December 3rd, 2010 · Comments Off
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We were so saddened to hear that Ron Santo passed away this morning. For those of you in Chicago, he was the perfect Cubs announcer. Most importantly to us, he was the perfect spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). He created a tremendous amount of awareness for this disease that has touched our household and we appreciate how active he was in the community here.
Speaking of JDRF, my daughter and I want to give a big thank you to everyone who purchased a kids gift from the ChocolateCakeClub.com in November!!!! November was National Diabetes Awareness Month and we announced at the beginning of the month that we would donate a portion of all November sales to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. We sent our check out today! Thank you all for helping us make this donation.
Even if you didn’t purchase from us, we’d love it if you helped support finding a cure for Type 1 juvenile diabetes and make a donation at the JDRF site.
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child
October 14th, 2010 · Comments Off
My daughter got her first insulin pump today. She was so incredibly excited. It’s pink. She named it Tracy.
Why?
She explained, “It’s going to follow me around for the rest of my life. You know, like a little sister. We’ll go everywhere together, so it needs a name.”
Sniff.
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child
June 21st, 2010 · 2 Comments
Welcome to Day #6 of our 30 Day Summer Fun Challenge, where we’re giving you 30 days of simple, creative & most importantly memorable ideas to make this the most fun summer EVER for your family.
We’ve got storms here in the Chicagoland area today so I thought I’d share a Rainy Day fun idea. You can’t go wrong with Arts & Crafts when you are stuck indoors during summer break. However, there are a lot of craft kits out there so you need to keep some things in mind.
1. Are you going to do the craft with them or do you need the kit to keep the kiddos busy while you do other things? If so, make sure it is age appropriate so they don’t need Mom to do it all for them. Also, make sure they won’t finish it in 5 minutes and ask “Now, what?”
2. Is everything included in the kit? If you have a ton of art supplies in your house already, you don’t need a kit that includes another glue stick or more magic markers. Maybe your best bet includes getting a craft book from the library or book store and using the supplies you already have. If you are at Grandma’s house or don’t have that many supplies, then make sure your kit has everything included. (You don’t want to start a craft only to find out that you need to go to the store to get Googly eyes. “Mom, how can we create under these conditions?”)
3. Do you want to reuse the kit or craft ‘n go? My daughter, the artist, goes through so many craft kits that I now look for ones that I can dispose of when we are done. We already have some great art kits that include all kinds of materials that we use constantly. So, I don’t want a new kit with 1,000 paint brushes. No more crayons in my house! I look for kits that we or she can put together with no extra pieces left over when we are done. Klutz makes some great craft ‘n go kits.
4. What do your kids like to do? There are so many cool themed art kits to appeal to all sorts of interests and artistic techniques. Check out all of the fun arts & craft kits we sell. There is everything from painting to jewelry making to shrinky dinks to sewing and more.
We’ve tried a lot of the craft kits out there with our kids and some keep them engaged, and some don’t. However, the three kits we keep using again and again that have provided our kids with hours of crafting fun, include the Alex Toys Giant Art Supply Jar, the My Very Busy Box, and the My Art Case Art Supply Kit, which is why we sell them.
I would recommend the My Very Busy Box for younger kids (as young as 2 years old) because there are instructions on how to make certain craft ideas. The Giant Art Supply Jar is perfect for older kids who want to create their own ideas and just need the supplies to make it happen. Don’t forget to grab an Art Project Splat Mat or an old tablecloth to protect your kitchen table or put on the floor under the crafting area.
Today only, take 25% off of the Giant Art Supply Jar, the My Very Busy Box, and the My Art Case Art Supply Kit. Take 25% off of our Art Project Splat Mats as well. We have some beautiful ones in Pink Lace & Green Gingham and Blue Stars. You can see all of our cool arts & craft kits here.
Send us a photo of your rainy day craft or tell us about your favorite arts & craft kit. Happy Crafting!
Click here to read all of our Summer Fun Challenge Ideas.
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Summer Family Activities
April 19th, 2010 · Comments Off
In the last installment of How to Have Fun with a Sick Child in the Hospital series, I’m going to share some of my favorite books and audio books that will keep you giggling and having fun. There are some nice books out there about kids being sick, but I think that reading a funny book out loud together will help heal so much better.
