Littles Learning Link Up: November 1, 2016 - Torn Paper Pumpkin Craft

 Each month you will find:

• A seasonal round-up (toward the beginning of the month)
• A guest post featuring crafts, activities, tips, snack ideas or other early childhood topics. (toward the end of the month)
• Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme.  Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up. 

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

We have been keeping busy with MFW ECC and Kindergarten, plus using the phonics in MFW 1st grade for Hannah. The focus has really been on ECC though. I was planning on posting about our week, but we ended up finishing up our lessons on Saturday, so I didn't have time to post. I will have to share our fun USA weeks together again. Then we will be visiting Mexico before coming back home for a week off to celebrate Thanksgiving (that worked out perfectly). I hope to have a fun Thanksgiving craft to share with you next week, but no promises. This week, I would like to share what we made in the preschool class at co-op last Wednesday.

It has been a while since I have done a craft that uses clear Contact paper. I thought it would be fun to make pumpkins using this simple technique.

Torn Paper Pumpkin Craft

Here are the materials you will need to make the pumpkins:

Each child needs a sheet of white construction paper, out of which a pumpkin shape has been cut out.

(I just drew on my own pumpkin outline, but you could find one online easily enough)

2 pieces of clear Contact paper, cut to the size of the construction paper

Strips of orange construction paper, about 3/4 inch in diameter

Little rectangles of brown construction paper, big enough to fit across the stem section

Green Crayons.

First I had the children decorate the front of their paper with grass, vines, and leaves.

Then the other moms and I laid one piece of Contact paper over the front of each child's paper, so that the sticky side was on the front but facing up. The children then were given the piece of brown construction paper to place in the stem section. Then they used their fine motor skills to tear their orange strips into pieces to place on the sticky pumpkin-shaped section.

When the children were satisfied with their pumpkins, we covered the back with another piece of Contact paper, to keep them protected and make sure they don't get dirty or fall apart.

Let's take a look at that review schedule:

The reviews for Middlebury Interactive Languages and CrossTimber were posted last week. This month my last reviews of this Crew year will be going live. I will be sharing about Homeschool Legacy's Once-a-Week Unit Study:Christmas Comes to America later this week and The Critical Thinking Co.'s Language Smarts Level E next week.

I still can't believe the Crew year is coming to a close. I reapplied for next year and can't wait to find out if I have been accepted back on the Crew. If you are interested in reviewing for The Homeschool Review Crew, may I suggest stopping by and checking out the information over on The Homeschool Review Crew blog. Applications are still be accepted. You just need to be a blogger who is homeschooling at least one child, and who would like to review really neat products. For more information, I invite you to check out my post, The Blessings of Being on the Homeschool Review Crew.

A few somethings I would like to share with you:

Some fun fall round ups:

Thanksgiving Round Up

 Pumpkin Fun Round Up

Fall Leaves All Around Round Up

And finally, don't miss last month's Guest Post: Teaching U.S. Geography Through Picture Books.

I am still lining up guest posts. If you would be interested writing a guest post for Littles Learning Link Up one of these months, please leave a comment or contact me via my contact info on my About Me page. I will need to have your email address so I can contact you. I am looking for posts that have to do with young children: crafts, activities, foods/snacks, tips, or other ideas. I am open to suggestions.

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 17 wonderful posts linked up! 

I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on posts.

Please don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's Randomly Selected Post is:

Sandy from Sandy a la Mode shared How To Throw an Outdoor Fall Picnic in the Park.

Now For This Week's Top Clicked-On Posts:

Shecki from Greatly Blessed shared Our Week with a Spot of Sewing.

Shecki from Greatly Blessed also shared Middlebury Interactive Languages.

Michelle from Homeschool-Your-Boys.com shared 5 Ways Our Sons Will Be Different If We Homeschool Them.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

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An InLinkz Link-up