Even thought Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween event has been cancelled this year, there’s still plenty of fun to be had this fall season at Walt Disney World. The special time of year will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 31 at the Magic Kingdom where you’ll not only be able to soak up all things autumn, but you’ll be able to dress the part, too!
That’s right––for the first time ever, adults will be able to dress up during regular operating hours! Usually, only guests 14 and under can don dress-up duds but this year the parks are allowing everyone to get in on the fun.
Per usual, adults will still not be able to wear costume masks and required face coverings are still a must. If you’re unsure what will be acceptable upon arriving at the park, check out Disney’s Know Before You Go page and Costume Guidelines.
In addition to the exciting costume news, Disney parks are also prepping for fall with a new Halloween-themed brood of characters in their own costumes. And as always, lots of tasty treats that include a Pumpkin Spiced Waffle Sundae, Not So Poison Apple Cupcake and Orange and Black Sugar Churros await.
With birthdays, holidays and general “let’s eat a cupcake” days, every baking parent needs a few go-to recipes in their apron pockets. Even if you’re going box cake (not that there’s anything wrong with that) this easy frosting recipe will give your cake or cupcakes the from-scratch feel. It has a creamy texture that rivals any store-bought frosting and kids can lend a hand (it’s really hard to ruin this frosting). Scroll down for the recipe.
Photo: Amber Guetebier
Ingredients:
1 stick (real!) butter (that’s 1/2 cup for most kinds)
1 8 oz. box cream cheese
1 cup (or less) powdered confectioner’s sugar (less sugar gives it a tarter, cream cheesier flavor)
1-2 tsp. of vanilla (or other extract)
Food coloring (optional)
Method:
1. Let the butter and the cream cheese sit out until they are soft, about room temperature. (This is the part that takes the longest, we swear.)
2. Once they are malleable, put the butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Use a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, whip the butter and cream cheese together. Beat for about 3-5 minutes.
3. Once the cream cheese and butter mixture is sufficiently blended, add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until blended, tasting along the way for flavor.
4. Add the vanilla, blend, and then add the food coloring of your choice.
One batch frosts about 6 cupcakes generously or 12 cupcakes lightly.
Tips: To double the recipe (which you probably will) just remember the one to one to one ration. One stick of butter, one box of cream cheese, one cup of sugar.
Add a little less sugar, sub the vanilla for coconut or almond extract and your frosting takes on a whole new personality.
When you hear the words “summer slide,” what pictures come to mind? A water slide at the pool? A park slide on a hot day? Sunshine and summer fun? Summer Slide is a term often used to describe the tendency for students to decline in achievement gains during the summer months when school is not in session. Fortunately, there are many ways to prevent the summer slide, including reading.
At Stratford School, we believe that reading plays a critical role in warding off summer learning loss by prompting critical thinking, building language skills, introducing new vocabulary and more. When children keep reading, they keep learning. We have curated a list of books by grade that will keep your kids turning the pages in between their playtimes. Enjoy!
Kindergarten
The Last Peach by Gordon Gus: The story of two indecisive bugs contemplating eating the last peach of the summer in a hilarious picture book about anticipation and expectation. Summer’s almost over, and there’s one peach left. There’s also one big question in the air: Should someone eat it? What if it’s rotten inside? But what if it’s juicy? Should the bug who saw it first get to eat it? Should both bugs share it with their friends? Will anyone eat the peach?! EVER?!? A fun book to read together and the ending will surprise everyone.
First Grade
Scribble Stones by Diane Alber: A heartwarming story about a little stone who was able to spread kindness to the world! This story starts off with a little stone who thinks he will become something amazing but then soon realizes he had become a dull paperweight. He’s on a mission to become something greater and in the process meets scribble and splatter and they all come up with a creative way to bring joy to thousands of people.
Second Grade
The Invisible String by Patrice Karst: A comforting story about two siblings who learn that everyone has an invisible string that connects them to everyone they love, anywhere, anytime. You are never alone. The people who love you here and those who have passed away are never far because if you tug on this invisible string they can feel it in their hearts. This is a remarkable message for children who feel lonely, scared, anxious, worried, etc. and this reassuring feeling could help a child cope with a variety of issues from everyday things, like a storm, to serious issues, like the death of a friend or parent. The illustrations are done in soothing watercolors and the simple lines highlight the facial expressions and feelings of the characters.
