Tag Archives: preschool

Tiny Ghoul Gang Party

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Mila and my’s favorite part about this October was her Tiny Ghoul Gang Party. It was a fun way to get all of her friends together and celebrate Halloween!

She had been asking me for weeks about having a party. For some reason she was convinced that her birthday was this month… and not six months away. Instead of fighting that battle for six more months, we invited her preschool and dance friends over and had a Tiny Ghoul Gang Party.

When I first decided to throw this party for Mila, I came up with a pumpkin painting party idea. She loves painting and crafts and I figured her friends would too.

I had a ton of Halloween activity ideas pinned and saved on Instagram. There’s so many creative people in the world, I’m so thankful they share their ideas! It was easy to find things for the kids to do.

Thankfully it was minimal prep too!

The Activities

Pumpkin Painting:

The main party activity was pumpkin painting. We literally laid down an old blanket and table clothes, set out paint and brushes, then let the kids have at it. Honestly, they went right to wanting to paint pumpkins which took me by surprise. If I would have known that, I would’ve got the paint out beforehand. Thankfully, there was a great group of parents who immediately jumped in and helped out!

Besides paint, we also let the kiddos put googly eyes on their pumpkins to decorate too! They all turned out adorable.

This activity is messy. Obviously. If I were to do this again, I’d have found more tables or gotten pallets for the kids to use. Just to stabilize the pumpkins and keep the brushes and paint upright.

Witch’s Brooms:

I just talked about these in another blog post. They’re one of my favorite Halloween activities and went pretty well with a big group of girls. The hardest part was finding the letters of all the girls’ names.

Before the party, I made all of the brooms. If I would do this activity again for kids, I would have their name beads already set out or put in a bag.

Again, there was an amazing group of parents their with us that helped out!

Sensory Bins:

Technically I had three sensory areas set up, but we only got to two. The one sensory play idea that wasn’t used was a potion making station. I think that was fine because it ended up getting cold, which is never good mixed with wet clothes.

The one bin that was used the most was the spaghetti bin. There were eyeballs, fingers, and spiders that the kids could find. But, a couple of them (mostly Mila), ended up just eating the spaghetti… yum. They all did seem like they loved playing with this sensory bowl.

Maybe for the next Halloween party, I’ll do multiple cold spaghetti bowls.

In the other sensory bowl was ‘monster soup.’ It just had torn up tissue paper, Halloween colored sensory items (balls, pipe cleaners, etc). The girls really enjoyed this too!

Bobbing for Apples:

Like I stated above, the cold and water don’t really mix, but the girls really enjoyed trying this. It’s just your classic bobbing for apples game. The ones who participated did really good… the others volunteered to just eat the apples.

Halloween Egg Hunt:

Mila helped prep this activity. I found Easter eggs that looked like jack-o-lanterns at Target. We filled them up with candy and Mila spread them around the yard.

I’m not sure how well she hid them… but the kids loved running and finding them. It was an easy activity and got them playing independently.

Throwing Games:

We also had a few throwing activities that I didn’t get pictures of. One was to throw rings around pumpkin stems. Again, easy set up and fun! Then my mom found this game where you throw a ball in pumpkin styled cups. What kid doesn’t like throwing?

I think all the kids loved what we had set up. There was Halloween music playing in the background, so we got to see some dance moves too. When the kids didn’t have a guided activity, they just ran, talked, or played on the play equipment too. I don’t think any of them were ever bored during the party.

It was so much fun to see Mila’s favorite groups of friends come together.

The Food

I promise I had every intention of making this party have more food than dessert. It just didn’t manifest that way.

The food spread was mostly a dessert bar full of Halloween treats. To be honest, I bought all the desserts. I did not have time to make everything, besides adding extra Halloween sprinkles to the cake. Still, I loved how it turned out!

For the food, we had fruits, veggies, cream chicken, mummy hot dogs, and a skull meat and cheese plate. Plus, there were buckets of chips and a sweet Halloween mix too.

I was actually surprised with how much food was eaten. Of course I still had leftovers, but the majority of it was gone!

