Themes and Plans for October

I think October is my favorite month. There is a crispness to the air, but a sweater is enough to keep you warm, and everybody is back in the school routine, and there is still time to make presents for Christmas. Plus, I love all the colors of Autumn – the oranges, deep reds, browns, dark greens and the smells – apples, pumpkins and berries.


In the Moon of the Falling Leaves

Joseph Bruchac
I was born in the Moon of Falling Leaves,
that time when summer’s harvest
falls from every maple tree,
painting the forest trails
golden as sunlight
and crimson as Great Bear’s blood.

Each October brings back the scent
of fires burning on the hills,
the first etchings of frost
on my bedroom windows,
the departing wings
of a thousand geese
cutting the clear cold sky.

There is no time closer to my heart,
than this season of changes
when the balance tips between
darkness and light,
when the last flowers
nod in our garden,
when so many things
are about to end,
so many about to begin.

So here are our themes and plans for October (from the Latin word octo, meaning “eight”. October was the 8th month of the Roman calendar.):

• Birthstone - Opal
• Flower of the month - Marigold
• The full moon of October is the Full Hunter’s Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and the animals which have come out to glean.

Nature:

• withered cornfields
• pumpkins on the vine
• chrysanthemums in gold, russet and magenta
• acorns underfoot
• National Squirrel Awareness Week (7-13)
• geese flying in V's
• The Full Hunter's Moon (26)
• falling leaves
• the first frost
• Weather Report: On October 3, 1912, the longest dry spell of record in the U.S. began as Bagdad, California, went 767 days without a drop of rain

Food:

• National Taco Day (4)
• National Dessert Day (9)
• World Food Day (16)
• National Chocolate Cupcake Day (18)
• National Nut Day (22)
• National Potato Day (27)
• National Candy Corn Day (30)
• casseroles
• crockpot meals
• chili and cornbread
• baked beans, brown bread and ham
• pumpkin soup
• pumpkin bread
• maple leaf cookies
• popcorn balls
• cinnamon sugar toast
• homemade pretzels
• hot apple cider
• apple butter
• apple crisp
• baked apples
• caramel apples
• cider donuts
• winter squash soup
  

Home & Garden:

• deep clean of family room
• stock up on baking essentials
• rotate mattresses
• change over to flannel bedding
• clean out and restock medicine chest
• put up storm windows
• rake and clean out garden beds
• store outdoor toys and furniture
• organize board games and puzzles
• buy Christmas stamps
• continue working on Christmas gifts
• organize Christmas cards
  

Life:

• Columbus Day (13)
• All Hallow's Eve (31)
• The World Series
• Football games

Stories:

• Nuts to You!
• The Little Scarecrow Boy
• The Night The Scarecrow Walked
• I Spy A Pumpkin
• The Pumpkin Book
• Pumpkin Soup
• Apples and Pumpkins
• Chipmunk at Holow Tree Lane
• Every Autumn Comes the Bear
• Around the Year
• A Picnic In October

Field Trips:

• an autumn hike on the Trail
• Autumnal Festival at the Horticulture Center (4)
• Fire Station (17
• Autumnal Festival at the Nature Center (18)
• Pumpkin Patch (24)

Crafts/activities:

• twig frames
• leaf rubbing
• acorn hunting
• leaf crafts
• homemade seed and suet cakes
• roasting pumpkin seeds
• carving pumpkins