Creating Organized Chaos

A blog where differences and similarities thrive, as we try to create order out of our chaos!

Archives for October 2022

Simple Pumpkin Craft

Simple Pumpkin Craft

If you are looking for a simple craft to do with your Littles or Bigs for that matter this one is for you! It is quick and easy and has the opportunity for lots of creative modifications.

Supplies for One Pumpkin:

  • 1 – 2 Pieces of Orange Paper or Cardstock *
  • 1 Green or Brown Pipe Cleaner*
  • 5 – 10 Green or Brown Pony Beads*
  • Tape
  • Hole Punch

* Honestly any color paper, pipe cleaner or pony bead will work they can be Halloween themed, or Fall themed, or just a fun mix up of colors!

Step 1: Cut the paper into 1 inch strips either landscape or portrait, or as the kids would say hamburger or hotdog. Cutting the paper landscape will make a wider pumpkin, while portrait makes it a little more traditional in shape.

Step 2: Punch one hole in each end of the strips. We placed the hole puncher about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in.

Step 3: Thread one pipe cleaner about 1 inch through one of the holes of one paper strip, fold it at a 90 degree angle (yes, math teacher here) and tape it to the paper.

Step 4: Thread one end of the remaining paper strips through the pipe cleaner.

Step 5: To form the pumpkin thread the other end through the pipe cleaner reversing the order you just went in. This is not super important but will allow the pumpkins to collapse and unfold easily.

Step 6: Adjusting the size of your pumpkin thread one pony bead through the top and loop the pipe cleaner through it again to secure the top and hold the pumpkins shape.

Step 7: Use the remaining pony beads to create a stem or vine for the top of your pumpkin.

Unfold and use the pumpkins to add to your fall decorations! We love pumpkins in our house because they can get us through two months of decorations…yes September is too soon for pumpkin anything!

Shaving Cream Play!

Shaving Cream Fun!

Shaving cream play was one of our all-time favorite activities with the kiddos as small children. We always bet on who would try to at it first, who would get it in their eye and who would not even want to make a mess. To answer that question, 4 out of 4 attempted to taste it, and that never went well, and they never tried it again. 1 out of 4 got it in their eye, which I will take those odds. It just required a quick wipe-down. Finally, 4 out of 4 made a fun mess with it. They all started out slow as if they thought I was testing them. Thought to themselves, wait, so she wants me to make a mess. YES, the answer is always YES. In our home, I constantly say make a mess, make memories, but remember there is always a pick-up.  

Perfect Sensory Play

There are so many different things you can do with Shaving cream play. Here are a few ideas we have done with our kiddos.

Material Needed:

  • Foaming Shaving Cream

OPTIONAL ITEMS

ABC Practice: We give them a tray. We squirt a pile of shaving cream on it. We provide them with the fun opportunity of evenly spreading the shaving cream over the tray. Then we showed them different letters they drew in the shaving cream as if it was snow or sand. They have fun doing this because they get to “erase” it but play with the shaving cream again to flatten it for the following letter.  

Sensory play: This is the most straightforward concept. Please don’t overthink it. For containment purposes, we put them in their highchair for this exploration. Then we squirt a shaving cream pile in their tray’s middle. You can give them different objects to play with or let them explore their senses with the shaving cream. Watching their hesitance in our house turned it into arm, neck, body, and sometimes even hair exploration is entertaining.

Color Fun:  For this one, it s much like sensory play. Only for this one, we also provide small cups of water with the bath colors. We give them paintbrushes, and they can color the shaving cream. We love the color tabes for the bath because they allow the children to explore colors without staining their hands or clothes.    

Tips:

  • Warn them before play that it is not whipped cream and does not taste good. Tell them not to put it on their eyes.  
  • Keep a wet washcloth nearby to wash their face if it gets in their eyes or mouth.
  • We like to do this shirtless. It is much easier to clean up, and the kiddos love it. For sensory play, they are truly able to explore.  
  • For the sensory play version, I typically go into this activity knowing that bath time is going to be following this activity.
  • LET THEM MAKE A MESS!! LET THEM ENJOY THE MESS!!

Pumpkin Cold Foam- A Delicious Fall Escape

Cold-brew with Pumpkin Foam

I know there is a lot of controversy over when it is officially ok to start drinking pumpkin drinks. I may be on the earlier side of this controversy. Nothing fixes things like pumpkin coffee. Ask my husband it is his get-out-of-jail-free card from August to November. It is a seasonal flavor to me, which keeps it unique. Of course, a new fad comes this year: Cold brew coffee with PUMPKIN SPICE COLD FOAM!!! Capital letters for a reason, do you hear my excitement?

After I spent a lot of money buying them, we decided to make them ourselves. Can I say these are delicious and easy? You can make the batch and save it in the fridge for later use. Five simple ingredients and you have your Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam. Enjoy, my kiddos had off today. I may have to add some vodka to mine.