We also started a fire and had s’mores too.

The Goodies

To make it a little more special, I made Ghoul Gang shirts for the girls. I think they turned out adorable and even made myself a sweatshirt.

It made for really cute pictures and I love getting shirts, so I knew Mila’s friends would too.

We also made baskets for the kids to take too. It was just a trick or treat bucket filled with goodies for them to take home.

The best goodies for me was watching all of the ghouls having fun. Their smiles and laughs are the reason why any parent does what they do for their kids. I love that this group of girls get to grow up together. Just knowing Mila will have friends going into school and through life brings me so much peace for her.

I am so thankful for all the parents that let their kiddos come. Mila has talked about it almost every day since.

Throughout the madness of the day, Mila and I didn’t get a single picture at her party. This isn’t too crazy. We rarely remember to get pictures together.

Once we got home, she thanked me for her party and gave me a big hug. That’s when we got the picture.

I love being her mom and having the ability to do these types of things for her. Something tells me she’s going to be a kid that wants a party for all occasions. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to do it!

Even when life is crazy, it’s party days like those and the hugs after that make the hard parts worth it.

I can’t wait to see what we come up with for next year’s Halloween party.

Have you ever threw your child a Halloween party? What was your favorite activity at yours or Mila’s?

11 Simple Halloween Activities.

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Halloween is almost here!

Mila and I have done a lot of fun activities to celebrate this month. I wanted to share Simple Halloween Activities you can easily put together before the big day.

All of these can have a version put together quickly at home, but they’re all fun for kids.

1. Potion Making

Mila has loved the idea of making potions this year. As always, water is a HUGE hit with kids.

Witch’s (or Warlock’s) potions help with gross motor skills and amps up pretend play. I always provide multiple bowls, jars, and spoons for her to use. Mila will sit at the island and play for a long time, especially if I keep filling up the water jar.

I won this particular potion making kit from an Instagram giveaway from Little October House.

Emily, the shop owner, is a fellow Ohioan and does an amazing job putting together seasonal sensory kits. I’ve been wanting to order and was so happy that I was able to win this kit.

It came with everything I needed, I just needed to set up the bowls and give Mila water!

Not only was it fun for Mila, it smelled so good.

I’ve also set up DIY potion kits for Mila to play with too. All I used was jars, bowls, spoons, food coloring, and dish soap.

It definitely gives the potion making vibes and she had fun with that too!

One thing I want to try to make it a little more special is grinding up one of her bath bombs too. I think it would give off more bubbles.

The resin creatures, bubbles, and elixir in Little October House is just too cute to pass up! We’ll probably be doing more DIY potions the q few days since it’s been Mila’s favorite way to unwind after preschool.

2. Play Doh Monsters

If you’re looking for an easy activity to set up and only need two to Inca, look no further.

All you need for this simple Halloween activity is Play-Doh and googly eyes! If you’re really feeling fun, you could add pipe cleaners too.

To get Mila started on this one, I just told her to make monsters with a lot of eyes. That seemed to do the trick. She dove right in and made all different kids of monsters.

She even started singing her latest song she learned at preschool.

Watch out for my big scary eyes. Watch out for a big surprise… BOO!

One way to make it more educational is to have kids count the number of eyes or tell them how many eyes to put on each monster.

But, they’re learning SO many skills by just picking up the eyes and playing with the play-doh too.

3. Boolage (Halloween Collage)

As we all know, Mila LOVES stickers. To prevent her from covering any surfaces in our home, having her create a collage on a piece of scrapbook paper was a way better option.

She was so happy to see a little bowl full of Halloween stickers. I told her to create a picture with them on the page a she went to work.

This is a great simple activity that kids can really take charge! Plus, they get to be creative.

Hello more Halloween art!

4. Halloween Letter Recognition

This activity is probably the most educational in this list. We love doing letter recognition in our house, especially with our Beags and Bubs resin letters.

But when I saw this printable coloring page from The Letter Vee, I knew I had a perfect match.

Not only can the duo be used to letter recognition, I’ve had Mila color the page with her matching the colors too.

