It's October, and that means it's time for PUMPKINS! Do y'all love fall? I love the cooler weather, the crewneck sweatshirts, the natural colors, and the vegetation, including pumpkins.

I wanted an activity to welcome the autumn season but that would be both appealing and appropriate for my little one. He loves to bake (he comes by that one naturally) and he's at an age where continued hand-eye coordination activities are helpful.

We decided to bake a pumpkin patch cake.

What's that? Well it's NOT a pumpkin cake - and that fact is very important to little man. He told his GiGi (my mom), "it's a pumpkin cake, but it doesn't taste like pumpkin. Does that make sense?"

Here's what we had: yellow cake mix (& ingredients as instructed on the box), chocolate frosting, a tube of green icing, a bag of Brach's pumpkin-shaped mellowcremes.

First, we made the cake according to the box's instructions. (Seriously, this activity is so easy and perfect for families that aren't even usual bakers - it's perfect for kiddos!) We used our mixer, which little man loves, and we poured our batter in a nonstick-sprayed baking dish and cooked according to the instructions on the cake packaging.

Little man not only mixed them, but he poured in all of the ingredients. It was really hands on, and he kept saying he was a "chef" and that he likes cooking in the kitchen.

When the cake was baked and cooled, I quickly iced it with the chocolate frosting. It's not a perfect icing job - but that's okay! It's going to be the dirt in your pumpkin patch, so it's really okay to look imperfect.

Next, take your green tube of icing and make a few lines - these shouldn't be perfectly straight; instead, they should have some twists or curves or little loops to act as leaves. These lines become your vines in the pumpkin patch.

At this point, I got little man involved again, and he helped me place pumpkins along the vines. He absolutely loved this! As we placed the candies, we talked about the colors of pumpkins, how they grow on the ground on a vine, and we counted the numbers as we set them up.

This cake was an absolute blast to make - and we enjoyed it for several nights! Jake loved it too - but that's not surprising to me because he loves cake, candy, and Halloween, so this was a home run for him.

What do you think? Any fun, seasonal baking activities you recommend doing with your little ones?

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