Baking is more fun when the kids are involved. Have them decorate simple Betty Crocker® Sugar Cookies in the shapes of bunnies, ducks, and flowers. Doesn’t matter if your little ones think a duck looks best if it is green with purple feathers, or the bunnies should be pink with blue ears. Foster their creativity, and let them be proud of their work.

Of course everyone always has a blast coloring eggs. Some fun tips:
• Draw on eggs with candles or crayons before dipping eggs in colors (dye won’t stick to the wax areas).
• Make marbleized eggs: 1) dip egg in prepared color; 2) add tablespoon of olive oil to a different/darker color, and swirl together; 3) dip egg in second color to create affect).
• Glue ribbons, buttons, and googly eyes to eggs to create fun creatures.

Get outside… Instead of a formal Easter dinner, how about an informal picnic at a park or in you own backyard? Play games with the kids like musical chairs, hula-hoops, and have your Easter egg hunt outside.

Celebrate the new season with treats, games, and family and friends. Easter is a time to celebrate renewal and life with your family and friends.

Will, a ten-time Blimp Award winner, will be joined by Hollywood’s biggest stars in an unforgettable slimefest where kids rule. Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards let kids choose their favorites in music, movies, sports, television, and more every year.

Look for nominee information, voting, videos, celebrity photos, and more at nick.com/KCA12.

See how you can win a trip to see the 2013 Kids’ Choice Awards live in Los Angeles. Visit nick.com/go2KCAs or look for information on specially marked General Mills products in your Target store to see how you could be in the audience in 2013!

Adopt an attitude of gratitude. Appreciating the people around you and the things in your life makes an enormous difference to your level of happiness. Write the things you are most thankful for and post it on the refrigerator as a constant reminder.

The recent economic conditions have forced everyone ponder the “need vs. want” question. According to a 2005 study, people who simplified their lives were found to be much happier than those who continued to strive for wealth, prestige, and status. It seems the pressure of attaining such superficial goals leads to feelings of depression and ongoing dissatisfaction. Instead, set your goals according to personal growth, family, and your values.

Spend your time wisely. Eat meals together as a family as often as possible. Turn off the television. Play games together. You’ll reconnect as a family, memories will be made, and you’ll all have fun at the same time. Kids don’t really crave stuff, they crave time with you.

Looking for ideas to show your sweetheart, family, and friends how much you care? Tradition calls for chocolates, Valentine’s cards, or flowers. Or, be creative and make your own sentiment! Be sure to visit your local Target for some great ideas.

• Make special cards and/or gift cards out of beautiful scrapbooking paper, card stock, and embellishments. Attach an antique key and write, “You have the key to my heart.”
• Fill a small, clear vase or votive candle holder with candies or jelly beans.
• Cover a shoe box with beautiful wrapping paper, or plain paper with a letter written on it. Then, fill the box with personal items that reflect your loved one.
• Paint a terra cotta pot with craft paint, stencil or draw a monogram, and plant it with herbs or flowers to be replanted outdoors in the spring.
• Print custom “coupons”. Make coupons on the computer, or draw them with sayings like “Good for one giant hug,” “Redeem for a laundry free night,” “Good for one night out.”
• Of course, you can always bake a treat! For a limited time, look for special Valentine’s Day recipes in your Target store on the packages of Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® Devil’s Food Cake Mix, Betty Crocker® Sugar Cookie Mix and Betty Crocker® Peanut Butter Cookie Mix.

However you choose to show your affection on this special day, why not try to stretch Valentine’s Day into a year-round celebration?

Get Fit and Eat Right
Don’t worry about running a marathon, or getting back into those high school jeans. Just be active and eat right. Eat more whole grains by starting your day with Big G Cereals (look for the white check mark/whole grain on the package), or do the “Yoplait Swap” (yoplait.com/do-the-swap) by switching out unhealthy snacks for delicious, healthy treats. Exercise, along with healthy eating habits reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, lowers blood pressure—the list goes on and on. And you’ll just feel better!

Simplify and Organize Your Home
Your home is your sanctuary, but extra clutter is a source of anxiety. There’s nothing like a good cleaning. Set a goal of cleaning one room a month, and get your family to help. Use the three-box method: 1) Give to charity or sell; 2) Toss; and 3) Keep. Your family will appreciate a clean, organized home, and you’ll be forming great habits in the meantime.

