Paper Bag Hand Puppets

Here's an easy craft to make at home, using a brown paper bag.

Cut out the ears, nose and feet of your favourite farm animal (using brightly coloured paper), then glue the pieces onto the paper bag.  Add a little detailing, and your hand puppet is ready in minutes!

Thanks again to Cindy who taught us how to sign and sing along to 'Old MacDonald had a Farm'.

Why not try a few of the signs that Cindy showed us - with a hint or two on the signing action  ... horse (use the 'H' sign with your thumbs extended, up at the top of your head, then flick your fingers as if the horse is flicking it's ears), cow (using a 'Y' sign, turn forward a few times, indicating the horns of a cow, at the top of your head, along with a mooing sound too!), dog (tap your thigh a few times, as if calling a dog to you, open hand in a 'B' sign, palm down), duck (open and close the bent '3' sign, with your fingers held just under your mouth, to indicate a duck opening its beak), sheep (probably the trickiest to learn ... use a 'K' shape with your right hand, toward body; left arm palm up, then use your right hand in a circular motion, as if clipping a sheep near the inner elbow of your left arm), pig (there are 2 signs ... form your right hand in a 'S' sign, fist like shape, at nose level, twisting back and forth indicating the snout of a pig, or use a 'B' sign under your chin, palm down and then swing your fingers up and down, it's a similar sign to 'dirty').  Have fun!

Click to sing along to Old MacDonald had a Farm

Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts

The following is a recipe from today's playgroup morning tea ... for all to enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts

1 cup pumpkin puree (homemade steamed pumpkin, then pureed using a blender stick, to a smooth consistency – not too thick, or from a can)

½ cup canola oil

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

¼ cup buttermilk (I use evaporated milk or regular milk - you may need to use a little extra milk so that the muffin mix is not really thick)

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

¼  tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice or ground all spice

1 cup flour

 ½ cup wholemeal flour

pinch salt

1 tsp baking soda

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup chopped walnut pieces

Preheat the oven to between 150-180 degrees Celsius.  Prepare muffin pans (makes approx. 12 medium sized muffins).

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, eggs, vanilla and milk.  Add the white and brown sugar, as well as the cinnamon, nutmeg and pie spice or all spice.  Mix well.

Combine flours with salt and baking soda, stir well.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until all ingredients are combined.  Add cranberries and walnuts.  Spoon the mixture into the muffin pans.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool muffins on a wire rack.  Frost with your favourite cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with pumpkin and sunflower seeds if you wish.

(These muffins increase in flavour by the next day, and freeze well becoming slightly more moist).

Teaching Colours

Autumn is a great time to teach your tot colours.  We found the most amazing coloured leaves on the ground at our local park ... red with speckles of yellow - how cool is that!

After we picked up a few unusually coloured leaves to bring home, we stomped around the leafy wooded area, grabbed handfuls of leaves, threw them up into the air and watched them come floating down.

At around 22 months of age I introduced my son to the Melissa and Doug 'Sort and Stack Board' and now at almost 2 he understands which colours go on the matching peg, and he's able to count them on and off fairly well.

The board can be purchased at ToysRUs or online, or if you enjoy making crafts, then you might like to try making the board at home.

Homemade Stack and Sort Board

You'll need:

1x shoebox
5x chopsticks (1 each painted red, blue, yellow, purple and green)
Pieces of coloured felt or foam (cut into shapes eg 5 red hexagons, 5 blue squares, 3 yellow triangles, 2 purple rectangles and 1 green circle), or painted penne pasta or very large coloured beads (large enough not to be a hazard for an older preschooler .... just for teaching colours)

Turn the shoebox upside down (paint or cover with a fun colour if you wish)
Poke the 5 painted chopsticks into the upturned box
Add the coloured felt or foam pieces or beads onto each stick

Stay with your child, when using this tool.  They will love your encouragement ... claps and cheers when they've sorted and/or counted the colours onto the board, and it also helps to stop pieces going missing if you are there to supervise.