Pumpkin Seed Scones

These scrumptious scones are festive, delicious and a great way to make use of Halloween pumpkins.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey
4 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup soaked flax seeds
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Grease a muffin pan with coconut oil.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients EXCEPT almond flour, cranberries, and raisins.

4. Stir in almond flour until well combined.

5. Stir in cranberries and raisins.

6. Spoon batter into muffin cups, using wet fingers to press down any bumps on the tops before baking (makes 24 mini muffins).

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean

The following is a wonderful example of using an emergent curriculum, where rather than starting with a lesson plan which requires a “hook” to get the children interested, emergent curriculum starts with the children’s interests:

The kids found a caterpillar on a dino kale leaf in the garden and got really excited so we began to explore the insect world through a variety of interdisciplinary lenses carried on by the children's enthusiasm.

We ordered these awesome books from the library to learn more about identifying insects and practicing our numbers and letters.

The kids were particularly fascinated with a ladybug we found so we checked out a diagram and learned about the different parts.

What kind of insect is a lady bug?  Beetle!

How many legs does a beetle have?  6!

Then we made a play-dough version of a 6 legged beetle:

We got to work drawing our own pictures of bugs and learning to write the letters B U G.

As teachers we are having a blast brainstorming creative ways to learn about insects and discovered this free enrichment course for parents and teachers which connects art into traditional STEM curriculum.

http://www.theeducatorsspinonit.com/2014/09/preschool-science-activities-for-stem.html

It's worth checking out and inspired the following project:

All the different groups collaborated to create a bug habitat collage which includes a blue sky to fly in...

a hole puncher to make raindrops...

yellow and orange circles for sunlight...

and brown shapes for the soil.

Then we cut out beautiful pictures of native plants for some of the bugs to eat and live in.

For the big collage we started with layers of soil...

the sky with rainbows and stars...

a lush wilderness of native Texas plants...

and lots of bugs!

Check out our bug wall in the classroom and stay tuned for Bug World next time!

Birthdays!

Drum class!

Silly hats made with huge coffee filters and liquid watercolor!

We love paint!

Field trip to the super cool playground at the South Austin Rec Center:

We read the sweetest book about friendship and the transforming power of a true smile.  After story time, we were inspired to have a pretend picnic like the friends in the book... check out our amazing smiles!!

More happy kids...

... and Happy Halloweeeeen!