Get Outside
Enjoy the outdoors by walking, camping, biking, or playing in the yard. Whatever you choose, do it outdoors! Being outside not only clears your mind and boosts your mood, but reduces stress and fatigue as well. We have a beautiful world filled with clean air. Enjoy it!

Serve Others
This year take the emphasis off of yourself, and help someone else. Volunteering provides a new perspective, and is good for your mind and body, and brings fulfillment to your life. Time mentoring a child, building a house, or sorting used clothes is time well spent, and has a positive impact on your community.

Enjoy Life
In general, healthy, happy people enjoy life! We live in a fast-paced, super-sized, need-it-quick world, and it causes a lot of stress. Strive for balance, give up worrying about things you have no control over, and adopt an attitude of gratitude. Or, learn something new, or get back into an old hobby. It all adds up to a happier you.

However you say it, “Furaha ya Mwaka Mpya,” “Bonne Annee,” “L’Shannah Tovah Tikatevu,” or “Feliz Ano Neuvo”—Happy New Year!

Invite: December fills up fast, so send invitations well in advance (4 weeks). Consider having your swap during a weeknight evening or a Sunday afternoon. Have each guest bring ½ -1 dozen per number attending. This ensures that everyone will have plenty to share. Ask everyone to tell you in advance what type they are baking so there are no duplicates. They should also bring Ziploc Containers and/or large Baggies to pack up their bounty.

Share Stories: Along with sharing cookies, have each guest tell the story behind the cookie. Maybe it was your grandmother’s and she taught you how to bake. Or, the first time you tried the recipe you burned them three times. Or, what is your favorite way to decorate Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies? Everyone has a story, which usually means a lot of laughter!

Create Recipe Booklets: Have guests bring the recipe so that everyone leaves with a new library of treats. Or, have them email you copies ahead of time so you can assemble booklets with the year and date.

Prepare savory snacks: Nothing heavy, just simple and fun. The key here is—don’t stress!

Give Back: Along with their homemade creations, have guests bring canned goods or store-bought baked items. Donate them to a homeless shelter or community food bank.

Swap! Gather around the table, and fill up with treats. Moving in one direction each person gathers a pre-determined amount per batch. You may want to have some extra containers on hand to help out your guests if needed. Create display cards for each type, so your guests know what it is and who baked them.

Friendly Competition: Offer prizes for the best cookie display, most beautifully decorated, The One Santa Can’t Refuse, etc. Prizes can be baking supplies, cookie sheet, or cutters.

Enjoy your friends, your treats, and the memories created from this wonderful tradition.

Spooky Fun and Games

See a Halloween movie. Take the family to see classic Halloween movies like “Bednobs and Broomsticks”, “Casper”, “Ghostbusters”, or “Monsters Inc.”.
Visit a local pumpkin farm or corn maze. They are everywhere during the month of October, and usually have music, hayrides, and crafts for everyone. There is just something about picking the perfect pumpkin off the vine.

Pumpkin Bowling: Arrange a triangle of 10 empty plastic 1- or 2-liter bottles. Players take turns gently rolling a pumpkin into the pins, with three chances to knock them all down.

Pumpkin Roll: Mark off a start and finish line. Set 2 pumpkins on their sides at the starting line, and have 2 racers line up behind them. At “Go,” each pair of challengers uses brooms to roll the pumpkins passed the finish line.

Skeleton Scavenger Hunt: Purchase or draw a large paper skeleton and cut apart/separate the bones. At your Halloween party, have the kids find the bones of your skeleton hidden around the house or yard. Then in “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” fashion, have the kids reassemble the skeleton on a wall (or hanging butcher paper)—blindfolded!

Crazy Crafts

Painted Pots: Paint small terra cotta pots with ghost, witch, or jack-o-lantern faces and fill them with Halloween treats.

Ghost Lollipops: Wrap lollipops with colorful cellophane or tissue paper and tie with a ribbon. Draw faces, or glue felt mouths and googly-eyes onto your ghost. Fun treats to hand out!

Create a Halloween Memory Book: Collect photos from each year, have your children write a story about trick-or-treating (in their own handwriting), and enjoy it for years to come.