Here are some of our funny favorites that are fun to read out loud or have everyone giggling. When you are tired of reading and want to just rest in the room together, throw in an audio book. Grab them at your local library or I have provided the link to Amazon for purchase. (Note: I don’t receive any commission from Amazon. I just wanted to make it easier for you to find the books.)
Have fun reading! Come back and tell us what your favorite books are or which books make you laugh most. We could all use a good laugh.
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Reading with the Kids
April 16th, 2010 · Comments Off
So, you’ve watched movies, did some arts & crafts, played games, and you’re looking for the next idea to keep a child in the hospital amused and smiling. Well, remember those old Colorform toys from when you were a kid? You know the board with the felt or plastic shapes that allowed you to dress up a doll or create? Well, they are still going strong and the designs on some of these activity toys are amazing. We carry quite a few of them at the Chocolate Cake Club because they make such great travel toys and all of the pieces are easy to put back and store in the container. Best yet, they are all under $15.00!
Magnetic Dress-Up Figures
For boys:
Monster Magnetic Figures
Robot Magnetic Figures
For girls: There are a whole range of designs based on her interests.
World Traveler Dress Up Doll
Ballerina Dress Up Doll
Sporty Girl
Princess Dress Up Doll
At the Stable
Play Scene Sticker Sets
Map of the World Sticker Set
Garden Fairies Sticker Play Scene
Fun and Dance Sticker Set
Did you play with Colorforms when you were a kid? Do you remember what they were?
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Parenting Tips
April 15th, 2010 · Comments Off
Continuing our ideas of how to have fun with a sick child or one in the hospital, we are going to focus on games and puzzles today. Since the hospital room is pretty small, I would suggest sticking to card games or travel size games. Conversation games are also perfect to spend some fun time together in the hospital. You get to talk and learn more about each other. It’s fun to play when Grandma and Grandpa or cousins come to visit as well. For puzzles, you don’t want anything too large because you don’t have a lot of surface space to assemble it. You also might only have one table surface that needs to be cleared for meal time so make sure it’s a puzzle that can be put together and taken apart again rather quickly. No 5-day, 3-D puzzles, please.
To give you some inspiration, here are some of our favorite small sized, games to help you pass the time in the hospital that we sell at www.ChocolateCakeClub.com.
Birds, Bugs and Beans – Very fun card game!
Dog Dice – Bingo game using dog bones as markers. Fun and quick to play.
Spanish Bingo – Play and learn.
Build a Robot Spinner Game – Old Fashioned spinner game, with modern robot design
Flea Circus Game – Very fun game where you get to steal cats and dogs from the other players
Conversation Games
Puzzles and Lacing Cards
Fairies Lacing Cards
Children of the World Lacing Cards
Monsters Puzzle – Challenging enough yet easy to put together and store in it’s compact container
Horses in the Meadow Puzzle – Very cheery illustrations and easy to store in it’s container
You may also like our other ideas for fun with a sick child in the hospital.
1. DVDs/ Movies
2. Arts & Crafts
What games or puzzles do you recommend?
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Parenting Tips
April 13th, 2010 · Comments Off
Our hospital room had a DVD player and quite a list of movies and shows to watch for all ages. If you don’t have one, bring in a portable DVD player and let your child watch in bed to his or her heart’s content. I had fun laying on the bed with her watching the girly Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted movies. You know movies we can’t watch as a family anymore because my son finds them icky. My husband watched Toy Story with my daughter since she didn’t remember it and it is one of his favorites. Don’t just turn on the movie for your child and go do something else. Sit and watch with them and their favorite stuffed animal. Find out why he or she loves certain parts of the movie.
Bring some old movies from home that you’ve been meaning to watch. Bring in an old classic movie that was your favorite as a child or is one of your favorite all time movies. We’ve slowly been rediscovering old movies together and here are some of our favorites. We watched the Apple Dumpling Gang last month and now a new generation loves Tim Conway and Don Knotts. My husband loves Singing in the Rain and when we watched it all together the kids thought it was hilarious. You can get these older films at Netflix or check your local library. Watching together in the hospital is a great time to share the movie and tell you kids why you love it.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about Arts & Crafts with your kids, so check back.
