Free Books through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a wonderful program sponsored through the local United Way.  The program offers FREE, age appropriate books to kids ages birth to 5 years of age.  Each month a new, sealed book is delivered through the mail to your child.

Books come in your child's name, so it is exciting for them to receive their very own mail.  And mom and dad have a new book to read to their child, each and every month!

Want to know how to get your child signed up for this awesome program? If you live in Minnehaha, Lincoln, McCook or Turner counties in South Dakota, you can sign up easily (and for free) through the Sioux Empire United Way on their website here.  If you do not live in the counties listed, be sure to check with your local United Way to see if they too offer this great program.

If you would like to help support programs like this in your community, you can make donations to the United Way.

6 Small Blizzards for $10

Ice cream isn't the first thing I think of during these below freezing temperatures.  Although, my tweenager could eat ice cream on the coldest day of the year if she was given the opportunity.  No matter where you stand on the too cold for ice cream vs ice cream anytime dilemma, as long as you enjoy ice cream you are going to love this deal!

Select Dairy Queen stores in Sioux Falls are selling coupon punch cards that allow for 6 Small Blizzards through 2019.  The punch cards are just $10 and have additional coupons for extra savings.  But boy, just the Blizzard punch card alone is quite the deal.  A small Blizzard runs around $3.97 with tax.

The punch cards are only available for purchase for as long as they last.  My understanding is that they sell quickly, so you will want to act fast if you are interested.

Cards can be purchased while supplies last and then used at these Sioux Falls locations only:
5001 Crossing Place

204 N Kiwanis Ave

5420 W 26th St

The best part is that the $10 purchase price is a donation to Lifescape, which helps to empower lives of children and adults with disabilities to lead fulfilling lives.

The kids will be finding an extra special punch card in their Easter baskets this year!  It will be fun for them to decide, while we are out adventuring, when they want their very own Blizzard and have a punch card to "pay" for it all on their own.

Delbridge Museum & Zoo Gift Shop

My 4 year old son and I visited the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum this week.  To be honest, we just viewed the Delbridge Museum.  I was a little under dressed to venture outdoors in the cold temperatures.  Someone (and it wasn't me) needed to work out some energy, so it was a perfect stop as we were in the neighborhood and the museum offers a nice adventure indoors.  I love having a membership to the zoo, because it allows for random and short trips whenever we can sneak them in!

Despite my son's pleas to go see the monkey exhibit, which would have led us outdoors, we had a great time.  Winding our way through the museum and viewing the animals and pushing animal sound buttons was just what we needed.  

Before we left, we stopped by the gift shop.  They currently have a large display of items that they are offering at 50% off.  As I was picking through the display, I thought about how some of the items would be perfect for those upcoming Easter baskets!  

These small plastic dinos would be perfect for stuffing inside of Easter eggs!  And they are just 13 cents!

This challenge book was marked down to $4.

This little butterfly discovery playset was marked down to $2.75.

This sweet dinosaur was included on the rack, I believe he is $6 after discount.

These cute dino clips were marked down to $1.75.

This wristlet was included in the 50% off items.  The pictured items are just some of the items I found.  There are a few nice deals and with the purchase going to help our local zoo, it is a win-win in my opinion.

Dipped Strawberries

One fun and tasty treat requested often in my house are chocolate dipped strawberries.  I have to admit that I don't mind when they are requested, because they pretty easy to do.  It is also a great activity for including the kids in the kitchen.  Let's not forget that they are unbelievably yummy too.

With Valentine's Day just a couple days away, I thought it would be fun to share our strawberry dipping experiences, as they make a fun treat and kids will be excited about helping make them for those they love.

The kids and I made these, "We 💗U!" dipped strawberries for my husband one year.  He knew we had dipped strawberries, but didn't realize we had a special message for him.  It was a cute surprise and the kids were so excited to share them with him!

The age of your children or their experience in the kitchen, will determine what activities they are able to assist with,  but I think even the littlest hands can help with even taking the strawberries out of the container and placing them in the strainer to wash!

One of the most important tips in making dipped strawberries is that the strawberries need to be completely dry.  Any drop of water hits the melted chocolate and it will create problems.  Still edible of course, but problems of clumping and hardening that leave them looking a little less pretty.

Wash your strawberries and set them out to air dry.  After the strawberries have air dried for awhile, I typically pat dry with a paper towel, just to be sure.

Set up your dipping station at your table or counter. You will need a cookie sheet lined with a sheet of wax paper.  This will allow you to easily transfer your newly dipped strawberries to the refrigerator to help harden the chocolate.  Bring your plate of strawberries over to your station and grab a dishtowel or paper towel for wiping fingers.

