Get the kids up and moving with our next Summer Fun Challenge idea – Host an Olympics Game in your backyard. Look through your garage to find some games and “obstacles” that you can use to create challenges for your kids and their friends.

What’s great about this family fun idea is you can spend a lot of time setting up and thinking about the challenges or you can just use what’s in your backyard already. Use your creativity and make the games as silly as you want. (I think one of the challenges should be to wash the dog but the dog gave me the evil eye.)

If you want to make it more educational for the kids, have them each choose a country too compete as and have them draw that country’s flag on a piece of paper that they “parade” around at the beginning of the games.

Outdoor Games
Depending on your child’s interest or athletic abilities you can design a variety of challenges around speed, endurance, and special talents. If your child loves gymnastics, make sure you have some balance beam, cartwheel, or tumbling challenges. If your child loves basketball, get some hoops games going. The idea is to provide a variety of games that everyone will enjoy and have a chance at a medal.

Race Challenges -

• Run to the end of the driveway and back the fastest
• Run around the cul de sac
• Sack race
• Egg and spoon race
• Three legged race
• Race against the dog – who can run down the block the fastest
• Wheelbarrel races
• Baton races
• Suitcase Relay – You’ll need at least two teams. Each team gets a suitcase with articles of clothing like a hat, scarf, mittens, sweater, robe, wig, pants, boots, etc. Then have the kids get in a line each with a suitcase full of clothes. First child on each team runs with the suitcase to a designated spot. Opens the suitcase and puts on all of the clothes. They run back to the start with the empty suitcase, take the clothes off and hand it to the next team member. Whichever team finishes first, wins.
• Triathalon – Bike around the block, run around the block, skate around the block.

Frisbee throwing discus challenge – who can throw the farthest or who can get the frisbee closest to a target

Long jump – grab your tape measure!

Obstacle course – We like to set up obstacles to run around but also have the kids stop every now and then and do something silly. Run to the tree and give me 6 jumping jacks, then climb over the hill and roll down, walk like a duck, jump over every crack in the sidewalk, yodel, and then run through the hula hoops without missing one.

Mini Golf Course – Read our post on how to set up a mini golf course in your backyard

Baggo Game – most points wins

Croquet Slalom Race – instead of going through the hoops, you have to go around them

Paddle Ball Competition – team with the most hits before ball drops wins

Trampoline – how many sit jumps can you do in a minute? Can you do a splits kick? Can you jump and sit, then knees, then twist all in one move? Who can jump the longest without losing balance?

Basketball Hoop – HORSE contest, knock-out, or 3-point shoot-out games

Paper Airplane Throw – make a paper airplane and see who’s flies the farthest

Here are some other great game ideas from AtoZ Kids Stuff.

At the end of the day, give out medals to the winners. Make sure everyone wins a medal for something. You can buy inexpensive medals at a craft store or make some with aluminum foil and ribbon. Check out our post on Celebrating the Winter Olympics Games with your kids. There are some good ideas for crafts, food, and party decorations.

Good luck and may the best team win! Send us some photos of your Olympic Games at sue@chocolatecakeclub.com. We’d love to feature them on the blog.

Thank you to Holly Hanna at The Work From Home Woman site for interviewing me and featuring the Chocolate Cake Club on her site. Holly has some wonderful information on running a business from home.

You can read the interview with me here.

Here’s another reason to go check out her site – we are sponsoring a Back to School Giveaway where you can win some of the Chocolate Cake Club’s great Back to School Gear. You can enter here but hurry, the contest ends tomorrow at noon. Stay tuned for our 3rd annual Motherlode Back to School Contest which we are going to launch on Thursday. Check back on Thursday for details on how to enter.

Sure, making dinner some nights can feel like a total chore but cooking with your kids is a tremendous way to spend time together talking in the kitchen. You’ll be teaching them a life skill, and with childhood obesity on the rise, you have a chance to feed your kids a healthy, home-cooked meal where you control the amount of salt, sugar and fat in the meal. For our 21st Family Fun idea for the summer, we recommend Cooking with the Kids focusing on some fun summer foods.