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Family Movie Night · Parenting Tips
April 9th, 2010 · Comments Off
Continuing our ideas of how to have fun in the hospital with a sick child, arts & crafts are a fun way to spend time together. You then have the craft to remind you of your stay in the hospital.
This is the perfect time to draw, create, make a comic book, or in our case learn how to sew. At my store, www.ChocolateCakeClub.com, we have a My First Sewing Kit that my daughter had seen and had been asking me about for weeks. When I asked her what she wanted to do in the hospital the first day she said she wanted to learn to sew. I brought in the kit and together we made a felt elephant. This is her “hospital” friend. I like that I started to teach her a skill and that she and I made something together that will remind us of our hospital stay.
There are so many arts & craft kits out there so you are sure to find some that relate to your child’s interests and skill level. Here are some of the ones that we carry that I think would work well for a hospital room because the kits have everything you need, they don’t take a lot of room, and there is relatively little mess:
Girls:
All That Glitters Wristlet
My First Sewing Kit
Felt Sweets Sewing Kit
Friend 2 Friend Bracelet Kit
Decorate Your Own Princess Mirror
Heart Keepsake Box
Spiffy Spa Kit
Fairy Princess Magic Crayon T-shirt
My Scrapbook
Boys:
My Crafty Cars Kit
Paint Your Own Garden Gnome
Paint Your Own Pirate Chest
Decorate Your Own Wooden Racecar
Decorate Your Own Wooden Train
Design Your Own Chef’s Hat and Apron
We don’t carry this item but my 10 year old son just had a blast doing this art kit on Easter – RoseArt Color Blanks.
Our Kids Art-to Go Folios are also great for keeping kids amused by drawing or having paper handy to play hang man or other games. Or, the My Giant Busy Box has ideas and supplies on fun things to make that will keep your kids amused for days.
Do you have any craft ideas to do with sick kids?
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Ideas for family projects · Parenting Tips
April 7th, 2010 · Comments Off
First of all, if you are reading this post because you really need ideas, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you have a child, grandchild, or friend that is in the hospital for whatever reason. I hope that you get out healthy and quickly. But while you are there, ease your child’s fears and have some fun together. Trust me, when you are in the hospital you’ll have a whole new appreciation for celebrating those “Chocolate Cake Moments” with your kids.
As you may have read in my last post, my daughter was diagnosed with Type I diabetes last week. She is only 7. We spent 4 days in the hospital that just flew by so quickly. We were in the Children’s Hospital at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL and I have to say that they did a wonderful job. It’s still a hospital so there were some frustrations with things, but all-in-all they made my daughter feel like a princess with her illness and for that I am incredibly grateful. She even told my husband, “If it weren’t for this IV in my arm, this hospital is not too bad.”
But in between all of the nutritionists, doctors, nurses, diabetic educators, and other various hospital staff that were trying to get my husband and I up to speed on “Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Diabetes and More” in 3 days, the hospital understood the needs of our child and their parents. When the diabetic educator came in to talk with my husband and I, a volunteer came to take my daughter to the toy room. When the nutritionist came to talk with us, a child services worker came to take my daughter to do arts & crafts in the lounge. Once the staff learned that my daugher was an artist, the arts & crafts kits came rolling into the room. She was in heaven – if heaven makes you wear an IV and get shots when you eat.
Point is, she was kept entertained while we were left to quickly learn (distraction free) how to become our daughter’s pancreas and keep her healthy for the rest of her life. It was never a lifelong goal of mine to become a major organ, but I think my husband and make a nice pancreas, if I do say so myself.
But in those rare down moments, my husband and I were able to have fun with our daughter. We had no distractions in the hospital – work left us alone, family kept calling to check in but they understood when we didn’t call right back, friends and neighbors kept our son entertained and let the dog out. For all of you who allowed us to totally enjoy spending time with our daughter when she needed us most – THANK YOU!!!
So, now on to the fun ideas. If the hospital you are in doesn’t provide all of the fun activities, then do it yourself or assign a family member to take on that role during your stay. Here’s what my daughter enjoyed that you can replicate for your little sick one:
1. DVDs/ Movies
2. Arts & Crafts
3. Games & Puzzles
4. Magnetic and Stick-on Toys
5. Books & Audio Books
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Tags: Entertaining a Sick Child · Family Fun Ideas · Parenting Tips
