May Enrichment Guide

Wow I can't believe I'm writing this but May Enrichment Guide is Ready! What a month of challenges trying to get this sweet ebook out. I had a few submissions that I was expecting that did not come through... then I got bit by a stray cat, needed to get rabies shots and the wounds got infected (don't ask~!)... then as crunch time approached my laptop died! Thank goodness the emergency tech was able to retrieve all of my documents.

Needless to say, I'm SUPER excited the ebook is here for you. And it is just so beautiful...

Come take a LOOK...

Happy May!
xoxox

Science Fair Experiments

Last night, Keira was able to display the results of her experiment at her School's Science Fair. She planted two identical bean seeds, kept the plants in the same window with the same amount of sunlight and water - BUT she touched and talked to only one of them and ignored the other.

Which one do you think grew more??? Yes... the one that she loved :) Amazing isn't it?

The fair was a lot of fun - you should have seen all of the cool experiments that these children came up with. They are in grades 2-4 and it was pretty impressive!

Volcanos...

Homemade Lava Lamps..

Rainbow Milk..

And one budding scientist with a big smile to share.

Now go talk to your plants!
xoxo

The Winner Is....

Cedar Ring Mama!

Congratulations on winning this SWEET Felting Sampler from Syrendell!!!!!! Our winner was selected using a random number generator.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

We hope to see you in our Felting ECourse beginning May 9th!

Easter Eggs

Easter Eggs! Easter Eggs! What a pretty sight!

Blue and gold and silver, Lavender and white.

Easter Eggs! Easter Eggs! Tied with ribbons gay.

Brown and green and scarlet, yellow, mauve, and gray.

Easter Eggs! Easter Eggs! Dainty gifts I think.

Crimson, lemon, orange,

Olive, sepia, pink.

Wishing You A Very Happy Easter!

New Felting ECourse and a Giveaway!

I am so excited to announce another amazing ecourse offering we have put together for you. Little Acorn Learning is hosting a Felting Handwork ECourse led by instructor Jennifer Tan of Syrendell. This mouth-watering ecourse will have you felting like crazy and making LOTS of beautiful things!
Be sure to click *HERE* to learn more and register for this inexpensive 5 week ecourse.

To CElEBraTe the right way, Jennifer and I are giving away this sweet Felting Sampler with naturally dyed wool rovings, one wood person, some naturally dyed felt, naturally dyed yarn, a felting needle and felting sponge! A $20 Value for FREE!

All you have to do to enter is share this blog post on your facebook account, twitter or website and come back and leave a comment with the link to where you shared it. You can come back and comment for each place you share and enter more than once! The winner will be announced here on April 25th! Good luck!

xoxo

Homemade Granola Bars

One of my favorite recipes in our Spring Natural Childcare Menu is the Oatie Seed Bar recipe. I've tweaked it a bit to suit our family and the idea of making homemade 'granola bars' is so wonderful for us.

This particular recipe lasts for a few weeks so it makes sense for our big family and it was super quick. My girls really like the idea of 'snacks' - a bit too much... it used to drive me crazy until I realized that anything could be a "snack" - an apple, popcorn, soup... it didn't have to be unhealthy or sugar or too many carbs... these healthy 'Oatie Seed Bars' are one of our favorite snacks.

Here is the free recipe from our Spring Childcare Menu - Enjoy!

Oatie Seed Bars

Ingredients:

½ c rolled oats

½ c sunflower seeds

½ c pumpkin seeds

Handful of sesame seeds

3-4 tbsp honey

Make ahead tip: These keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for about 2 weeks. You can make ahead the toasted mixture of seeds and oats and simply reheat that with the honey.

Heat up the pan. Put the seeds in a cast iron pan and dry fry (without oil) with a wooden spoon over a medium-low heat until they are fragrant. Set aside. Put the oats and toast in the same pan for 3 mins. Add the sunflower and pumpkin seeds and dry fry for another 2 minutes or until light golden. Return the roasted sesame seeds to the pan. Take the pan off the heat.

Stir in the honey – it will sizzle at first but keep stirring until the oats and seeds are coated. Allow to cool slightly.

Line a container with parchment paper and spread the mixture evenly on the paper .

Top with another piece of paper. Use something to press down on the mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour, or until solid. Turn it out of the tin and peel off the paper.

Cut into bars.

Eat!

** We added dried cherries and cranberries at the very end - along with **extra honey and also Agave** to sweeten things up during the process.

Daddy's Woodworking

We are so lucky to have a Little Acorn Daddy who enjoys woodworking and makes us FUN things to play with! The girls asked him to make a table and benches for their dolls and they helped him create this sweet set. They've been enjoying it ever since - playing restaurant and mommy...

He also made sweet wooden doll beds that the girls tuck their dolls into each night.

And best of all was the table for my playroom. I had a recycled blue preschool table for a very long time that I have since passed onto another childcare provider friend. This new wood table has already been well-loved and serves as a great place to do crafts and eat during daycare hours as well as evenings and weekends for my own family. I hope to switch out the red chairs for wooden ones soon.

All of these items are available for purchase as well as our Little Acorn Playstands with or without canopies. I will update my website soon with pricing information.

Little Acorn Discoveries

Each day the children learn about the natural world around them in our little playgarden - it's so sweet when I can capture a few of the more special discoveries they make. This day, they took out a bag of seashells that my daughters and I found on the beach last summer. Inside the bag, I must have put a few magnifying glasses - wow did that keep them busy for the morning!

Watching the little ones try to use the magnifying glass was just precious.

Then, the very same morning, Miss Eileen noticed some very strange visitors out back...

Wild turkeys coming to see if we've planted our Spring Garden yet! We think they wanted a nibble but we told them to come back in a few weeks when Mr. Sun warms up the ground a bit more.

While I see wild turkeys in our area sometimes, it is almost always in Autumn. And never have they come to me :) I have seen them on the side of the road or walking across our street or in the woods near our home.

Rudolf Steiner's teachings indicate that nature is always speaking to us... that there are always signs and messages being sent and to treat everything like a sign, especially with regard to nature. I have always felt this way ever since I was a young child.

"When the turkey visits us it is a sign that we must be mindful of the blessings bestowed upon us each day. Further, it is a message to express our strength and brilliance - it's time to show our own plumage and reveal true selves." - from http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-turkey.html

This actually speaks to me very much right now.

What signs and symbols keep coming up in your life?

Maia's Softball

My little Maia told me she wanted to try softball for the first time this Spring. I wasn't sure how it would all go - as neither one of us had much experience :) but she had a really FUN first day this past weekend! I love the way the coaches did things. They made it so easy and fun and described exactly what to do down to the very basics. The girls learned how to run and touch each base, how to catch a ball on the ground, how to throw and more.

Maia told me that she wishes she could play softball every day now. What's so nice about this team is that they keep things very non-competitive. It is just for the fun and the love of the sport.

I'm sure we'll have more softball photos to share soon!

Keira's Fourth Grade Play

Keira's fourth grade play was 'The Rockin' Tale of Snow White'... the children worked SO extremely hard and were amazing. I am so proud of all of them.

Keira was one of the Dwarf Villagers and the show was full of humor and fun twists on the popular Grimms Fairy Tale - Snow White.

I was pleased to see that even though the play took some original and modern day twists, it stayed true to much of the original Grimms version within reason.

The girls loved watching their sister on stage. It amazes me how much work is involved in putting together a school production. The teachers and children worked day and night to organize this performance.