So, just like my mother I bake with my children every year. Here I
Some of my fondest memories growing up is baking with my mom and my sister.
Yes, it was messy and time consuming and probably very stressful, but my mother
made sure to bake with the kids year after year.

So, just like my mother I bake with my children every year. Here I
have added many Kid Friendly Holiday Recipes that you can enjoy this Holiday
Season with your kids. All of them are Kid Friendly,
fun and totally yummy. Enjoy!!

Kid Friendly Holiday Recipes

Magic Reindeer Food Recipe

Your kids will love making this Magic
Reinder Food Recipe with you. And, there is nothing that will make the Reindeer
happy this Christmas than to enjoy some of your child’s homemade Magic Reindeer
Food.

Rice Krispies® Treats Wreaths Holiday Recipe

Okay, I don’t know about your children, but I know that my children absolutely
love Rice Krispie Treats!! Well, look at these Rice
Krispies® Treats Wreaths…. they are not only Holiday beautiful, but
I have no doubt equally YUMMY!!!

Snickerdoodles Holiday Recipe

These cinnamon sugar cookies are wonderful!! And, they are a terrific addition
to the other Christmas Cookies you might be making this year. Try rolling them
in Red and Green sprinkles… that will add a nice Christmas touch to these
delicious Snickerdoodle
Cookies.

Whoopie Pies Holiday Recipe

In case you don’t know what a Whoopie
Pie is it is two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, with a sweet,
creamy frosting sandwiched between them. And, Whoopie Pie = Total Yum!! Not
only will you and the kids love making this Holiday Recipe together…. you
will no doubtingly love eating it too.

Jolly Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies

Total Cuteness + Total Yummyness = Family Total Delightfullness!!! Okay, well
maybe I am exaggerating a little bit, but these Jolly
Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies are so cute and delicious I just had to
say that. Plus, your kids will have a ball decorating them… let alone eating
them. Isn’t that what making Holiday Recipes together is all about anyway?

The Elves Snickerdoodles Holiday Recipe

I already explained above how delicious Snickerdoodles are. Well, these Elves
Snickerdoodles are just the same type of recipe, but they are made into
balls and are smothered in sparkly sugary topping…. exactly how the sweet
Elves enjoy their Snickerdoodles.

Cranberry Applesauce Recipe

This is a wonderful recipe that you and your children can make together. Cranberry
Applesauce is a great dish to serve during the Christmas Feast, so it gives
something that the children can say they helped with when make the Christmas
Dinner. They will feel so proud…. especially when the people at the dinner
table are enjoying their treat.

Candy Cane Marshmallows

This is one Holiday Recipe I have got to make with the kids this Holiday Season.
These Candy
Cane Marshmallows look so pretty in pink that I need to find out how wonderful
they taste. Because if they taste half as beautiful as they look they will sure
be a hit.

Hanukkah Latkes Holiday Recipe

Hanukkah
Latkes or potato pancakes are wonderfully delicious!! I know, because I
have them every year around this time. They are so good with a dollop of sour
cream or apple sauce. Make them with your children and talk to them about Hanukkah
and how Latkes are Jewish Tradition during Hanukkah.

Fabulous 5-Minute Fudge Wreath Holiday Recipe

There is only one word that I want to use to describe this Fabulous
5-Minute Fudge Wreath Recipe……FUDGE-A-LICIOUS!!!! Seriously, look at
this Christmas Recipe…. if you love Chocolate you will no doubtingly love
this Christmas Recipe. YUMMY!!

Fresh Cranberry & Orange Bread

I love bread and this sweet bread is no exception. Have it warm with some bread
and you will not regret it!! Make this Fresh
Cranberry & Orange Bread with your children this Holiday Season and
enjoy the bonding and fun experience for a life time.

Holiday Wreaths Recipe

Made with Frosted Flakes Cereal, Marshmallows and some other fun ingredients
this recipe is sure to be a big hit with your family. These Holiday
Wreaths are very festive and equally delicious.

