More apple cooking

With some more of our donated apples, Miss Britney was able to do a fun activity with all of our Tuesday/Thursday friends. We made pumpkin apple butter! The students got to help pour, measure, and stir out mixture and the butter cooked on the stove all day! It smelled AMAZING! The pumpkin apple butter had to cook longer than our school day, so we had to wait a few days to come together again to get a good taste! We made pancakes to sample our butter on. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!

Recipe: 5 Large apples (or 8-10 small) cored and chopped
            One small can of 100% pumpkin
            One tsp vanilla
            1/4 cup maple syrup
            juice from half a lemon
            1 tsp cinnamon
            2 tsp (or more) pumpkin pie spice
            1/2 cup water

Mix everything together and cook covered on low for several hours until it is brown and the apples are falling apart. Take the lid off and cook until there is very little liquid. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender or carefully in a blender. Cool and enjoy as a spread, in oatmeal, in a smoothie, or off a spoon!

Apple Juice

We are so lucky that some of our friends have apple trees right in their yards! Last week, Axel brought in a huge bag of apples for us to play with. Miss Leslie and Miss Candace made apple juice with all of the friends! The students had so much fun putting big chunks of apples into the juicer, listening and watching the juicer chop up the chunks and drip out some juice, and then the best part; DRINKING the delicious fresh juice!

 CHEERS!

With the pulp, Miss Leslie took some afternoon time with the kids to make dog treats! She added a smashed banana and a bit of coconut oil to the pulp and then the students rolled up the batter like playdough. Miss Leslie put the tray of treats into the oven and baked the treats up. It was a great lesson on how to use all of our food and not waste anything but the stems and seeds! (They are bad for dogs) 

Leaves

We have been having too much fun with our fall theme. If you look around Harmony right now you will see so many fun leaf projects! Here are just a few of our recent group time activities:

Leaf Printing with egg cartons

Leaf Sorting with the Puffer Fish

And an every day activity in our big backyard; Leaf Collecting!

Garage Sale!

We had our annual garage sale, benefitting There With Care. It was so encouraging to watch the donations pour in from our families. After sorting through all of our donations on Friday afternoon (Thank you teachers and volunteers!), we were ready to kick off the yard sale. Saturday morning several teachers and parent volunteers came in early to set up all of our sale items. We were lucky with a beautiful day, and lots of shoppers! It was so fun to see our families coming to volunteer or shop or just hang out for a bit. We had a record year and raised more than $2100.00! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who donated, shopped, and volunteered your time /baked goods!

Fun With Fall

We changed themes. Now we are studying the signs of Fall, and we have switched the work in the school to reflect our theme. The students love to explore when we put new work out, and this theme was no different.

Miss Megan used science time to get our friends outside to explore Fall in a more hands on way. They looked for leaves that had already fallen from our trees and talked about all of the other colors they could see outside now. The scientists then took their leaf collections and created wreaths with them!

Apple Season

With all of the amazing fall fun in Colorado comes APPLE SEASON! During a Spanish lesson, Miss Leslie helped the students learn some new vocabulary while creating a delicious afternoon snack - Apple Empanadas! 

You can easily make these at home! Miss Leslie used frozen pastry sheets and added apples, cinnamon, and a bit of butter. Then she baked them until they were golden brown and delicious!

Happy Apple Picking!

Signs of Fall - Fun Harvest in Colorado

We are studying signs of Fall at Harmony. We will be taking walks to enjoy the weather and beauty and bringing plenty of pumpkins and apples into the classroom. Although we will not be taking any field trips for this theme, we are so lucky to be in Colorado to see the leaves change colors and have farms right in our own back yards to experience harvest and the flavors that are associated with autumn. There are so many pumpkin patches and u-pick farms in Colorado to enjoy with your preschooler! Here are just a few that are nearby that perhaps you will be able to visit:

Berry Patch Farms is a u-pick farm in Brighton
Cottonwood Farms is a pumpkin patch right here in Boulder
Anderson Farms is a pumpkin patch in Erie
Munson Farms is a pumpkin patch also in Boulder
Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch is full of fall fun in Longmont
Rock Creek Farms is also a super fun fall activities in Broomfield
The Boulder and Longmont Farmers Market is also a great place to experience fall flavors and sights