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On the Go with the Grands! I Spy Fall!

Updated September 14, 2024



Tuesday, September 19, 2023

We hope all is well in your worlds

and that you are gearing up

for the changing seasons ahead!


Fall is in the air…

and we are ready for it!

Today, we are sharing a new installment of our series

One of the greatest pleasures in having grandchildren is the opportunity it provides to explore the world together and see everything in a new way, through their excited eyes! An autumn visit to a PUMPKIN PATCH or an APPLE ORCHARD is an outing many Grands enjoy with their Littles each year! Oh, the joy of walking through a fall landscape - the smells, the sights, the sounds, the “feels”!


Today, we’re offering a detailed way to share these experiences

with your Littles!

Check out our I SPY Hunts to help them (and you!) savor it all!

A trip to the pumpkin patch or apple orchard provides so many wonderful photo ops

for us Grands…

While we know that many of these places have lots of extra activities to enjoy

(corn mazes and/or hayrides to name just two),

we’ve found that as we explore these fall settings with our Littles

it’s meaningful and fun to have a planned activity to do together!


Do you remember the game, I Spy with My Little Eye?

I spy with my little eye, something that….

This game is fun to play with Littles of all ages!


I Spy is a wonderful way to use our five senses

and our Littles (even infants) will benefit from hearing the vocabulary!

You can take turns suggesting things to spy (especially with older Littles)

or, if they are readers, they could each have individual checklists to keep track of!


We’ve created two I Spy hunts below, just for you!

Feel free to use our hunts as inspiration in creating your own list,

personalizing it for you and your family.

You can also screenshot the list(s) we’re providing and then print out multiple copies

OR

you can pull up the Our Grand Lives website on your phone

and work right from there!

(We’d love to travel with you on your outing! 😉)

As your Littles quickly learn,

there is something magical about being able to actually pick your own pumpkin,

right off the vine!

As your Littles are exploring the fields to make their selections,

use our I Spy at the Pumpkin Patch! to guide your fun!

We hope you’ll be able to carve out some pumpkin time with your Littles this fall!

After all…

Happiness is not a state of mind, but a trip to a pumpkin patch!



For many years, we both would take our kindergarten classes and then our own children

to the apple orchard each fall!

We would use all five of our senses to learn more about the apples

and the way they grow!

Have fun with our I Spy at the Apple Orchard! activity

as you head out to pick apples with your own Littles!

Of course, the BEST part of any trip to the orchard

is the moment when you take that first juicy bite into a fresh apple!

Yum!

There’s nothing like a crisp autumn day

spent at the pumpkin patch or apple orchard

to let you know that fall has arrived!

And there's absolutely NOTHING better than spending such a day

with our beloved Littles!


We’ve got one last idea for you…

a fun snack to enjoy with your Littles while on your fall outing!

As retired kindergarten teachers, we’ve hosted many class parties over the years,

including our annual Fall Festival or Harvest Festival celebration!

Room parents have often contributed original snack options

and here’s a healthy option that delighted our kiddos!


These are super easy to prep and they take little time to do so!

School aged Littles would love to help!


You’ll need:

• individual applesauce cups

• natural raffia

• felt or construction paper

• wiggly eyes or white paper & a black marker

• a black permanent marker

• tape and/or glue

Follow these directions to make each Scarecrow Applesauce Cup:

(1) Tape or glue a few pieces of raffia to the edge of an upside down applesauce cup. Trim the raffia as needed (We told our Littles that we were giving the scarecrows a haircut!)

(2) Cut out a hat from the felt or construction paper. Cut out and glue a small square of another color of felt/construction paper onto the hat (to make a patch). We used a permanent marker around the edges of the “patch” to create stitch mark


(3) Prep wiggly eyes (OR we cut small circles out of white construction paper and drew a black pupil on each). Cut out a small orange triangle nose for each scarecrow, too.

(4) Glue or tape the eyes and nose to the applesauce cup.. Using a permanent black marker, draw a mouth and add stitch lines, too.

(5) Glue or tape the hat to the center of the raffia on the applesauce cup. (We used double stick tape, which worked very well.)

NOTE: While we went with the healthier applesauce option, you can also use pudding snack cups to make this snack, too - butterscotch or chocolate work well! (When you use the chocolate pudding cups like we did, they almost look like autumn crows instead of scarecrows!)

You (and your Littles) can make these special applesauce/pudding cups

ahead of time.

Then, simply pack them up, along with some water bottles, napkins and spoons

and you are all set!

What are some of your favorite autumn outings with your loved ones?

We'd love to hear your ideas in the comment section at the end of this post.

We hope you enjoyed this edition of On the Go with the Grands!


We’d love to have you follow us on

where we add new activities and adventures regularly!,

You can also find us on Pinterest where we’ve linked

many of the posts featured here!



SPECIAL THANKS TO

A Morning Cup of Joe from The Cottage Market

Weekend Traffic Reboot from Scratch Made Food for Hungry People


AND IN 2023

Gma'sPhotos (Fall 2023)


Thank you ALL for featuring this post on your site!

❤ We love our blogging community! ❤


❤️ We are delighted to join the following link up parties! ❤️

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THURSDAY

FRIDAY

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16 Comments


Guest
Sep 25

The scarecrows are adorable, and I really love the I Spy games for fall events. Thanks for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #47 linkup. We hope you'll share more next time at #48, which opens Monday. ~Jennifer

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Our Grand Lives
Sep 30
Replying to

Thanks, Jennifer! We so appreciate the opportunities you provide through your link up! We will see you soon at Will Blog for Comments! - 💕 Laura

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Guest
Sep 20

The scarecorw applesauce treats is a wonderful idea. I will need to share this with my daughter!

Thank you for sharing at Gma'sPhoto | ge•ner•ic Linkup Party . Looking forward to seeing you next Friday!

Take care and best wishes.

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Our Grand Lives
Sep 26
Replying to

Thanks so much, Debra! I hope you enjoy the applesauce scarecrows! Our students (and now our Littles) love them!

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Joanne
Joanne
Sep 16

Those I Spy games look like so much fun and I love your adorable themed treats.

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Our Grand Lives
Sep 17
Replying to

Thanks, Joanne! The Scarecrow applesauce cups were a definite hit - to make and to eat! - 💕 Laura

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stephanie031114
Sep 28, 2023

I loved this post! Thank you so much for sharing with us. I'll be featuring you tomorrow at the Crazy Little Love Birds link party #7. We're so happy you decided to join us. The party starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. MST. I hope you will join us again.

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Our Grand Lives
Sep 29, 2023
Replying to

Thanks so much for stopping by and for featuring our post! We were excited to find you and participate in the Crazy Little Love Birds link up! We'll be stopping by tomorrow! 💕

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Our Grand Lives
Sep 28, 2023

Thank you so much, for stopping by, Joanne, and for the sweet comment, too! ❤️

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