Top Image by 1Happysnapper(is
trying to catch up )

Thanksgiving is just days away. And, there is nothing that could get your kids
excited about the Thanksgiving Holiday than to get them doing some fun Thanksgiving
crafts. And, these ones are not only fun, but easy. The kids will use the shape
of their hands to make all kinds of [...]]]>

Thanksgiving is just days away. And, there is nothing that could get your kids
excited about the Thanksgiving Holiday than to get them doing some fun Thanksgiving
crafts. And, these ones are not only fun, but easy. The kids will use the shape
of their hands to make all kinds of Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts.

I have hunted all over the internet to put together some super duper fun Thanksgiving
Handprint Crafts for you. No need to hunt all over the internet yourself….
below you will find plenty of Thanksgiving Crafts to keep you and your kids
busy for a long time.

Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts

Handprint Turkey Here’s a quick and easy Fall or Thanksgiving preschool craft. All you need is a little glue, some scissors, colored paper and your preschooler’s hand. What your finished project turns out to be is a handprint turkey that is super cute!!

Feather Turkey Handprint Craft

Using some brown cardboard, orange paper and feathers you and your children
can make this adorable turkey. How sweet is this Thanksgiving Project?! So Sweet!!
Your kids will have a blast making this Feather
Turkey Handprint Craft with you.

Autumn Handprint Tree Craft

Hand print and finger print crafts always make wonderful keepsakes. Here’s
a fun way to celebrate the coming of Autumn while preserving your child’s
size and age at the same time. Take a look at this beautiful Autumn
Handprint Tree Craft… Its not only adorable, but it is truly a keepsake.

Framed Handprint Turkey

Kids will literally need to lend a helping hand for this framed
handprint turkey project! A twist on the classic handprint turkey, this
craft makes a wonderful keepsake that you and your child will cherish for years
to come.

Thanksgiving Cornucopia with Hand Print Leaves
This
Thanksgiving
Cornucopia Craft makes a lovely centerpiece and the whole family can contribute
to the finished product. Notice the construction paper hands? Nothing like having
a centerpiece to look at during your Thanksgiving Feast that you can literally
see that your children helped put together. It will be quite the conversation
piece. (you will have to scroll down to the 3rd craft on the page)

Hand-y Thanksgiving Wreath

This Hand-y
Thanksgiving Wreath Craft is just perfect for the hands of your little ones.
With a little hand tracing, construction paper and crafting, your child will
have something to display in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

Handprint Turkey Art This Handprint Turkey Art is a unique way to not only make some Thanksgiving artwork, but to show off how much your children have grown from one Thanksgiving to the next. Why not make it a tradition to make Turkey artwork every year and watch how your children hands and the turkeys grow.

THANKSGIVING HANDPRINT TREE

This Thanksgiving
Handprint Tree is a beautiful crafty item. Using a cork board or poster
board, paint, handprints, tacks and some other items you can make a creative
item that can last a lifetime. Why not add have the entire family write what
they are thankful for on their own handprint. Great thing to do together as
a family.

Handprint Turkey Cookies Recipe

These cookies look so YUMMY!! Now, I know the children will need a
lot of help with these Handprint
Thanksgiving Cookies, but how much fun would it be for all of you?! So much
fun!! Why not get all of your hands dirty and you make some using your handprints
too.

Thanksgiving handrpint turkey Artwork
Now, I must admit that
out of all the Handprint
Turkey Crafts this one looks more like a real Thanksgiving Turkey than all
the rest. I’m sure it has to do with the colors and they type of paint they
used. Very clever!!

Handprint Tree
This
is a unique handprint
Tree and I love it!! I have 5 kids so I love when my children do this craft.
With all the different sizes of hands and different color construction paper
this Handprint Craft makes the perfect Autumn / Thanksgiving Handprint Tree.