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Pumpkin Cold Foam- Fall deliciousness

  • Author: creatingorganizedchaos
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Description

Join in the Pumpkin Spice Craziness.  Make some yummy Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam.

Ingredients

Scale

1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

Whisk together all of the ingredients making sure that they are thoroughly combined.

Place in fridge for an hour.

Take out your cold brew coffee, and pour it over ice.

Take out your cold foam; depending on how much foam you want, measure 1/4- 1/3 of the liquid into a bowl and hand blend or, even better, place it in a bullet-like blender. Blend until it becomes foam.

Pour onto your cold brew and ENJOY!

Did you make this recipe?

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Game-Time Child Friendly Charcuterie Board

Game-time Charcuterie Board

It’s Game Time! Football season is all about comfort food. In our house, football was rarely watched. Yet somehow our father could tell you about the teams, though it was very rarely on our T.V.. However, at our Grandpa’s house, football and basketball were always on. The sound of a game relaxes me. When I was in Graduate school, my husband would watch the games, and I would either nap or study. I don’t know what it is about the sound, but it brings a settling feeling to me. Now, let’s cross town to my sister’s house. If you’re looking for relaxation, you can not watch football or any sport for that matter with my brother-in-law. To say he is intense would be an understatement. Even the dog runs and hides when he is watching. The one thing in common in both homes is that there are still children to feed, little children and big children (Dads).

This board was inspired by my pre-adolescent child, who will eat us out of house and home. When thinking of a board, especially one that may replace a meal, we first think about proteins. For this board, you could go so many ways with protein. Our chosen proteins are ribs and hot dogs. They are not my favorite, but for a lazy Sunday, they worked.

Then we thought about other fillers that we associate with watching football. Pretzels are at most sporting events, so we found the bite-size frozen pretzels. Pretzels are fun to make from scratch with the kiddos but let’s remember this is a lazy Sunday board. We added Peanuts even though they are typically baseball because the kiddos have fun cracking them, which helps slow down food’s disappearance. Pickles and fried pickles because why not? Mozzarella sticks because they are a kiddo favorite, and football brownies are the dessert. BAM! Dinner on a platter! What would you add to your Football Charcuterie? Come back to see what else we come up with next!

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Game-time Child Friendly Charcuterie Board

  • Author: creatingorganizedchaos
Print Recipe

Description

It’s Game Time! It’s Lazy Sunday Time!  It’s Family Game Night! It’s Party Time! It’s Couples Night!  It’s Date Night!  It’s Poker Night! It’s Guys Night!  It’s basically any night  and this board works.  Cook, place and enjoy!

Ingredients

Ribs- You can buy the pre-cooked ribs to make it super easy and just pop them in the oven or cook some yourself.  My husband enjoys smoking meats and smoked the ribs for our board.  

Fried Pickles

Mozzarella Sticks

Peanuts

Pretzel Bites

Brownie Bites

White Icing

Pickles

Hot dogs

Hot Dog buns

Ketchup 

Mustard

Instructions

1- Heat up or cook the ribs to your liking.

2- Cover a large baking sheet with foil. 

3- Preheat the oven and cook all frozen snack items.

4- Take pickles out and strain them. Put them aside so they can fully drain. 

5- Depending on the brownies you buy, you may be able to do this, but you may not. We were able to form the brownie bites into footballs. My little one enjoyed this part. They then used the fine tip and drew a white line with three stripes to resemble a football. 

6- Time to plate! We started with the Peanuts, on the corners diagonally away from each other. Then start building the side. We left the room in the center for the ribs and tried to mirror each side. 

7- Get your plate first before it Disappears! 

Notes

Did you add to the board?

Did you make this recipe?

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Halloween Sensory Bin

Halloween Sensory Bin

Halloween is coming near. Once that air turns crisp, my children can not wait to start decorating for Halloween. What better way to have fun with the season then by creating a Halloween sensory kit. This allows them to enjoy the upcoming holiday and builds their sensory skills.

Glittery spider

These bins entertain them as they explore their senses. We also like to put things in containers that will engage their motor skills. For this particular bin, we placed beads and pipe cleaners, thus allowing them the opportunity to put the beads on the pipe cleaners to make bracelets and other fun things. We also use various colors and textures to help engage their senses on different levels.

This particular box is for my children, but we had to remember my niece. My children (well, most of them) like the scary parts of Halloween (at a child’s level), for example, the spiders, witches, and snakes. On the other hand, my niece wants nothing to do with it. My son wanted spiders in the box for Halloween, so we found ”sparkly, glittery Spiders.” We talked them up to her with all their beauty, and she loved them. There are so many items you could add to this Holiday themed box, but this is what we added:

Halloween Sensory Box Contents-

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THEME BY ECLAIR DESIGNS