Sharing the Halloween spirit with kiddos (+ a Target giveaway!)
Hi friends! This post is sponsored through my partnership with Bitsy’s Brainfood and includes an awesome Target giveaway!
Even though I think Liv has always *enjoyed* holidays, she really has the hang of it this year. She is looking forward to Christmas, her birthday, and won’t hesitate to tell you what she’s going to be for Halloween. (“You have to guess first!”) I’ve always been a fan of the holiday season, and find that it’s even more enjoyable and magical with a little one. It’s so much fun to share traditions with her, create our own, and share in the holiday spirit.
(Liv’s first Halloween as a little sushi roll.)
Since Halloween is on the way, here are some of the things we’ve been doing to enjoy this season:
Crafts
Martha Stewart I am not -in fact, if she saw my caramel apple abomination in the fridge she would die laughing- but I love doing simple crafts for each holiday.
Some of our favorites:
Mummy jars. Our babysitter got this at the One Spot in Target and brought it over to do with Liv. She said they have a ton of different Halloween characters.
Painting pumpkins. We had a pumpkin painting party when Liv was itty bitty, and last year, painted pumpkins on the patio.
This easy and whimsical bat craft.
Simple cut and glue work: I cut out the pumpkin, stem, eyes, nose and mouth, then gave her a glue stick and she put him together.
(Proud mama moment: Liv only needed help making the “V” and the “A” in her name. Blown away!)
Fun with food
Injecting some spooky spirit with these little mandarin orange “pumpkins” and banana ghosts
Cake batter rice crispies
We’re officially obsessed with this recipe, and added Halloween sprinkles to the latest batch
Decorating
For us, just dragging things out of storage is exciting!
While I don’t go too over-the-top with Halloween decor (Christmas is another story), it’s fun to have some Autumn-esque touches here and there.
Pumpkin patch
It doesn’t feel like fall until you’ve made it out to the pumpkin patch! There’s a nearby town called Julian that we’ve been wanting to check out, too. Not only can you pick your own pumpkins and apples, but word on the street is that they have the best pie.
Music
I’ve had way too much fun introducing Liv to “The Addams Family,” “Monster Mash” and “Thriller.”
Costume parties
Oh wait. That’s every day around here.
Books
Some of our favorite Halloween books:
Pinkalicious: Pink or Treat
Franklin’s Halloween
It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse!
Picking out treats!
Liv was SO excited to see her beloved Bitsy’s cookies at Target amongst the Halloween snacks, and that’s what we’ll be giving out this year.
(She insisted on having a pack to “test them out” haha.)
Not only are they nut-free and certified organic but it’s a nice way to switch it up from the overly sugary sweets. These cookies taste amazing, and are also a great way to get in some bonus nutrition through fruits, veggies, healthy fats and fiber. An awesome deal if you’re shopping for Halloween trick-or-treaters: the Bitsy’s products are 15% off this week via the Target Cartwheel app.
I think our trick-or-treaters will be very happy. 🙂
And now, it’s giveaway time!! Bitsy’s Brainfood kindly offered a $50 Target gift card to one lucky winner. Enter via the widget below and the winner will be announced one week from today.
Ready, set, go!
xoxo
Gina
This post is sponsored by Bitsy’s Brainfood. Thank you so much for supporting this blog and the companies who help support our family. <3
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My favorite thing about Halloween is the fact it’s also my husband’s birthday … and my due date is on Halloween so the day should be fun around here 🙂
All the extra chocolate is my favorite part!
Halloween costume shopping with little kids. Asking them who they want to be and who you should be has brought out some hilarious responses
My husband’s birthday is on Halloween, so that’s definitely my favorite thing! We’ll be celebrating the big 3-0 for him next week!
I love picking out costumes with my kids…I just wish it wasn’t so darn cold in Canada by the end of october….we have to make sure the costmes are big enough to fit coats underneath them 🙁
can’t wait to try Bitsy’s Brainfood – my kids can use all the healthy snacks they can get 🙂
All of the candy!!