Handprint Keepsake Thanksgiving Plate Craft
I
love this craft and I must say that this is a "Must Do" craft for
me and my family this Thanksgiving!! I have no doubt that these Handprint
Keepsake Thanksgiving Plate Crafts will be something to treasure for years
and years to come. As a matter of fact, why not make these keepsake plates and
give them to a grandparent as a gift….. no doubt they will love it!!

Toilet Paper Roll Turkey
Wondering
what to do with those old empty toilet paper rolls? Why not make these adorable
Toilet
Paper Roll Turkeys. They are super cute and the kids will get a kick out
of using the toilet paper rolls. If they are anything like my kids the minute
you tell them you are going to use toilet paper rolls they will giggle and giggle.

Family Thanksgiving Flyer
If
you are looking for a unique way to invite your guests to your Thanksgiving
Feast why not involve your children and make these unique Thanksgiving
Dinner Announcements. Using your children’s hand’s and some cardstock you
can make some wonderfully beautiful Thanksgiving Invites.

Handprint Wreath Of Thankfulness
I
love this Handprint
Wreath of Thankfulness. We all have something to be thankful for. Why not
have everyone in your family write what they are thankful for and add it to
this Wreath of Thankfulness craft. Not only will the outcome be gorgeous, but
it will be a family project…. gotta love that!!

Top image by terren
in Virginia

One of Children’s favorite Holidays is Halloween. And, what’s not to like?
There is candy, decorations, walking around the neighborhood at night, and of
course….. getting dressed up. But, what always happens is that the child lands
up wearing a costume that many other children are wearing as well. [...]]]>

One of Children’s favorite Holidays is Halloween. And, what’s not to like?
There is candy, decorations, walking around the neighborhood at night, and of
course….. getting dressed up. But, what always happens is that the child lands
up wearing a costume that many other children are wearing as well. After all
…. all the stores seem to sell the same costumes. Plus, buying a costume for
all the children can get VERY expensive. If they are anything like my kids they
want a different costume EVERY year.

The solution?

Make the costumes yourself this year. It doesn’t have to be terribly difficult.
Many of these crafty Halloween creations are quite simple to make.

Below I have listed quite a few creative Homemade Halloween Costume
for Kids. They are not only super duper cute, but they don’t seem that
difficult to create.

Homemade Halloween Costumes for Kids

Little Bearded Gnome

This is such a cute costume. The gnomes in my neighbors yards are more than
annoying. But, seeing this little one dressed in a garden
gnome costume makes me giggle.

Skunk Halloween Costume

I’m not sure what is cuter? Is it the baby or the costume? But, truthfully….
what child wouldn’t look totally cute in this skunk
costume. A skunk has never looked so sweet.

Robot Costume Using some clever items from around your house you can make this totally awesome robot costume for your child. How excited will your child be to wear this on Halloween?

Weather Gal Costume

This is my favorite Halloween costume out of all of the costumes I chose for
this post. This is a Weather
Gal Costume and it is so creative!! Using items such as a balloon and a
cardboard box you can creative this weather gal look for your child.

Lego Costume

I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up my sister and I spent hours
almost every day building things with our lego. Our imaginations just didn’t
quit when it came to Lego’s. Check out this homemade
Lego’s Costume. There are excellent directions so you can make this for
your child as well.

Knight Costume

You can make your little boy into a strong Knight simply with a margarine tub,
milk jug, grocery bag and some other items you can find around the house. Not
only will your son be thrilled to be a Knight for Halloween, but you can also
feel joy in knowing you made this Knight
costume for him. How cool is that?!

Cell Phone Costume

This is such a creative homemade costume. And, you know what?!….. there isn’t
even sewing needed with this Halloween costume. It’s true. You can make this
cell
phone costume with some things around your house like plastic containers,
a box, paint, glitter and a few other items. It’s so creative!!

Hawaii snow globe costume

This is one of the most creative Halloween Costumes for Kids I have ever seen.
It’s a Hawaii Snow Globe Costume and it was totally homemade. Check out how
this one mother made this Homemade
Hawaii Snow Globe Costume.

