Family Fun Activity: Photo Scavenger Hunt

May 11th, 2011 · 4 Comments

Looking for something fun to do with your kids this weekend? Grab the camera, head outdoors and try a photo scavenger hunt. (With digital cameras, this is so easy and fun. You can also delete all of the pictures when you are done. No wasted film!) You can go to a specific place to do your hunt or look at your own neighborhood through a new lens. (Get it? A new lens? Oh, forget it.)

You can play individually, in teams or as a group depending on how many cameras you can get your hands on. Then choose a theme. Some examples:

Alphabet – take a photo of something representing every letter in the alphabet.
Numbers – Try to find groups of things representing the numbers 1 -10. 1 ball, 2 flowers, 3 weeds in Daddy’s lawn, 4 cars that your son never picked up, etc. (You get the picture.)
Colors – Take a photo of as many colored objects as you can. Or take pictures of things that are red. See who can find the most.
A common object - For example, dogs, flowers, toys in the yard, red cars, etc. Pick something where you’ll find quite a few examples. See who can find the most.
Letters – Have the kids look for different letters and see if they can spell out words when you get home and print them out.

This is fun to play in your neighborhood because your kids will come back with photos of things you’ve never noticed. (Really, that’s what’s in the back of the Jones’ yard?)

We went to the Farmers Market last weekend (because they are open again in the Midwest!) and my daughter went on a hunt to take a picture of every dog at the market. She had a blast meeting the dogs and asking people if she could take their picture. We had a great time looking at the photos when we got home. She printed them out and created her own book, which was pretty cool and kept her busy for hours. Here’s what she saw:

Any other photo hunt ideas out there? Let us know and we’ll add them to the list.

More Fun Earth Day Ideas for the Kids

April 22nd, 2011 · Comments Off

Happy Earth Day! Isn’t the picture my 8-year-old daughter drew for Earth Day cool? We hope you enjoyed all of our ideas for celebrating Earth Day with the kids. Here’s are three more fun ways to celebrate.

First, join Earth Day 2011′s Picnic in the Park initiative. As they say on their site, “celebrate the planet we live on with good food and great people. Choose a favorite outdoor location, round up some friends and take the planet out to lunch!” Check out their website to find picnics already planned to join in or grab some great picnic recipes from famous Chefs like Mario Batali. (The Goat Curd and Fruit Tart looks especially yummy!) Here are my tips on how to plan the perfect family picnic.

Heart Shaped Earth Day Crayons

Recycle your old crayons and turn them into heart shaped earth crayons. They look cool and you can start drawing again. The directions for how to make them come from Martha Stewart here but the TSJ Photography blog had the inspiration to make them look like the earth.

Earth Day Cupcakes
These earth day cupcakes by Stephanie Lynn over at the Under the Table and Dreaming blog are so cool. Definitely bake them with the kids and bring them to your Picnic in the Park. I like that they are gluten free.

We hope you enjoyed all of our Earth Day ideas! Go have fun celebrating.

5 Fun Easter Family Traditions to Start this Year

April 21st, 2011 · Comments Off

Family traditions are so important and Easter is a great time of year to celebrate and have fun with loved ones. But Easter can mean more than just a ham dinner and an Easter Egg Hunt. Here are 5 ideas to start a fun, family Easter tradition this year.

1. Color Easter Eggs – Well, duh! This is easy right, we all know you color Easter eggs at this time of year. But, why not add to the Easter Egg coloring experience? Every year, color the eggs in a different way. Family Fun magazine, Martha Stewart Living, and Celebrations.com provide you with ideas on how to decorate Easter Eggs. Start a tradition where every year you take turns deciding how you are going to decorate the eggs that year – stickers, decopage, tie dye, googly eyes, themes, etc. Or, start a tradition where you take some of the decorated eggs to a nearby nursing home. They would love to see your artwork. Another idea is to paint wooden eggs. Every year, everyone in the family gets to decorate one wooden egg. Put their name and the date on the bottom, save them and you have some artwork to look back on.