Now it is time to melt the chocolate.  In my opinion, it really doesn't matter what type of baking chocolate you use.  There are special dipping chocolates available, which I find these tend to run higher in price.  You can also purchase chocolate melts at hobby stores like Michael's or Hobby Lobby in an array of colors (and can often use their coupons to help save on them) or you can simply use chocolate chips!  I have used them all and I don't have a favorite.  I typically just use what I have on hand and it all works fine.  About 1 cup of chocolate (prior to melting) is plenty to dip a full pound of strawberries.

The second most important tip in making dipped strawberries is to melt the chocolate slowly!  Place your chocolate in a microwave safe bowl (unless using the special dipping chocolates, follow their instructions). The first melt in the microwave I start at 30 seconds (not much change will occur).  Then stir.  Then melt 10 seconds. Then stir.  And keep repeating until completely melted.  This is the process I use each time and it works perfectly.

Keep in mind that the chocolate will be fairly warm at this point, so older kids are probably best in helping with the next part.

With melted chocolate, head to your dipping station and work quickly, as chocolate will begin to get hard after awhile.  Carefully grab your strawberry by the green stem and dip red part into chocolate, as deep as you want or as little as you want.  I usually use the spoon I used to melt the chocolate to help in covering the strawberry where needed and "cutting" off the chocolate drizzle from the dip and then place on the waxed paper.  That is it!  Keep going until all of your strawberries are dipped.

Place your tray of dipped strawberries in the refrigerator to let the chocolate completely harden.

Now is the fun!  Do you want to decorate your strawberries?  There are so many possibilities on what to do.  All the pictures of dipped strawberries in this article are a few of the ones that we have done.  To decorate, melt a second color of chocolate (melting as recommended above).  Only about a 1/4 -1/2 cup of chocolate is needed for decorating, depending on what you are doing. When chocolate is melted, spoon into one corner of a plastic sandwich bag.  While pushing extra air out, and pushing all chocolate to one corner as pictured above, seal the bag.  Carefully cut the very tip of the corner off the bag.  It does not take a large hole to provide enough chocolate for decorating.  Start small and cut bigger, if needed.  If you go too big, you will have to get out a new bag.

Decorating can be fun for the kids to do!  Keep in mind that the chocolate will be warm for a bit in the bag so mom or dad should help those smaller hands.  They can squeeze the chocolate filled bag over the strawberries however they choose and have fun being creative.  Or mom or dad can decorate and little hands can help add sprinkles or colored sugar to your designs.  All sorts of possibilities.

Once done decorating, place your tray of strawberries back to the refrigerator to let the chocolate harden.  Wasn't that fun and easy!  Dipped strawberries can be stored in the refrigerator for approximately 2 days, covered.  Yum!  Enjoy!

To use up the remaining bits of chocolate after all strawberries have been dipped, I have started keeping a bag of pretzels on hand.  I simply drizzle the chocolate over the pretzels, you could dip too if you want. Then when I am finished with the decorating chocolate in the plastic bag, I drizzle that over as well.  The drizzled pretzels make a simple treat for lunch boxes or a quick treat at snack time. It is a nice way to use up every drop of chocolate. No one wants wasted chocolate!😋😍

Broken Crayons Find New Life

I love the spirit of local non-profit organizations and all they look to accomplish within the community.  And it is awe inspiring when the creator of the non-profit is a kid.  Abby Neff, age 16 started Recycled Rainbows 3 years ago in Sioux Falls with the purpose of melting down old crayons, giving them new life in homemade shaped crayons and distributing them as a way to "provide artistic opportunities to the community and fill the gap of offering art to those with limited resources."

Abby collects old crayons which then go through the process of being sanitized, peeled, sorted, melted, poured, reshaped and put back into the community.  Her reshaped crayons have actually spread beyond Sioux Falls in 46 states and in Africa and India!

It is not just the crayons that are molding and reshaping, Recycled Rainbows continues to grow and change.  Abby says that she now offers presentations to kids at schools about recycling and sharing about her mission.

As we move towards the end of the school year, there will be many broken and used crayons that end up in the garbage at school or after they are brought home.  Will you consider donating your used crayons to Recycled Rainbows instead of the garbage this year?

All styles/brands and sizes of crayons are accepted!  It is a bonus to Abby if they have been peeled because it saves time, but is not necessary.  You can drop off your collected crayons at the Minnehaha 4H SDSU Extension Office at 2001 E 8th Street in Sioux Falls.  They are open Monday through Friday 8 AM - 5 PM.

If kids want to talk to their school or service groups about collecting crayons, Abby is willing to create a collection box or kids are encouraged to decorate and create their own collection box.

