September, 2019 - Not So Crafty Momma

Torn Paper Pumpkin

September 30, 2019November 1, 2020by Patricia11 Comments

We love fall! Today, we made a paper pumpkin.

**This post contains affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, for purchases made through our links. All opinions are our own**

Materials Needed

Construction Paper (Orange, Green, and White)
Glue

This pumpkin craft is super easy and has no prep work other than gathering the materials. To start, I had my toddler tear up the orange construction paper. Next, I gave her the green to tear up.

After the paper was torn, I set it aside and gave her the glue bottle. I told her to make a circle with the glue. If your child is a young toddler, you may need to guide their hands for this step!

Next, I gave her the orange construction paper to cover the glue.

To finish, I helped her put some glue on the top of the pumpkin and then gave her the green paper she tore to glue on.

This simple pumpkin took about 10 minutes and is a great way to encourage fine motor skills!

Book Suggestions

Little learners often enjoy an activity or craft more when it is paired with a book!

If you like this craft, please share it with a friend!

We’d love if you followed us on Facebook!

Glitzy Name Writing Activity

September 26, 2019September 26, 2019by Patricia13 Comments

Recently, my toddler has started to write her name all by herself. It is not perfect, but she’s quickly improving. She has known how to spell her name for about four months now. Tonight, I’d like to share one of the name activities we have done to help build this skill. This activity is great for young preschoolers but can also be done with toddlers.

**This post contains affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, for purchase made from our links. **

Materials We Used

This is an open ended activity and we encourage you to use whatever you have on hand. I’m going to list what we used.

Two Pieces of Construction Paper
A Marker
Glue
Scissors
Tissue Paper
Gems and other small pretty crafty supplies

I started by cutting the first letter of my daughter’s name out of construction paper. If your child is able to use scissors, you can just draw the letter and let them cut it out.

Next, I wrote “S is for _________________” on the other piece of construction paper.

After that, I gave my daughter the tissue paper and other crafting supplies and let her glue things on the S. In addition to letter recognition, this is also great fine motor skill practice!

After she was finished, we let it dry for a bit. Once it was dry, I helped her glue the S onto the other piece of paper.

To finish, I gave her the marker to write her name after I read her the sentence. Because we made this to share with all of you, I did help guide her hand. If your child still is unsure how to spell their name, try writing down their name on a scrap piece of paper for them to copy. This activity was fun at home, but is also easy enough to do in a classroom setting!

Book Suggestions

Little learners love when you pair an activity or craft with a book! Here are some suggestions we have for this activity.

If you like this activity, please share it with a friend!

Fall Baking Ideas

September 20, 2019September 20, 2019by Patricia18 Comments

Are you excited for the start of fall? We are! Fall baking is often full of flavors like apple, pumpkin, and caramel. You will find these flavors and more in this wonderful list of cupcakes and cakes perfect for fall!

These apple spice cupcakes feature a praline filling and brown sugar frosting. They are soft, moist and full of apple flavor.

These kid friendly mini spiced pumpkin cupcakes are packed with pumpkin goodness.

These Apple Spice Cupcakes are easy to make and full of fall flavor!

These Delicious Scarecrow Cupcakes are so adorable! They can be customized so that they are as unique as the person making them.

This sweet potato cake is full of fall flavors. It features a marshmallow buttercream that comes together in just 5 minutes.

These pumpkin pie cupcakes are flavored with pumpkin, filled with pumpkin pie filling, and topped with a pumpkin spice buttercream.

These Autumn Fall cupcakes can be made with only a few ingredients. They would make a great classroom snack.

These cute apple cupcakes are perfect for fall. They are quick and easy to make.

This caramel pumpkin cheesecake is made in the instant pot! It doesn’t get much easier than that!

These Acorn Snickerdoodle Cupcakes are perfect for fall. Snickerdoodle is a favorite flavor in our house!

We hope you find inspiration in these fall baking ideas! We would love to hear from you. What is your favorite fall flavor? Which one of these recipes are you excited to try?

Our Trip To Rolling Acres Corn Maze

September 15, 2019by Patricia14 Comments

Yesterday, we spent part of our day at Rolling Acres Corn Maze in Leetonia, Ohio. It is just over an hour away from both the Pittsburgh and Akron/Canton areas. Even if your not familiar with the area, you’ll find Rolling Acres easily with the address on their website and it is worth the drive!