2. Hunting for Practical Jokes. Funny-up the Easter Egg Hunt by putting weird items in the plastic eggs. Our family has put in everything from grass, dog food, candy wrappers, dirt, shaving cream, and lego guys in the eggs. The kids look forward to opening the eggs and finding weird stuff in them. Lots of giggles.

3. Feed the Bunny. You leave cookies and milk for Santa, right? Well, what about the Bunny? He has to travel all night and he has to hop it! He doesn’t get a cool sleigh ride. I’m sure he’s hungry. Leave out a plate of carrots and a bowl of water for the Easter Bunny. (Maybe leave a can of Red Bull. I think he’s going to need the extra energy.) It’s up to your kids if they also want to leave some “white dip.” This forces Mom and Dad to eat a healthy snack before dinner, as well. Take it a step further and have the kids create a special plate and bowl just for the Easter Bunny.

4. Hunting for Fun. Why do the kids get all the fun on Easter Day at the Easter Egg Hunt? My husband has a huge family and every Easter the adults have fun hiding the eggs for the kids. The eggs get hid in some weird places and you get points for hiding the egg that doesn’t get found until Labor Day. Bonus points if you find out the egg was run over with the lawn mower. One year when the kids were done hunting and the adults were standing around wondering what to do next, we decided to have an adult hunt. One year we hid beer cans (soda would work, too). Another year, it was twinkies. We have hid pieces of paper with jokes on them and it’s pretty fun to read them all aloud later. Be creative, but have fun by having a second Easter Hunt.

5. Try Something New. Traditions are all about doing the same thing so you can look forward to the event, right? Well, make a tradition of doing something different for Easter. In our family, Easter means Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, Deviled Eggs, and some kind of Cream Pie. However, why not make it a tradition to try a different meal combination every year or a different recipe for ham, cheesey potatoes, etc? Cook an Easter meal from another country each year. Or, if you are like me, you clip these great recipes out of the food magazines only to store them somewhere and never use them. Use this family gathering as an excuse to try a new ham recipe or do the potatoes a little different. Just wait for the comments. “Ooh, she used apricot jelly on the ham this year.” “Goat cheese in the potatoes? Brilliant!” Here’s another tradition – invite non-family members to Easter dinner. If you have a small family or find yourself not traveling on Easter, start a tradition of inviting non-family to the family dinner. We have plenty of friends who celebrate Easter at home by themselves. Why not invite them over? You’re going to cook anyway.

We hope these ideas have spurred you on to start a new Family Tradition this year. Leave a comment and tell us your Easter Family Traditions.

5 FUN Ways to Help Your Family Go Green for Earth Day

April 20th, 2011 · Comments Off

Farmers Market

There are so many great posts out there about how your family can do some simple things to Go Green for Earth Day … and every day frankly. I like this one from Savvy Sassy Moms. However, I wanted to write a post about how you can have FUN Going Green.

1. Kill the Vampires. Play a game and have the kids go room to room looking for any appliances that are plugged in and running but aren’t being used. That includes unplugging your cell phone when it is fully charged. In my office for example, we had a scanner, three printers, and three computers plugged in. These appliances were still sucking electricity even though they were in sleep mode. Turn them off! Kill the vampires.

2. This Friday Night have a Family No Electricity Night. Light a fire in the fireplace, add some candles, and then play board games by candlelight. The kids will think it is so cool. It’s a great way to spend some quality time together talking and playing games without all of the distractions. In today’s uber, fast-paced world, unplugging seems like a great way to relax and bond while also conserving energy.

3. Bike Ride to Dinner. Plan on going out for dinner this weekend? Why not pick a restaurant that can be part of family bike ride. Save gas and burn off that dessert. Bonus!

