Crunchy Cookie Chips by HannahMax Baking

When you have a house of kids that don't agree on what kind of cookies are best, finding one cookie that everyone likes is a small miracle.   We recently tried All Natural Crunchy Cookie Chips made by HannahMax Baking.   Wow, they are awesome!    They are very thin and crunchy and taste completely  homemade.   We tried four varieties -- Original, Sea Salted Peanut Butter, Cinnamon Sugar (awesome with a cup of coffee) and Chocolate Chip.   We had such a hard time deciding which flavor we liked best, we had to keep eating more!    They are all natural, with no trans fats, no artificial flavors or colors, no preservatives, and no GMOs.   They come in a resealable bag and stay fresh for quite some time.   Perfect when you just want a small sweet bite.     I've seen them at Dominick's and Whole Foods.   Satisfy your sweet tooth without any guilt - try them out.   Check out the food shopping section on Kidwinks to get lots of other great ideas for your family.

Notice the open bags -- we just couldn't wait to eat them!!

Kiwi Crate Inspires Creativity!

Kiwi Crate is great concept in kid's crafts.   When you sign up for a monthly service ($19.95 per month), your child receives a crate every month with necessary supplies for 2-3 projects.   The projects could be in art, science, crafts, imaginative play.  

My daughter worked on a special Mother's Day crate to create felt flowers in a vase.   The crate contained high quality supplies with detailed instructions to create the project.  

The online pic of the finished project looks like:

 My 6 year old completed the project completely on her own (with me reading directions), and her project looks like:

Its very cute and she was incredibly proud!

The crate contained all the necessary pieces and it would have been very simple to make the flowers much fuller.    The pic above is as far as my little artist wanted to take them.

Back when I was doing all sorts of crafts with my oldest children, I probably would have thought something like this was unnecessary.   I was creative and managed to come up with new ideas for projects all the time.   Now that my poor 4th child follows the schedules of her older siblings, we just don't have enough down time for new and interesting projects.    Signing up for Kiwi Crate would guarantee that we did something different like this every month.   The excitement of getting a new project in the cute little green crate would be great for kids.    And hard as it is for me to believe,  its quite possible that their ideas may just be a bit more creative than something I could come up with on my own!

The product is geared towards children aged 3-7 and has won best toy awards.   You can check out some sample project ideas on their website at www.kiwicrate.com.  

You can find lots of other fantastic ideas for kids in Kidwink's Shopping section!

The Children's Place for Great Summer Looks

When it comes to kids clothes, my goal is to make my already adorable kids look even cuter (if that's possible :) ), without taking out a second mortgage.   My daughter and I visited The Children's Place last week and all goals were met!

Upon entering the store, you are struck by all the bright colors, tons of cute graphic tees and great mix & match combinations.   My daughter is six years old --- too old for toddler-looking clothes and too young for some of the glittery and sometimes skimpy clothes I've seen in other stores.   The outfits we picked made us both happy -- she felt like a "big girl" and I was ecstatic with how cute and comfy she looked.

We made it a mini-shopping spree (which was a treat for my daughter since ALL shopping is usually done while she is at school, for obvious reasons!).   She had a great time trying on outfits and here are some pics of some of our favorites:

Tons of cute graphic tees to pick from!

They had several great maxi dresses in varying lengths.

Bright colored outfits with headbands to match

Ready for summer -- this skort is great because she can wear it on gym day at school with the built-in shorts!

Another great tee and cute and comfy pants --- soft, elastic waist and they roll up to capris.

The boys selection is great also.    Lots of athletic wear and graphic tees:

They have Captain America, Avengers, various Marvel tees that young boys will love!

I picked up a great bathing suit for my son and a pair of aviator sunglasses to complete his summer look.

The Children's Place carries sizes from infant all the way through size 12.   That comes in handy when you are trying to pick out matching or complementary outfits for varying age siblings.   In addition to the outfits my daughter picked, there were so many selections for older girls as well.   She tried on a maxi dress that was perfect for an older girl and would probably sell out if it came in women's sizes!

Anyone who has shopped The Children's Place knows that the prices are very reasonable.   I also seem to get a coupon emailed to me several times per month.   The store sells all kinds of accessories to complete the outfit, and because they are so reasonable, you are able to get all the extras that the kids love - headbands, jewelry, sunglasses, and more!   There were tons of staff available to help look for sizes.

Stop in at The Children's Place to pick up a few cute & bright summer outfits for your kids!  For other shopping ideas, make sure to visit the Kidwinks Shopping Guide!

Win kidwinks' 12th Toy of Christmas & 1 other game by Wonder Forge

3 will WIN 2 games by Wonder Forge.  The winner can choose two games from the following selection.

Disney Princess Dazzling Princess Game
Disney Princess Enchanted Cupcake Game
Disney Jake and the Neverland Pirates Challenge

Joker’s Fun House

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win kidwinks' 11th Toy of Christmas - Indigo by Ravensburger

Recommended by Linda, owner of Cat & Mouse Game Store:

 

Linda says "Indigo's beautiful design will appeal to kids and adults; the simple rules but captivating game play will make it a classic to be enjoyed for years to come. This is definitely the game that we'll bring out when Grandpa comes to visit! Indigo is a 2012 Parents' Choice Gold Medal winner."

Indigo

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enchanted Cupcake Party Game

Enchanted Cupcake Party Game is a really fun game!   I initially played with my 6 year old daughter but then roped a couple of my boys into the game to play with her as well.   Somehow they managed to turn even a cupcake building game into a heated competition!   

There is no reading involved and it is a cooperative game, which is great with younger kids.   You are on the same team and not competing against each other, only against the timer.   The game comes with ten adorable cupcakes that you build based on the cards you draw.  You work together against the timer to find the brightly colored cupcake pieces to match your card.    You can find other great game ideas at the Kidwinks 12 Toys of Christmas!

What's in the Cat's Hat

What's in the Cat's Hat is a fun game to play with young and older kids.   I played with my 6 and 8 year olds.  The object of the game is to place an item in the hat and take a turn to guess it.   The game comes with action and question cards that help give you clues to the item.  Depending upon the card you draw,  you end up doing something silly like smell it or feel it with your elbows.   The kids had a great time playing it.   You can make the game a little easier (depending on the age of the participants) by limiting where you get the item from.   Our first game went on for quite some time because you could pick an item from anywhere in the house.   I got a little smarter the second time around and limited the selection to one room at a time!   Check out other fun games this holiday season at the Kidwinks 12 Toys of Christmas!    

It comes with a cool Cat in the Hat hat!