Cheshire MOPS - The Place for All Moms of Preschoolers

Finger Knitting!

2011-11-18T12:30:00.008-05:00

Hi Ladies! For those of you who missed this morning's MOPS meeting, we all had a lot of fun (and exercised patience--one of our Momsense themes!) trying our hand at Finger Knitting! We made some great scarves to take home and enjoy. It was a very popular craft! Several women even want to make more at home. They also make great DIY Christmas gifts! So, for those of you who couldn't be with us today and for everyone who would like to make more of them, I thought I'd post the youtube video we used as a step-by-step tutorial. Here it is:

To make one for yourself you only need about an hour of time (even less if you're fast!) and 1/2 a skein of yarn. I picked up the yarn from Michael's craft store-they had a nice selection there. I'd recommend using the multi-colored "fluffy" type of yarn that has "wiggly" strands. There's probably a special name for this type of yarn, but I have no idea what it's called! (See picture on the right.) It produces a fuller scarf thank regular yarn. If you want a long scarf (like the one pictured above) that you can wrap around several times I would make the scarf about 7 feet in length before casting off. Once you finish it, just connect the 2 ends to form a giant circle and viola! I hope you'll give it a try!

Happy Knitting!

10 Ways to Have Outdoor Fall Fun with the Kids!

2011-10-07T14:41:00.001-04:00

I have this great little deck of cards full of fun things to do outside. (I think I bought this way back when I was in high school!) It's called 52 Nature Activities. Well, now that Fall is here I thought it was high time I pull it out and enjoy the crisp air and bright colors with the kids! I just thought I'd share some of my personal favorites that we enjoy, and maybe you will, too. (By-the-way, these are totally fun to do with adults! Kevin and I used to do some of these back when we were dating.) I paraphrased the descriptions of each activity and added in some ideas of my own. I highly recommend the whole deck--for $6.99 it's a bargain for such a comprehensive set of ideas! They are great to do over and over again and in different seasons. Great for homeschoolers, too!

1. Soft to Hard
Go outside and gather a bunch of things around you of varying textures (e.g. moss, rocks). Line them up from the softest to the roughest/hardest. You can also line them up by other attributes like coldest to warmest or longest to shortest.

2. Shapes of Things
See how many different shapes can you find outside in nature. Can you find a square? A circle? How about an oval? Can you find any obscure shapes like a parallelogram?

3. Seed by Seed
How many different seeds can you find outside? Can you identify what plants they come from? Do you know how they're transported and how they grow? Find out! Take a picture of each seed and find pictures at home of the plants they will grow into. Make a chart of the seeds and their adult equivalents.

4. Postcard Designer
Cut a rectangle out of a piece of paper to make a "frame. " Go outside and find your own "postcard" scenes by framing your surroundings. Bring a camera and take pics of your favorites! Print them out and send them as postcards friends and relatives wishing them a happy Fall!

5. Nature Crown
Round up a bunch of items outside. Attach them with pipe cleaners to create your own crown! What are you the king or queen of? Rake some fallen leaves into the shape or pile of your choice and rule your kingdom!

6. Nature Alphabet
Gather a bunch of items from outside (e.g. rocks, twigs, leaves) and arrange them to create your own alphabet! Take a camera with you and photograph each letter. Print them out and put them together to make word art!

7. Leaf to Leaf
(The perfect time of year for this one!) How many different types of leaves can you find outside? Can you identify what type of tree they come from? Find out! Make rubbings of them in the appropriate colors and label each one.

8. Designs in Nature
Head outside with a magnifying glass and look for beautiful patterns in nature. Look closely at the intricate spirals of a pine cone or the scattered array of pine needles on the ground. Examine a splotchy patch of moss on a rock. Get lost in the natural beauty of patterns. Take a nature journal with you and sketch your favorite patterns. Or bring your camera and create "pattern art" by putting together a photo collage of your favorites!

9. Blind Walk
Head outside with a blindfold and let a partner lead you around. What do you smell? What do you hear? Have your partner put objects in your hands. Can you guess what they are by feeling? Record your "blind observations" in a nature journal. Try this in the same location in different seasons to observe the changes.

10. Colors of the Rainbow
(Another great one for fall with the changing colors of the leaves!)Round up as many objects outside as you can. Try to make your own rainbow of colors using the items you find. You can also turn it into a race to see who can find each particular color first. Take a picture of your own special rainbow!

I hope this list helped inspire you to get outside and enjoy to beauty of Fall with your littles! :)

10 Fall Craft Ideas for Kids!

2011-10-07T14:34:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to share a lits of Fall kids crafts I found on Pinterest that I thought were really cute. I'm a bit of an Autumn nut, so you might find lots of Fall-related posts from me in the coming weeks LOL! :) Without further ado, here they are:

1. The Leaf Person.
It's a classic leaf-meets-contact-paper-collage but with a fun little twist. Simple, fun and bonus--it's not even messy!! (and, besides my kids ADORE any crafts incorporating googly eyes!)