4. Walk to your local Farmers Market. If you live in the Midwest, it seems like Farmers Market Season will never come. However, for many other parts of the country take the kids to the Farmers Market and support your local farmers. The benefits? Organic food, no chemical fertilizers to harm the environment or you, less gas used for distribution, and very little packaging to clutter up our landfills. Here are some ideas on Games and Activities to do with the kids at the Farmers Market.

5. Spend an evening at your Local Library. Libraries are the original reuse and recycle centers! Save the trees (truffula or others) – don’t buy new books when you can get them from the library. Everyone in my family loves to read so we enjoy going to the library and spending some time alone and together discovering favorite books or new authors. We can sit on the comfy chairs in the library and read to the kids. Read The Lorax. This way the lights are all off at our house, too.

If you turn your Go Green efforts into FAMILY FUN, they’ll probably get done more often and become a habit for your family. After you have done all of these activities, have your kids write and send a letter to The Lorax and let him know that your family cares and is doing its part. Here are some additional tips on what families can do to protect the environment.

“Unless someone like you CARES a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Any other ideas on how your family can have fun AND protect the environment?

Celebrate Earth Day with the Kids by Exploring Nature

April 19th, 2011 · 2 Comments

Earth Day is this Friday, April 22nd and we are excited to bring you ideas on how to celebrate and raise awareness with your kids. I think the best way to get the kids to care about the earth and nature is to give them an appreciation for nature. How do you do that? Go play outside! Explore all of nature’s wonders. Here are some fun ideas whether you head on out to the park or explore your backyard.

I mentioned yesterday that one of my new favorite sites is the Go Explore Nature blog. Debi, the blog’s chief explorer, has some great ideas in these posts: How to Raise Kids Who Care About the Planet, 50 Ways to Explore Nature in Your Own Backyard, and Top 10 Spring Nature Adventures.

Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars

I also love the book Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars by Sharon Lovejoy for ideas on exploring nature with kids and grandkids.
(more…)

Celebrating Earth Day with the Kids

April 18th, 2011 · 3 Comments

We’re celebrating Earth Day this week so we’ll be sharing ideas on how to get the kids involved in respecting and preserving our planet, as well as simple things we can do as families to protect our environment.

Here are some ideas on how to talk and act upon the meaning of Earth Day.

Play: First and foremost, go outside and just enjoy the day. I just discovered the Go Explore Nature blog, which is a new favorite, and I love their idea and checklist for a Spring Nature Scavenger Hunt.

Green Toys Recycling Truck

Another way to play and help is to purchase eco-friendly toys and support the manufacturers who are doing their part to save the environment. Some of our favorite eco-friendly toys, that we we love enough to sell at ChocolateCakeClub.com, are the Green Toys Tea Set, Green Toys Recycling Truck, and the Totem Boys and Girls Recycled Construction Sets.

We sell quite a few organic and eco-friendly toys that kids love and you’ll feel good about giving.

Plant: Head over to your local nursery and buy a perennial flower that you love. Plant it with your kids to help beautify your yard and the neighborhood. Read How to Teach Your Kids a Love of Gardening. Get your kids their very own Gardening Set so they get excited about spending time in the garden with Mom or Grandma. Teach your kids about locally grown produce with the Playful Chef’s Farmers Market Set. Here’s how to have fun with the kids on a Trip to the Farmers Market.
(more…)

A Unique Way to Decorate Easter Eggs

April 13th, 2011 · Comments Off

My daughter and I got crafty this past weekend after looking through all of the wonderful egg decorating ideas in magazines and online, we were inspired to make the most unique idea we had seen – Chalkboard Painted Eggs. We saw the idea in Style at Home and wanted to see if it really was super easy and super cool.

It’s definitely easy and my daughter loved making them. We used their instructions as a guide but we found we had to deviate a little to make ours work.
(more…)

Teach Your Kids a Love of Gardening

March 24th, 2011 · 1 Comment

Give a child the gift of a green thumb!

Gardening for me is a great way to relax, de-clutter my busy mind, and reconnect with nature. I get a good workout, enjoy plenty of sunshine, create a pretty yard, and grow plenty of basil for my summer bruchetta. But mostly I do garden because we entertain a lot in the summer – neighborhood fire pit parties or BBQs – and we want the house to look smashing.

