Night Walks:Activities for Autumn
Despite the ninety degree temps we all know that the days are getting shorter and shorter! Pretty soon it’ll be dark before our littles’ bedtimes.
Whether or not you have the ever-present battle against screens in your household, it can be hard to decide what to do with your evenings, especially when adding in dinner, bath time, bed routines, and finding time for yourself to decompress.
An easy breezy add to your weeknight is a brief Night-Time Walk together! These do not require much prep, can involve kiddos of any age, and can span any amount of time you need.
Optional Materials: Binoculars, Paper, Coloring Implements, Compass, Flashlights
FOR CLEAR SKIES
Creating your own constellations: Much like looking for shapes in clouds, you can look up at the stars on a walk and ask your kids if they see any shapes! Tell your own stories about the shapes they see.
Learning the constellations: older kids may be interested in constellations and the stories they tell! You can pair this with one of these amazing constellation story books!
Moon Phase Journal: We talk about this a lot, but by having your child do observational drawings of the moon as it changes, it helps your child begin processing how time passes long term. If you do the observations from the same spot, your child will also see how the moon moves around the sky based on the seasons!
Bonus: Help them learn how to use a compass when finding the moon, the planets, and the stars so that they can begin to learn basic parts of navigation!
Autumnal Celestial Events:
Sea and Sky Events 2023 has all of the upcoming celestial events in the night sky. We will list a few of the best ones below.
September 23 - September Equinox. The September equinox occurs at 06:43 UTC. The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall (autumnal equinox) in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of spring (vernal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.
September 29 - Full Moon, Supermoon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 09:59 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Corn Moon because the corn is harvested around this time of year. This moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year. This is also the last of four supermoons for 2023. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.
*EARLY EVENING* October 8, 9 - Draconids Meteor Shower. The Draconids is a minor meteor shower producing only about 10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was first discovered in 1900. The Draconids is an unusual shower in that the best viewing is in the early evening instead of early morning like most other showers. The shower runs annually from October 6-10 and peaks this year on the the night of the the 8th and morning of the 9th. The second quarter moon will be visible in the early morning but shouldn't interfere too much. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
October 28 - Full Moon. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 20:25 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Hunters Moon because at this time of year the leaves are falling and the game is fat and ready to hunt. This moon has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon.
October 28 - Partial Lunar Eclipse. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's partial shadow, or penumbra, and only a portion of it passes through the darkest shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse a part of the Moon will darken as it moves through the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will be visible throughout all of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and western Australia. (NASA Map and Eclipse Information)
For cloudy nights
Weather Journal: During a lovely evening walk together you can discuss the weather! What do the clouds look like? Who thinks it’s going to rain? Is there wind? How does the outside feel at night versus during the day? What kinds of animals are we hearing and seeing? Afterwards, you could have kids do a brief journal entry. Kids can do observational drawings, write questions, and create graphs to see what kind of weather shows up the most in a week/month/year!
“Night Sounds and Sights” Scavenger Hunt:
Night Bird Sound
Rustling of Leaves
Crickets (or other night bug sounds)
A Bright Star: Planet or Star?
The Moon: What phase is it?
Autumn Leaves in multiple colors
Moth
An Evergreen Tree: Bonus - can you smell it?
A Flickering Streetlight
A Stop Sign — Did you notice anything interesting about this sign? (point out how it’s reflective so it’s visible in the dark)
CG Fundraiser: Little Caesar's! So Good it's SCARRRYYYY
YOU ASKED FOR IT, WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN!
From October 1st until October 31st we will be hosting another
Little Caesar’s Pizza Kit Fundraiser!!
What is a Little Caesar’s Pizza Kit?
Little Caesar’s has created these amazing kits with all the fixins you need to create a pizza night for your family! They have mini pizzas, regular sized pizzas, breadsticks, and so much more!
Kids can help you create your perfect pizza! They can spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, add the ingredients. Did you know that kids are more likely to try foods they help prepare? You can reward them with a scrumptious cookie they also baked themselves!
These are frozen! They keep for any occasion. Movie nights! Birthdays! Rainy days when you don’t feel like cooking. Rough days when you want to see a smile. Have a perfect memory stored away for when you need it most.
Anyone can buy them and support us! Share THIS LINK on your social media, with your office, with your fam! Anyone who buys a mouth-watering pizza, breadsticks, cheese bread, or cookie kit with our link earns us money!
This fundraiser is completely online and runs 24/7! The Pizza Kits get delivered right to your door, so it’s simple, easy, perfect.
You could have a Pizza Pumpkin Party where you carve pumpkins and eat pepperoni!
You could watch (not so) spooky movies with a large spinach and pineapple pizza!
You could roast marshmallows in the cool Autumn breeze, tell Halloween stories, and enjoy simple-yet-effective cheese pizza!
What other Autumn Pizza Nights could you Enjoy? Share in the Comments…. also….
WE ARE TRYING TO CREATE RESTON’S LARGEST PIZZA PARTY!
On October 15th we will be cooking our own pizzas and going live from the center! We will read books, sing songs, and YES! Eat lots of pizza! We encourage you to order your kits early and do the same! If we get enough people taking pictures and eating their pizza at the same time from their homes, we could actually host THE LARGEST PIZZA PARTY RESTON HAS EVER SEEN! When Rome did it, they got 1,146 people. While we know that it’s Covid and wow… that’s ambitious… LET’S SHOOT FOR THE MOON! We can only land among the delicious pizza stars.
HOW DO YOU HELP US SELL PIZZAS AND ACHIEVE OUR GOAL OF LARGEST RESTON PIZZA PARTY?
HERE IS OUR PIZZA FUNDRAISER LINK
Share with friends, family, neighbors, tiktok buddies, facebook acquaintances, insta-friends, and more! Tell them to check out our Facebook on the night of the 15th from 6:00PM to 9:00PM and take pictures with their pizzas!
We are so excited to share this hilarious, fun, ridiculous goal with you. This is going to be SO AMAZING that… it’s almost spooky.
Save the Date!
Your CG Family
Team Spotlight: Our 2s and 3s are ROCKING AUTUMN!
September is in full swing and our Dancing Monkeys and Rising Stars are really bringing Autumn into their classrooms! All of our lessons are rooted in full-body play and exploration, which means our littles get to really experience nature with their hands while they learn colors, numbers, and shapes!
In the Monkeys, our two year olds are playing with pine needles and leaves they collected themselves! In the Rising Stars, the three year olds are painting their own houses and learning how to be curious in circle time. Our teachers are amazing at letting kids become brave, independent learners who realize that the only thing FAIL means is “First Attempt In Learning.”
How can you bring Autumn into your daily life?
You can collect Acorns and Pinecones and discuss their role in the life cycle of trees.
You can do a leaf freeze dance!
You can have a sunset journal and talk about all the different things that happen in each season.
What else? Let us know in the comments! We will also post more lovely things our teachers are doing each newsletter!
Thanks again, Rising Stars and Dancing Monkeys! Our kiddos are lucky to have you.
— Your CG Family
