Fall-inspired recipes, art projects for kids

COLORADO SPRINGS — Fall is in the air and it’s the perfect time to get creative with your kids! Mountain Song Community School is teaming up with us to share some simple arts and crafts projects you can do with your little ones.

STONE SOUP

Stone Soup is a a vegetable soup based on a European folk tale based on a hungry travelers who convince people of a town to each share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys. The moral of the story is that sharing is important.

You can check out this informational video which explains the origin of the Stone Soup:

"Together, we make something that is really nutritious for the whole community" said Dr. Woods, Principal of Mountain Song Community School.

Here is the recipe from Dr. Woods herself:

1 small-medium yellow onion
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
3-4 potatoes, chopped
2 medium zucchinis, chopped
2 medium summer squashes, chopped
6-8 stalks of celery, or one small bunch, chopped
2-3 large, or 4-7 small carrots, chopped
2 cups cooked pinto beans
1 bunch of parsley, chopped
Fresh or dried oregano to taste
Paprika to taste
Ground nutmeg to taste (¼ – ½ teaspoon)
Salt (1 teaspoon)
Water to cover ingredients

Directions:
Mix all ingredients into a large pot and cover with water. (Optional – First sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil at the bottom of a large pot before adding the other ingredients). Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 1 hour before serving. Add any final herbs or spices to taste.

Additional comments from Dr. Woods:
The ingredients above can be easily substituted by others as your palette dictates. These are other ingredients you might consider: Sweet potatoes, any winter squash, beets, corn, green beans, noodles, etc. Don’t forget the special magical ingredient is sharing!

A group of children showed us how easily they can start working on the soup by chopping up veggies using a crinkle wavy chopper (similar to thesesold on Amazon).

Here is an instructional video from Mountain Song Community School on how to make Stone Soup:

CRAYON-PRESSED FALL LEAVES

Creating crayon-pressed leaves only takes a few minutes!

1. Go outside and gather a few leaves
2. Place those leaves under a sheet of white paper
3. Take the papers off your crayons
4. Turn your crayon on its side and rub over the leaves, applying light pressure until the shape of the leaf is visible
5. Enjoy your fall masterpiece!

"Nearly everyone can get out and find a beautiful fall leaf and bring it home and [kids] can see what happens when we combine our artistic materials with what we find in nature,"said Ms. Amy Siebert, a 2nd grade teacher at Mountain Song Community School.

SPOOKY GHOST LEAVES

Picking up where we left off, you can take your crayon-pressed leaves and turn them into spooky ghost artwork you can hang around the house!

All you have to do is:

1. Draw some eyes on the leaf (or a spooky face, see: vampire ghost leaf above)
2. Cut out the leaf
3. Set it on a sheet of paper and create a ghostly background around it

"Our [agricultural arts] program is centered around our school garden," said Mr. Adam Wright, Agricultural Arts Coordinator at Mountain Song Community School. "We have over 20 raised beds, we have the greenhouse, we have chickens, we have a bunny, we have fish," he explained, "so we really just want to give kids the opportunity to learn how to cook and grow food."

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK STAR MAPS

1. Grab a sheet of black paper, some craft felt, or black construction paper
2. Use glow-in-the-dark paint like fabric paint or glow-in-the-dark acrylic paints and create dots on the paper

If you want to go the extra mile, you can find a map on the internet of a star or constellation and just copy it on the sheet of paper.

"When you go outside, you hold that piece of paper up to the night sky and it gives you a map on how to find those constellations," said Jesse Rochette, a 6th grade teacher at Mountain Song Community School.

Mountain Song Community School is enrolling new students until Tuesday, September 29.

They will also be launching a virtual Fall Festival, which anyone can join. It will be live, and feature fun DIY activities like the ones above.

You can find out more about the festival, and enrollment, on their website: MountainSongSchool.com