When my kids expressed an interest in gardening – or rather, when I discovered my daughter attempting to transfer a pretty yellow flower (aka dandelion) into my bed of begonias – I decided to create a designated “Kids Only” garden where they could cultivate their budding green thumbs safely away from my begonias and rose bushes. They get to pick what they want to plant, which makes it exciting for them. (Although when we went to the local nursery to get flowers, my son only seemed to want to buy the container of preying mantises. Hmm!)
(more…)

Even MORE St. Patrick’s Day Family Fun Ideas & Recipes

March 16th, 2011 · Comments Off

It’s not too late! Still haven’t thought of something fun to do tomorrow with the kids to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Well, the luck of the Irish be with you. Here are some last-minute, but worth-the-wait, ideas.

Funky Green Food

Picky Palate’s Lucky Green Velvet Baby Cakes

(more…)

Spring Break Family Fun in Chicago

March 9th, 2011 · 1 Comment

I’m thrilled to introduce a guest blogger today, Angel Ishmael, the Chief Mom Officer behind the cool site, Kidgrade.com, which is a resource for parent reviewed places to Eat, Play, Shop, and Stay in Chicago. Since our family is staying home for Spring Break this year, I asked her to give us some ideas of what to do during Spring Break in Chicago. Whether you live in the area or are flying in to visit the city, these ideas will help you have fun with your family. Take it away, Angel:

With Spring Break quickly approaching, it’s time to find some fun things to do with the kids. Although many will be traveling for Spring Break, there are a variety of family friendly activities that Chicago has to offer.

MARCH 12th

Head downtown to the Chicago River and watch them dye it Green. Festivities are at 10:45 a.m. along the Chicago Riverwalk. What child wouldn’t love to see a Green River?
(more…)

Mother and Daughter Bonding – Easter Crafts

April 14th, 2009 · Comments Off

This Easter we decided not to travel and see family but stay home and relax. We invited some friends over for a non-traditional Easter dinner of Beef Tenderloin with Blue Cheese Breadcrumb Crust and Red Wine Sauce. If you read our post on 5 Easter Family Traditions to Start This Year you’ll know that one of our traditions is to try something new. No ham for us this year.

I asked my daughter, the artist in residence, if she would decorate the table for Easter. She loves to do this and since my mother, who is the master in table decorating, taught her how to do it well, she was thrilled. Did I mention that she is 6 and can decorate a dinner table better than I can? Anyway, she decided that we needed to make birds’ nests to complete her vision for the table. We found an idea in Family Fun Magazine.

Our blue Easter egg nest was very easy to make although neither of ours turned out looking as good as the magazine’s version. The suggested modeling clay wasn’t that great. I would probably use playdoh or some other softer modeling clay to get the shape right. The crayola stuff was not that pliable. We had plenty of sticks in the yards so I just used our gardening clippers to cut them down to size. The craft instructions say to use blue yarn inside the nest but we found a bag of blue feathers that worked better. Here is how our nests and the decorated table turned out. Click on the photos to see them larger.

My daughter and I had a lot of fun working together to make our nests. It had all the right ingredients for success – simple project, didn’t take a lot of time, only had to buy two materials, and we had a goal – decorate the Easter dinner table. Our colored eggs were displayed fabulously in our blue birds nests.

Tip: If you have cats, don’t put the nests out until right before dinner. Our indoor-only cats were extremely interested in the “live” twigs and proceeded to lay their fat down on top of our nests to be closer to nature, I guess. They also started chewing the twigs and pulling them out of the clay. Bad kitties!

Did you do any craft projects with your kids this Easter? If so, leave us a comment and please share!

Spring Break Boredom Busters

March 17th, 2009 · 1 Comment

Not going anywhere for Spring Break this year? Don’t fret. Here are some fun kids crafts kits and games to keep the kids occupied while they are at home … and give Mom a chance to hang on to her sanity.