Mummy Costume

Not only is this Homemade Halloween Costume very festive for the Halloween Season,
but it just might be the easiest Homemade Halloween Costume EVER!! With some
materials such as cloth, scissors, glue and eyeliner you too can make this Mummy
Costume!! It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Little Tinker Bell Costume Even your tiniest of tiny children can get into the Halloween spirit with a homemade costume. Check out how this one mother used some crafty items such as fabric, glitter and cardboard to make her 7 month old into Tinker Bell for the Trick-or-Treat Season.

Homemade Sushi Costumes

Here is yet another totally creative homemade costume made by one mother. I
would have never thought of dressing my child as a sushi, but after seeing this
costume and how easy it sounds to make I just might consider it. She made this
sushi
costume using such items as foam they use for cushions, packing peanuts,
and vinyl. What a great costume!!

Easy Homemade Halloween Costumes
Here
Sonja Marks from CookieMag gives us some creative and easy ideas on how to put
together costumes using items we already have around the house. Its a great
way to save money and to insure that your child’s costume won’t match that of
others. She comes up with homemade
creative costumes such as Colonel Sanders and a Bucket of Chicken, Sherlock
Holmes and Dr. Watson, Curious George, and a bunch of others.

Little Lamb

This has got to be the cutest Lamb I ever did see!! And, you know what is so
cool about it?! You can recreate it yourself. Using some crafty items you can
make your little one a homemade Lamb
Costume for Halloween.

Top Image by hanna_horwarth

YAY!! It’s November which means later this month is Thanksgiving. What better
way to celebrate the upcoming Turkey Day than to do some fun Preschool Thanksgiving
Crafts.

Below you will find 10 awesome Preschool Crafts perfect for the Thanksgiving
Holidays. Enjoy some fun Thanksviving crafts and teach your little Preschoolers

YAY!! It’s November which means later this month is Thanksgiving. What better
way to celebrate the upcoming Turkey Day than to do some fun Preschool Thanksgiving
Crafts.

Below you will find 10 awesome Preschool Crafts perfect for the Thanksgiving
Holidays. Enjoy some fun Thanksviving crafts and teach your little Preschoolers
all about the Pilgrims, Indians and of course….. Turkeys!!

Preschool Thanksgiving Crafts

1. Learn how to make a perfect turkey with your little Preschooler by using
   paint samples from your local hardware store. Super easy crafts, but so much
   fun!!

2. This is an amazing Thanksgiving Craft for you and your children to make.
   You will be making a Thanksgiving Turkey Lapbook where your child will list
   the things he or she is thankful for on the cover. This particular Thanksgiving
   Preschool Craft is Christian based. It is a lot of fun, but keep in mind that
   this particular Lapbook Thanksgiving craft will take a lot of help from you,
   but it is so worth it.

3. Help your Preschool age child make this Thanksgiving Turkey Craft by tracing
   his left and right hands. This is a truly colorful Turkey Craft perefect for
   the November holiday!!

4. There is not a Preschool Child anywhere that wouldn’t just LOVE this Indian
   Headband Thanksgiving Craft. Using Construction Paper, Feathers & Tape
   help your Preschooler make this awesome Thanksgiving Indian Headband Craft.

5. Make a Pumpkin Paperbag Craft…. an excellent Preschool craft for Thanksgiving.
   Fun, Easy and Beautiful. Help you child make this festive Thanksgiving craft….
   not only is it fun but the craft is cute enough to use at the Thanksgiving
   Table.

Here you go….. here are
some of my favorite Easter crafts and activities to do with my children for
the Easter Holidays. Kids love the Holidays for many reasons. But, I like to
remind my children that bottom line the Holidays are about "Family".
So, remind your children of that [...]]]>

Here you go….. here are
some of my favorite Easter crafts and activities to do with my children for
the Easter Holidays. Kids love the Holidays for many reasons. But, I like to
remind my children that bottom line the Holidays are about "Family".
So, remind your children of that fact by involving the entire family in these
fun Easter Crafts and Activities.

