I’ve had a super fun-filled week these past few days because my niece, Fiona, came to visit us. We love having her stay with us because she’s so imaginative and keeps us laughing. She’s the star of the show wherever she goes and I love it! I knew I’d need lots of different activities for when she came that we could do as a family, with both girls and while Sophie naps. One night we were extremely brave and attempted to take both girls to the drive-in!
Snack Necklace
One of the best parts about the drive-in are the snacks. When I was little, my parents would pop a huge paper bag full of popcorn, throw TONS of blankets and pillows in the back of the truck and bring a cooler of drinks and treats. I thought it might be fun for Fiona, who’s 4 and LOVES jewelry, to make her own snack necklace. I got a variety of snacks that had holes and weren’t all sugar. Fruit Loops, Cheerios, cookies, chocolate pretzels and salted pretzels. Try finding the small bags so you don’t have a bunch of leftovers.
I dumped all the treats into bowls so they would be easy for Fiona to grab and string onto her necklace. I also used some tape to make an aglet for the end of the string. This is a great small motor activity for any child who is a toddler or older.
It was the perfect activity for her because she got to choose what snacks she wanted AND make jewelry! She needed help with the cookies because some of them didn’t have holes big enough but I used a toothpick to enlarge the holes so they fit on the string.
The string was a little soggy for my taste but she said it was fine and she loved it. Next time I will use an elastic string. We saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 and really enjoyed the movie, apart from it storming half way through. Once it was lightening we headed inside the car, which Sophie wasn’t a fan of so Daddy had to walk her around outside with an umbrella. We knew going in that it was a long shot to see the movie in it’s entirety but had to try.
Please excuse the poor pictures but I couldn’t not share! In hind site, I should have made one of just puffs and cheerios for Soph because she LOVED it (but got chocolate everywhere!) Have you gone to the drive-in yet this summer? What kind of snacks and activities do you pack for your little ones?
Other great kid snacks:
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What a cute idea and great for a picnic. I don’t have children but my niece and nephew will be over during the holidays and we will be going to the beach. I don’t know of any drive in theaters in Chicago but do hear they are coming back to life. I remember going when I was a kid. Visiting from #humpdayhappenings & Tweeting your post.
That’d be a great beach snack too! Yea, you may have to drive an hour to get to one. Our closest one is 30 min but totally worth it! Thank you for tweeting!
What a great idea! I want to make one for myself! This is a wonderful idea – I will definitely have to try it with my boys. I could imagine it gets sticky and soggy…
It is a fun idea, but like you said, can get sticky/messy! It’s definitely a snack for an outdoor place. You can make it less messy if you don’t have any chocolate. 😉 I’ve seen some that have Life Savers or those sour peach rings too!
I used to love making Fruit Loops jewelry when I was little, so much fun!
They’re so colorful AND tasty! 😉
Such a cute idea, Shelly! I’m so glad you shared this cuteness at last weeks par-tay. Have a great week! xo
great idea shelly. Pinning this for future use.
Have a great weekend!
I hope you guys have fun making them!
You’re such an amazing aunt! Fi is so lucky to have you in her life. 🙂 Thanks for working so hard to make things special and memorable. I know that she will love having all these memories with her loving Aunt Shelly.
Awe! Well she’s a wonderful little person! I love love love being with her! I can’t wait to have two little blondies to spoil!!! (I’m just assuming she’ll be blonde…) 😉
Helping out the activity director at a nursing home. Would someone be specific with a step-by-step procedure to make a fruit loop necklace for the elderly. Type of string? How is the string knotted at the end so the fruit loops don’t fall off? Any suggestions would be appreciated for simple activities that could involved nursing home folks. Thank you so much.
Great questions Ginny. Any type of non-fluffy string will work. A sturdy twine or any string I have on hand is what I’ll use. I tape one end to make an aglet like on a shoe string to make it easier to go through the hole. The other end has a cheerio or fruitloop tied to the end to stop the other treats from falling off. I do not recommend using anything with a chocolate or yogurt coating as it may melt and get messy. I hope it’s a hit!
Lovely candy idea, great stuff to pass the time with the kids!
~Anna
Exactly! Little kids take a lot longer too so it helps practice those gross motor skills. 🙂