Fall Leaves and Firetrucks

If you teach, you understand that August and September are a very dizzying blur filled with excitement, to-do lists, and a little bit of nausea. The first few weeks of school are a swirl of lesson planning and acclimating to new classes and new goals! While I haven't had much time to capture pictures of all of our projects so far, I did (somehow) remember to snap a few of the most recent themes we've taught in our 4-year old classes. We have done 5 themes so far, including "Leaves and Trees" and "Fire Safety"; below are some art projects I did in my class that worked out very well. I had fun planning them, and the kids had even more fun putting them into action!

My favorite project from "Leaves and Trees" was when we made a tree using a "leaf painting" technique. For this project the kids had to trace their tree using a stencil (unfortunately most of them thought it was a mushroom, but come on-- they're four! I wanted to make the tracing and cutting simple.) After they cut out their tree they used brushes that had been fitted with faux leaves to paint their trees yellow, orange, and red.

Here are the brushes (I just attached the leaves with masking tape, and then threw them out after class):

My two favorite projects from "Fire Safety" were the firetruck we made, as well as the fire hose.

For the firetruck, the kids had to trace their truck and cut it out. We used bottle caps (from soda and water bottles) for the wheels, I cut and drew ladders beforehand, and they used large flat sequins for the lights. After all that they drew a window on the front of the truck.

For the fire hose (and this was a VERY fun project), we used toilet paper rolls, crepe streamers, scrap fabric, and duct tape! To start, the kids stuck small pieces of duct tape all over their TP rolls to make the nozzle. Then I had squares of red fabric for each hose; I helped them wrap long pieces of duct tape over the fabric to attach it to the nozzle. Last, they glued scraps of blue crepe streamers inside the other end of the nozzle to look like water spraying out. They loved, LOVED "spraying" their fire hoses all over the room to put out imaginary fires.

Hopefully these ideas are helpful additions to your Fall curriculum-- happy teaching!

(Early) Fall Food

Today is the first day of September, which means, to me, it's the first day of Fall! Now, I realize that Fall doesn't officially begin for another 20 days, and I also realize that Oklahoma weather does not care about my idea of Fall-- it will be in the mid-90's for the rest of the week. However, September is my birthday month, and Fall is my favorite season, so I have officially declared today the first day of my personal Fall.

In that spirit, I want to share a couple of recipes I have recently tried out that are full of flavor and Fall-ishness. These are both incredibly easy recipes, and the best part is how impressive and delicious they are.

The first incredible dish I want to share is my Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie recipe.

The first step in this recipe is to let go of the need to be fancy, and buy a pre-made pie crust. That's right, I said it. No need to put that much work into this pie-- it's delicious with even the simplest of crusts.

You'll also need:
3 cups of chopped fresh rhubarb
3 cups sliced strawberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter cut into small pieces

First, preheat your oven to 400. Place the first pre-made pie crust into your pie pan and prick with a fork all over. This is essential to having a crispy crust on the bottom.

Combine the fruit, sugar, lemon, zest, flour, and salt in a bowl. Fold well to combine. Pour the filling into the crust and top with the small pieces of butter. These will melt and create a savory mess of deliciousness once you eat the pie.

For your top crust, you can keep it simple and place the entire thing on top (just be sure to create some vents), or you can get a little fancy and use a pizza cutter to cut your crust into strips, and then layer them to make a lattice topping.

Once your pie is assembled, pop it in the oven for 20 minutes, then reduce your heat to 350 and bake for another 25 minutes. (If your crust starts to get too brown, top with foil.) Before serving, allow the pie to cool for at least 2 hours so the filling will thicken.


Now, for the second recipe: Pumpkin Breakfast Cake

This is a delicious and guilt-free treat for your crisp Fall mornings. The secret is that this is actually an Angel Food Cake that's just been taken higher into Heaven by adding a little pumpkin!

The recipe for this cake could not be any easier. All you need is:

1 box Angel Food Cake mix
1 can pureed pumpkin
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

To bake, you can either use a bundt cake pan, or a rectangular cake pan. I tend to use the rectangular pan because it's easier to cover and clean.

Simply follow the directions on the box of Angel Food Cake mix, and before you pour the batter into the pan, fold in the can of pumpkin and cinnamon. One step I definitely recommend is to whisk the batter for another minute or so after you have folded in your last two ingredients; this way your cake will stay fluffy, and it'll break up any stubborn clumps of cinnamon. Pour the batter into the pan and bake as the box says.

Allow the cake to cool for at least 2 hours before you cut and serve. Eric and I especially like to eat our pieces warmed up and topped with a small drizzle of honey.


Hopefully these recipes will get you just as excited for Fall as I am! Enjoy!