Paper Plate Ghost: For a great decoration on your door, take a paper plate, attach white crepe paper streamers to the bottom, and paint on a ghostly face. Simple!

Have a great time! Dress the family up, grab a flashlight, and gather lots of treats with your kids!

Go camping in the backyard. All you need is a tent, sleeping bags, and a couple of flashlights. Hold hand shadow puppet shows, look at the stars through binoculars, and tell stories. Get the whole family involved in the slumber party. What a great memory this will be in 20 years.

Have the kids keep a diary of the birds, bugs, and critters they see throughout the summer. Record what they eat and do. Take pictures!

Anything involving a hose or sprinkler! Almost any game is more fun when it involves spraying water. Tag, relay races, water balloon tosses. For a fun toss game, cut off the bottoms of gallon-size milk jugs, tape the rough edges, and toss water balloons to each other.

Backyard movies! Hang a sheet from the porch or deck, and borrow a projector. Instant “drive-thru” experience. Or have the kids produce their own movie. Help them write a script and then film their actors—dolls, stuffed animals, and action figures. Play the Oscar-worthy production at your next cookout with friends.

Volunteer: soup kitchens, nursing homes, community organizations. There is always someone in need, and there are plenty places to help. Make crafts and take them to the people you meet. Teach your kids the value of serving others.

Create a summer scrapbook of your family. Include pictures, drawings, special dates, vacation memories. Cut out pictures and headings from magazines, and have the kids hand-write their own reflections about the summer.

Capture the Flag/Manhunt—is there anything better than playing outside at night?
Bottom line—use your imagination, too! Summer doesn’t have to be full of schedules, planned outings, and sitting in front of electronics. It’s a time to relax, go with the flow, and reconnect with family and friends.

With a few new tricks and fresh ideas, you’ll be putting the “wow” back into your family’s lunch. No more mushy, smelly messes coming home in the briefcase, backpack, or pool bag!
• Spring and summer just scream salads. When you find a new salad recipe your children really like be sure to make a double batch so you’ll have plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day. Pasta salads keep well, as do veggie salads.
• Keep a designated refrigerator drawer full of snacks and lunch items. Slice apples and oranges. (Be sure to sprinkle lemon or lime juice on your apple slices to prevent browning). Section grapefruit, cut veggie sticks for hummus dip. And keep plenty of Yoplait® yogurt varieties available for a quick grab and go.
• Get out the cookie cutters – not for cookies this time, but for sandwiches. Kids love food in shapes. Surprise them with different shapes from time to time. Not so much that they’ll only eat a peanut butter sandwich in the shape of a heart, but you get the picture. Be creative!
• Think outside the bread—roll up deli meats and cheeses, or include tuna salad in a small container instead of making it into a sandwich every day. Better yet, let them make their own sandwich at lunch with crackers or tortillas. When kids make it themselves, they’ll be more likely to eat it.
• Hors d’œuvres for lunch—Make it “fancy.” Cucumber slices, strawberries and blueberries with dip, grapes, and cheese make great “finger food.” Use toothpicks or chopsticks to eat lunch. Remember ants on a log when the kids were toddlers (celery, peanut butter, and little raisin ants)? Have fun!
• Have a designated snack basket in your pantry stocked with items like Chex Mix®, Fiber One® Chewy Bars, and Nature Valley® Crunchy Granola Bars. Along with sandwiches and salads these are great items to round out your lunches.
Include these ideas from time to time, and they’ll be the envy of both the cafeteria and the cul-de-sac. Enjoy!

Know your retro…

To celebrate the return of our retro boxes, here are a few fun facts from the years we’re commemorating.

In 1956…

• Elvis hit the US music charts with “Heartbreak Hotel” – his first of 170 hit singles
• Black and white portable TV sets were introduced
• PLAY-DOH brand modeling compound was first introduced

In 1965…

• Average family income in the U.S. was $6,900
• The battery-powered board game “Operation” was first produced
• In St. Louis, Missouri the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed

In 1968…

• The first ATM in the U.S. was installed by First Philadelphia Bank
• The 911 emergency telephone system made its debut in Haleyville, Alabama
• CBS aired “60 Minutes” for very first time

In 1984…

• The Apple Macintosh was introduced
• Transformers toys hit the shelves in the U.S.
• America saw its first episode of The Cosby Show on NBC