Third Grade
One-Third Nerd by Gennifer Choldenko: A funny story about a lovable family and the best dog ever from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Al Capone Does My Shirts and the Tales from Alcatraz series. Fifth grade is not for amateurs, according to Liam. Liam lives in the Bay area near San Francisco with his mom and two younger sisters. Dakota is fascinated by science and has a big personality but struggles to make friends; Izzy, a child with Down syndrome, makes friends easily, and notices things that go past everyone else. And then there’s Cupcake, their lovable German shepherd, who guards their basement apartment. Recently, Cupcake has a problem—she’s peeing in the house. The kids need to make enough money to take her to the vet before their landlord upstairs finds out. And Mom and Dad have said if Cupcake doesn’t stop, they will find her a new home. But the kids will never let Cupcake go. Can they save her?
Fourth Grade
The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta (series): On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying, talking birds. There she must solve riddles and battle demons all while avoiding the Serpent King of the underworld and the Rakkhoshi Queen in order to find her parents and basically save New Jersey, her entire world, and everything beyond it. There are two more books in this fun series, so get ready to spend a lot of time reading!
Fifth Grade
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone: Set against the backdrop of the segregation history of the American South, take a trip with this New York Times bestseller and an eleven-year-old boy who is about to discover that the world hasn’t always been a welcoming place for kids like him, and things aren’t always what they seem—his G’ma included. Great for kids studying civil rights.
Middle School
War Stories by Gordon Korman: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Restart, a story of telling truth from lies —and finding out what being a hero really means. There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is a true-blue, bona fide war hero. At the height of the war, Jacob helped liberate a small French village and was given a hero’s welcome upon his return to America. Now it’s decades later, and Jacob wants to retrace the steps he took during the war—from training to invasion to the village he is said to have saved. Trevor thinks this is the coolest idea ever. But as they get to the village, Trevor discovers there’s more to the story than what he’s heard his whole life, causing him to wonder about his great-grandfather’s heroism, the truth about the battle he fought, and the importance of genuine valor.
Keira Pride is the Head Librarian at Stratford School, the leading independent private school founded with a vision of creating a unique, multi-dimensional, educational foundation for children. As Stratford's Head Librarian, she manages the library services department across campuses throughout Northern and Southern California.
Whether you kid is a Rey-in-training or she’s crossed over to the Dark Side, there’s no denying that Star Wars is one of the coolest themes for an afternoon of hands-on fun. From Wookie Bookmarks to Light Saber sensory bottles, we’ve found a dozen ways to amuse your little stormtroopers for days to come. Keep reading to see them all.
Make a menagerie of your favorite Star Wars characters with some toilet paper rolls, construction paper and simple instructions from Hello, Wonderful. Psst … you can even make the droids you were looking for with this cute craft!
Make treat time totally troop-worthy with this easy little track (makes a great cupcake or cake topper, too). Just put marshmallows on a stick and use an edible pen to draw the masks on.
Everyone knows the best stories take place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Make a cute Chewbacca bookmark to act as place keeper in your petite Padawan’s galactically good tales. Mom Start has the need-to-know details on this roaringly awesome project.
Make this cute puppet, you must. In a do, not try kind of way. Little hands can easily assemble this googly-eyed, paper bag Yoda puppet found on Gluesticks and Gumdrops.
Even the littlest Padawans can create this adorable geometric R2D2 to tag along on their adventures. It’s a cut and paste project that’s easy to master. Find templates and the noteworthy deets from Danielle at Mom Inspired Life. Roll on, R2!
Create a flurry of excitement when you and your Jedi-in-training cut out Star Wars snowflakes, designed by Anthony Herrera, to hang around the house. You don’t need expert lightsaber skills to slice and dice these intricate designs, but you do need patterns. Pick your favorite from the sleek collection. Let it snow!
Create Thumbprint Art
Courtesy Klutz
Young Jedis can make an impression when they try their hand at Star Wars thumbprint art. Use the inspiring character designs found in this Klutz book to storyboard an adventure worthy of Luke, Leia and Han. Picture it! A long time ago…
Every Jedi-in-training needs a trusty lightsaber at his side. Let your Rebel fighter fashion his own using a pool noodle, duct tape and his mad design skills. Gain the knowledge you need for this project at muddyboots.com. Train you must!
Craving an ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookie? Disney has been releasing tons of magical recipes as of late, and the newest one is a feast for the senses.
Jack-Jack’s Num Num Cookie Recipe was shared last month via Instagram and in case you missed it, we’ve got it right here! The nine-ingredient recipe will whip up a batch just like the ones you’d find at Disneyland’s Pixar Pier, which will hopefully keep you happy until the parks reopen.
photo: Disney
To make Jack-Jacks’ famous treats, gather chocolate chips, flour, butter, baking soda, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and brown sugar. Then follow the instructions in Pixar’s Instagram post below!
I think we may have found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If you are craving chocolate and mint, then Hostess has the treat for you. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, the popular snack brand is releasing Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.
These limited-edition chocolate cupcakes are topped with a pale mint green frosting as well as the classic Hostess cupcake swirl. They also feature a minty green cream filling.
