Themes for September

I saw this idea at By Sun and Candlelight, and I used many of her ideas, and then added my own to suit our family. (And yes, I know . . . it's already half way through September. Oh well. I'll get October's themes up at the beginning of the month, all right?) I'm sure I won't get to all of these ideas, but it is nice to be able to have choices.

Themes for September

• Birthstone - Sapphire, for wisdom
• Flower of the month - Aster, for memories
• The full moon of September is the Wine Moon, symbolic of grape and fruit harvest, protection, confidence, strength, and life's blood. It is also known as the Harvest Moon

Nature: Lingering summer, a first taste of fall ...

• goldenrod ~ appearing alongside the road, a sure sign of summer's end
• seeds ~ in so many forms - bristles, burrs, whirring helicopters, bursting wildflowers
• milkweed pods ~ soft white fluff floating by
• apples ~ ripe in the orchard at last
• honey ~ It's National Honey Month!
• bees ~ busily gathering the last bits of summer
• cool misty mornings, hot afternoons ...
• a first tinge of color in the foliage
• at the doorstep: chrysanthemums, cornstalks, and kale
• Michaelmas daisies ~ tiny wild asters at the end of the month
• The Full Harvest Moon (15)
• Visit Autumn on the Prarie at Nachusa Grasslands (20) to see fame flower, Hill’s thistle, kittentails and forked aster. It is also home to the gorgone checkerspot butterfly, grasshopper sparrows, dickcissels, and Henslow’s sparrows, badgers and other wildlife.
• The Autumnal Equinox (22)

Food:

• applesauce ~ homemade, with just a touch of cinnamon
• granola ~ homemade, for cereal or bars
• blackberry jam tarts ~ before Michaelmas, not after
• baked apples ~ a cozy breakfast on a chilly fall morn
• pies filled with the last fruits of the season
• National Cherry Popover Day (1)
• National Date Nut Bread Day (8)
• National Hot Cross Bun Day (11)
• International Chocolate Day (13)
• National Apple Dumpling Day (17)
• National Pancake Day (26)
• National Mulled Cider Day (30)
  

Home:

• clean the kitchen thoroughly (well ahead of holiday baking)
• organize art materials
• work on September food storage items
• buy new shoes, and make slippers and pajamas for the fall
• put fall/winter clothes in closets/drawers and pack up spring/summer clothes
• review chores
• work on homemade Christmas gifts
• decorate the home with colors of the harvest: Orange, Dark Red, Yellow, Indigo, and Brown
• review harvest and decide what to plant for next year
• move fall in season produce lists to front in food management journal
• reflect on life and the “seeds” of thoughts/actions that you “planted” in the Spring

Family Life:

• Labor Day (1)
• Gramma Susan’s Birthday (1)
• Aunt Nancy’s Birthday (2)
• New academic year kicks off! (4)
• New NFL season kicks off - Go Bears! (7)
• Grandparents Day (9)
• Lisa’s Birthday (18)
• Flower’s Birthday (22)
• Super’s Birthday (26)
• Michaelmas (29)

Stories: (Themes ~ harvest, seeds, bees, apples)

• Hello, Harvest Moon!
• The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive
• The Life and Times of the Apple
• Apple Picking Time
• Johnny Appleseed

Crafts/activities:

• make leaf crowns and name the Autumn King!
• make a Harvest Queen
• dry apples and hang on a string
• tell apple stories (find the stars inside)
• plant spring bulbs in the garden
• make up a fresh batch of homemade play dough
• make blackberry jam
• bake homemade pretzels
• make harvest “stone” soup