Acorns

Yesterday we (the girls and I) got the idea of collecting acorns that had fallen from our little Pin Oak tree and finding a craft/activity to do with them. We got sidetracked by our paint activity and some "not so great behavior" and never got around to it yesterday. So today was the perfect alternative. I sent the girls outside with a cup and told them to hunt for acorns. They both were able to fill their cups in a matter of minutes. And the excitement each time they spotted one was priceless. "I found ANOTHER one!" "my cup is almost full!" "LOOK here's 2 right next to each other!"

Here is their loot

And the supplies to open them. I sent them upstairs to find the "toy" tools that matched my real tools. We tried to guess which tools would work best at opening the acorns. They got to try with the toy tools first then I handled the real tools and actually opened the acorns.

Ainslee tried the pliers first

Then Kaylee gave it a try. They both enjoyed chasing after the acorns as they flew across the room, that was quite funny to watch.


Then they tried the hammer

The concentration was hilarious

Kaylee had the right idea trying to hold the acorn, she had pretty good hand eye coordination, and didnt hit her fingers

When they were finished trying on their own, I opened them with the real tools. Here Ainslee's has a crack in it and she is trying to pry it open.

Kaylee got hers open quickly and was very proud of what she found.

They both wanted to eat the nuts, but we threw them out in the grass to "feed" the squirrels and birds

Before we cracked them open we counted them, made shapes/numbers/letters with them (on the floor), and I even spelled their names with them. All the while I was trying to come up with some sort of craft we could use them for.

ATTENTION all you creative mommy's out there

send me some ideas of fun crafty things we can do with these little gems. Preferably something that the kids can do most of the work. I found a few ideas online, but most include a hot glue gun. I would prefer that they actually get to participate and avoid burns. Im considering letting them paint them orange and then letting them draw faces on them to make tiny jack-o-lanterns. But we dont need 50+ tiny jack-o-lanterns. I need more ideas people!