We started off our afternoon with the corn maze. This is a family run business and everyone is super friendly! They let us know which maze we should start off with based on our daughters age and gave us some information to help get us through. The maze is typically $10 a person, but since it is opening weekend, they had a $8 per person special. Our two year old was free. They run specials throughout the season so check their website and Facebook page before you go! The beautifully designed field had three different mazes inside. Each one had a different level of difficulty. The goal was to find each checkpoint and solve a puzzle. We did not find every check point, but we were just happy to have found our way back out! My toddler had an amazing time navigating through the corn. You can go in and out of the maze all day, so there is no rush to get it done all at once.

After we were done with the maze, we were really hungry! They have two concession stands. We got a bucket of fries and a really unique refillable cup.

They also had hot sausage, philly steak sandwiches, elephant ears, and more!

In addition to the maze, Rolling acres also offers tons of other things to do! A hayride and either a barrel train ride ticket or a zip line ticket comes with each maze admission. The zip line is new this year and looks like a blast, but since we are both on the fluffy side, we skipped it.

They have several fun games set up for families to enjoy as well as some very nice play areas. Our toddler loved sliding down a giant pipe and playing in the corn pit. They also have a small wooden maze for little ones.

This was our first trip of the year, but it will not be our last! We had such an amazing time. If you are looking for a new fall tradition, you do not want to miss Rolling Acres Corn Maze.

We’d love to hear from you! Have you ever been to a corn maze? Did you enjoy it? What is on your fall bucket list?

All About Me Activity

September 7, 2019September 7, 2019by Patricia9 Comments

Right now, kids in preschool and elementary school are likely starting off their school year with some self exploration activities. We have been working on several at home with our toddler. Today, I want to share an activity geared towards children from ages five to seven. My toddler did the activity so I could share it with you all and although she did enjoy it, she didn’t get as much out of it as an early elementary school aged child would.

**This post may contain affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, for all purchases made from our links. All opinions expressed are our own**

Materials Needed

Two Pieces of Construction Paper
Markers
Scrap Paper, white board, card stock, etc.
Scissors
Glue
Magazine Clippings (I used food, material items, and words)

Start by drawing a M and an E on one of the pieces of construction paper. Next, give it to your child to cut it out. If you do want to do this activity with a toddler, you’ll probably need to do the cutting.

After that, have your child pick out magazine clippings that they think represents them. If the child can not read yet, read them the words that they have to choose from.

Once both letters are covered in magazine clippings, have your child glue the letters onto the other piece of construction paper.

Finally, write down “All About” on a piece of scrap paper, card stock, white board, or really anywhere that your child can see it. Let them copy it down onto their collage. If you are doing this activity with a toddler, write it down for them. If you are a teacher doing this activity with a class, you can extend the activity by letting the children speak one at a time about what items and words they used in this activity.

Book Recommendations

If you want to pair this activity with a book, we have a few suggestions!

If you like this activity, please share it with a friend!

Multi-Media Fashion Design Craftivity

September 2, 2019by Patricia15 Comments

Over the past few weeks, we have been working on crafts and activities that encourage our toddler to explore her sense of self identity. Recently, we did this craftivity that encouraged creativity and fine motor skills. Since the goal is to encourage creativity, you can use any materials you’d like! I’m going to tell you how we did it, but you can use whatever you have laying around!

**This post may contain affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at not additional cost to you, for products purchased from our links.**

Materials We Used

Two Pieces of Construction Paper (I used white and then let my daughter pick out the other color from a pack of multicultural construction paper)
Glue
Scissors
Googly eyes
Markers
Cut up tissue paper
Assorted gems and such

I started by drawing the shape of a person and cutting it off. If you can not freehand this, a quick google search will be able to give you something you can print out and trace.

Next, I gave my daughter the person shape to glue onto the white paper.

After that, I gave her markers so that she could draw her person’s face and hair. She is two, so she didn’t give her person much detail, but slightly older children can draw parts of the face. After she was done with that, I helped her glue on googly eyes. Lastly, I gave her the other materials and let her glue them on however she wanted. I offered as little guidance as possible.

This craftivity is perfect for kids aged two to five. It can be done at home or in a classroom setting. It is a perfect way to use up miscellaneous craft supplies you have laying around. The end result will be as unique as your child!