Countdown Calendars

Halloween themed

Ok. So you have a trip to Disney (or anywhere) and you tell your small child about the trip. You can get ready to answer “Is it time to go to Disney” a hundred times before your trip. OR you can make a visual countdown calendar for your child to see how many days are left until your trip. I’ve been through this. Just make your life easier and take an hour or so and do what I’m about to tell you.

My son is 4 and I do this for every Disney trip we take about 30 days before we go. I know there are a bunch of different versions of this. If you look around the internet or pinterest you will get lots of ideas. I like the ring version. All you really need is some paper, a stapler and your imagination.

Step 1: cut the paper. I like to use my paper cutter and cut the paper into about a 1 inch strip. Scissors would also work fine. You will need 1 ring for each day until your trip.

Step 2: I like to print out small images of whatever theme I’m making the countdown calendar and cut them out and glue them on each strip. I have also put stickers on each strip of paper. This makes it more fun and interactive for the child. You can skip this step if you like or you can always add the stickers once you have finished.

Printed pictures.

Cut them small enough to fit the strip

All the strips are cut and pictures glued on

Step 3: You need something at the top to attach the links to. I like to print out a mickey head and attach it to cardstock but any shape or paper will do. Then you will staple the first link to the top and each ring after that to itself. I know I didn’t describe this well so check out the photos. It’s just like all the chains you made in elementary school.

The finished product

That’s all there is to it. Every morning I have my son pull off a ring. He loves to look at what sticker or image he pulled off. It’s really helpful for him to actually see how many days are left until we get to go to our favorite place.

It’s Halloween Time at Disney World

The entrance to Disneyland

Halloween at Disney has been a favorite of mine for a few years. When my son was 2 we went on a trip to Disneyland in October. They have huge mickey pumpkins everywhere. So began my love of all things mickey pumpkin. This year we will be at the mouse during the Halloween season. By Halloween season I mean August -October. This will be our first year going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party. It’s going to be late and I really hope my son (and my Mom) can make it until the end of the night.

I hear you can get bags and bags of candy while you trick-or-treat throughout the park. I’ve also read that they give you a teeny tiny bag to collect candy in. So I made my own larger bags. If we fill these bags we will be on a sugar high for months. Also my husband will be really happy. LOL We will be semi dressing up as Woody, Jesse and BoPeep. I say only semi dressed up because its going to still be hot as hell and I don’t want the heat to make my tired little boy any more grouchy then he will already be at 11:00 at night.

These are our trick-or-treat bags that I made for the party.

I can’t wait to try all the new food at the party and of course carb it up on mickey pretzels. I look forward to posting about all the things we ate and all the fun things we did during the party!