Source: 4herreras.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

2. The Cutest Looking Produce You've Ever Seen.
We are SO making these--Pronto!

Source: crafts.slides.kaboose.com via Erin on Pinterest

3.Tissue Paper Candy Corn
I have always had a little soft spot for candy corn--it's just so darn cheerful! So this craft is just as much for me as it is for the kids. :)

Source: crafts.slides.kaboose.com via Erin on Pinterest

4. Hand Print Tree
Is Fall complete without some version of a hand print tree? I think not. So we're doing this one because it's just purty.

Source: alittletipsy.com via Erin on Pinterest

5. Button Corn
Another craft that's just as much for me as it is for kids!

Source: allkidsnetwork.com via Erin on Pinterest

6. Large Leaf Print
I love this! I just hope we'll be able to find some ginormous leaves out there somewhere!

Source: kleas.typepad.com via Erin on Pinterest

7. Pasta Skeleton
This one is both cute and could be educational!

Source: marthastewart.com via Erin on Pinterest

8. Felt Stitched Leaf Garland
And here we have yet another educational and while fun craft! Adorable garland for mom and sewing skills for the kids!

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Erin on Pinterest

9. Rock Bugs
This one could really be done any time of year, but it just so happens that I discovered it recently and my boys love all things bugs, so a Fall craft for us it shall be. :)

Source: familyfun.go.com via Erin on Pinterest

10.Doughnut Hole Acorns
Ok, I just had to save the sweetest thing for last! How adorable and YUMMY do these look?! Yes, please!

Source: graciousrain.com via Erin on Pinterest

So, that just about wraps up my list of fun Fall crafts. I hope you like some of these as much as I do, and if you decide to do any of them, I'd LOVE to know about it! Feel free to share in the comments section!

Happy Fall!

Autumn Bucket List!

2011-10-07T14:25:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone! Since the golden days of Fall are upon us I just thought I'd share this cute little list I found online with all of you. It's a "Fall Bucket List" full of great things to do this Fall with your family! If you click on this link: here you can download and print a full-sized version of it to hang up and use. I just think it was the cutest thing. I have one hanging up at home and want to try to do them all! Mmmmm...I'm especially all over that fancy coffee LOL! Enjoy!

~Erin

MOPS is Starting!

2011-08-29T10:53:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that the summer is already ending and some of our older kids are going back to school. It also means that the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is starting up again SOON!!! We'll be once again meeting twice a month - 1st and 3rd Friday of each month, Sept.-May, 9.15-11 am at the Christ Community Church, 120 Main St. in Cheshire. You can drop off your kids at our MOPPETS program starting at 9 am. Our first September meeting is Sept. 2 (this Friday)!

We on the leadership team are all very excited about MOPS starting up again and have been working hard all summer to make MOPS the very exciting and wonderful experience for all of you, and we hope you can join us! This year we'll be studying the topic of MomSense (check http://mops.org/, if you'd like to know more), and will have guest speakers, all-for-charity craft day, talent show, Christmas brunch, and a lot of other fun meetings to look forward to. We'll also be having a monthly mom's night out to hang out with each other more and get a break once in a while! :)

If you know of any other mothers of preschoolers (with children ages 0-5) or have any friends who would like to attend, please invite them to come with you to MOPS.

You can also check out our group's website at http://cheshiremops.com/ if you have any questions, or need more information.

Hope to see you all THIS Friday!!!

Playdate Pics

2011-07-18T22:28:00.002-04:00

The kids having fun
at a recent playdate.

Join us for an
upcoming playdate.
See dates below.

July 29^th, Friday 10 am

Bartlem Park, Cheshire, CT (across from the high school)

http://www.cheshirect.org/parkrec/parksfacilities.html

August 5^th, Friday 10 am

Hubbard Park, Meriden, CT

http://www.cityofmeriden.org/CMS/default.asp?CMS_PageID=426

August 19^th, Friday 10 am

Pick Your Own- Peaches, Nectarines and Pears, Hickory Hills Orchard, Cheshire

http://www.hickoryhillorchards.com/directions.htm

Cheshire MOPS Playdates

2011-06-14T13:38:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the Cheshire MOPS Blog!

Our regular MOPS meetings will resume again in September 2011, but for the summer we are meeting in various local parks for playdates and to keep in touch. Please feel free to join us! The schedule and the locations are below: If you would like more information about our group, please check out our website at http://www.cheshiremops.com/

June 17^th, Friday 10 am

Brooksvale Park, Hamden, CT

http://brooksvale.org/

July 1^st, Friday 10 am

Playground at the Darcey School, Cheshire, CT

1686 Waterbury Road, Cheshire, CT

July 15^th, Friday 10 am

Panthorn Park, Southington, CT

http://www.southington.org/content/50/2426/80/447/358.aspx

July 29^th, Friday 10 am