Autumn Theme Toddler Time

What fun we had last week! We are still enjoying as much outside time as we can right now. Snow has started to fall on the peaks, but afternoons are still beautiful!

Our theme for the week was Autumn Leaves.

We continued with our sensory bins this week; although, I have to admit – he was not as excited about this one as he was the fish sensory bin. However, he still asked for his “sense-y bin” several times throughout the week.

Autumn Sensory Bin

• Pumpkins  – Hobby Lobby
• Gourds – Dollar Tree
• Spin Tops – Dollar Tree
• Leaves – Dollar Tree
• Pinto Beans
• Black Beans
• Scoops, spoons, and bowls

I cut out leaves from felt to use on our felt board. I got the cut out for the leaves from Alison at Oopsey Daisy. She has great theme printables! We used some of her ideas from L is for Leaves during our Autumn Theme week.

Samuel loved taking the leaves on and off the felt board. We worked on colors and counting while singing different songs and poems. I also left the leaves out for him to play with throughout the week.

I found some dot paint at Dollar Tree in the school section. I’ve been meaning to order some Do-A-Dot paint from Amazon, but I keep forgetting. This worked out okay, but it splatters something fierce! So, I’ll be ordering Do-A-Dot this week. Samuel LOVED, LOVED, LOVED doing this.

We worked on colors with this sweet little color set. I got the idea from Mindy at The Purposed Heart when we were visiting her family in September. I got the little wooden pieces from JoAnn’s and painted them several different colors. Samuel loved matching them up, and it was great practice with small spaces.

I printed off and laminated the 1-10 Number Sheets from Confessions of a Homeschooler. We worked on counting and matching squares with this little mat. The squares are from the Dollar Tree {see a theme?}.

We went on a nature walk to take advantage of all the leaves swirling around our neighborhood. I cut out some cardboard and taped contact paper on top with some double sided tape. Then, we walked to the neighborhood park and attached leaves, rocks, and flowers to our board. Samuel was mildly interested in sticking them on the paper, but he thoroughly enjoyed the walk and being outside. I got this idea from Play Create Explore.

We pulled down the paints for our craft time this week. I’ve learned to just cover the table in an old sheet or newspapers, put an old t-shirt of Daddy’s on the munchkin, and keep a wet wad of paper towels for quick wipes nearby. This makes messy play a lot less messy and a lot less stressful. Although, I’m not concerned with mess, but I know some of you are so I hope the tip helps. 😉

I found this idea over at The Picky Apple, and I instantly knew I had to do it with Samuel. He loved it!

We also used the pine cones we collected from our nature walk to make prints. This was a lot of fun, and we learned about texture! Mommy really got into this one. 😉

Samuel loves paper crafts. Anything that has shapes that he can stick to the paper with glue, he’s all for it! It’s fun to watch his curiosity as he wonders what all the pieces will make. This time we made a Scare Crow.

Finally, this was my favorite moment of the week. Samuel can spend hours outside digging in the sand box with his trucks. This was a picture of him running to his sand box squealing with all the delight of a child. And Jesus tells us to have faith like a child…I think I get it now.

But even more than sandboxes and “cars,” Samuel loves his dog. For four years, Maddox has been Mark’s dog. But in the last month, I had to break the news to my beloved husband that he has, in fact, lost his dog. The day Mark took Max to Denver was a day of devastation in our home. Samuel refused to even go outside. He wanted to know where Max was, and he was not happy when I said he wasn’t home.

I looked out the window to find this one morning. My heart melted. This dog has taught me more about patience than anything else. So grateful for our gentle giant.

So now it’s your turn! What did you do this week?