Include the Outdoors in Your Thanksgiving Traditions

So the BIG day is just around the corner!  In three days we will be gathering around the table to enjoy a delicious turkey dinner with family and friends. My little ones are getting excited about the upcoming holiday. We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner and our family members will be starting to arrive on Wednesday. The preparations for the feast started on Saturday with silver polishing, meal planning, grocery list making and centerpiece creating. Now the hustle and bustle begins with grocery shopping, cooking, ironing, setting, baking and everything else I am forgetting to add to the list.

Fairies and elves: Every child's favorite fantasy

I was reading one of my favorite nature activity books and I found a terrific activity for a nice Fall day.  This idea is borrowed from the book Nature's Playground by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield.  Here's an excerpt and their paraphrased instructions for making whimsical fairy or elf houses.  I added fairy houses to the idea because my daughter is particularly fond of fairies.

"Building elf houses from whatever materials can be found is a great outlet for lively imaginations in almost every environment.....Girls and boys of all ages love to create their own little worlds, playing with such deep intensity that nothing can break into the vivid, magical places they imagine."