These treats are available in 8 ct. boxes at Walmart for $2.86.
Unicorns and mermaids are still wildly popular amongs kids and adults, alike. Now, llamas are becoming all the rage. Hostess is releasing new Llama Cupcakes that are more colorful and fun than ever.
These limited-edition yellow cake cupcakes have purple sprinkles mixed into the batter. They are topped with purple icing and rainbow sprinkles, as well as that classic yellow Hostess Cupcake swirl.
These party ready treats will be available in 8 ct. boxes from Feb. 12 through the end of April at Walmart for $2.86.
You’ve seen Target-themed playrooms and weddings at Costco. One mom took her daughter’s obsession with ALDI to the next level. Meaghan Singleton threw her 4-year-old daughter, Saylor, an ALDI themed party and she didn’t leave one detail out.
Singleton’s inspiration for the party was Saylor. When discussing birthday ideas, Saylor asked if they could go to ALDI. Singleton said, “I got a lot of my ideas while on my almost daily stops to ALDI. I walked around the store collecting empty boxes, googled ALDI signs I could relate to Saylor, and the 3 biggest things ALDI means to people; quarters, reusable bags and the speedy check out. I even copied their price tag slogan on the cupcake tier.”
The Aldi-themed birthday party had it all from ALDI posters that look like actual signage in the store, 25-cent cookies, a cash register-inspired fruit bar, ALDI’s Winking Owl wine, and a three-tiered cupcake display that reads “Saylor Loves ALDI.”
Singleton took it one step further by incorporating ALDI in Saylor’s annual photo shoot. She said, “Every year we take photos of the kids to watch their growth and always include what they loved the most that year. So, we had to do her photo shoot in ALDI.” Long time Singleton family friend Pamela Webb, owner of Webb Trio captured Saylor in all her glory.
To top it off, Aldi found out and sent Saylor a handwritten note and a box full of ALDI goodies to help celebrate her special day.
February 29 comes only once every four years and this time around it falls on a Saturday, which is cause for celebration in our book. Wondering how to celebrate Leap Day in LA with kids? Read on for frog-themed, leap-inspired fun happening around town. Hop to it!
Celebrate Leap Day at Kidspace
Shannan Rouss
Revel in the 2020 leap year with Kidspace by wearing your favorite jumpsuit and hopping into leap-day themed activities around the museum like making an origami frog. Event details.
Ever wonder how a mama frog lays her eggs, or think about how a frog makes his signature croaking sound? Learn all about bullfrogs, toads and other native southern California amphibians via larger than life touch screens and live animal exhibits in the Labs of this awesome LA museum.
900 Exposition Blvd Exposition Park 213-763-3466 Online: nhm.org
Head to the wetland garden where little ones can peer closely into the rocky, shallow waters to discover tadpoles and frogs swimming about. While you're there, be sure to "hop" on the mini train for a ride around the grounds.
1418 Descanso Dr. La Canada Flintridge 818-949-4200 Online: descansogardens.org
Visit one of our favorite LA aquariums and discover the interactive frog-themed exhibit. The exhibit traces the history of amphibians, their life cycles, the different environments they live in from deserts to rainforests. Ribbit, ribbit!
Grab your dancing shoes and get your groove on at Third St. Promenade. Attendees celebrating their Leap Day birthday will be given a free cupcake and birthday treats from Carlo’s Bakery, with valid Photo ID. No matter your age, all are invited to experience a fun evening dancing under the night sky to bring in 2020’s long awaited extra day. Event details.
Leap Day just happens to also be Bob Baker Day, a celebration of the iconic marionette theater that's delighted little ones for decades. The singing and dancing puppets will be at Los Angeles State Historic Park for a full day of shows, live music, crafts, games, food trucks, and more. Event details.
Get ready for a slice of nostalgia with the newest members of the Disney Eats Collection! Available in Disney stores and at shopDisney.com, the line features Mickey, Minnie and everything you need to serve up tasty treats in style.
So what can you look forward to from this completely cute collection? You’ll find everything from Mickey and Minnie-themed baking dishes to treat trays (both $19.99)—and so much more.
With classic cartoon illustrations, the Disney Eats Collection’s newest treat-centered top picks also include matching Mickey and Minnie bowls (16.99 for the set), pastel-hued spoons ($16.99 for a set or four), an adorable ice scream scoop ($12.99) and a cupcake stand/caddy ($39.99).
Keep clean as you cook with the Mickey and Minnie pot holder and kitchen towel set ($16.99) or write a note to go with your tasty baked treats on the Mickey and Minnie stationary set from Disney Eats ($14.99).
This oh-so-nostalgic treat-inspired line is available in stores and online at shopDisney.com right now!
