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Easy Kid’s Birthday Cake Ideas

Easy Kid’s Birthday Cake Ideas

I have made a lot of birthday cakes over the years. Today I’m sharing my top tips for making it simple. Take these easy kid’s birthday cake ideas as an inspiration for your own child’s birthday party. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post. 

Easy Kid’s Birthday Cake Ideas

Top with Toys

My favorite way of making a themed birthday cake is to choose some toys to top the cake. Sometimes you’ll actually find cake topper toys, but you can use regular toys, too. Just be sure the toys are washable (at least the part that will touch the frosting). You’ll also want to watch out for crevices on the toys that the frosting can get stuck in. You could add a bit of fondant for the toys to rest on. Wash the toys before placing them on the cake (allowing for drying time).

My family loves a boxed chocolate cake with store bought chocolate fudge frosting. My kids wanted a How to Train Your Dragon birthday cake with Toothless and the Light Fury. We had the perfect cake with the Dragons Hidden World Gift Set I bought online at Target.

How To Train Your Dragon birthday cake

Another option is to choose a white frosting (I like cream cheese frosting) and add icing color. (I use the gel icing colors from Wilton.) I did this for our Troll Hunters birthday party. If you get the white icing with confetti, you can add an extra special pop of rainbow color to the cake.

Troll Hunters birthday cake

Add Candy to Decorate the Birthday Cake

When my daughter turned one, I decided to have a polka dot birthday party. She had this adorable polka dot outfit and it was the perfect inspiration for party. I made her a special mini applesauce cake that wasn’t very sweet.

1st birthday smash cake

For the rest of the party goers, I baked a simple 2-layer chocolate cake. I iced it with cream cheese frosting and added M&M’s to dot the cake. Super easy and super festive!

1st birthday polka dot cake decorated with M&M's

My niece asked for a Willy Wonka themed birthday cake when she turned 7. The inside of the cake is rainbow with 4 layers each a different color. I used the store bought colored cake mixes to make it easy. The cake is supposed to look sort of like Willy Wonka’s hat so the brim of the hat was made from purple fondant. We added a variety of candies to complete the picture.

Willy Wonka birthday cake - purple frosting decorated with candy

Use a Special Shaped Pan

Wilton makes a ton of cake pans in different shapes. I created an airplane birthday cake using their airplane shaped pan. Before buying the pan, check to see if your library or some other local place lets you borrow the shaped pans. Otherwise, use a coupon if you buy it at Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, or Jo-Ann’s.

The cake pans come with instructions and ideas for decorating the cake. Be sure to grease and flour your cake pans so the cake comes out clean. Or you can use Wilton’s Bake Easy. This non-stick spray makes the cakes come out super clean.airplane birthday cake

For the airplane birthday cake, I used store bought chocolate frosting and vanilla frosting and used M&M’s to complete the picture.

For Lily’s Hello Kitty birthday party, I used Wilton’s Hello Kitty pan. I coated the cake in a layer of frosting and then used tubes of gel icing to make the details on Hello Kitty’s face. The gel icing was kind of difficult to work with. It didn’t want to cooperate so I ended up with a messy cake. It still turned out okay. I would probably use buttercream and proper piping tips if I had to do it all over again.

Hello Kitty birthday cake

Get the Right Shape Cake Pan

For Aiden’s Minecraft birthday cake, he had to have a square cake. This meant getting square pans. I used 4 boxed cake mixes to make a square 4-layer cake. I covered the whole cake in lots of store bought chocolate frosting. I even did a crumb coat.

I used a recipe to make homemade buttercream frosting and colored it green. I used a star tip to create the grass on top of the cake. The cake is supposed to look like a block of Minecraft grass.

The final touch was adding Minecraft toys to the top of the cake. This cake was huge and pretty heavy. But totally worth the impact. Everyone loved it.

Use a Sphere Shaped Cake Pan

Wilton makes a 3D Sports Ball Cake Pan that I’ve used to create Aiden’s Jupiter cake and his Golden Snitch cake. You bake the two halves separately and then use icing to combine them. A crumb coat is definitely need in order to get this cake decorated well.