Earth Day (4/22) and the end of the school year are great opportunities to get kids involved in recycling and supporting Recycled Rainbows. Abby is thankful for her family and the community for their support.

Toby's Amazing Adventures

This is a sponsored post by the author of Toby's Amazing Adventures: The Great Escape. Although I received compensation for this post, please keep in mind that experiences, opinions and pictures that follow are mine.  

I recently discovered children's book, Toby's Amazing Adventures: The Great Escape, written by Justin Ehrman. I was beyond excited to find out that the author of the book is from right here in Sioux Falls!  If you have been to Barnes & Noble recently, you may have noticed the book on the Local Authors shelf.  It is always exciting to support local creators when we can!

Reading has always been a big part of our children's lives.  The older kids can sit down and read a chapter book in a weekend, they love to read!  My youngest however, who is 4, hasn't always liked to sit still long enough to listen to a whole book (funny how kids can be so different, isn't it).  Despite his little interest, I have continued to try and encourage a love of books through trips to the library, the book store and of course continuing to read to him when I can, for as long as he will allow.  Thankfully he is slowly finding his love of books!  Now the challenge is finding books to keep his attention the entire way through.

Toby's Amazing Adventures: The Great Escape, was just that book!  The very first time we sat down to read it he kept his eyes in the book at the telling illustrations and engaged with interest in what would happen on the next page.  When the book was done, he asked me to read it again!  What?!  So guess what, I obliged!  My 10 year old got in on the second reading and enjoyed it as well.

The book is a paperback, similar to the size of the well known Berenstain Bears books, so a great size for young hands. It has 26 pages with interesting, decorative and supporting illustrations.

Toby, the main character in the book, is a Wheaten puppy, with a cute "masked" face.  Toby is curious about the world around him, just like my 4 year old.  There are some definite similarities to a puppy and a toddler, aren't there?!

Toby finds himself in a dark unknown area of the house, trapped and unable to get out.  At first he is scared and unsure of himself. He learns to work through his fears, reminding himself that he is brave.  As he faces different challenges, while trying to escape, he continues to remind himself that "You are brave.  You are strong.  Never give up."  In the end, through his determination and a little assistance from the family cat, he is able to escape!  His loving owner picks him up and Toby is proud of what he was able to overcome.

I asked my 4 year old after reading Toby's Amazing Adventures: The Great Escape, '"what was one thing you learned"?  He replied proudly, "I am brave!"  He paused for a moment and then said, "Well, I sorta get scared of the dark but I am brave anyway!"  Oh my sweet child, that is right!  Even when we find that we are a little scared, we are brave and we can find a way to persevere!  What a great thing to be reminded of or learn from a book at such an impressionable age!  Even older kids and adults need this reminder from time to time.

This is a great children's book with easy to read pages and a great lesson for every kid! Author, Justin Ehrman, says that he plans a series of 15 books of different adventures and lessons that he learned from his real life pet dog, Toby.

You can go to the Toby's Amazing Adventures website and see a picture of the real life Toby, who inspired Toby's Amazing Adventures.

If you would like to be able to share this story with your kids, you can purchase a copy of the book online by clicking here!  When ordering online, Your Next Adventure readers are welcome to enter code: ADVENTURE to save 10% off either the paperback book or the video book.  You may also find a limited supply at the Sioux Falls Barnes & Noble. The book would make a wonderful gift to include in a kid's Easter basket!

If you would like, you can also sign up for Toby's Explorers Club to stay up to date on upcoming books, discounts and other fun activities and continue to support a Sioux Falls local children's book author.

May we all realize that we are brave and strong and should never give up.

FREE Redbox 1 Night Game Rental

Redbox is offering a 1 Night Game Rental when you reserve it online.  No code necessary, it will automatically deduct the price at checkout. This offer is valid through February 11.

Simply head to Redbox online and pick out the game you want from the location of the Redbox you want to pick up from. Add the game to your cart and when you head to check out you will find the rental fee deducted.

One free rental per account. Keep in mind this is a 1 night rental, if you keep the game more than one night, fees will apply.  Enjoy!

Walgreens Free 8x10 Photo Print

Through February 5th, Walgreens photo is offering a FREE 8x10 photo print.  This offer is valid only online (not in store or through their app) and one per person.

Head over to Walgreens Photo.  Upload your photo. Enter Code: PRINT4FREE at checkout to reduce the print price to Free.

Choose in-store pick up to avoid shipping charges.

That's it!  How fun is that!  The hardest part is choosing which photo you want!

Leave a comment below and let me know if you are utilizing this offer!  I would love to know if deals like this are something you would like to see shared here more in the future.  Thanks!