Even if your kids eat healthy foods in general, there is nothing like sharing the joy of fresh, in-season produce. We all know that a homegrown tomato is so much better than the waxy, flavorless version we get most of the year at the grocery store. Show your kids what some of their favorite foods taste like when it is fresh and in season. Pulling the fresh ingredients from your garden to taking a trip to the local Farmers Market makes cooking summer flavors even more special.

Depending on the age of your child, give them a task they can handle, whether it is filling a pot with water, stirring a sauce, or cutting the vegetables.

There are all kinds of kid-friendly recipes online to help inspire you in the kitchen. I’ve included some of my family’s favorites below.

Chicken Shish-Kabobs – kids will have fun “spearing” the meat and vegetables on a stick.

Fresh Fruit Popsicles
1 Cup fresh strawberries
1 Cup fresh blueberries
1 banana
2 Cups 100% white grape juice

Add ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into Popsicle molds and freeze until solid.

Here’s a No Bake Brownie Cupcake recipe from Barbara Beery, perfect for summer since you won’t need the oven, which makes it hot in the kitchen.

Send me a recipe by Friday, July 30th at sue@chocolatecakeclub.com and we’ll enter you to win a Playful Chef Kids Cook Book with fun recipes perfect for kids. Don’t want to wait to win? Order one by Friday and get 20% off.

Cooking together is the perfect way to end a summer day. Have fun enjoying the tastes of summer! What recipe do you like to cook with your kids in the summer?

Slumber parties are a blast but why should just the girls have all the fun? Throw a family slumber party where Mom, Dad, sis, bro, and the various pets in the family get to experience the late night bonding. It’s a great and inexpensive way to have fun on a Friday Night and you can also “test” out recipes, games, and movies for a future slumber party that the kids want to have with their friends. It’s very funny to see Dad and brother playing “girlie” games, too.

Here are some suggested activities for your family Slumber Party:

Attire:

Mix and match pajamas. Everyone should wear pajamas for their slumber party but wouldn’t it be funny if you wore each other’s pajamas? Your kids would find it hilarious to wear Mom and Dad’s large pajama pieces or see Dad trying to wear Jr.’s slippers for the evening.

Games/ Activities:

Conversation Games- Play a conversation game to get things rolling, like our Truth or Dare or Slumber Party Conversation Games. So, Dad, who was the first girl you ever kissed? Hmm? “What do you mean it wasn’t Mom!?!”

Flashlight Board Game – Pick your favorite board game and play by flashlight or candlelight to make it a little more spooky or special.

Spin the Nail Polish Bottle – If the boys in the family are up for it, this makes a hilarious game. Take several colors of nail polish and place the bottles in the center of the group. One person picks a bottle and spins. Whoever it points at has to paint one of their toe nails that color. Keep going until you have a rainbow of colors on your feet.

Pillowfight – You can’t have a slumber party without a pillow fight. Your little kids will love it. Keep the fighting away from the big screen TV or Dad will be mad.

Custom Made Pillowcase – Even if you aren’t a crafty family or have any artists in the house, it’s fun to make a “You Are Loved” pillowcase for another family member. Pick up some pillowcases and some fabric markers at a craft store. Put everyone’s name in a hat and each of you will pick a name. Now use your pillowy canvas to draw or describe why you love that person. (We do something similar as dinner time conversation when we are having bad days to booster everyone’s spirits. I thought it would be fun to take it a step further and remind a family member why you love them. They’ll be smiling every time they sleep with that pillowcase.

Movies:

Sleepiest View in the House – Have everyone lay out their sleeping bags on the floor to watch a movie together. Or, if your family room couch is a pull-out bed, pull the bed out and have everyone pile on to watch together.

What to Watch? – The movie you watch depends on the age of your kids or your family’s interest. If your kids are older, you can watch scary movies. If your kids are younger, Monsters Inc. is a great slumber party movie. For a “Girlie” movie – Princess Diaries 2 is a good choice because there’s a slumber party scene.