Aiden requested a Jupiter cake for his space themed birthday party. And he wanted it to be an actual ball shape not flat. Thankfully, I found the sports ball cake pan. I followed the directions for baking the cake and cut off any cake that baked above the edges. After the crumb coat was chilled, I added more store-bought frosting (I love that shortcut). I colored some of the frosting using Wilton’s icing colors.

Jupiter birthday cake perfect for a space themed party

My first and only attempt at making cake pops was to have Jupiter’s moons go along with the spherical planet. The cake pops were absolutely delicious but they took forever to make. I wasn’t very good a dipping the cake pops in melted chocolate. The cake pops came out lopsided and uneven. Since they are Jupiter’s moons this were perfectly acceptable and maybe even looked as if I did it on purpose. The cake is sitting on a piece of foam wrapped with aluminum foil. This makes it easy to stick the cake pops in.

Jupiter cake with moon cake pops

For Aiden’s Harry Potter birthday party, he wanted a Golden Snitch cake. This cake did not turn out exactly how I imagined but he loved it nonetheless. I used Wilton’s buttercream yellow icing color to color cream cheese frosting. I used more buttercream yellow to add the details of the snitch. Aiden wanted the wings of the snitch to be made out of edible paper. I used Wilton’s sugar sheets but they were heavier than I thought. Wafer paper would have been a better choice.

Harry Potter birthday party - golden snitch cake

Combine Cake Pan Shapes

To make Elon’s volcano cake, I use a small bundt cake pan and a 6 inch round cake pan. The bottom of the bundt cake pan was the same size as the round cake pan. After baking and leveling the cakes, I stacked the bundt cake on top of the round cake. I added the cake scraps cut off from leveling to the sides of the cake. This helped make the sides of the volcano more mountain like.

Next, I added colorful homemade buttercream. I wish the buttercream was a little tighter. It would have piped easier onto the cake. Overall, we ended up with a pretty cool volcano birthday cake.

volcano birthday cake decorated with red, orange, yellow, and green buttercream frosting with dinosaur toys

Use Modeling Chocolate

If you can’t find toys to match your birthday party themed, you can make your own cake toppers out of modeling chocolate. It’s surprisingly easy to work with. It handles just like modeling clay. The modeling chocolate becomes softer and easier to manipulate as you heat it up with your hands. Check out how I used modeling chocolate to make the cake for our Dragons Love Tacos birthday party. The method is easy but it is time consuming. It took quite a while to get the dragon just right.

Dragons Love Tacos birthday cake

My Final Advice

Don’t be afraid of decorating a cake yourself. My cakes never look like a professional did them. I’m totally okay with that. They are personalized for my children. Some of them take time to get just right. Others are ridiculously easy.

 

 

source: inspirationlaboratories

Benefits of Gardening with Kids

Benefits of Gardening with Kids

The warmer months have arrived and, if your family is anything like mine, you are ready to spend as much time outside as possible soaking up the sun and enjoying nature. Spending time outside in the sunshine is sure to lighten the mood but using the outdoor time to plant flowers and vegetables can be rewarding for your entire family.

Family bonding time

Gardening is a great way to get kids involved in a project the whole family can do together. Planting flowers and vegetables gives everyone a chance to set aside electronics and spend time enjoying time outside while working on a family project. You will have a chance to see your kids explore new sensations as they dig in the dirt, plant seeds, and water. The best family bonding usually happens when everyone is working on a shared goal.

Educational

Gardening is a great way to teach your kids about nature, science, and math. They will learn how plants grow, names of plants, how to measure how far apart to plant seeds, and how to protect your garden. You could take the lessons one step farther and check out books from the library about gardening, watch an educational video about gardening, or visit a community garden to learn more about plants and flowers. Some families also find that starting a compost bin helps teach their kids about the environment and how our waste effects it. The compost gives your garden a natural boost as well reducing waste.

Gardening teaches life lessons

In the process of starting and caring for your garden your child will have the opportunity to learn the value of hard work, the importance of patience while waiting for their seeds to grow, the responsibility of caring for the garden each day, and will be rewarded with the fruits (or vegetables) of their labor. The best life lessons often happen when you don’t know you are learning them.

