Tuesday, September 19, 2023
During the last several weeks
we’ve taken a break from the blogging world
as we’ve caught up on home projects and spent cherished time with our families!
We love creating memories together!
❤
We hope all is well in your worlds
and that you are gearing up
for the changing seasons ahead!
Fall is in the air…
and we are ready for it!
During the coming weeks we will be sharing our take on fun ways to celebrate
the fall season with loved ones!
Today, we are kicking things off with a new installment of our series
One of the greatest pleasures in having grandchildren is the opportunity it provides to explore the world together and see everything in a new way, through their excited eyes! An autumn visit to a pumpkin patch or an apple orchard is an outing many Grands enjoy with their Littles each year! Oh, the joy of walking through a fall landscape - the smells, the sights, the sounds, the “feels”!
Today, we’re offering a detailed way to share these experiences
with your Littles!
Check out our I SPY hunts to help them (and you!) savor it all!
A trip to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard provides so many wonderful photo ops
for us Grands…
While we know that many of these places have lots of extra activities to enjoy
(corn mazes and/or hayrides to name just two),
we’ve found that as we explore these fall settings with our Littles
it’s meaningful and fun to have a planned activity to do together!
Do you remember the game, I Spy with My Little Eye?
I spy with my little eye, something that….
This game is fun to play with Littles of all ages!
I Spy is a wonderful way to use our five senses
and our Littles (even infants) will benefit from hearing the vocabulary!
You can take turns suggesting things to spy (especially with older Littles)
or, if they are readers, they could each have individual checklists to keep track of!
We’ve created two I Spy hunts below, just for you!
Feel free to use our hunts as inspriration in creating your own list,
personalizing it for you and your family.
You can also screenshot the list(s) we’re providing and then print out multiple copies
OR
you can pull up the Our Grand Lives website on your phone
and work right from there!
(We’d love to travel with you on your outing! 😉)
As your Littles quickly learn,
there is something magical about being able to actually pick your own pumpkin,
right off the vine!
As your Littles are exploring the fields to make their selections,
use our I Spy at the Pumpkin Patch! to guide your fun!
We hope you’ll be able to carve out some pumpkin time with your Littles this fall!
After all…
Happiness is not a state of mind, but a trip to a pumpkin patch!
For many years, we both would take our kindergarten classes and then our own children
to the apple orchard each fall!
We would use all five of our senses to learn more about the apples
and the way they grow!
Have fun with our I Spy at the Apple Orchard activity
as you head out to pick apples with your own Littles!
Of course, the BEST part of any trip to the orchard
is the moment when you take that first juicy bite into a fresh apple!
Yum!
There’s nothing like a crisp autumn day
spent at the pumpkin patch or apple orchard
to let you know that fall has arrived!
And there's absolutely NOTHING better than spending such a day
with our beloved Littles!
We’ve got one last idea for you…
a fun snack to enjoy with your Littles while on your fall outing!
As retired kindergarten teachers, we’ve hosted many class parties over the years,
including our annual Fall Festival or Harvest Festival celebration!
Room parents have often contributed original snack options
and here’s a healthy option that delighted our kiddos!
These are super easy to prep and they take little time to do so!
School aged Littles would love to help!
You’ll need:
• individual applesauce cups
• natural raffia
• felt or construction paper
• wiggly eyes or white paper & a black marker
• a black permanent marker
• tape and/or glue
Follow these directions to make each Scarecrow Applesauce Cup:
(1) Tape or glue a few pieces of raffia to the edge of an upside down applesauce cup. Trim the raffia as needed (We told our Littles that we were giving the scarecrows a haircut!)
(2) Cut out a hat from the felt or construction paper. Cut out and glue a small square of another color of felt/construction paper onto the hat (to make a patch). We used a permanent marker around the edges of the “patch” to create stitch mark
(3) Prep wiggly eyes (OR we cut small circles out of white construction paper and drew a black pupil on each). Cut out a small orange triangle nose for each scarecrow, too.
(4) Glue or tape the eyes and nose to the applesauce cup.. Using a permanent black marker, draw a mouth and add stitch lines, too.
(5) Glue or tape the hat to the center of the raffia on the applesauce cup. (We used double stick tape, which worked very well.)
NOTE: While we went with the healthier applessauce option, you can also use pudding snack cups to make this snack, too - butterscotch or chocolate work well! (When you use the chocolate pudding cups like we did, they almost look like autumn crows instead of scarecrows!)
You (and your Littles) can make these special applesauce/pudding cups
ahead of time.
Then, simply pack them up, along with some water bottles, napkins and spoons
and you are all set!
What are some of your favorite autumn outings with your loved ones?
We'd love to hear your ideas in the comment section at the end of this post.
❤
We hope you enjoyed this edition of On the Go with the Grands!
Come back next Tuesday when we’ll share some favorite Apple Treats
to make with your Littles!
In the meantime, we’d love it if you followed us on
where we add new activities and adventures regularly!,
You can also find us on Pinterest where we’ve linked
many of the posts featured here!
AND FINALLY...
A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE FOLLOWING BLOG LINK UPS. FOR FEATURING THIS POST!
❤ We love our blogging community! ❤
❤️ We are delighted to join these link up parties and blog hops this week: