Category: 5-Year-Old

Gallant Challenge: Candy Drive

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After reading  this month’s Gallant challenge in Highlights magazine, about a girl who started a candy collection after Halloween to benefit military veterans, Travis knew he wanted to get involved with Treats for Troops!

Luckily we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel; his school already has a collection bin each year. But I was so proud of Travis, parting with candy with zero protest and in fact so excited at the idea that the candy would go to soldiers.

We always have a surplus since many candies he receives knocking door-to-door aren’t vegan. We also had tons extra from our own bowl, since a rainy night meant not too many trick-or-treaters stopped by.

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Travis parted with surplus peanut butter cups and lollipops, saving just enough to still have treats at home in the coming days.

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This is such a win-win; your children get to enjoy the spirit of sharing and you don’t have to worry about all that sugar and dental bills! In fact, many dentists’ offices have collection bins after Halloween, so check with your provider!

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Here he is proudly dumping the candy in the bin, his gallant moment.

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Do you donate candy after Halloween? Please share in the comments!

Monster Balloon Decorating

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Blow up these “monsters” to decorate the house on the eve of Halloween! The LED lights should last about 48 hours.

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Travis was thrilled with the little balloon lights (you can find these at party stores). Turn one on and slip into an uninflated balloon, then blow up.

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I had pre-cut a few monster features for Travis on sticky-back black craft foam. As an alternative, you can make mouths, eyes, and noses on black cardstock and use a glue stick to attach to the balloons. But we found that the sticky backing made things very easy!

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Our monsters were wiggly and wobbly as we decorated them; it was ultimately easier to hold them between my legs than to tape them onto a table, which we had tried first.

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The darker it gets, the more your monsters glow!

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Travis loved having these creatures around to set the mood for Halloween.

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Celebrate Cats Four Ways

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In addition to Veronika’s birthday, it’s National Cat Day! So Travis and I took a moment out of the festivities to celebrate these amazing animals in four fun ways.

First up, have you can drew (or color in) pictures of cats. Make up a story to go along with these. Travis is having a bit of a mummy phase, so his story was about a magical mummy cat!

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Then of course we dressed up like them: simply twist pipe cleaners around a headband for cat ears. We made a matching mom-and-son pair.

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If you think it will work, consider teaching your cat a new trick!

And most important, consider visiting a shelter. Whether you bring treats or food, or make a monetary donation, or just donate your time and snuggles, the cats will thank you for it!

Boo Mobile

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The spooky decor continues! On the heels of eerie snack cups, Travis helped make a mobile to hang in the house this Halloween.

First, wrap 2 dowels in orange. Thick yarn would have made quicker work of this step but since I only had orange needlepoint thread, so I was proud of Travis sticking with it.

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Secure the thread with tape. Tie the two dowels crosswise to each other with more thread.

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For decorations, we cut simple ghost shapes from white craft foam. Travis loved adding their spooky faces, including one with “fangs”.

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I also cut the letters B-O-O from orange craft foam. Attach these decorations to more thread with tape, and tie each thread to one end of the dowels. Hang with a final piece of thread, whether in black or orange.

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Boo!

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Eerie Eyeball Cups

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With Halloween a week away, Travis is starting to demand spooky decor around the house. We put together these eerie snack cups, perfect for holding candy or portions of little snacks or dry cereal.

Cut an upcycled egg carton into separate compartments. Decorate half of them as the top of the eyes, with a circle right in the center.

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Add wiggly lines of red marker for the bloodshot veins. (Note: You can use paint, but we preferred marker since there was no drying time).

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For the other half of the cups, omit the iris and just make wiggly veins.

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Fill the bottoms with treats, then stack an eyeball cup on top.

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Spooky!

Catnip Toys

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It’s our cat’s birthday today, 11 years old! Travis loved the idea of celebrating our little guy, so we put together these easy catnip toys for him.

Ranger Rick had a template to follow for Halloween-themed cat toys, since National Cat Day (October 29) falls just before the spooky holiday. I printed out the pumpkin and ghost templates and  traced them onto appropriately colored felt, along with shapes for facial features and a green pumpkin stem.

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Whoops, because I didn’t have much white felt, some of our ghost features were reversed white-on-black.

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Use fabric glue or hot glue to attach both sides of each shape nearly all the way around, leaving an opening. Travis helped stuff these openings with cotton balls.

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And then of course we added catnip, a small spoonful to each. Travis thought the smell of it was wild, and loved the idea that it would drive the cat crazy.

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Seal up the remaining seam with more glue. I glued on the features, and then it was time to treat the cat!

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Travis loved tossing down the birthday present.

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And our cat was quite appreciative! How will you celebrate National Cat Day? Please share in the comments!

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The Kitchen Bowl

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Forget the World Series or the Super Bowl, today Travis and I competed in the… Kitchen Bowl!

This was an adorable idea from Raddish Kids to round out their Game Day crate. If you have a large family, or are hosting a family gathering, or just want to invite friends over, then you can play these games with proper teams. Travis and I had more of a “tennis match”, going one-on-one to see who could win. For a few of the activities, I challenged him solo.

First, of course, we had to name our teams. Travis declared himself the Speedy Lemons (after his favorite food) and made the Melty Ice Creams. We decorated posters with our names and mascots, and Trravis was proud of his very inventive blue lemon.

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The first event was the Ultimate Taste Test. Could he identify items blindfolded? I knew Travis wouldn’t be “game” for anything liquid, so stuck to yummy snacks like mini bagels, graham crackers, and cashews. He aced them all (pun intended!).

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Next we played a round of Basket-foil. Wad up aluminum foil into balls (about 6 per team) and place a mixing bowl across the room.

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See who gets the most baskets in 60 seconds! We tied with 2 each.

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Tong Training got lots of laughs: Each team has two cups, one filled with 1/4 cup beans. See how long it takes to transfer the beans from one cup to the other. The Speedy Lemons had an impressive 45 seconds.

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You’ll need to work those fine motor skills if one drops.

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Uh oh, the Melty Ice Creams upended the cup.

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Then I challenged him to Memory Madness. I placed 5 utensils in a brown bag (use up to 10 items for bigger kids) and had Travis look at them for 30 seconds. Could he remember all 5?

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With some coaching from the sidelines, he proudly recalled all the items.

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Finally, Speed Whipping! I set out two bowls and two whisks. We had vegan Coco Whip which won’t really whisk up into stiff peaks, so this was just a matter of being silly and seeing who could whip fastest. The Melty Ice Creams came out on top!

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Did I mention this was all before the school bus came? What a way to start the morning!

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Cranberry Chemistry

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The cranberry harvest has hit the shelves, making it the perfect time of year to experiment with this under-appreciated berry. Okay, so this quick science trick uses cranberry juice, not whole fresh cranberries, but it’s still a fun seasonal project for kids!

I set up a few test tubes about 1/3 of the way full with cranberry juice and laid out baking soda and lemon juice.

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First, Travis added 1 teaspoon baking soda to one test tube. It fizzed instantly, always the most exciting part.

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When the bubbles settled, the cranberry juice was noticeably more yellow.

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ow add 1 teaspoon lemon juice (or citric acid) to the same test tube. It will return (almost) to the original color. The color became sort of striated in ours, so the return to normal was clearest near the bottom of the tube.

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The science at work here is base (baking soda) first neutralizing the anthocyanins in the juice, and then the acid returning it to normal. Travis had fun simply experimenting from there! He thought we might make it extra yellow by adding 2 teaspoons baking soda (that one was really fizzy!).

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Next time, we’ll think of other solutions we can add, like soda or baking powder.

Scarecrow Craft Challenge

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This month’s craft challenge from Highlights was a chance for Travis to raid the recycle bin: what fun! Anything that normally might be off limits or taboo always seems to appeal to kids, it seems.

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Travis first pulled out an empty gallon water jug. This would be perfect for the face! He proudly drew on features with a marker.

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We found an empty brown bag that would be just the right size for the body. Crumpled newspaper worked perfectly as stuffing. I tied the handles of the bag tight to seal in the newspapers.

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He decided that empty soda cans would make good arms and legs for our stubby little fellow. I knew waiting for regular glue to dry would frustrate him, so swooped in with the hot glue gun.

We finished by decorating the brown bag torso with marker “clothing”. This was a great chance to watch Travis’s imagination at work! What might your recycled scarecrow look like? Please share in the comments!

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Morphing Monster Clay

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Yesterday Travis made monster slime. Today, we morphed it into monster…clay!

You’ll need to start with the slime recipe, whether or not you’ve made a monster jar to hold it in. As a reminder, that’s stirring together 1/2 cup glue, 1 tablespoon baking soda, and a few drops food coloring of choice. Add 1 teaspoon contact lens solution.

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Place the slime in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons white vinegar and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

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Travis loved that we were dissolving the monster – scary! Begin adding 1 and 1/4 cups cornstarch (that’s 20 tablespoons!) 1 tablespoon at a time. Eventually you’ll have a clay you can work and mold with your hands. This comes out exactly like the model magic you can buy at the store!

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Travis loved the non-goopy texture since he doesn’t always love sticky and slimy projects. Soon he was rolling up monster snakes.

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And he told me this was a mummy!

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Have fun making multiple colors and see what spooky Halloween monsters your kid will create.