Day 10, September 22, 2026, of homeschooling my four-year-old triplet nephews began with a beautiful new addition to our kindergarten room: a wooden play structure from Head, Hands, and Heart Boutique in Canada. My 20-year-old son assembled it over the weekend, and I added some wool felted leaves to decorate it for fall. I chose the extender piece, so it is quite large, but I love that it gives the children plenty of space to create an enclosed area with fabric and cloth for imaginative play.

The boys were excited to see it, but one of the things I have noticed is how much they love when my 15-year-old daughter joins them in their play. Later in the day she draped fabrics over the structure and helped transform it into a little enclosed space where they could settle into their own imaginative world.

My mother had also recently noticed the red and white mushrooms in the story we are reading, The Hedgehog Leaves Home, and picked up the sweetest mushroom hats for the children. Even though she was not with us that day, she sent the hats along with some little aprons she thought the children would enjoy using during our kindergarten work.

We also spent some time bringing the senses into our morning. The children smelled a cinnamon stick, which is such a simple way to bring the season into the room. I love incorporating the smells, textures, colors, and experiences of fall into our kindergarten rhythm rather than separating them into a formal lesson.

Our gardening work continued as well. Some of the seedlings were beginning to struggle in their small pots, so the children added a few more seeds and watered them. At this point, most of the seedlings really need to be transplanted outdoors. Since we still have landscaping happening in both our front and backyard, I decided to send the majority of the plants home so the children could continue caring for them and eventually put them into the ground.

The main handwork project for the day was weaving. This was primarily intended for my 11-year-old nephew. I taught him how to make his own weaving board, add the string, and begin working with some of the plant-dyed wool yarn.

I also prepared smaller weaving boards for the four-year-olds, but this ended up being a really useful reminder for me about developmental readiness. The project was simply too advanced for them. They recognized when they made mistakes and became frustrated trying to correct them. If I introduce weaving again at this age, I would make it much larger and much more open-ended. Unless they specifically ask to try it again, I will probably wait before bringing this particular project back.

This is one of the things I appreciate most about working with young children. The activity itself tells you quite a bit. If the process creates unnecessary frustration rather than meaningful engagement, sometimes the best thing to do is simplify the work or set it aside.

Every kindergarten day also includes time in the kitchen. For this class, I cut two zucchinis in half lengthwise so that each piece had a flat surface and the children could safely practice cutting them with their serrated knives. Zucchini turned out to be a wonderful vegetable for this kind of work because it is firmer than a banana but much softer than an apple or carrot.

The children have already worked with bananas, apples, carrots, and now zucchini, and I can really see their confidence and coordination developing each time they practice. I did discover that I definitely need more cutting boards because one of the children ended up working on a cutting board that had literally split in half.

We sautéed the zucchini simply with olive oil, salt, and pepper. While it was cooking, the children had bagels and cream cheese for snack. Usually they are more inclined to eat the foods they help prepare, but this time my sister-in-law and my 11-year-old nephew were the ones who enjoyed the zucchini while the younger boys returned to their play.

We ended our day with The Hedgehog Leaves Home, as we have been doing throughout this kindergarten block. The children put on their mushroom hats while we continued the story. I usually review a few pages before moving forward, and sometimes I weave in personal stories or other little experiences along the way.

Eventually, once we have finished the book, I would like to return to the beginning and begin telling the story from memory rather than reading directly from the pages. We have also used a little hedgehog and other handmade props on previous days, although this time we simply enjoyed the story without them.

Before the children left, I gathered all of their seedlings for them to take home along with their mushroom hats and the little aprons from my mother. They love leaving with these small treasures, and I love seeing how the work of our kindergarten day continues beyond the time we spend together.

Each class continues to remind me that kindergarten does not need to be filled with complicated projects. There is so much development happening through practical work, sensory experiences, storytelling, gardening, cooking, handwork, and most importantly, time for meaningful imaginative play.

Head Hands and Heart Boutique