Exploding Cranberries for Play Dough - and Some Fun Creations!

We had lots of fun today! Thank you to Homeschool Mo for giving me the idea to make Cranberry Play Dough! I recently discovered her blog and I know you will like it, too!

First, take a bag of cranberries and boil them (in about 4 cups of water)....

Wait until you start seeing and hearing them pop open.... we just had discussed yesterday in math what the boiling point of water was... so this was a good connection. The kids LOVED watching the cranberries explode!

Strain the berries so you have 2 cups of cranberry water you can use in the play dough recipe:

Let the water cool for a little while (probably long enough to complete your math and grammar lessons for the day!).

Then, over medium heat, combine 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and the cranberry water. Stir CONSTANTLY (about 5 minutes) until the mixture pulls away from the sides and turns into play dough.

We added gold glitter to make it a little more festive:

We pulled out the Christmas cookie cutters and lots of beads:

I was so proud of the children's creations - they sat at the kitchen table for nearly two hours. (The darker play dough you see if left over Apple Pie Play Dough from the Fall!) We listened to lots of Classical Christmas music, so we got in our music lesson for the day as well.

Here's a close-up:

The kids want these to set out and dry and then give them to Santa as a gift when we pay him a visit on Saturday. They also want to use them as decorations around the house.

It was a GOOD morning... I love it when that happens!

Fall Traditions and Celebrations - Linking Up With The Homeschool Village

Today I'm linking up to The Homeschool Village to share ways we celebrate Fall in our homeschool.

What I love about this season is that it has forced me to be intentional about fun, educational activities.

Other than Advent, Fall is my favorite time of the year. Despite the fact that it was nearly 80 degrees here today, the leaves are changing, the yard is littered with leaves, and we are making fall recipes and getting ready for Halloween.

At our front door, the topiary has orange lights (I change the lights for each season), the mums are out, and all we need are the kids and some friends standing by the door dressed in costumes! My husband and I aren't usually the type to dress up for Halloween, but the kids love it and I happily pass out candy while my husband takes them around the neighborhood.

Since we have been homeschooling, holidays take on a whole new meaning for our family - we approach everything from a learning standpoint, and I love it! This week we have learned some classical music that goes along with Halloween, and the kids have also done some fun pumpkin activities. Our favorite book is The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything - and it provides a lot of fun activities, too.

Earlier this week the kids made fall tissue paper trees out of their hand/arm tracings.

My sweet Miss B added a Bible verse to her picture about having the faith of a mustard seed. Sometimes the insight of my children is humbling.

We also made Owl S'Mores, which were a HUGE hit!

Yesterday we went on a fall nature scavenger hunt - I found a cute list online for us and we had a great time. At the end of our walk we spotted a blue heron (I neglected to get a picture because we were so excited!), but it was the highlight of the day, that's for sure!

Oh - a friend that is here each fall is our big SPIDER -- he was a gift to me from my mom my first year of teaching public school, so he has been gracing my house for the past 17 years! I think he's held up very well -- and some years we had to put him away because he scared a little one, but now everyone loves him!

This weekend we will get our pumpkin and daddy will carve it with the kids. Halloween night we are having friends come to dinner and then everyone will head out for trick or treating. We'll be sad when this season is over, but then we prepare for a house FULL of people at Thanksgiving, so we will be on to the next adventure and season of blessings.

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