homeschool crafting

I'm so very relaxed with our homeschooling. Some weeks we'll have four days of school; some weeks we'll have two days. I don't have a planner because I know I'd just set myself up for failure. These little boys are only 4 and 5. They are learning, but not on a crazy strict schedule. I love it. I love the freedom we have to drop whatever we're doing and head to the park or meet up with friends. I love the freedom to teach in my sweat pants and too small of tank top (because I'm quite huge these days). I also love the freedom of art.

It seems weird, but one thing that really bugs me about teachers is their need for everyone to do an art project the exact same way. I don't know why that bothers me so much! I just remember having pre-cut paper and the teacher hanging her art project on the board. Then she'd continue about the steps and exactly how it should look when we are done. I hated it. I wanted to add my own twist to things, but would get reprimanded if I did. Did anyone else have teachers like that? We all went home with the exact same project with a different name written on the back? I want my boys to be able to create in a way that uniquely expresses them. I want to tell them what we're going to make, but let them create it any way they want.

My boys love crafts, but I've been so bad about doing them lately! Fall crafts are always so fun, so I've gotten my tail into gear and we've started on a few.

I told the boys we were going to make pumpkins. They were so excited! I just handed them an orange sheet of construction paper and a small sheet of green construction paper.

They were so proud of their pumpkins, and we hung them right away. Elias even decided he needed a tractor to help move his pumpkin around, so he made a tractor and trailer as well (that's at the top). Isaiah's is on the left, Elias's on the right.  Love it.

Next, we made a candy corn wreathe. I cut out the cardboard backing for it, and they painted it orange and went to town gluing all those candies on. (They had a few for snacking on while they worked.)

Our next few projects (depending on when this little baby decides to make an appearance) will be a mask and maybe some kind of silly monster project. Like I said, I'm not quite scheduled. I do know that we'll be making caramel apple slices. I consider this art because I'll let them dip their caramel apple slices into some fun halloween sprinkles. That counts as art, right? Now that I'm thinking of it, we just may need to work on some leaf shaped sugar cookies. Yum! I love homeschool "crafts"!