I love greeting all the trick-or-treaters, especially the shy ones who aren’t quite sure what it’s all about. Last year, we had more than 200–so we buy the big bags of candy at Target!
i love the fall treats like caramel apples, candy corn and apple cider donuts!
Dressing my son up
I love seeing the cute little kids in their costumes. I love the ones that decided to be something random . Last year there was a little boy that was dressed up as a pencil because “He likes school”.
I love handing out candy and seeing what all the kids are dressed up as!
Such cute ideas that are perfect for mamas with little ones 🙂
i love seeing how excited all the kids are and all of their cute costumes!
My daughter loves it so much!
Trick or treating with family.
Caramel apples, woo-hooo!!
seeing all the kids’ costumes
I love October! Halloween with a toddler is so much more exciting!
Dressing up – it’s fun to still pretend to be a kid and get creative with a clever costume.
carving pumpkins!
Loving the cooler temps! Still in the 80s but last week was in the upper 90s. Ahh, Texas weather. 🙂
My favorite part of Halloween is costume parties!
I love how into Holiday decorating that y’all get! So festive!
I love watching the kids dressed in costume running from house to house. Then my daughter and her friends set up camp and swap candy:-)
Love the cool weather and knowing that the rest of the holiday season is on the way!
Will be on the lookout next time I’m at Target! Great to show kids that FOOD tastes great on Halloween not just candy.
the candy! Even though I don’t eat most of it. I just like buying it
I am totally obsessed with everything Fall and Halloween. I have had such a fun time decorating and making crafts with the kiddos this year. They’re age 2 and 4 and at an awesome age to really get involved in all the holiday festivities and fun!
I enjoy seeing the happy children.
Halloween is my FAVORITE!!! My house is decorated and we love baking black and orange treats, going to Halloween parties, the pumpkin patch and of course, trick-or-treating!
These AND the Annie’s bunny grahams right beside them? Perfection!
I love seeing all the costumes! It will be especially exciting with little ones!
This is awesome. I love the idea of giving something out that is not candy but is still great tasting!
Seeing how excited my little boy gets!
The fall leaves blowing around and the ‘spookiness’ of the bare trees (then after Halloween they’re just depressing and I can’t wait for Spring, lol)
I always look forward to the few extra treats everywhere (at the office, at coffeeshops, at the gym, etc!) and the crispness in the air since it’s finally feeling a bit like Fall!!
My husband and I love passing out treats to all the little ghosts and goblins!
Their excitement is so fun to watch!
We haven’t gotten to a pumpkin patch yet, and I’m legitimately starting to get nervous about it… my boyfriend, on the other hand, couldn’t care less and was fairly underwhelmed when we went last year 🙂
My favorite thing about Halloween is seeing all the kids dressed up and so excited to trick-or-treat! Really brings me back 🙂
I LOVE visiting the pumpkin patch and picking apples to make apple crisp!
I love Halloween Joe Joe’s and fall weather and watching Hocus Pocus and The Labyrinth on an endless loop.
My favorite thing about Halloween = CANDY!
I can’t wait to have kids to share the fun with them!
Dressing up and candy!
My favorite part of Halloween is all the neat costumes my kiddos have worn over the years.
Halloween is my parents wedding anniversary. It is a tradition to go to their house for dinner and trick or treating. This year however is bitter sweet. It is now going to be my third year without my Dad, he passed in 2012 from ALS. And my mom is going to Hawaii for my brothers wedding. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! No mom and dads 🙁
But all is good, I will still celebrate somehow with my kiddos.
God bless
I love any holiday – i’m on board with most holidays. I love the decor, the music, the festiveness, the feeling of togetherness, the BAKING/cooking (love love love), and of course the time off to spend with family and friends. Holidays rock. They make me truly take a step back and think about all that I have and how grateful I am. <3
I love decorating my house!
The mini size candies; then at least when I eat 5 kinds they weren’t full size 😉
Would love to try the cereals! We have a lot of food allergies in our house, so love that several of the cereals are free from the major allergen groups!