Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes (The Lazy Way)

Did you know that mini muffins from the bakery fit perfectly inside ice cream cones?

Last Sunday someone gave me 2 big unopened boxes of ice cream cones before church. Rather than run them out to my car, I just threw them with my bags under the table in my primary class. Of course when my students came in and noticed, they got excited and thought I brought treats. I promised I would bring them filled with something the next week because one of the boys was having a birthday.

But then a week went by and I didn't have time to bake ice cream cone cupcakes. When I was nursery leader (age 18 months to 3 years) I would always do ice cream cones filled with fruit loops for birthday treats. (Or gluten free cones with fruity pebbles when I had a gluten sensitive student.) It was colorful, different, and relatively cheap and easy. It was hilarious to watch the kids discover that their cup was edible. And it entertained me to no end when they would accidently spill their cereal, give a shocked face, then carefully put them all back in (bonus fine motor practice) and then accidentally dump it again. Then of course there were the kids who discovered there was a marshmallow under the cereal (to fill space) and so would immediately pour out their cereal so they could eat the marshmallow first.

I could have done that with this class (they're 5-turning 6) but it was easier to just pick up a dozen mini chocolate muffins. If I were to do it again for a party or some such, I would put a marshmallow or some candy under the muffin to fill space and be a yummy surprise.