Pumpkin Pie Play Dough (GF & DF)

Mixing this up was a lot of good messy fun and the kids loved helping mix it up!  Smells delicious and it's GF & DF (not that it would taste very good, but just in case)!

Pumpkin Fun!

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough

1 Can of Pumpkin
Cornstarch
Pumpkin Pie Spice


Put the pumpkin in a large bowl.  Mix a generous amount of pumpkin pie spice in until it smells really yummy and is smooth!  Add the cornstarch.  Have the kiddos take turns helping mix it in.  Keep adding cornstarch until it gets to be a bit dry and crumbly.  At this point start kneading it with your hands and their little hands.  Do this and add in more cornstarch until you get the desired consistency.

They loved using pumpkin shaped cookie cutters to play with this!

Preschool Scientists... Pumpkin Guts Craft!

I shared in this post that my preschoolers learned how awesome pumpkins are!  One of the kiddos favorite parts was reading "Pumpkin Jack" and then seeing a pumpkin that grew at my house the same way the pumpkin in the book did!  Then we cut the pumpkin open and got to see, feel, smell, and even taste what was inside.


I wanted to tell you a little more about the craft we did to recreate pumpkin guts!





Pumpkin Guts Craft


Orange Construction Paper
Yellow Yarn
Pumpkin Seeds
Small Clear Plates (I found mine at Dollar Tree)
Scissors
Glue Sticks
Brown Construction Paper
Hot Glue and Hot Glue Gun


To prepare everything, first trace the plate onto the orange paper.  Cut out the needed number of circles.  Cut the yarn into long pieces.  Cut the brown paper into pumpkin stem shapes.


I set the cut open pumpkin on the table and called a couple of children over at a time.  I had them set the orange circle in front of them and cut the yarn into shorter pieces.  We need to work on our cutting skills and holding scissors the correct way so this was great practice.  Next I had them put glue in the middle of their circle and stick the yarn down.  This represented the fibrous strands inside our pumpkin.  I had them glue the brown stem sticking off the top.  Then we practiced our counting and counted out 11 seeds (our number of the week) and place them in the middle of the yarn.  I put hot glue all around the edge of the plate and carefully placed it onto the orange circle.

They loved that they made a pumpkin that they could see inside!

Adorable Mini Ghost Cupcakes! (GF, Vegan)

Sarah is my go to girl if I need a recipe for dessert!  Her flour blend works perfectly every time, and I've never made one of her recipes and been disappointed!

These adorable ghost cupcakes were no different.  Everyone loved them on Halloween night and no one could tell that they were gluten free AND vegan!

Don't judge the fact that mine don't look as perfect as Sarah's!
They got a bit messy in transit to the party!
They still tasted delicious and that's what matters!

She makes them as regular cupcakes and the recipe makes 12-14.  I needed to serve a lot more people so I did them in my "muffin barge" and made about 30 mini ghosts.



Adorable Mini Ghost Cupcakes (GF, Vegan)

chocolate cupcakes

• 1 1/4 C Sarah's gluten free flour blend
• 1/2 C good quality cocoa powder
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1/2 C unsweetened coconut milk (So Delicious)
• 1/2 C water
• 1 T white vinegar
• 1 C organic cane sugar
• 1/3 C sunflower seed oil (I didn't have this so I used a canola coconut oil blend)
• 1 t pure vanilla extract

vegan vanilla buttercream frosting

• 1/2 C organic non-hydrogenated shortening
• 2 T Earth Balance vegan butter, softened
• 3 C organic powdered sugar, sifted
• 2-3 T So Delicious coconut milk coffee creamer (I used regular)
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• dairy free mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your pan with coconut oil.
2. Sift together flour blend, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, stir together coconut milk, water and vinegar, until slightly curdled. Add sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in flour mixture. Mix for 1 minute, until combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared cupcake pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Place cupcakes on cooling rack and cool completely.
5. To make buttercream, beat together shortening and vegan butter for 1 minute in large stand mixer. Add sifted powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons coffee creamer and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy (add additional tablespoon coffee creamer if needed).
6. Place buttercream in plastic bag and cut off a bit at the tip. Pipe tall mound of frosting in center of cupcake, pulling tip away to create small peak. Add chocolate chips for eyes.

"Hey, I saw you in the movie!"
One of the kiddos from another school
thought I was the real Mrs. Incredible!

Preschool Scientists Making Blood!

My little preschoolers and I have been having a blast learning about what's inside our bodies this week!  Can't say I don't use that fancy Biology degree now can you!? ;)

We talked about how there are four parts of blood and what each parts' job is.  The concept was a bit over their heads, but they had fun making blood, especially because we made it out of candy!


Making Blood!


Empty mini plastic water bottles
Corn Syrup = Plasma
Mini Marshmallows = White Blood Cells
Sour Cherry Candies = Red Blood Cells
Chocolate Sprinkles = Platelets


I poured the corn syrup in each bottle so it was about half full.  I told them that this was the plasma and that the liquid part of blood isn't really red, it just looks red because of the red blood cells.  They thought that was super cool. 


Next I had each child count out 20 "red blood cells" and 10 "white blood cells".  I may or may not have let them sample the blood cells! ;)  This was great for practicing our counting both in English and Spanish.  It was also a great fine motor activity.  We learned that the job of red blood cells is to carry oxygen around our bodies and that the white ones help fight yucky germs!  I poured some platelets in each of their bottles and told them that these help stop bleeding when they get a cut. 


Finally we sealed up their bottles, nice and tight!  The kids loved shaking them up to mix the blood!  They were very intrigued by their bottles of blood and would have sat all morning moving them around and watching all the different parts!  They were so proud of their blood that we even had to go show other teachers and our school director what we made.  They were able to tell them what each part was called!  Hearing them say platelets was pretty funny!


One of the teacher's assistants in another room said to me "I bet there aren't many kids that can say they made blood in preschool."  I replied, "that's the point!" :)

Crispy Chicken Salad with Honey Sriracha Vinaigrette (GF, DF)

This is a super quick healthy meal for busy weeknights! 

Spicy Crispy Chicken Salad with Honey Sriracha Vinaigrette

Favorite greens- I love baby kale and spinach

Sliced carrots

Diced red onion

Diced sweet peppers

Slices cherry tomatoes

Sliced cucumbers

Whatever other veggies you have to throw on top!

Sliced chicken nuggets- we use G free from ALDI, delicious!

*Honey Sriracha Vinaigrette

*Honey Sriracha Vinaigrette

1/3 c apple cider vinegar

1/2 c EVOO

1/4 c honey

1 T sriracha 

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 garlic cloves

1/4 t ginger

1 T mayo

Mix up your dressing in a hand blender and throw it in the fridge (it's best if it can hang out in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes).  Get your chicken nuggets baking.  Slice and dice your veggies while you wait on the nuggets.  Fill your plates with a generous amount of greens.  Top with veggies.  Cut up the chicken nuggets and throw those in top.  Pour your dressing over top and enjoy!