Redbox Summer Family Fun Sweepstakes plus Family Fun Ideas

I know that most kids look forward to summer vacation. It’s their chance to have fun, create adventures and be with their friends. Sadly that is not always possible. Sometimes the horrific heat makes it difficult to be outside. Often hot summer days trigger thunderstorms and torrential down pours making being outside impossible. That is why it’s always a great idea to have some fun things to do with the kids when they are stuck inside.

When my children were younger we used to enjoy playing board games, doing puzzles together, or building elaborate things out of LEGOS.

Here are some other fun ideas you might want to try with your family this summer (or anytime!).

Create Your Own “Mad Libs” by taking a favorite story, maybe a family trip, a fairy tale or a fable of your own creation and type it out in 500 simple words. Next, pull out 10 nouns, 10 adjectives, 8 verbs and all proper nouns. Replace with fill-in-the-blank placeholders and print out. Grab a pen and prepare for endless laughter with the entire family. Remember, the sillier the story, the more giggles from the kids!

Create Your Own Crafting Doughwith this simple recipe…Basic Ingredient Ratios:

2 cups flour

2 cups hot water

3/4 cup salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2/3 cup cream of tartar

Food coloring

Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in a bowl. Add oil and water and knead either with the dough hook of a standing mixer (5-6 minutes) or by hand (8-10 minutes) until the dough is soft and workable.

Make a divot in the center of the dough, add a few drops of food coloring and fold dough working coloring through (you may want to divide dough into several balls for a variety of colors)

When you’re done playing store your craft dough in an air-tight container (if it begins to dry out, you can knead a bit of water in again to soften the dough)

Create Your Own Card Castleby placing two cards with the long edges touching in an upside-down V to make a triangle. Place a second set next to this triangle and so on until you are happy with the size of your base (you can put several rows to give your castle more depth)Now comes the tricky part! Lightly lay a row of cards on top of the triangle points and begin your second layer on top of the first. Challenge yourself…how big can your castle get before it falls?

Create Your Own Indoor Tent by propping up sturdy sofa cushions and pillows next to a bed or sofa to make the walls of your fort. Then drape a sheet of blanket over the walls to make the roof. Want a window? Place a small pillow between two big ones you can see outside. For your door, drape a sheet over the entrance or build a tunnel by leaning cushions against one another. Your tent is a great place to relax with friends and play games!

Another fun family favorite is having family movie time. I used to close all the curtains to make it as dark as possible (I love black out curtains) and pop up some popcorn and snuggle on the couch with the kids and watch a fun movie.

Watching movies at home is a lot less expensive than going to the theaters. When you add up ticket prices with popcorn and other treats from the concession stand you end up spending a small fortune. That is why we opt to watch movies at home and save our trips to the theater for those movies that we’re too anxious to see and can’t wait for them to come out on Blu-ray and/or DVD.

Thank goodness for Redbox. I’m able to pick up great movies for my entire family conveniently at my local grocery store. The movie rentals are also a lot less expensive than other video rental locations.

Redbox has teamed up with Phase 4 Films to bring you their “Summer Family Fun” promotion. They are having a contest where you could win awesome prizes!

There are two grand prizes which will be awarded – one during the July 7 – July 29, 2012 contest period and the other during the July 30 – August 26, 2012 time period.

4-Day Princess West Coast Sampler cruise with stops at Los Angeles, California, Catalina Island, California, Ensenada, Mexico and returning to Los Angeles, California. This includes airfare for four to/from Los Angeles, CA.

7-Day trip to Kennedy Space Center for four. This prize includes airfare, hotel accommodations, transportation, tickets to the Space Center and attractions and $100 day per diem.

Other prizes include a $100 gift card, entertainment center, Princess party and more!

Entering is super easy. All you need to do it rent on of the eligible films from your local Redbox. When you rent one of the eligible films or games be sure to include your e-mail address. That will be your entry into the sweepstakes.

Here are eight films from Phase 4 Films that are part of this fun campaign. To see the complete list of eligible films and games visit RedboxSummerFamilyFun.com.

Donkey X – Follows Don Quixote, his “squire”, Sancho Panza (Quixote’s best friend and the wealthiest man in town), Sancho’s donkey, Rucio (who wants to be a horse) and a real horse, Quixote’s faithful steed, Rocinante (who hates leaving his stable) on their adventure to duel the “Knight of the Moon” where, if Quixote wins the duel the true identity of Dulcinea will be revealed.

Kiara – Dreamzone has been a peaceful and a magical kingdom under the rule of King Maximus. That’s about to change when he is captured and imprisoned by his evil brother Dreadmis. When Dreadmis unleashes his vengeance upon the kingdom, the King’s daughter, courageous Princess Kiara must conquer evil and restore harmony in Dreamzone. Together with her best friend Super Kloud, they embark on a magical journey to protect their Kingdom and bring the rightful owner back to the throne. KIARA IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISNEY-PIXAR MOVIE BRAVE.

Freddy Frogface – Summer, sunshine and holiday time has arrived for Victor and his best friend Jakob. They can look forward to fun and games and hanging out with Sausage, the dog, and Jakob’s cool cousin Clara. When a circus arrives in town with a talent show, Victor starts training a sketch number with Sausage. But when the town tyrant Freddy Frogface begins his scheming, nothing is what it seems to be.

I ♥ Shakey (available in August) – Shakey is a family film about a 35-year-old widower named J.T. O’Neil, his precocious 10-year-old daughter and their devoted mutt Shakey. After moving from a small town to Chicago and missing the fine print in their rental contract, J.T. is forced to try and get rid of his lovable pooch. Shakey and Chandler won’t have it and hatch a plan to keep Shakey and teach J.T. a valuable lesson about loyalty and the importance of keeping family together. (IMDB synopsis)

Space Dogs – A circus dog named Belka and a stray dog named Strelka embark on an out-of-this-world adventure to become the world’s most famous canine cosmonauts.

Smitty - Mischievous thirteen-year-old Ben is sent to his grandfather’s farm for the summer, where he crosses paths with a lovable mutt. With help from the unlikely canine companion, Ben learns the importance of friendship, family and responsibility. When life gets tough for Ben, a friendly paw is all it takes to pull him through.

Also included in this special campaign are the films My Friend Bernard and Rock Stars. Both will be available in August (I’m sorry that I don’t have the cover art and movie synopsis available).

I love that all you need to do to enter is rent one of the eligible movies or games (listed above or on the sweeps website) and enter you e-mail upon check out. There is no “jumping through hoops”. And the prizes are awesome!

So gather up your family, stock up on some popcorn and make plans for a family movie. !