Art Projects
Get the kids started on some art projects. It gets their creative juices flowing and keeps them away from the TV for awhile. At the Chocolate Cake Club, we carry a few art kits that have a lot of craft materials and project ideas to keep kids busy for days, or at least hours. It will give you some kind of break, trust us.

The Giant Art Supply Jar is wonderful because it gives your kids so many different kinds of supplies in one compact, easy-to-put-away plastic jar. My daughter says she hates to do projects at home because all we have is paper and crayons. Well with the art jar, I astounded her with unique art supplies like multi-colored pom poms, glitter pom poms, pipe cleaners, fringed crepe paper, feathers and popsicle sticks. Let the imagination run wild. (Tell your kids to build a diarama and see the glazed look that comes across their face.)

If your kids can’t think of anything to make, then the Little Hands My Giant Busy Box is ideal. Included are 16 exciting arts & crafts projects for kids in one big box. You’ll have all the supplies needed to make dough animals, sticker art, a collage farm, paper bag puppets, and tissue art projects. This way they won’t be asking you to make one more trip to the craft store to get different supplies. The Busy Box Kit also includes 2 plastic frames, 4 animal punch outs, 10 colors of dough, 2 peel and stick tissue art pictures, tons of tissue paper, glue, and instructions. Whoo Hoo!

Games
When your kids’ eyes start to glaze over from playing too much Wii, tell them to play a low-tech game. Here are some that kids like a lot, therefore, they will play them and amuse themselves.

Monkey Hide 'n Seek Safari Game
The Monkey Hide ‘n Seek Safari Game is a lot of fun. You can hide the monkey somewhere inside or outside and then your child will use a “magic” wand to find it The wand lights up as your child gets “hotter” or “colder” to finding the monkey. If you have more than one child, have them take turns hiding and finding – letting you get some things done around the house. Older kids get a kick out of seeing who can find the most clever hiding place. It’s also available in a T-Rex Hide ‘n Seek Safari Game. T-Rex Hide 'n Seek Safari Game

Build a Robot Spinner Game

The Build a Robot Spinner Game is fun for those rowdy boys who need to slow down for a minute. They’ll have fun with this old-fashioned spinner game trying to get enough pieces to build a funky robot. If your child doesn’t have anyone to play with, he or she can use this game as a puzzle and just build cool looking robots on the floor. How’s that for cool – a game they can still play even if they are alone.

Kids Cooking Kits
We think cooking with your kids is one of the best ways to create Chocolate Cake Moments. Not only are you teaching your kids a life skill, but bonding while cooking up some delicious treats is a special time to be close to your kids. Whether you cook with your kids or have them cook with Grandma and Grandpa, they are going to have fun. Here are some kids cooking kits that we just love to heat up some family fun in the kitchen.

Take a tour of France in your kitchen with the Playful Chef Kids French Cooking Set. All of the tools and recipes you need to make some popular French-inspired dishes are included, as well as fun information about French history, vocabulary and geography. (So your kids minds’ won’t completely atrophy while on Spring Break.) Have fun making Quiche Lorraine for breakfast or Chocolate Mousse for dessert.

Have all of the kids cooking tools but short on inspiration? Check out the Playful Chef Kids Cookbook for some new recipes that are kid-friendly.

Play Ball Baseball Cookie Baking Kit
Baseball’s Spring Training has started so why not celebrate with your baseball-loving kids with the Play Ball Baseball Cookie Kit. Celebrate the beginning of a new Spring Season with some baseball cookies. You can even bake the cookies, while watching a game on TV. This Kids Cooking Kit includes: sugar cookie mix, decorating gel, icing, cutter, and a recipe with instructions.

So, whether you create fun works of art, play games, or cook up some fun, your kids are sure to be amused this Spring Break … giving us Moms a break as well.

Do you have any other ideas for Spring Break Boredom Busters? Please share.