Encourages healthy eating habits

The best reason to plant and take care of a garden is the reward of tasting your crop. Kids who would not normally try tomatoes, bell peppers, or cucumbers will be much more likely to give them a try if they have planted, cared for, and watched them grow themselves. Cultivating a love of eating healthy fruits and vegetables at a young age is a great way to encourage lifelong healthy eating habits.

No one will tell you that planting and caring for a garden is easy but most will say it is well worth the effort when you are able to harvest your own fresh produce or flowers to enjoy.

 

source: Sarah Lyons 

11 important phrases that help you connect with your child's teachers

11 important phrases that help you connect with your child's teachers

The proverbial apple on the teacher's desk or coffee cup at Christmas time is always appreciated, but there are far more effective and meaningful ways to connect with your child's teacher. Back to school is an incredibly busy time for many families, but laying the groundwork for a good relationship with your child's teacher now can help you and your child for the entire school year. When you establish a relationship with the teacher, you become more approachable, and they are more likely to communicate with you.

Here are 11 simple phrases that will help you connect with your child's teacher now:

1. "How do you prefer to be contacted?"

You will inevitably need to contact your kid's teacher at some point this year. Asking upfront whether they prefer email or a phone call can save you from waiting days to hear back on an unanswered question. Save time, by also letting them know how you can best be reached.

2. "Do you need anything for the classroom?"

Many classroom budgets are limited so, if you're able, ask if there is anything small you can contribute. This might be a beautiful atlas or simply a plant to brighten up the classroom.

3. "How can I help?"

One of the best ways to connect to your child's teachers and administration is to volunteer. Let them know your availability and ask if there is anything you can do for the school. This might be listening to children read on Tuesday mornings, or coming in on a Saturday to help spruce up the playground.

4. "I'm concerned about my child making friends."

If you have any concerns going into the school year, let the teacher know. Whether your child struggled with math the previous year or is experiencing social challenges, telling the teacher right away will help them address and manage the issue.

5. "I'd like your advice."

Unfortunately, teachers do not always get a lot of respect in our society. Asking for a teacher's advice on a challenge your child is experiencing shows that you view her as an expert and that you want to have a collaborative relationship.

6. "My child is an auditory learner."

You know your child better than anyone. Offering important insights into how your child learns can save the teacher a lot of time and help ensure that your child is set up for success.

7. "Lizzie tells me every day how much she loves your stories."

People don't generally go into teaching for the money. Most teachers genuinely want to help and connect with the children in their class. If your child gives their teacher rave reviews, make sure to pass them along.

Also, if you think your child's teacher is doing a good job, tell them! A kind comment from a parent can really make all the difference. For bonus points, send a complimentary note to the principal if you really appreciate your child's teacher. The kind words will get back to them.

8. "I will be traveling next week."

Small changes at home can make a big difference in how a child behaves at school. This is particularly true for very young children. If there is a change in your child's home life, take a few minutes to let your child's teacher know. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness and will also likely have more empathy for your child if they're misbehaving.

9. "This is what we're doing to work on the problem. What else do you suggest?"

Whether it's turning homework in on time or talking too much in class, let your teacher know the things you're doing to help your child with a problem at school. Give specifics, like a screenshot of the planner you've set up for school assignments or a summary of the conversation you had with your child on the seriousness of listening in the classroom. This shows that you're taking the problem seriously. It will also let them know what's already been tried so they can better brainstorm solutions. Make sure to ask if they have any other suggestions as well.

10. "Can we meet to talk about that?"

Even if your child's teacher prefers to communicate by email, nothing compares to a face to face interaction. If you have serious concerns or you feel like you're not communicating well, ask if it's possible to meet with your child's teacher in person. If that isn't possible, see if a phone conversation is better suited. So much is lost in text and email conversations, particularly with a person you don't know very well.

11. "Let me jot that down."

If you have a meeting with your child's teacher, bring a notebook and a pen. Writing down their suggestions and concerns demonstrates that you take them seriously. It will also be useful as a reference for any future meetings.

 

 

Source: Christina Clemer