	Paper Easter Baskets – Fun paper craft to do with your kids perfect for Easter. These Easter Baskets are not only a fun craft to make with your children, but also are perfect to fill with treats or Easter Eggs.
	Bunny Ears for Kids – This is a super easy and a super fun craft to do with your kids in celebration of the Easter Holiday.
	Plastic Egg Bunny - Help your kids make these super cute Easter Egg Bunnies. Then hide the eggs and have the kids find all the Plastic Egg Bunnies. Fun, Fun!!
	Easter Placemat Craft – Very cute and very easy Placemat craft to do with your children. Great to use for decorations around the Easter table.
	Jelly Bean Belly Easter Bunny – A child loves Jelly Beans on Easter…. Easter just wouldn’t be the same without Jelly Beans. Here is a craft to celebrate Jelly Beans on Easter.
	Brown Bag Bunny – Okay, now this bunny is sooooo…. cute!! And, it is made out of a paper bag.
	Finger Print Egg – We all love crafts that help us remember the special quality times we spent with our children. Well, these Finger Print Eggs are no exception. Help the kids use their fingers to make these beautiful egg perfect for Easter.
	Paper Mache Easter Eggs – A beautiful and fun crafts for the kids.
	Paper Cup Bunny and Chick – The kids will love making these fun paper cup crafts. They will enjoy making them so much they will want to make them for all the Easter Guests this Holiday.
	Cotton Covered Sequin Eggs - This just might be the fanciest Easter Egg craft out there. Make these beautiful Easter Eggs with your kids.
	Felt Easter Egg Pouch – Help you kids make these felt Easter Egg Pouches. Then let them decorate the outside of the pouches with whatever craft decorations they would like. Let them fill their pouches with stickers and small Easter goodies.
	Cute Easter Chickens - Your kids will need your help with this craft, but it will be so worth it. This Chicken craft turns out adorable.
	Easter Bunny Mask – Kids love to wear masks and imagine they are someone or something else. Help your child make this Easter Bunny Mask so that he can pretend he is the Easter Bunny on Easter Morning.
	Egg Carton Easter Basket - Isn’t this Easter Basket Craft cute? And, its easy to make. Have your kids decorate them anyway they want to. They are great to use as kids’ favors for treats after the Easter meal.
	Toilet Paper Tube Easter Egg Holders – Preschoolers will love making these super easy crafts for the Easter Holidays. And, the supplies are things you will find around the house…. like toilet paper tubes.
	Easter Bunny Basket – Check out this Easter Craft that is not only fun to make, but fun to use when the craft has been finished.
	Easter Bunny Plate – Cute Easter Bunny Plate craft designed by a Stay at Home Mom…. gotta love it!!
	Sock Bunnies – Now this is a craft you will have to help your child with, but take a look at the image to your left….. isn’t it cute!! This sock bunny craft is totally adorable. And, this way you can recycle their socks that are too small for them to wear.
	Felted Easter Eggs – Check out how this mom and a bunch of children make these simply beautiful Felted Easter Eggs. Group project… gotta love it!!

easter crafts activities arts & holidays kids children parenting preschool

St. Patrick’s Day
is on March 17th this year which is in another couple of days. In honor of the
festivities I thought I would list a tons of super fun crafts to do with your
kids to celebrate St. Patty’s Day. So, without further ado….. feast your eyes
on [...]]]>

St. Patrick’s Day
is on March 17th this year which is in another couple of days. In honor of the
festivities I thought I would list a tons of super fun crafts to do with your
kids to celebrate St. Patty’s Day. So, without further ado….. feast your eyes
on St. Patrick’s Day Crafts for Kids!!

