Wordless Wednesday - Warmth

Sunflowers

Can you believe how tall our sunflowers have gotten this year? We have really enjoyed watching them grow this summer. Next year I plan on having a grow chart in our nature journal. It would be fun to measure a sunflower of the course of the summer.
Maybe we'll even get around to planting a sunflower house! It would be quite magical to step inside of a house made of these giants!
As for that pink flamingo in the picture~~~hopefully he will fly south for the winter and not return. Somehow he keeps taking center stage in the garden. The kids must love him much more than me!

Leaf Man

One of my favorite fall books is Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. The beautiful leaf collages tell the story of Leaf Man and his journey. Since  "a Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows"....we figured he should venture over to Vermont.

So we tried our hand at our leaf man creations today. Though they aren't nearly as imaginative as the book's various animals and objects, my kiddos were quite proud of their creations. I'm sure this is something we will recreate throughout the autumn! Especially after we revisit and reread the book a few more times.

Also, if you check out the book from the library, be sure to look at the endpapers. It's like a simple field guide to leaves and Ehlert explains her technique for the leaf collage.

And....as you gather your leaves it's always fun to sing, "We're going on a leaf hunt.."

Leaf Crowns

What a wonderful first weekend of fall we had. Vermont is a great place to live anytime but autumn by far is the best time of the year for me!
We spent Saturday at the Burke Fall Festival and Sunday close to home enjoying the gorgeous fall day. The kids and I went for a walk in the woods to gather brightly colored leaves and other treasures. When we got back to the backyard I suggested we make leaf headbands, which was NOT received well by my 6 year old son. Clearly his understanding of 'headbands' is something with ribbons and bows and clearly only meant for girls to wear!
So I came up with a completely new project. Leaf CROWNS, you know, the kind that manly kings wear when they are in charge of their empire or forest!

Clearly my re-wording was acceptable because my son dove right in to attaching the leaves to the crown! And of course, little sis, was following right along.

Not to brag, but check out the thickness of that carrot we grew!

To make: cut a thin cardboard crown to fit your child's head (cereal boxes work great). Add strips of double sided tape and attach brightly colored leaves that you've gathered. You could use glue instead, but I thought the tape would work better on fresh leaves, could be worn instantly, and it was mess-free for my 2 year old!

Voila, you too can be the king or queen of your forest!