I love all the possibilities you can use with these fun Halloween learning tools. Mila has used them both so much to talk about what she’s learned this month, spelling her name, and just having a little Halloween fun!

5. Threading a Witch’s Broom

We technically did these for Mila’s Ghoul Gang Party, but I wanted to share them here.

Threading activities are so helpful for kids this age. It really can teach them patience, how to use their hands, and (again) show their creativity.

Out of all the easy activities, this was one with a little more prep. All I used was pipe cleaners and yarn to make the broom. If you only have a couple to make, it doesn’t take that long!

Then, I set out the color beads and lined up the letter beads for their names.

I had a lot of help at the Ghoul Gang Party, but Mila’s made multiple ones of these in the week since. It could be used to make a fun gift tag or just a kids present to their favorite adults around Halloween time.

All of these Simple Halloween Activities have been a hit in our house. I’m sure they would be in yours too.

I’ve also shared other activities we did this year too. Here’s the list to get some more inspiration.

If you try any of these activities out, let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram (@greyskies.rainbowhighs). I can’t wait to see how much you and your kids love them!

What are some last minute Halloween activities you do with your kids?

Ghoul Power Boo Basket

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There’s no better time to celebrate Halloween and little girls than with a Ghoul Power Boo Basket. This yearly tradition is a fun way to get your child ready and excited for Halloween.

Boo baskets were originally secretly left for neighbors and friends, but they’re fun for kids too!

Another amazing part of Boo Baskets is supporting small businesses. There have been so many things from Instagram and Etsy that I’ve been eyeing. Gifting them to Mila in such a fun way made them even more special for her!

Now it’s time to unpack all the ghoul power items inside Mila’s Boo Basket this year.

Activities

All Boo Baskets need some fun activities for kids to get excited for Halloween. Mila’s is packed with some of her favorite things:

Halloween Seek and Find by Beags and Bubs

Sticker Sheet from Walmart

Bubbles from Target

The best part of these activities are they can be done inside. Halloween is a weird transition time for kids from being outside in summer to staying inside more from the cooler weather. These are all great options for kids to play safely inside and have fun. Mila is obsessed with all of these. The bubbles are so much fun for her. The seek and find makes for great scavenger hunts. Stickers are always a hit too.

Accessories

Girls love accessories, even at three!

Our favorite shop right now is Sloane and Daisy. Both of the bracelet and pin are from there. They fit so many outfits and Mila has worn both of them multiple times since she’s gotten them. If you’re interested in a bracelet or a pin set from Sloane and Daisy, use GreySkies15 for 15% off!

Mila also got plastic spider rings, which are always so much fun during spooky season.

Bow and Wand

Mila loves playing with wands. This month she used this one to pretend she was a witch. Of course, her wand has to have pretty pink on it! I also topped it off with one of her Halloween bows from ACT Crafts and Creations.

You can easily make one of these wands that your child will definitely love.

Halloween Pajamas

My favorite part of Mila’s Boo Basket is her new Halloween pajamas from Harlee Bee and Co. I love the rainbow print on it and Mila loves the flower crown on the ghost. The fabric feels so nice and it’s well made. I wish they came in my size!

This year’s Ghoul Power Boo Basket was so much fun to make for Mila. I hope she loved it as much as I did putting it together.

Do you give your child a Boo Basket? If so, what’s something you’d suggest adding in one.

Spooky Snack: Frankenstein Avocado Toast

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After school during October is the perfect time for spooky snacks. Since we love avocado toast at home we made a fun creation: Frankenstein Avocado Toast.

Not only is it healthy for your boo, it tastes great too.

Mila absolutely loves avocados. Like all I have to do is cut one up and she’ll eat them plain. I love that she loves them, but I like making food fun for her. This spooky snack was a perfect solution.

It’s ALIVE! Or just ready to eat. Here’s what you’ll need to make this creation:

  • Avocado
  • Toast
  • Black olives
  • Hard boiled egg
  • Cherry tomato
  • Salt and pepper

First, toast your bread. Simple right?