Home Movies. – Don’t forget that you can watch family movies as well. Our kids still love watching the video of our wedding.

Food:

Popcorn, ice cream sundaes and chocolate fondue are our top picks for a slumber party.

Here’s our recipe for Chocolate Fondue:

2 lb. of your favorite milk chocolate bars (we like Ghiradelli’s)
8 oz. dark chocolate bar
1 1/2 cup heavy cream (can use half and half for less calories)
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Break the candy bars into pieces and place in your fondue or hot pot. Turn to a low setting. Add cream and stir constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. If you are melting this on a stove top, don’t walk away or the chocolate will boil and be ruined. Add the vanilla right before serving. Then dip away! (Serves 12)

For dipping:

• Hazelnut or almond biscotti (more for the adults)
• Salted pretzel sticks
• Cubed pound cake
• Sliced bananas
• Stem strawberries
• Large marshmallows

Send us photos of your family slumber party. We’d love to see them.

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What’s your child’s favorite time at school? For my kids, it’s lunch. But sending your kids to school or day care with a packed lunch can be a hassle. You need to make sure you buy a lunch box or bag that your child loves carrying to show off his or her personal style, but is completely functional for Mom.

There are all kinds of different sizes, shapes, materials, and designs for lunch bags. Some zipper, some fold over the top. Designs can be funky or just plain functional. But which to choose? Hint: It’s all about Size!

Here are 3 things to think about when picking your child’s lunch bag – size, ease of cleaning, and safety.

Size Does Matter

Snack vs. Lunch. My son usually eats a hot lunch from school. However, he does take a snack everyday and sometimes he wants a snack that needs to be kept cold, like a yogurt drink, vegetable dip, or certain fruits that taste better cold. So, if you are only packing a snack, then get the smallest bag you can find.

What’s in the Bag?
Figure out what your child will be taking for lunch every day. Pack a typical lunch in your head and guesstimate the space you need. Do they need a drink or will they buy milk at school? If they are bringing a drink, are they bringing a water bottle? If so, will it fit inside the lunch bag to stay cool? How about a juice pack? How will you keep everything cold? Think about what you want to throw in the bag and then you can determine the right size. You don’t want a lunch bag so big that your child needs wheels to drag it to school. But at the same time, you want your child’s lunch all together in one bag and not with separate pieces floating around the backpack getting smashed.

Keeping it Cool!
Does your child want to keep lunch items cold or hot? Then the lunch bag needs to be insulated and it needs a cold source. Some lunch bags come with a chill pack, but most don’t. If not, you can buy one separately but make sure it fits in the lunch bag. Some chill packs are huge. It only needs to keep the lunch cold for a few hours so don’t overdo it.

If you don’t want to buy a separate chill pack, here are some tips for keeping lunch cool. Throw some ice cubes in a plastic baggie. Ask your child to empty the melted water and bring the bag back so you can reuse it the next day. (My kids drink it.) Or, if you have a smaller lunch bag and don’t have the room for extras, save space by freezing the water bottle or juice pack then use it as the chill pack to keep the food cold. If your child isn’t concerned about temperature, then ignore all of this.

If your child likes hot soup then make sure you get a thermos. If you want it to fit in the lunch bag, take the thermos with you when you shop for the lunch bag or measure it.

Waste Free Lunches?
We all want to do our part for protecting the environment and waste free lunches are a great way to conserve. Many schools are encouraging kids to bring waste free lunches. Our kids earn points every time they bring a waste free lunch.
I don’t want to keep adding to the landfill problem with plastic baggies so we try to use our clean butter tubs, and other small plastic containers that we can wash and reuse. However, plastic containers take up space in a lunch bag so make sure you have a large enough bag to hold them all. There are some great waste free lunch containers out there like this one from Kids Konserve.

At Chocolate Cake Club, we really like and therefore sell the Yubo Lunch Box System. It comes with a sandwich container, two side dish containers, and an ice pack. It’s all easy to throw in the dishwasher and reuse. However, the lunch box is designed to hold only the set pieces, so if you think you are going to be adding in a lot of other items, you might want a bigger lunch box.

