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Why end the carving fun with pumpkins?

This is a cute way to get your kids to eat their fruit. What kid would not want a cute carved orange served with their lunch?

It would also be a great way for kids at school or in clubs to be able to have fun carving something together. It is next to impossible to carve pumpkins in large groups but you sure could carve oranges. In the end you would also have a healthy snack instead of just a pile of candy.

When carving oranges you need to be careful to not cut too deep. You just want to cut the outer orange skin. Toothpicks will help you pull the orange skin away.

Here is another gross food that kids love for Halloween. Fried Worm Sandwiches are super easy and kids love them all year long. When my kids were little they loved them and would eat them a lot.

All you need is hot dogs. Cut a few hot dogs in half lengthwise. Then cut each half into three strips lengthwise. You then have a few options depending on how you like to cook hot dogs. You can either boil, microwave, or brown the "worms" in a pan.

As they cook they will curl and plump up to look like worms. My kids used to prefer them all piled on a plate. Then they could pick out their own worms for their sandwich. Sometimes they just wanted to eat them without bread. It is more worm like that way.

Jack O' Lantern Sandwich

This sandwich is another cute and easy idea. Just do some carving on the top piece of bread and make your sandwich. This sandwich is peanut butter and jelly but you can make just about any kind of sandwich. You could also try to find orange bread or just make your own orange bread by doing the bread painting project.

Have you done your pumpkins yet?

We have been pretty busy so we have not gotten that far yet. We plan on doing them Wednesday night. The kids have off of school Thursday and Friday so they can stay up late. That will be the day they have costume parties at school so it will be a great ending for the day.

We love using printable patterns when we do our pumpkins so I decided to share with you some links to a few sites that have nice looking and easy to do patterns. We have used each of them in the past.

The Pumpkin Lady

eHow

DLTK

If you are having a Halloween party you might want some punch. There are some neat things you can do with a Halloween Punch depending on what kind you want.

To get this look all you need is a simple plastic mask and powder free gloves. Simply add water and freeze. You can add food coloring if you have a lighter colored punch.

If you want one hand that is reaching out from the punch you can stand a frozen hand in a coffee can and then fill with water until it covers some of the hand. When it is frozen it will allow the hand to stand up out of the punch.

For a more gross punch you can drizzle red food coloring on the hand and float some vanilla ice cream.

How cute are these?

These are simple and adorable. Another big plus is that you will probably not have to buy a thing to make them. All you need are clean milk jugs, permanent markers, a craft knife, and a string of white holiday lights.

Simply have your kids draw scary ghost faces on a few clean milk jugs. It may help to draw the outline in washable markers first. Then when they are sure that they like the image they can use the permanent markers.

When the faces are all done you need to use the craft knife to cut the holes at the bottom of the jugs for the lights to fit into. That is all that is to it. Very easy and fun.

The best part is that you will not have to worry about storing them for next year. Since the jugs do not cost you anything you can just make new ones each year. You can start a new tradition to go along with pumpkin carving.

Are you a pro at arts and crafts and this one is to easy for you? You can get creative and make more than just ghosts. They can get as detailed as you want them to be.

Here is another Halloween idea...

All you need is apples and almonds. This would be a much healthier alternative to other Halloween snacks. First quarter some apples and cut out the center core area. Cut out a wedge from the skin side to create an open mouth. Then your kids can start inserting the almond teeth.

If your kids want a sweeter snack you can make an alternate version using peanut butter in the open mouth and marshmallows as teeth. Either way they look fun to make and eat.

So you planned a fun day for Halloween... You have some crafts and some snacks but what about some games?

Here are a few cute Halloween games and fun things to do with children.

Paper Bats

This one would be cute to use as a decoration too. You could poke holes in the top and string them up together. All you need to do is cut bat shapes out of construction paper. The bats then get folded with the accordion fold, also known as the fan fold. Then the kids can make small cut outs just like when you make snowflakes.

Witch Hunt

This game is like an Easter egg hunt. Simply hide Halloween things. You can find things at a cheap dollar or crafts store. You could also just cut shapes out of construction paper. You can do witch hats, bats, ghosts, spiders, and pumpkins. You can also have prizes if you would like. Simply put out some special ones that symbolize a price. If you use paper ones you could write the prize on the back.

Halloween Who Am I?

This game is a guessing game with a Halloween twist. The person who's turn it is chooses a Halloween type character and the rest of the players ask yes or no questions to figure it out. This game will keep the kids having fun for a long time.

Here is another fun and healthier Halloween snack. Breadstick bones can be very easy. If you do not want to go to the trouble of making your own breadstick dough you can buy ready made Pillsbury breadstick dough.

Simply roll the dough into a long breadstick and then gently tie a knot at each end. You can then jazz them up if you want. Some things that you can sprinkle on include... garlic salt, Parmesan cheese, oregano, or sesame seeds.

Your kids will love these fun to eat Halloween breadstick bones.

So why do I have a big nasty looking kitty litter picture? The reason is that Halloween is coming.

I have been so busy that I have not posted any Halloween things yet and I am very behind. I was waiting to post anything until I added Halloween things to the main website. Problem is that I am completely redoing the website so I do not want to add anything to it until I am done. So I decided to just put everything Halloween on this blog.

One of the things that kids love about Halloween is all the creepy, scary, and gross things. This is not just any kitty litter it is cake. It is gross looking but that is what kids love about it. Please use a brand new kitty litter pan and scooper.

You Will Need

1 (18 oz.) box	spice or german chocolate cake mix
1 (18 oz.) box	white cake mix
1 pkg.	white sandwich cookies
1 large box	vanilla instant pudding mix
12 small	tootsie rolls
1	litter box (preferably a NEW one!)
1	plastic scoop
	green food coloring

Directions

Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans). Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble. Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in blender, they tend to stick, so scrape often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix using a fork or shake in a jar.

When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. You probably won't need all of the pudding, mix with the cake and "feel" it, you don't want it soggy, just moist; gently combine. Put mixture into clean litter box.

Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. (You all know how much I like to microwave things) Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls and bury in mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly over the top, this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter. Heat remaining Tootsie Rolls, three at a time in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around. Serve with a new pooper scooper.