While it’s toasting, cut and mash avocado in a bowl. I usually add salt and pepper to mine. Mila likes hers plain.

Then, it’s time to cut the black olives. Cut two circles for the eyes, then strips for the hair and the bolts in the side of Frankenstein’s neck. I did different sizes to make it textured… or because I don’t have the best knife skills.

Next, cut two slices of a hard boiled egg and a cherry tomato in half.

After all this prep work is done, it’s time to assemble.

I really think this turned out so cute. Mila loved it and did little voices with it before she ate it. Frankenstein Avocado Toast is a perfect after school spooky snack your child will love.

What Halloween character would you want to try and make? I’m always up for a challenge! Let me know in the comments.

Preschool Book Pairing Activity: Room on the Broom Handprint Art

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The best way to learn is through books! To introduce Mila to Halloween concepts, we’ve been reading a ton of different ones. Lately, Mila’s favorite has been Room on the Broom. We extended her learning by pairing the book with an activity to make handprint art.

Again, it’s another decoration that Mila and I will be able to look at in the future and remember our times when she was little!

All we used for this craft was…

I want to start off by saying, I most definitely helped Mila with this craft. Older kids could probably do this alone. But, I used hot glue, cut out the hat, and made the broom. Everything else she had a hand in making… literally.

First, I painted her hand with green paint. Then let her press it on the canvas to make the witch.

While it was drying, I assembled the broom and hat. For the broom I used this cute gold pipe cleaner for the base. Then I cut up ribbon to make the straw part of the broom. I combined them by making a loop with the pipe cleaner and twisting it off.

The hat was easy to make. All I did was cut out a witches hat on black paper and hot glued leftover pipe cleaner for the base of the hat.

When the green paint was dried, I hot glued down the broom and the eyes.

Next, we made the hair. I took a few pieces of orange yarn and braided it to look like the witch in the book. Mila loved helping cut out the pieces and was very impressed with how much it looked like the original witch. She’s finally impressed by my skills!

After that, we glued down the hat and added facial details and the night sky with a permanent marker.

Mila absolutely insisted on drawing the witch’s nose and the moon.

I absolutely love how this turned out… with all of Mila and I’s crafts. It’s festive and we put a lot of hard work into it. Doing a book pairing activity with her also underlines the importance of reading and teaching her that reading is fun and valuable.

Hopefully she’ll want to continue reading and extending upon those lessons in the future.

What’s your favorite Halloween book that we need to get next year?

Halloween Craft: Googly Eyed Monsters

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Halloween crafts and activities do not have to be complex. My preschooler’s favorite Halloween Craft are these Googly Eyed Monsters! Not only did she have a spook-tacular time making them, she loves making sure everyone sees them when they come in our home.

The best part about these monsters, you only really need to go buy googly eyes. Everything else are pretty common household items.

It looks pretty simple right? Here’s all we used:

To set up this craft for Mila, I cut some squares from old cardboard boxes. We love to upcycle and reuse items. If we can make memories by doing that, I’m all for it!

Then, I put out the colors of paint she wanted to use. I tried to persuade her to use more Halloween colors. She insisted on blue though, but I think it turned out super cute even though it’s not a traditional color.

I let her free paint and do whatever she wanted. They didn’t start off as monsters, just as big blobs.

If you have older kids, they’ll be able to do this next part on their own. I went in and drew outlines of monsters with her blobs. She might be able to do it now, but I just follow her interest and patience level with these types of activities. There’s no right or wrong ways to outline them. Just let their artwork speak to you!

When the monsters were finished and dried, Mila put the eyes where she wanted them to be. Let your child pick out how many eyes and the eye color they think they need. It’s so cute to see how they end up seeing their monsters.

Then, you can hot glue a pipe cleaner on the back of the cardboard pieces to hand them. This is an optional step, but I love it.

I love this little progression picture. This activity came out so adorable and I’ll definitely be hanging these up throughout future Halloweens. At first, Mila was afraid of some of her pictures. Now she thinks they’re cute. She’s really getting in the spooky mood!