Safety
We all care about our kids’ health and safety. If you are buying a plastic or vinyl lunch bag, just make sure it is lead, phthalate, and PVC free. If your child wants to keep food hot or cold, it needs to be insulated. But definitely make sure to ask if the bag meets all child safety requirements, if it is not labeled as such. Most bags are these days, but just double check the label. We highly suggest aluminum or stainless steel water bottles as an alternative to plastic.

Design
OK, now you can think about design. There are so many cool designs on the market from cute to hip to uber trendy. Beyond the graphics, see which type of bag is easiest for your child to open. For a smaller child, a “fold over the top” Velcro closure may be easier than a zipper. Just like with backpacks, kids will express themselves with their lunch bag. Once your safety and size concerns have been met, Mom, let your child choose the design they love.

Check out all of the sizes, shapes, and designs of lunch boxes and bags we carry at Chocolate Cake Club. Don’t forget the matching Aluminum or Stainless Steel Water Bottles for your kids.

Read More …
Healthy Lunch Ideas for Kids

It’s Friday Night, you don’t have any plans, no babysitter, and you’re sick of movie night. It’s the perfect opportunity to host a Neighborhood Firepit Party. It’s a simple, fun, and easy way to be sociable and amuse the kids, no matter what age.

Our neighborhood is pretty friendly so if you build a firepit, they will come. Before it gets dark, we put the firepit out on the driveway, set up some chairs around the fire and that’s all the invitation the neighbors need. If that won’t work in your neighborhood, type up a quick flyer and have the kids hand it out to the neighbors or spread the word as you walk the dog around the block.

Tell everyone to bring their own drinks and bring some munchies to share. If you start planning earlier in the morning or the day before, people might have time to whip up something, otherwise I love seeing what people have in their fridge or pantry to share at a moment’s notice. Run to the corner store and buy supplies for s’mores. Tell the odd numbered houses to bring the appetizers and the even numbered houses to bring dessert. Our “go to” dish to bring – Guacamole and Chips. We keep our favorite guacamole in the freezer and can thaw it out for any occasion. Costco has some good pre-made guac.

When you have little kids, these parties are great because everyone will keep an eye on the kids. Or the bigger kids in the neighborhood will take them in hand and run some games. Sweet! You can go inside and put them to bed when needed.

The older kids can run around playing hide ‘n seek, ghost in the graveyard, or get a flashlight flag football game going. Set up a tent and let the kids play in the tent. Get out the baggo, bocce or Super Parachute Party Game. If there is a big sporting event on that evening, bring a radio or TV outside. We’ve got a large telescope so it’s fun to bring that out and let the kids take turns looking at the moon.

I love to do these parties right before school starts. The parents talk about who got which teacher, who’s going to be at the bus stop, and what to look forward to this school year. If your child is going into kindergarten, it’s a perfect time to pair him or her up with an older kid to help them on the bus.

Tell us about your neighborhood parties or your “go to” dish.

It’s Day 18 of our Summer Family Fun Challenge. Are you having fun yet?

Today’s idea is to take a trip around the world. If you can afford to that literally, then by all means, Bon Voyage. For the rest of us, pick a day, pick a country and then spend time celebrating it’s culture. For example, if you pick Italy:

• Go online and look up some fun facts about Italy.
• Go to the library and check out some Italian music or an Italian movie.
• If you know someone from Italy, invite them over for dinner and have the kids ask them questions about what it’s like to live there.
• Get some language instruction tapes and learn some words in Italian.
• If your kids like animals, learn which animals are indigenous to that country.
• Read about an Italian family tradition that sounds interesting and try it at home.
• Grab an Italian cookbook, have each family member choose a dish they would like to try. Spend the time in the kitchen cooking and experimenting together.

If you are fortunate to have an international trip coming up, then definitely use this time to learn more about the country and get the kids excited about what they might see.

Don’t know which country to pick? Research your family ancestry. Or, have everyone in the family write down ideas on a piece of paper. Throw the paper into a jar and pick. Or, hang up a world map and let someone close their eyes and point to a country. (If you don’t have a map, use our World Map Kids Placemat or World Map Sticker Set.)

