October 23, 2020 – joyful parenting

Halloween 23 Boo Bags (4)

It’s safe to say this was Travis’s favorite of our countdown activities so far this Halloween season. We decided to “Boo” a few friends with goodie bags, a tradition that seems to be gaining traction.

First up was a trip to the store to select goodies for the Boo Bags. A local retailer had all the treats we needed for this trick, including goodie bags and little Halloween trinkets (think stickers, wind-up monsters, pencils, and individually-wrapped candies).

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At home, we printed out the Boo note to go with each bag. If you’re new to the tradition, the recipient hangs a “We’ve been BOO’d” sign in the window, then copies the directions and “Boos” two other friends, keeping the fun alive. Travis loved stuffing the bags with our treats.

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We colored in the notes since our printer is black-and-white, and then it was time to sneak off and drop them at doorsteps.

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The goal is to be as sneaky as a ghost and try not to get caught!

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Well, it turns out that Travis and I are terrible ghosts! We were spotted at every single one of our drop-offs, but it gave all the kids a good laugh which turned out to be half the fun.

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Did you Boo someone this Halloween? Please share in the comments!

Pumpkin Scented Rice (5)

This was easily one of the prettiest sensory rice bins I’ve put together for Veronika. And it certainly smelled the best!

To prepare the rice, you’ll want to start the night before. I didn’t have orange food coloring, but I dripped in a good sized blob each of red and yellow, then added about 2 tablespoons of hand sanitizer. Add a bag of plain white rice, along with 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, and stir until it’s all combined.

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I ended up really liking the striated effect this achieved, since some pieces were more yellow, some more red, and some a perfect blend of orange. All the fall colors! Spoon the mixture onto a shallow tray so it can dry overnight.

In the morning, I laid out the rice for Veronika, along with pine cones and whole cinnamon sticks. Feel free to add other whole spices if you have them, like nutmeg or star anise.

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Veronika loved the bin right away, first wanting to get her hands on the cinnamon sticks. “Can I smell them?” she asked.

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I also added in a few orange pipe cleaners so she could thread the cinnamon sticks onto them, almost like long beads.

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Cinnamon bracelets!

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Then she started sprinkling handfuls of rice over the pine cones. She loved the sound it made!

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It was fun to bury the pine cones in the rice and then unearth them. And of course she paused often to lift the rice near her nose and take a deep breath in. There’s nothing better than the smell of pumpkin pie!

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