Which is your favorite monster that she made?

Halloween DIY: Skeleton Animal Glow Ups

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My entire house is fully prepped for Halloween! It’s been so fun to see the transformation. Our latest spooky DIY are these Skeleton Animal Glow Ups.

I have been back and forth with sharing these. They’re so creepy, but Mila loves them. Honestly, they’re sort of like a creepy Elf on a Shelf.

They were so easy to make and they fit our Halloween aesthetic. I found them at the Dollar Store for a dollar a piece. Not a bad price in my eyes; especially because it was a craft for both of us and they look so cute.

Cute as in… creepy. They can be both, right?

I will say, Mila had fun painting them, but it was a little tricky. She did them for a while, but I ended up finishing them.

If you do paint them and your kiddo wants to carry them around, I would suggest spraying them with a clear coat. It just helps the paint hold up a little longer. If you’re keeping them out of their hands, it should be okay!

Originally, I had them all on our dining room table. Like I said though, they’ve become our unofficial Halloween Elves on a Shelf.

I actually love how they turned out and will keep them for the years ahead.

Somehow they mesh really well with the white pumpkins and the general feel of my house. We like random things, so they make me smile.

Your Halloween decorations don’t have to be grand to make a statement. Sometimes all it takes is a little paint and a animal skeletons from the dollar store!

What’s your favorite way to decorate for this holiday: scary or pretty? Let me know in the comments.

Pumpkin Washing Sensory Bin.

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Another day, another fall activity! Today’s play is a Pumpkin Washing Sensory Bin.

We love sensory play for so many reasons. To summarize all of its benefits, it helps children’s brains in a ton of ways! It also gives me a minute to do a chore or task that needs done around the house too.

Now that it’s spooky season, I’m finally letting Mila pick pumpkins from our pumpkin patch on the side of our house. It led straight to this activity.

Before we paint or decorate these pumpkins, I thought they needed to be cleaned off. Instead of me just doing it, I thought it would be so much fun for Mila… and I was right. All I had to do was set up this station.

The only materials I used were:

The only thing I told Mila was that the pumpkins needed cleaning and she could use more water and soap if she needed.

Let’s just say… she went to work right away!

This activity is so simple and Mila had came up with a big story of why they needed washed. She pretended they came from a different farm and not just outside our home. I always love listening to how her mind works.

That’s what makes sensory play so fun for everyone.

I actually left this activity out for the next day and she kept on playing. Lets hope painting or carving pumpkins goes this smoothly too.

Do you paint or carve pumpkins?

I’ve done both, but I’m thinking Mila may like painting more than carving this year. I’ll keep you all updated when it happens!

Preschool Activity: Farm Activity Box

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Another week, another activity box! This week’s activity box theme: FARM!

The last two weeks, Mila and her class have been learning about farms. To extend her learning about it, I thought some farm themed activities while she’s at home and when she’s off on Fridays would be fun!

This theme is also a ton of fun because we live in a rural area where a lot of people have farms and farm animals. We can go to different ones and actually see them. It was also a great time because we were just at our county fair where we saw all of the students’ farm animals and 4H projects that they worked so hard on. It was a way to be active while learning too!

Since we can’t go back to the fair or a barn every day, this activity box was perfect for her learning.

There’s a ton more activities you can do too, this just was easy for her to take to her grandma’s house on her day off.

I hope you love everything that’s inside. Let me know if you have other suggestions.

Books

I’ll never stop saying this: WE LOVE BOOKS!

Books help kids discover and learn about the world around them when they can’t get out and see it. Plus, it helps teach them lessons too.

These books are all ones that we’ve read so many times. I think Mila’s favorite is the farm sound. She’s had it since she’s been really little and it helped her learn different farm animal sounds. She also loves the Peek-a-Who and can even read it to me… more like look at the pictures and remember what it said.

We also love the Usborne “That’s Not My…” series and have almost all the farm animals. Sandra Boynton books are a big hit with Mila and this one always makes her laugh.

