There are many kids who are little chefs in disguise, and even if they aren’t, come Thanksgiving, when everyone is in the kitchen, the kids will appreciate helping you out! It’s a great way to get them involved in the excitement of the big meal. Children will appreciate contributing in any way that they can.

When thinking about some tasks they can do, keep in mind both the child’s age and the amount of time a task takes to do. Make sure that the kitchen fun is age-appropriate, i.e young children should not be using knives or other sharp objects preparing food, and these types of objects should be out of reach so no accidents take place. You may want to provide an apron to your little chef to protect clothes and help them get in the mood. Also, remember that kids will not want to be in the kitchen the whole day, as there are parades to watch, the football to throw, and perhaps a turkey craft to do. So, keep their time in the kitchen limited to keep them excited, but not bored and restless.

Here are some great cooking ideas for the kids:

• Mash the potatoes
• Fill the pie shells with the filling
• Stuff the celery with cream cheese
• Arrange the vegetable tray
• Set out cheese and crackers
• Stir Jell-O
• Freeze ice cubes with cranberries
• Stuff the turkey
• Place ingredients in the salad and toss
• Whip the cream
• Fill the deviled eggs
• Rolling out the pie crust

All of these will be fun. If you have older kids (tweens and teens), perhaps they would like to peel potatoes and/or make the pie filling.
This is a great Thanksgiving Day activity and will really get your children into the spirit of the feast!

‘Tis the season for that super sweet kernel of candy corn that everyone can agree reminds them of Halloween past, present, and, most likely, future! Besides eating all of that candy corn that may be lying around your home this week, you can also play some fun and simple games with these bright candy kernels.

Send the kids on a Candy Corn Hunt. You can do this a couple of different ways. Create a path of Candy Corn that they must use to hunt around and cannot sway from the path. Alternatively, hide small bags of candy corn around your yard and send the kids on a traditional hunt.

• Fill a large pumpkin pail with candy corn and see who guesses the number of candy corn. Whoever guesses closest, wins! Share the Candy Corn with everyone.
• Create Candy Corn Artwork with heavy card stock, candy corn, and a glue stick. This may get messy, but will be fun!
• Make Candy Corn Strings, just like popcorn. Decorate the room and front doorway with the Candy Corn Strings.
• Make a homemade batch of Candy Cor. A great idea for older children.
• Make Candy Corn Krispie Treats by adding in candy corn to this favorite recipe.
• Play Candy Corn Fooz Ball. Using a large table surface set up two kids at different ends of the table. The children throw candy corn to the other child, who must block it from going through and making a goal. The child can block it using a solid cookie cutter. (Make sure it is one that will not scratch up your table.)
• Make Candy Corn Sculptures using frosting to hold the sculpture together. (Make sure to place paper down on your table to keep the mess minimal.)
• Finally, send them home with bags of the sweet stuff!

Ready for Autumn? The air is crisp in the mornings and at night, the summer’s bounty is about to be harvested, and it is a time to enjoy the season with your children and family. Here’s to a celebration of the traditional season of fall. If your child is having a party in September or October, this is an excellent theme.

This is a great party to do either at your home or at an outside venue, such as a local farm. So, take a look around and see if there are any local farms in your area that allow for parties. If you hold your party at such a location, the hayride and picking of apples and pumpkins will be great activities.

Invitations:
Cut out leaf shapes or autumn harvest shapes and place them on card stock and include all of the information on the inside of your card.

Decorations:
Orange, brown, and yellow are great colors for this theme. Purchase party and table ware in these colors. Alternatively, you can use leaf patterns.
Use mini pumpkins for your table centerpiece.
Tall cornhusks and bales of hay would add another decorative touch to the party.

Crafts: 

Paint/Decorate mini-pumpkins and have the kids can take these home. 

Make Scarecrow Candy Necklaces. Using straw, have the kids string round candies with holes in the center to make their necklaces.
Sponge paint placemats with leaf shapes.

Games/Activities: 

Bob for apples. 

Have a Pumpkin Roll Contest. Divide the kids into two teams and provide a pumpkin to each team. Have the kids roll it to one end and back and pass it along to the next person. 

Throw a Hula Hoop around a large pumpkin.
If you have bales of hay, have the kids jump over the bales of hay as an obstacle relay race.
String up donuts and tie the kids’ arms behind their backs. Have them eat the donuts off of the line without using their hands.
Hold a scavenger hunt outdoors. If at night, hand out glow sticks for the kids to search for the loot.
Fill a large cardboard box with leaves and place toys in the leaves. Have the kids put their hands inside the box and pick out a toy.
Play Hot Pumpkin, like Hot Potato. 


Menu:
BBQ is always good for this type of a party; spice it up with spare ribs. 

Chili is also an excellent option. Have all of the fixn’s so that people can enjoy topping it off. 

Serve corn bread muffins.
Make Rice Krispie Treats and add orange food coloring to them. Stick them on a Popsicle stick for a treat.
Serve Apple Cider. As an added treat, place caramels on fancy sticks and have the kids stir it into their apple cider for Hot Caramelized Apple Cider.
Make caramel apples.
Make sugar cookies cut out into autumn shapes. Have the kids decorate the cookies with frosting and candies.
Make a batch of cupcakes and ice them with orange frosting and little black, orange, and white sprinkles. The kids can always do the decorating.

Goody Bags:
Purchase little plastic pumpkins, which are so popular as trick or treat bags this time of year. Fill it with all things “fall” - caramel apple cider packets with a cinnamon stick, little themed notebooks, pencils, erasers, pumpkin candy, and candy corn packets.