Blackberry Crumble for Michaelmas

According to an old Irish folk talk, blackberries were supposed to have been harvested and used up by Michaelmas (Sept 29th - tomorrow!). In celebration, we made Blackberry Crumble this morning for snacktime.

Keira began by putting the blackberries in the cookware..


Maia's turn was next...

It was Dee's job to help Brianna...

Little did we know that Bree didn't need our help at all..

Next we mixed the ingredients to make the "crumble"...
And sprinkled it on top of our Blackberries (oops, Brianna decided she didn't want to wait until we baked them!)...


She stole a Blackberry and ate it faster than we could get to her! She was quite proud of herself!

Then we stirred the mix together and placed it in the oven while we went on our nature walk...

And we ate it all up outside! It was soooo good!!!

Our Autumn Wreath

Here are some photos of our Autumn Wreath we made during Activity Time this morning. We had so much fun! We also hung out Indian Corn that we bought yesterday.


I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed today - lots of housework to catch up on and I still have to work on an article I have been asked to write for PrimalParentingMagazine. I have writers block for some reason. I also haven't started November yet. Ugh!

Acorn Necklaces

The abundance of acorns on our property is amazing. Now you can see where the inspiration for the name Little Acorn Learning came from.

Today during outdoor time Maia and I made necklaces with them while the babies played nearby. I used a small screwdriver to make holes in them and we strung them on a double strand of thread with a long doll making needle.


I allowed Maia to help with the stringing ... if you do this with small children - be sure to be RIGHT there guiding your child's hands, as they do not quite understand that the needle will come through the other side and get their fingers. Also, babies love to put the acorns in their mouth so we are very careful to keep them out of reach and the necklace will be closely monitored for loose acorns in the house.

Bark Rubbings

Veggie Soup

Another lovely day of cooking with the children. This morning we enjoyed vegetable soup for snacktime.

Bree couldn't wait for us to put the pot on the oven so she got a head-start.




This is fun!
Yummy - the warm soup was perfect for a rainy morning.

Corn Husk Dolls

The girls and I made our Corn Husk Dolls during morning nap time....


The process itself was really fun and great for Maia, who is 3, to help with. She was my helper with the more difficult tasks of tying the string and putting the clothes on the doll. They take time when working working with small children, so if you are using my program keep the morning free to work on these. Older children can do them very quickly...My 13 year old can do one on her own easily and Keira, who is 6, can also with limited assistance.



Bree likes playing with our scraps while we work :)


They were played with all afternoon - it's so great and affirming to witness how something so simple can inspire hours of creative play.

Our Nature Fort

Today we went on a nature walk and gathered large branches. We brought them back and made a nature fort out of them. The children helped dig the holes, place the branches in the ground, tie them together and pat the dirt back on top of the holes.


Our new kitten, Tuxi wanted to help us along...
Whew! That was hard work!

When we were done we covered the fort with pretty silks.

They had so much fun with this... we'll see how long it stays in place!

Receiving September, Day One

Today we welcomed the new month by beginning our first day of my new September Nature Curriculum.

We started our day with our Morning Blessing:

Then I read the girls the story of The Anxious Leaf. Keira was hanging on to every word and really enjoyed the story. We then sat down to do watercolor painting...

Keira said she thought the leaf's dream was about once again being part of the tree. Maia, who is too young to understand that type of concept, decided to paint a pretty picture of the leaf.

Then we went on our nature walk in the woods behind our house. They took their baskets along and looked for small items to collect for their Nature Notebooks that we will make later in the week. We were lucky to have a really nice day to enjoy outside.