Lately, Mila has been obsessed with sheep, so The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg has been a new book that we’ve gotten. It’s a really cute book about sheep’s hair and caring about others. I’m unsure how super farm related it is, but Mila’s obsessed!

The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg by Gemma Merino

Farm Sounds by Usborne

Peek-a-Who? Are You My Mom? by Scholastic

Are You a Cow? by Sandra Boynton

That’s Not My Pig… by Usborne (we use all the ‘That’s Not My’ series with farm animals)

Painting and Play Dough

Painting and play dough are our two go to activities in our house. Mila loves them both and plays with them for a long time.

The farm animal ‘paint with water’ activity book from Melissa and Doug is a huge hit. There’s 20 different animal scenes that are perfect for learning about the farm! I also love that there’s paint on the top of every single page. It came with a brush too! All you need to do is a have a little cup of water and they’re good to go! Mila loves to paint, so I limit how many pages she does at one time!

I always include play dough in Mila’s activity boxes. They help her use her imagination in play and allows her to make shapes with her hands. I thought she might use the different colors to make animals, grass, and maybe just a farm scene. Who knows what she’ll create!

Matching Game and Threading

These two activities are Mila’s favorites!

The first are the threading boards. We got these from Mila’s preschool sale and they’re a blast to work with. It’s helped Mila’s coordination and motor skills. Plus, the scenes are so cute. There are a ton of threading activities that you can find on Amazon as well. This set (not pictured) is so cute and from Melissa and Doug!

Mila’s other FAVORITE game is the ‘grab it’ game. Essentially, you fill the red thing with the scare crow up with chips that have animals in it. When it’s your turn, you grab a chip and see if it matches to your board (the green barn). The first to fill their board up wins.

This game is so educational for us. Not only does it help with matching and animal recognition, it’s taught Mila to take turns and we practice animal sounds too. I found this game at Aldi, but you could make one too. Personally, I would use matching cards with farm animals and then have each player grab them from the deck. Essentially it would be the same thing.

These matching farm animal cards would be great!

Other Farm Fun Activities

Some of the other items that are in her box was her sheep that her great grandmother made, resin letters (of course), and a quick piggy clean up activity.

You could add any stuffed farm animal and multiple ones. At this stage, they really get into pretend play and it’s so cute to see.

As always, I’ll suggest to get a set of resin letters from Beags and Bubs. They’re the best!

The quick piggy clean up activity is a hit and doesn’t take too long to make at all. All you have to do is print out or draw a piggy. Then, put it in a ziplock baggy. When it’s in there, you just use black or brown markers to make the pig ‘dirty.’ Then, instruct your kiddo to clean the pig with a paper towel or sponge. They can also make the piggy dirty by drawing on it too.

I wanted to share two things Mila has done in preschool that I think would be a fun addition to this box as well. They’ve done a TON of other activities, but I thought these were just the cutest!

First is a story that Mila told her teachers and they wrote down. I actually love capturing her stories and recording them. It allows kids to be creative and see the importance of their words. Also, it’ll be so cute and funny to read when she gets older too!

I think she did a pretty good job!

This next activity was something that Mila talked nonstop about.

It’s a cut out of a big with brown paint. So, they got the pig dirty. I’m unsure what type of paint they used, but if I were to do this, I would probably put a drop of dish soap in the paint and mix it. This way it helps with clean up! Plus, what toddler doesn’t like getting dirty!

I hope you loved all these activities and items.

Let me know in the comments how you felt about this activity box! It was a lot of fun putting it together and watching her interact with it.

What activity box would you like to see next?

From Preschoolers to Princesses: Atwood’s Princess in the Park

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This weekend, Mila and her friends were transformed from their fabulous, preschool selves to beautiful princesses. Atwood Lake Park hosted Princess in the Park for area girls and it was a fairytale for everyone involved.

Naturally, Mila took the afternoon napping and getting ready for the event.

There were two sessions for it, but we went to the later one at 5:30. Thankfully that nap came in handy. To get her ready, she got her hair curled, put a little bit of makeup one, and was dressed in her favorite princess dress.

