Friday, September 24, 2010

Family Fall To-Do "Leaf" List

This morning, we traced, and cut out 30 construction paper leaves.


Then, we wrote one item from our fall to-do list, on each leaf...


...and taped them up to a paper bag tree, I put up last night.


Now, instead of checking items off our list, we can remove a leaf from our tree, for each item completed, this fall.

Since fall overlaps with the Thanksgiving season (we're counting Thanksgiving as the end of fall, because after that our focus shifts to Christmas), we plan to also use this tree for our count-down to Thanksgiving, turkey tree, too.

So, as the leaves come down, our thankful turkeys can go up.

And, just in case you're wondering, here's what's on our list of hope-to-do's, this fall:

  • Make paper bag owls
  • See the leaves change on our mystery tree
  • Spot a changing larch (more on that later)
  • T's first hunt
  • Celebrate Columbus Day
  • Go on a hayride
  • "Watch Toy Story 3" (we skipped the kid's movies in the theater this summer, and are waiting for their DVD releases, this fall)
  • Watch "Ramona and Beezus"
  • Watch "How to Train Your Dragon"
  • Bob for apples
  • Make apple donuts
  • Rake leaves
  • Jump in a leaf pile
  • Celebrate Mom's birthday
  • Pull the guts out of a pumpkin
  • Roast pumpkin seeds
  • Make candy corn
  • Celebrate Dad's birthday
  • Go to a fall festival
  • Play in the first snow
  • Make gingerbread men
  • Do a scarecrow craft
  • Make zucchini bread
  • Do a squirrel craft
  • Do a hibernation craft
  • Make hot chocolate from scratch
  • Make a pumpkin pie
  • Do a pumpkin craft
  • Go on a fall scavenger hunt
  • Go to Starbucks for a Pumpkin Latte (this one is for the Man of the House, and I - but since the nearest Starbucks is 50 miles away, it ends up being a fall family outing).

It's great to be a homeschooler.

15 comments:

Phyllis said...

What a great idea! I love all your fall ideas! I don't know how you have all the energy you do!

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Phyllis - I hold to Newton's Law - "A body in motion, tends to stay in motion" - as long as I don't sit down, I'm fine :)

Sarah Christina said...

Beauty!

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I love the idea! See, I could never live in the place where the nearest Starbucks is 50 miles away :) I can see important birthdays coming up too!

phasejumper said...

Great idea- I want to do this!

Christy Killoran said...

Fantastic! I love the tree! I love the idea of pulling off the leaves! I love that it is a countdown to Thanksgiving! I just love it! I may have to copy this idea!

Your list is full of great things. I only drink coffee once or twice a week, but I love the pumpkin latte at Starbucks! Yum. Also, pumpkin pie is the overall favorite dessert of C and my husband so I make it often in the fall and winter.

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

Love your fall to-do list and the tree is beautiful!!!

Michelle said...

Love this! We were looking for something fun to do this weekend. Thanks for the great idea!!!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! We are having a hard time transitioning to the winter seasons in a climate that is a constant green 60 degrees year round. Having a project like this on the wall would help us stay on a seasonal track! Plus, I really want to watch those movies too . . . Gotta go run to netflix - see ya next post!

Anonymous said...

What a great list. A hayride would be a fun addition to our list. I'm sorry about the Starbucks too...I'm sure there are worse things, but still 50 miles! uggh.

Annette W. said...

Did you forget to add your own birthday?

Ticia said...

I like the idea of removing leaves off the tree, what a cute idea.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

This is such a fun and pretty idea- what a great combo! Thanks tons, I'll be linking.

Charlene Juliani said...

I just made a big tree using leaves that we painted with the fall scented fingerpaint.

Great minds think alike...or are very similiar at least!

Lady Chadwick said...

Oh I love that Newtons law! though I think I hold to a body not in motion tends to stay that way....

I so need a little motivation