Easy Easter Craft for Toddlers

Today we have been doing a bit of Easter inspired crafting. It's a really easy one but also a very messy one.
 Toddler + Glitter + Glue = Huge Mess!

All I did for this was cut some Easter Egg shapes out of paper and gathered together a handful of things to decorate them with. 

I used colourful bits of paper and shredded them and lots of glitter. Calleigh had a great time playing with the glue and she really enjoyed that I let her do it all herself (as much as I wanted to yank the glue from her hand). 

Clean up wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I do fear that we will be finding glitter everywhere for the next couple of weeks!

Calleigh's Easter Basket

This Easter instead of loads of chocolate eggs I have decided to put together a goodie basket for Calleigh. I have seen loads of basket ideas on the Internet and in the shops and couldn't wait to get started on my own. 

After buying the basket each week I would pick up a few bits whilst shopping to put in her basket. I was finding loads of little toys and chocolates for under a dollar that I knew Calleigh would love and have put these inside the plastic eggs. I also got her an Easter Hello Kitty and a few books and activities to do on Easter Sunday.

I have also put together a little egg hunt for Easter morning. When Calleigh wakes up Daddy will hand her the first egg and she will follow the little clues I put inside to find her basket!

Painting

We had a go at painting the other day. I printed some fun Halloween/Fall shapes out for Calleigh and I to colour in. I covered the table with a sheet before hand as I knew we would end up with paint everywhere. And I wasn't wrong, we ended up with paint on the carpet, on the sofa and all over Calleigh. Let's just say we won't be trying it again any time soon, at least not until we get our own house. As much as it was really good fun and I enjoyed watching Calleigh be creative, it was always in the back of my mind that this was not our furniture. 

Luckily most of the paint came off Calleigh easily in the bath, but I cant say the carpet had such luck. 

Oops. 

I also had to give her the dummy half way through to stop her eating the paint. Why? I don't know. I mean it doesn't even look appetizing! 

Halloween Cupcakes with Kids

Calleigh and I had a great time decorating some cupcakes. I made the cupcakes and put the frosting on whilst Calleigh was having a nap so when she woke up we could decorate them together. 

A great tip for when decorating cakes with little ones is to put all of the decorations into a cupcake baking tray. That way they can pick out which decorations they want to put on without making a mess, well too much mess. 

I used a basic cake and butter cream frosting mixture (the recipe is posted here) and used special Halloween decorations and candy corn to decorate.  

Calleigh loved it and surprisingly resisted the urge to eat any right up until the end when I turned around to find her licking one. 

5 Fun Fall Activities with Kids

It's officially Fall. 

The weather is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter and there are lots of new, fun things to do now that summer is over. October is my favourite month of the year. I love Halloween and the start of the Fall season. I'm really looking forward to dressing Calleigh up for Halloween this year! There is also lot's of fun things happening in our local area that we will be going to.

Here is a list of my top 5 activites to do this fall.

Image Credit 

1. Visit a Pumpkin Patch and do some pumpkin picking- This is a great activity to do with kids. We have never done it before but are really looking forward to going this year. Just 15 minutes from us there is a great place called Rombach Farms which has a great Pumpkin Patch and lots of other activities to do there including hay rides, pony rides and a wooden maze. And the fun doesn't stop there, once you take the pumpkin home you can have fun carving spooky faces on it. 
2. Halloween Crafts- There are lots of places on the Internet you can download Halloween crafts for free. It's a great way to decorate your house for Halloween and practice creativity with your little one. DisneyJunior.com has a great range of Halloween crafts with all their favourite Disney Junior characters. 
3. Taking a walk- To me there is no better time to take a walk than this time of year. All the colourful trees, leaves crunching under your feet and lots of wildlife about. 
4. Keep a look out for local events. A lot of places will have Halloween and Fall special events and festivals. I know the St Louis Zoo is doing "Boo at the Zoo" for Halloween so we will definitely be visiting them this Halloween. 
5. Do some baking- Fall is a great time to indulge in some baking. There are some great recipes for Halloween cakes and cupcakes. You can find lot's of kid friendly recipes on the Internet and tips on how to make baking more fun with your little ones.