Want even more help? Try our Playful Chef French Cooking Set.

This kids cooking set includes kid-sized cooking tools, recipes for popular French food, and fun information about French history, vocabulary and geography.

Which country are you going to start with?

Happy Monday! It’s Day #17 of our 30 Day Summer Fun Challenge and our idea today is to learn something new as a family.

Is there anything you’ve always wanted to learn how to do? Speak Spanish, play guitar, play golf, tennis, take better photos, dance the tango, or cook a perfect souffle? Why not get the whole family involved and take a group lesson or start a new family hobby? (I suggested we all learn how to balance the checkbook but they “booed” my idea.)

Families that play together, stay together. Learning a new skill, hobby or sport is a fun way to spend time together and expand your mind. You’ll all be starting at the same level – newbie – and it will be interesting to see who in the family really takes to the lessons.

Find a class
Contact your local park district or community college to see the continuning education courses that they offer. If some of the classes look interesting for the whole family, sign everyone up. Look online for some local language classes or check your local health clubs, park district or YMCA for swimming, tennis, golf or even scuba diving lessons. Since you will have 3 or more “students” in the class, it might be worthwhile to find an instructor and see if you could arrange for private lessons in your home.

Now, show off your new skills
Once you’ve discovered your new skill and if everyone likes it, plan your next family vacation so you can apply this new knowledge or start a new family tradition.

• Take Spanish lessons then vacation in Mexico or Spain
• Take Cajun cooking lessons and then plan a trip to New Orleans
• Take golf lessons and then swing away in California
• Learn to scuba dive and head to the Caribbean
• Take some wildlife photography lessons and then head to Yellowstone National Park

If no one really takes to the new skill, there’s always next summer to try something else. My husband loves to golf and my kids have been taking lessons for the past two summers. I always swore I would never golf (after having waitressed in a snobby golf club in high school and swearing I would “NEVER” be like those people) however, I’m rethinking taking lessons because it would be a fun thing to do as a family or with another family. (If I’m no good, I could always lay on top of the golf cart and just get a tan. That’s quality time together, right?)

Extra Practice
Ask around and see if another family you know loves the same skill or hobby. Invite them over to practice together. The more the merrier.

If you are going to tackle learning Spanish, we have some fun products to help practice with kids.

Spanish Bingo

Spanish Flash Cards

Or if you are going to take cooking lessons, get the kids excited about the lessons with their own apron and cooking utensils, like our best selling Playful Chef Kids Cooking Kit.

Is your family taking lessons to learn something new? If not, what do you think would interest them?

We’re back from our fun family vacation (we’ll share our travel tips next week) and we’re back on track for our 30 Day Summer Family Fun Challenge. If anyone has any photos of the fun they have been having this summer and you are willing to share, please send them in to sue (at) chocolatecakeclub.com. I’d like to post a bunch of photos of readers having a blast with their families.

Seed a Love of Nature
Kids love digging in the dirt. It’s a primal joy. So, why not take a trip to a nursery and let them pick out flowers, vegetables, or herbs for their own Kids-Only garden.

If you have a green thumb, this is the perfect opportunity to share your knowledge and enthusiasm with your kids or grandkids and teach them how to care for their plants. They’ll love watching their gardens grow throughout the summer, and it might even encourage them to eat their veggies!

If they are more artsy than dirtsy, have them paint their own flower pots, stepping stones, or Garden Gnomes to contribute to the family garden.

Click here to read more about Gardening with Kids.

Need some kid-sized gardening tools? Check out our popular Kids Gardening Kit.

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you and your family have a long weekend full of fun!

We are off on our summer vacation to Williamsburg, VA and Washington DC. As hard as I tried to get some of our 30 Day of Summer Fun Challenge blog posts written before I left, it didn’t happen.

So, while we take the week off, talk amongst yourselves.

We’ll resume the second half of our 30 Day Summer Fun Challenge when we get back with some reviews of our vacation time.

Thanks!

Sue