotation a couple of weeks later and moved the tree blocks, natural loose parts and cinnamon sticks to the toy shelf, S was totally ready for small world play, carrying the baskets to the carpet and even inviting me and Y to play along! Sometimes location and setup is everything--you never know! That's why I always advice fellow parents and teachers that if an activity or setup does not capture your children's interest at first, either reintroduce it in a new setting or design or wait and try it again another time.

I'm also rarely glued to a singular vision of how I think my boys should or will play with things. I have my ideas and they have theirs--many times I am amazed and astounded!

As you can see, our Nature Table has shifted again. It's looking a little less like Summer and a little more like Autumn. Not everything is gone or different, in fact I intentionally returned some of the same objects as before in this new backdrop. I really couldn't help myself once I saw mini pumpkins and gourds go on sale, so now they have entered our small world play, infiltrated our dramatic play and kitchen set and even been turned into building blocks (at S's cue).



 They even showed up in our new "Autumn Soup" Sensory Bin, a lovely Autumn toned collection of dried beans and lentils along with some soup pots, empty spice bottles and toy kitchen utensil. I'm never completely sure my boys will take to a sensory bin I set up, but anything like dried beans, rice, lentils or corn is almost always a big hit. And yes, a big mess! But both boys are big fans of helping to sweep with the dust brush and dustpan I keep affixed to the side of our sensory table and one of them is even pretty good about keeping what's in the bin in the bin.







Needless to say, both boys have spent a great deal of time playing here in the past couple of days and hopefully it will continue to entertain them in the days to come, whether we get hit by this storm or not. A sensory bin filler like this is so versatile that even if this setup gets a bit stale, some funnels and scoops could be swapped in, perhaps some cardboard tubes and recycled containers, or even some Autumn shaped cookie cutters, and it would be like new again.

We're all about using and reusing what we have here and whether you're preparing for a big storm or just looking to add some Autumn themed fun into the coming days, here are some more activities that have kept us busy at play here over the last few weeks:



Playdough is always popular here! We used our usual recipe and added in some red food coloring and some cinnamon bark scent for this playdough invitation based on one of my favorite books, Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson. I also included leaves from deconstructed dollar tree silk flowers, our toy apples (these were from a craft supply store a few years ago), cinnamon sticks and tree circles. Both the boys loved this setup and S decided to turn the page in the book and "make another page!"

A great playdough invitation is certainly worth repeating or you can swap in some other accessories for another way to play on the same theme. In the photo below, we added in cookie cutters, dishes, the same apples, cinnamon sticks and playdough along with some toy kitchen utensils for a Playdough Apple Bakeshop.

 S loved playing with a DIY felt apple pie set his teachers made in school. I decided to surprise him (and Y) with their own version to use at home over Rosh Hashanah so they wouldn't miss the playdough too much during the holiday.  I cut out some pie crust colored circles and strips, added in a selection of small green and red pompoms and two sets of tongs (yay for sneaking in that fine motor practice). I also set out some empty spice bottles, toy baking utensils and even a pom pom filled honey bottle. Even now that the holiday is over, they both still love baking and delivering pies!

While I never got to posting before Rosh Hashanah this year, the simple apple crafts we did would be a wonderful Autumn activity (or you can store in the vault for next year).

The boys have really taken to using chalk pastels on our chalkboard wall and on black paper (as have I!) so I set out an apple shaped piece of black card stock for them to color and a larger frame cut from scrapbook paper to glue it on. It was so simple and such a cute way to add a little festive flair to the new school year and the Jewish New Year!

The boys also really love wet coffee filter art so when I saw a post in one of my Facebook groups with coffee filter apples, I knew it was something we had to try. I set out some apple colored washable markers and used masking tape to attach a flattened white coffee filter to two trays. The boys colored away but the most desired part of this activity is always the spray bottle! S loves the spray bottle! He helped spray both coffee filters and they were set to dry. I cut the frames out of felt and glued everything together with hot glue before hanging our stained glass apples in the window.

 Transitions can be challenging and also quite beautiful. Just as Summer days give way to school days, so, too, do those sneaky leaves begin to change color and fall (even while it is still upward of 80 degrees here). There is a wistfulness as the Sprouts Scouts pack away for next Summer, but having a set routine truly helps us ease into the Autumn season with comfort and even a bit of excitement. I've learned the value in planning less, slowing down and engaging more with the boys. Rather than filling every moment of every hour, I've introduced an activity theme for each week day.

Monday: Story Time
Tuesday: Art
Wednesday: Play!
Thursday: Cooking/Baking
Friday: Tea Party

The activity we do under each theme is not necessarily the same each week. Yesterday, I thought we'd go to the park for Play! day and the boys were totally engaged with some of the new playthings at home, so we stayed in and played together. Story Time might sometimes be a trip to the library and other times include storytelling at home. Art might be set up or entirely child-led. Our cooking/baking days sometimes take us to the store to pick out vegetables for Stone Soup and other times we bake for Shabbos or for our Friday afternoon Tea Party. Our routine will change when we feel ready for it to do so and I try to let the boys take the lead in our afternoons, especially when mornings are spent away from each other while S is at school.



This month of festive holidays and pending hurricane offer plenty of family time together, and while that is a bit like doing the hokey pokey with "The Real World," it is quite nice to be able to sit back together and enjoy this family time. Wishing our family and friends a Shanah Tova U'Mesukah, a happy new school year and those who may be affected, safety in the storm to come. We will be back with more details on our new play at home routine, some great Autumn themed fun and, as always, plenty of happy playing!