	Pot Of Gold Collage - This pot of gold collage is an easy craft for kids of all ages.
	Handprint Shamrock – The kids will love making this shamrock craft for St. Patty’s Day. Fun & messy too!!
	Leprechaun Wands – Children love wands and this is the perfect wand for St. Patrick’s Day.
	St. Patrick’s Rainbow Mobile – Make a rainbow mobile with a hanging pot of gold and shamrock to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
	Rainbow Streamers - Kids of all ages will enjoy this raibow streamer craft perfect for your little leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day.
	Blarney Stone Craft – A Blarney Stone is a very famous stone. If you kiss the Blarney Stone, it is supposed to give you the gift of eloquence. Help the kids make this Blarney Stone Craft and tell them the story behind the Blarney Stone.
	St. Patrick’s Day Handprint Wreath – Don’t you just love handprint crafts? Use your children’s handprints to make this St. Patrick’s Day Wreath and you will cherish it for years to come.
	Shamrock Rubbings – Cool craft to make a crayon rubbing of shamrocks. A ton of fun and looks awesome when finished. Great project to do with the kids.
	Pony Bead Rainbow - This pretty rainbow is so easy even little ones can make it. Not only is this a fun craft perfect for the St. Patty’s Day Holiday, but it is also great for teaching kids their colors.
	Magnet & Door hanger - this pot of gold refrigerator magnet is the perfect companion to our St. Patrick’s Day door hanger.
	Leprechaun Hat for Chips - Help your child make this really great Leprechaun Hat that holds chips…. perfect for your March party.
	Pom Pom Shamrock – Fun & Easy craft to make with your Preschoolers for St. Patrick’s Day.

It is December 11th
and it is the 8th and final day of Hanukkah 2007. Before Hanukkah was over I
wanted to make sure to offer my viewers tons of links to Hanukkah / Chanukah
Crafts and Activities to enjoy. Each link takes you to a site that [...]]]>

It is December 11th
and it is the 8th and final day of Hanukkah 2007. Before Hanukkah was over I
wanted to make sure to offer my viewers tons of links to Hanukkah / Chanukah
Crafts and Activities to enjoy. Each link takes you to a site that will offer
you and your Preschoolers a ton of Hanukkah fun!!

Whether you practice
Judaism or not these Hanukkah Crafts and Activities are an excellent way to
teach a bit about Judaism and the Jewish Holiday of Hanukkah to your Preschooler.

Hanukkah Crafts

Craft
Stick Star of David - Make several of sparkling
stars to hang on doors
and in windows.

Hanukkah
Macaroni Necklace – Help your child create a Menorah replica necklace.

Egg
Carton Menorahs – Help your child make a menorah out of a Egg Carton.

Dreidel
Magnets – Put these colorful dreidel magnets on your fridge or
use them as gift toppers.

Hanukkah Activities

Chanukah
Coloring Pages – Torah Tots has an amazing collection of Chanukah
Coloring Pages.

Hanukkah
Cupcake Menorah – This Edible Menorah is fun for kids to make,
light and then eat. It’s also fun to use as a centerpiece for a Hanukkah party.

The
Dreidel Game – Check out this virtual version of the Dreidel Game.
You and your children can play the Dreidel Game online. And, if you are unsure
how to play…. this site is great for teaching your how.

Printable
Dreidel – Akhlah.com offers this Printable Dreidel to make at home.

The
story of Hanukkah – The eight-day, 2,000-year-old holiday, also
called the Festival of Lights, celebrates God’s glory, an ancient victory of
the Jews over their enemies, and the freedom Jews enjoy today.

Technorati Tags:hanukkah, chanukah, crafts, activities, children, preschool, holidays

Fall may be a terrific time of year for fun crafts but you don’t want
to be so focused on the fun that you forget about the great educational opportunities
that the season presents. Sure, it’s great to carve pumpkins and make
Thanksgiving turkeys out of construction paper during these months. [...]]]>

Fall may be a terrific time of year for fun crafts but you don’t want
to be so focused on the fun that you forget about the great educational opportunities
that the season presents. Sure, it’s great to carve pumpkins and make
Thanksgiving turkeys out of construction paper during these months. But in addition
to these arts and crafts, you can come up with a number of different fall activities
which give your children great educational skills. In fact, there are fall activities
to cover all of the basic school subjects and then some.

