Fall Playdates

Since the start of the school year, Adley and I have continued meeting with our playgroup friends. We try to meet twice a month-- once as an outing (a play place, splash pad, park, etc) and once at someone's home for a themed play date. I hosted a music play date in September. Everyone got warmed up with a "Shake your Sillies Out" song on youtube.

Then, the kids made jingle bell tambourines. We went on a musical parade around the house when the instruments were completed.

At the end, we listened to a sampling of different musical genres so the kids could get a taste of everything from opera to rock n roll. Then, I turned on some classical favorites and gave the kids ribbon rings to dance with. The rings helped to get even the shyest kids moving around. It was an active, musical morning!

In October, my friend Amy hosted a Halloween playdate. My nephew Nathan even joined us for this one. All of the kids looked so adorable dressed in their costumes.

Amy planned some fun activities for the group. First we made flower pictures with candy corn. These turned out so cute!

Then, we let all of the kids practice trick-or-treating. Each child took a turn standing inside to hand out candy to the rest of their friends. The kiddos were all so excited to close the door and knock each time!

We made sure these little ones remembered to say "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" each time. Who knows if it actually paid off come Halloween?! ;)

Our last activity was decorating pumpkin pictures with sticker dots. You wouldn't think these would've turned out as different as they did, but each child had their own creative flair to this. Nathan filled up nearly every inch of his pumpkin with stickers! He definitely had a longer attention span than the younger ones. They all seemed to enjoy this activity though.

What a cute looking crew! We love our play group friends!

In November, we met at my friend Sara's home for a fall-themed play date. Sara served us some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread that morning and then led the kids in a cute tree-making craft. The tree was made from the kids' hands and the leaves were their fingerprints. The kids loved painting with their fingers!

We are so thankful for this fun, creative group of mommas and kiddos and look forward to our adventures with them each month!