Happy Halloween!

From one cool cat to another, Happy Halloween!

Cooking with the Kid: Chocolate Cupcakes

My little guy has been helping out in the kitchen since he was in his high chair. Nowadays, he still loves to stir and pour, but his cooking skills have increased. His new favorite part of cooking is cracking eggs. I showed him how to do it, and then let him figure it out himself. Sometimes there are eggshells, but his sense of pride and fostering independence is more important to me. We love to make things from scratch, but this time we just used chocolate cake mix. The results were still yummy!

 Once the cupcakes had cooked, L was able to do his most favorite part, the decorating! We have loads of different sprinkles, and although I suggested autumn related sprinkles, he picked his favorite Valentine's Day themed ones.

 He was very attentive to detail and each one came out differently. This took a lot of time, but the kiddo had a lot of fun. 

Once he had finished decorating, he was able to taste test, and they definitely got his seal of approval! 

I am always looking for new recipes to cook with Logan. What is your favorite thing to cook with kids?

A Halloween Play Date

Last weekend, I set up a special play date for Logan and one of his friends in the neighborhood. I got my inspiration (and  free printables!) from Gourmet Mom on the Go. All of the decorations were from the dollar store. I bought some different cereals from the grocery store. These were a special treat from the kiddo since we never by the sugary stuff, and mainly stick with Cheerios. That alone made him super excited to start the day. The kids each got a bowl and were able to mix the cereal together to create their own witches brew. 

The strawberries were a last minute thought.  I was going to just cut them, but I made them spooky by adding some icing eyes and spooky mouths. These were actually one of the kids favorite things! There wasn't a single one left!

I also made some pumpkin muffins. I got the recipe from the Smitten Kitchen. If you at all like pumpkin and muffins, you should absolutely try these muffins out. They are so yummy. The kiddos thought so too. Logan's friend asked if she could bring some home with her, because she loved them so much!

After the kids created their witches brew and finished their breakfast, we headed outside to enjoy the gorgeous day. I had set up two centers for them to play with. At the first station the kids were able to paint their own pumpkin to bring home with them. They loved this activity. 

The second station allowed the kids to make their own monsters. The kids used play dough, googly eyes, and different colored pipe cleaners to create some very unique monsters. 

After this, L and his friend ran around, played, and bounced in the bounce house. It was a great simple play date that made the kids very excited for Halloween!

Halloween Sensory Bin

We have been getting prepared for Halloween with lots of Halloween activities. One of the easiest ones that has been a huge hit with L is the Halloween sensory bin. All of the supplies were either things I had on hand or that I purchased at the Dollar Tree. I wanted to use black beans, but I didn't have any on hand, so I settled for bird seed. L enjoyed running his hands through it. 

This bin provided ample opportunity for sorting and picking things up using tongs. But L's favorite part was adding some of his figures and pretending they were in a spooky land and pretending to make magical concoctions.

I have left this as an easy accessible activity, and the little one visits it throughout the day. 

Glow in the Dark Bath Paint

In our house, bathtub time is play time. We are always looking for new ways to have fun. We have attempted shaving cream paint and a glow bath using glow sticks. Both were instant hits and are still often used. After seeing Growing a Jeweled Rose do a glow bath using a black light, I came up with the idea to try to make glowing shaving cream.

Here's what you need:

• a black light (I felt quite flashback-y to high school when I bought a new one at Walmart for ten dollars).
• Shaving cream foam
• A non-toxic highlighter. I only used a yellow one, so I am not sure how reactive other colors will be. Please check to make sure that it says non-toxic, before attempting this. I noticed that not all highlighters advertise this.

I did set out paintbrushes with the paint, but L ended up forgoing them and using his hands. A little bit goes a long way with this paint. I simply squirted some shaving cream into a container and then took the highlighter apart. A couple of squishes of highlighter ink into the shaving cream, and a gentle stir  and we had our glowing bath paint!

Once we turned the black light on, and L could see the paint glowing, he shrieked and attacked it!

He started by using the paint brush, but that quickly got lost as he spread the paint as high as he could reach and as wide as he could go. As I mentioned before, I have a "vintage 80's" yellow tub, so there was no staining, but if you are concerned, I would test out a little spot prior to unleashing the kiddos.

Once he had covered as much area as he could in the tub, he became the canvas! He loved looking at himself in the mirror!



This was a blast and L talked about it for days. It is definitely worth a repeat quite soon!

Colorful Slime

My kiddo started going to preschool a couple of afternoons a week. One day, upon his return, he discovered this invitation to play with some slime I had mixed up while he was away having fun. I just mixed equal parts of white glue and liquid starch then added some food coloring. The more you play with it the less sticky it gets.

I added some cookie cutters, but L wasn't too interested in them. He much rather see how far he could stretch the slime until it broke.

He also enjoyed making impressions with his hands. When we were finished for the day, I stored the slime in separate containers to play with again. I ended up throwing it away after a week, but that was only because my guy tried to combine all the colors and it became a less than appealing color. 

This was a sticky, stretchy way to play. Have you ever played with slime?