Here are some educational fall activities for each subject:

Reading / Writing

• There are many different stories out there about fall.
  Look for those that are about the changing of seasons as well as those that
  relate to the fall holidays.
• Work on learning the alphabet by practicing with fall themes.
  For example, “P is for Pumpkin” is a good way to work on that
  particular letter.
• Make a fall story book. Paste leaves and other fall items
  into a scrapbook and then work with kids to write a story that relates to
  fall.

Science

• Go outside and observe the changing seasons with kids.
  Keep photo and written journals about these changes.
• Fall animals. Activities involving squirrels and acorns
  are great for teaching kids about animals and fall.

Social Studies

• Use the holidays such as Columbus Day and Thanksgiving to teach kids about
  history.
• Explore how different cultures explore holidays in different
  ways to teach kids about diversity.
• If you taught kids about Labor Day early in the season, you can reinforce
  these lessons by bringing them back up again. Point out that work
  and community are important educational areas at all times of the
  year.

Other subjects

• Music. Kids love music and they learn a lot from it so
  incorporate fall themes and music this season. One great activities making
  musical shakers out of gourds by cleaning them out and filling them with beans.
• Motor skills. The arts and crafts that are associated with
  fall themes are good lessons in and of themselves because they teach kids
  motor skills which are an important part of the rest of their education.
• Environmental lessons. Kids can learn environmental lessons
  during the fall months by getting out and exploring nature. Take kids hiking
  or camping before it gets too cold and use it as a way to teach them about
  how to treat the earth kindly and why that’s important.

Technorati Tags:educational, preschool, fall, autumn, activities, learning

Do you use the terms
“fall” and “autumn” interchangeably? If so, you are
just like most other people in America who agree that the two words are meant
to mean the same thing (the season that comes after summer and before winter).
But there is another school of thinking which [...]]]>

Do you use the terms
“fall” and “autumn” interchangeably? If so, you are
just like most other people in America who agree that the two words are meant
to mean the same thing (the season that comes after summer and before winter).
But there is another school of thinking which says that autumn and fall are
two subtly different seasons. How many people agree with this depends on where
in the country you are living. In some places, the seasonal shift between the
two is too subtle to warrant a difference in the name. But in other places,
such as New England, there is an obvious difference between autumn and
fall and people will tell you that this means there are five seasons
instead of four.

One of the
best ways to explain the difference between autumn and fall to your preschooler
is to use different crafts during each time to reiterate the important lessons
of that time. For example, since what’s most exciting about the autumn
weeks is the colorful leaves, you should enjoy lots of crafts that are related
to the leaves. Get outside with your preschooler and note the beauty of the
leaves and the changes that are taking place and how exciting it all is. Explain
that this feeling is related to autumn. Hiking and other activities which get
you outdoors are all a part of experiencing and enjoying autumn.

As the weeks go on, it will
get colder. Note the difference in the weather and explain that it’s fall.
One of the easiest ways for your preschooler to understand that it’s fall
is that you can point to the leaves now falling off of the trees. Your preschooler
is able to associate the fall of the leaves with the season fall. Point to this
difference to note the shift between the two time periods. You can also transition
to new crafts that don’t focus so much on the colorful leaves of fall.
Start planning for Halloween crafts and Thanksgiving crafts since these are
what you will mostly be doing during the fall. You will probably also spend
more time indoors which you can explain to your preschooler is something that
you do in fall and winter.

Of course, in most
places, people think of fall and autumn as the same season. If you think that
your child is too young to understand the subtle difference, you may not want
to harp on it. But if your child brings it up, asking about the difference since
you use both words, feel free to discuss it. Even if your preschooler
doesn’t quite understand the subtleties, looking for the differences is
a good exercise in observation.