How cute is this? I’ve never heard of a Pop Tart Gingerbread house, but that would be SO cool! That would make it look all frosted and decorated. Plus, there are a wide variety of Pop Target to choose from. You can order them here. Here are the instructions for this cute house.

Pop Tart Gingerbread Houses
Picture & Instructions by Glue Sticks Blog

Ingredients:

• 6 pop tarts- choose fun colors!
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons water
• candy & sprinkles to use as decorations

Directions:

For the directions you’ll want to check them out here at Glue Sticks Blog. She has awesome pictures to help guide you though the house making. It looks super simple and doable for all ages. This would be a fun one for the kiddos.

Now that Halloween is over, do you have a TON of candy?  What do you do with it? How do you minimize the intake of sugar for your kids? Here is a great way to solve all of your questions- Make a Christmas Countdown Chain! This chain seriously saves me from kid tantrums and tears. Instead of them asking every 10 minutes if they can have another piece of candy, they know that they get one piece a day and each day means it’s closer to Christmas! It does take some time, but the kids can help you out!  Here’s how you do it:

Supplies you need:
Plastic Wrap
Ribbon or Yarn- cut into strips long enough to tie
Scissors
Halloween Candy (# depending on when you start your chain-days to Christmas.)

Directions:

Stretch your Plastic Wrap out and keep it straight. Don’t cut it off until you are completely done. Tie Ribbon on the end and add in your first piece of candy. Next you’ll want to wrap the plastic wrap around the candy and twist the end a few times so the candy doesn’t fall out. Then add another ribbon. Repeat this step until you have all of your pieces in your plastic wrap.  End the chain with another ribbon-twisting before you tie. That’s it!

Tips:
#1: If you have more than one child, consider using different colors of ribbon or yarn for each kid.  That way they know which chain is theirs just by looking at the color.

#2: Remember to twist the wrap after each candy, otherwise they tend to fall out.

#3 If you don’t have enough pieces to go all the way until Christmas, consider going until Thanksgiving or even through the month of November. There can be different ending times, depending on the amount of candy you have.

This year has definitely not been a normal year. School kids are missing out on many fun activities and celebrations because of the pandemic and social distancing. With school cancelled for the last few months until the end of the year, most kids won’t be seeing their friends or teachers for the rest of the year. However, even with these differences, you can still make the end of this year special. Our kids deserve praise and recognition for the hard work they have been doing!

• Celebrate with their friends! Even though we aren’t getting together with big groups of friends, you could still find a way to celebrate with them. You can set up a virtual meeting with your kids and their friends, you could set a designated time and place to meet and do a social distancing meet up (although it does work better with older kids that really won’t go within 6 ft of each other). You could make cards and deliver them on the doorstep of special friends.
• The last day of school could be special by switching up your routine. I don’t know about your, but the last 8 weeks has been nothing but school work and surviving. We haven’t really switched up the routine at all. It’s kinda sad! But we did it! So, on the last day make a new breakfast, go on a picnic, do the last day of school celebrations with friends, take around your teacher/friends gifts, Face time family and friends, make or order out a yummy dinner. Just by switching up what you do on the last day of school can make a big difference.
• Gifts. I’m not normally a gift person. I like to do experiences over gifts. However, since this summer is looking like we will be staying home, I’ve thought of a few fun outdoor toys that I could get my kids for the last day of school. That way it’s an end of school year present AND a summertime stay busy present! I got my boys a RipStik which they have been wanting. My little kids have wanted scooters. You could also look at water toys or water guns. 
• Decorate the house/rooms with banners, balloons and color. The minute the kiddos see the decorations, they know it’s a day to celebrate. Grab balloons from local businesses and hang them outside the house.
• Show your teachers how much you appreciate them with a simple, inexpensive gift. There is a good article here that gives some great ideas. Our teachers have worked so hard and have switched up their routines and teaching to help our kids succeed. Make their last week/day special.
• Make a 2020 Time Capsule. This year is one to remember. Have your kids make a capsule to capture the ups and downs of this year. There is a good article you can read here about how to make your own.