She was too excited to take pictures before we left, even though she made me and my parents dress up for the occasion.

It only made sense since we were going to be in the presence of a ton of princesses!

When we got there, the girls were divided into four groups: red, purple, silver, and blue (or maybe pink, we weren’t in that group). You could tell their group by the necklaces they gave them when they were registered. Mila was in the purple group, so that’s the timeline of the night I’ll be following.

There were four different princess activity stations: craft, carriage ride, story and snack time, and nail and hand painting.

The first station Mila went to was the crafting one. Here, all the princesses decorated a frame and a princess wand. Mila absolutely LOVED the wand and it turned out so cute. She held it most of the night and pretended to have magic powers too.

They had all the craft supplies ready for us. There were wooden skewers, stickers, ribbons, stars, and the frame. I think Mila tried to put everything on her wand. It turned out adorable.

It seemed like all the other princesses enjoyed their craft too!

After craft time was the carriage ride.

Cinderella brought her magical carriage with her beautiful horses for all the little princesses to ride. Of course she joined in too! They had six girls at a time join Cinderella and they took a carriage ride around the Atwood Lake Park. It took about fifteen minutes, but it probably seemed a lot quicker for the little ones.

Honestly, this part was just as magical for the parents as it was the kids. The carriage was breathtaking and I hope it made Mila feel so special. Her smile was radiating.

When the carriage ride was over, the other half of the group of kids went on and Mila’s got to meet Mrs. Ohio from 2011. Her name is Mrs. Melanie Miller and she did amazing with the little ones. Mila was so happy to meet another real life princess for the night!

She instantly wanted to give her a hug and sit and talk with her. I think Mila was a little awe-struck because she didn’t say a lot, but kept looking at Mrs. Miller and her crowns. I think she loved her sparkly dress too. They discussed how their favorite letter was “M” and how Mila should always follow her dreams. It was so adorable. Mrs. Miller also gave Mila an autographed picture that she talked about and showed us on the way home.

Mrs. Ohio, if you are reading this, thank you so much for being patient and so caring. It truly made an impact on our girls. I know Mila enjoyed meeting and talking with you.

Next it was story and snack time!

They had cupcakes there for the kids to ice and decorate. Although they didn’t have tea, they had apple juice that were perfect for princesses.

As the kids decorated their cupcakes and ate them, a man (whose name I didn’t catch) read a story to the kids. He let them name the princess and unicorn. Mila came up with the name Aveena for the princess and another girl names the unicorn Sedine. They really gave him tricky names to remember. It was pretty comical.

It was a really cute story and gave the kids time to calm down after all the carriage and Mrs. Ohio excitement.

I love watching Mila decorate her cupcake too! She gets better at it every time.

The next and last station was the nail and hand painting. Although a lot of girls sat and got theirs done, Mila had other plans. She’s not the “let’s get our nails painted” princess. Instead, she decided to play.

Since my parents went with us, she had my dad play on the playground with her. They had so much fun on the equipment and the swings.

It also was nice that she got to get really tired before we left!

I love watching her play and interact with other kids and her grandpa. I swear every time I look at her it looks like she’s grown up more. It’s one of the most bittersweet feelings that all parents (I think) feel.

After the last station, we could leave. Instead though, Mila got to meet up with her friends. They, again, went to see Mrs. Ohio and took pictures with her. It was so cute watching them listen to her and wanting to see her crowns. I swear us parents looked like the paparazzi taking a ton of pictures. It was just so exciting.

The princesses took more pictures and played for some time after too. I loved seeing them all dressed up. They’re usually beautiful, but they looked extra cute all dressed up.

I am so thankful for everyone at Atwood Lake Park and the princesses that made this happen. Mila and the rest of their kids really enjoyed themselves. I know she will be talking about this event for days, especially when we go and print pictures out!

Since we live in such a small, tight community, it’s amazing to get our kids together and interacting. It’s truly special and amazing.

If you live local, what are some events you’re looking forward to this fall? If you don’t live local, what are some fall events that you think Mila and I should do? Let me know in the comments.