Creative Kidstuff

Fun Valentine’s Day Crafts!

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, and a great way to show your Valentine you care is by creating a homemade craft or making a delicious Valentine treat! Here are a few great ideas to help celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Create the perfect card for your Valentine with the Valentine’s Greetings kit from Roylco. It comes with everything need to create beautiful handmade cards- you just add the imagination! You can also create a fun Valentine card holder to store all the cards: decorate an envelope or paper bag with pieces of Valentine craft paper cut into holiday specific shapes!

Make a heart shaped necklace for your sweetie using salt dough!
Take about 1 cup salt and dissolve it in about 1 1/4 cup water (or a little more). Then stir in about 3 cups flour ( one cup at a time), until it’s a nice soft dough. Shape it or cut it out with cookie cutters. To make the heart necklace, be sure to poke a hole through the salt dough. Let it harden or bake it at 200 degree F until hard, then paint with regular acrylic paint. Use a red string to bead everything together!

Make a sweet treat with the Chocolate Kiss Cupcakes!
All you need is boxed cake mix, muffin liners, unwrapped chocolate candy kisses, and frosting! Make cake mix according to the directions. Place muffin liners in muffin pan. Pour dough into each cup and place an unwrapped chocolate kiss in the middle of each cupcake. Bake according to directions. Allow to cool and frost. Your valentine will find a yummy hidden kiss inside their cupcake.
*Fun Tip! Use white frosting and add red food coloring for different shades of red and pink*

If you don’t have time to bake this year, be sure to order a Valentine Cookie!

Happy Valentine’s Day! How are you celebrating this year?

Say goodbye to winter blahs!

This is the time of year we all begin to get the winter blahs! Visit Creative Kidstuff’s fun indoor events to warm up any cold winter day. Drop by every Thursday at 10:00am for story time and a fun craft. A staff favorite is the Friday Night Story Time on January 30th and February 27th at 7:00pm. Put on your warmest jammies and stop by your neighborhood Creative Kidstuff for a warm bed time story and a delicious cup of cocoa!
Creative Kidstuff is happy to welcome a true Minnesota favorite, Nancy Carlson. She will be reading from her new book Henry and the Valentine Surprise on Saturday January 31st at select locations. Listen to the story, talk with Nancy, and have your copy signed at this fun event! Click the above link for more information.
One way to fend off the winter blahs is to add excitement to your daily routine. Try bringing the outside in! Fill a small summer swimming pool with snow and place it in the middle of the kitchen floor. Use a variety of plastic containers and utensils to build wonderful mini snow sculptures while keeping your fingers and toes warm! A fun twist is to add food coloring to your snow creations!
Mixing up the routine can be as simple as having pizza for breakfast and pancakes for dinner. Make a winter-themed gingerbread house by using sugar cubes and white icing to create an ice castle. Have a beach party indoors- hang out in your summer shorts and flip flops! Crank the Beach Boys and drink some lemonade! Use your imagination! Winter can be filled with warm family time fun!! Please share your ideas in the comments below.

Cozy ideas for indoor fun!

When the weather outside is frightful, warm indoor fun is so delightful! Here are some fun activities to keep cabin fever at bay:
Homemade Hot Chocolate

Nothing helps warm you up like a warm cup of hot chocolate! Here is an easy recipe you can create in your own kitchen, and keep on hand for the whole season:
Ingredients:
* 3 1/2 cups sugar
* 2 1/4 cups cocoa
* 1 tablespoon table salt
* Whole milk for serving

Directions: In a large bowl, combine sugar, cocoa, and salt, and whisk to combine well. Store the mixture in an airtight container. For individual servings, pour 1 cup whole milk into a microwave-safe mug, and microwave on high just until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa mix, and stir to dissolve. For a larger batch of cocoa, warm the milk in a saucepan set over medium-low heat, taking care not to let the milk boil; as it warms, stir in 2 tablespoons of mix for each cup of milk.

A fun addition to your Hot Chocolate is to make your own marshmallows:
Ingredients
* 1 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
* 1 1/4 cups water, divided
* 4 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
* 2 egg whites
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract<

Directions: Dust a 9x9 inch square dish with confectioners' sugar. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together white sugar, corn syrup and 3/4 cup water. Heat to 250 to 265 degrees F or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a rigid ball. While syrup is heating, place remaining water in a metal bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the surface. Place bowl over simmering water until gelatin has dissolved completely. Keep in a warm place until syrup has come to temperature. Remove syrup from heat and whisk gelatin mixture into hot syrup. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Continue to beat, pouring syrup mixture into egg whites in a thin stream, until the egg whites are very stiff. Stir in vanilla. Spread evenly in prepared pan and let rest 8 hours or overnight before cutting.

Grab your hot chocolate, plop in some homemade marshmallows, and make it a family night. Grab a great game like Spin Me A Rainbow or Hopla and spend some quality time together! Prepare for the First Ever Family Game Show Night at our Galleria location on February 20, 2009!

Take advantage of the slow pace of winter to create memories and spend time with your family and friends!

Fun Family Time

When November and December come around each year, your focus turns to the people you care about. Spending time with your family and friends becomes a priority, and it’s important to create fond memories to remember these special times (especially when it may be another year before you are all together again!).

A great way to spend time together is playing board games. One of our favorite new games is Backseat Drawing. It’s hilarious to see how well your family can follow instructions and what images they create! It’s artistic AND educational because the cards feature four languages!

Find out more about your family with the Klutz Build a Book: All About My Family. This kit comes with everything to create a special keepsake book about your family. It’s a great way to learn a lot about your loved ones and kids love creating the pages! It also makes a wonderful gift from child to parent or grandparent.

A wonderful family tradition is to make hand print ornaments each year. Children love seeing how they get bigger each year, and this is a tangible and sentimental way to show them!

How does your family enjoy spending time together? Do you have favorite activities, games, or special memories to share? Post them in the comments section!

Halloween Safety

Friday, October 31st marks the annual celebration of Halloween. Across the country, children and teenagers will put on costumes and trek door-to-door in search of treats. Safety is always a major concern during Halloween, so here are some tips to ensure your Halloween is safe and fun!

First, make sure you are visible to others- especially vehicles and bicycles. Wear reflective tape, bright colors, and carry a flashlight. Additionally, walk (don’t fun!) on sidewalks in well-lit, familiar neighborhoods and follow all traffic signals.

Avoid strangers, areas you don’t know well, houses that are not lit up to invite trick-or-treaters, and animals you don’t know.

Keep your costume choice safe too! Choose a costume which doesn’t drag on the ground, wear comfortable, well-fitting shoes, and make sure any accessories you carry are light and flexible. Bright colors are also a plus!

Trick-or-treat with a responsible adult you know well. If possible, go trick-or-treating in a large group. Carry quarters or a cell phone so you can call home if there is an emergency.

After you arrive home safe and sound, inspect your candy carefully. Avoid unwrapped items! If a wrapper is ripped, punctured, or otherwise just doesn’t seem right, throw it away.

Halloween is a night of spooky fun, but remember to stay safe! If you have any other great Halloween safety tips, please leave a comment. Happy Halloween!