by Character Diva
As a mom with four kiddos at home, I think it’s really important to give each of my littles as much one-on-one time as possible. I always try to schedule a couple of “dates” with each of them each month… usually one going out and doing something together once a month and then staying home just the two of us on the other date. So when I heard that Minnie’s Rock the Dots was right around the corner, I knew it would be the perfect theme for my next Mommy/Daughter date.
Snacks- Maybe it’s just me, but I’m all about the food. Whether you’re throwing a simple mommy/daughter date or going all out for a huge birthday bash, you want to make sure you’re enjoying what you’re eating. After all… being hungry makes people grumpy, and you can’t have fun if you’re grumpy!
I immediately sat down and did a google search and found this adorable snack from Party City. Not only is it cute, but it’s healthy! And really? Who doesn’t love candy covered strawberries (complete with polka dots!) and the fruit Minnie Mouse heads made for a very healthy snack. We did a slight variation on the fruit based on what was in season, but we had a lot of fun making these snacks (even if we may have gone overboard with the polka dots… that’s one way to rock the dots)! Disney Diva Tip: If you want to make the fruit coordinate a little more, I recommend using a plum instead of an orange. We used blackberries instead of kiwis and also left out the raspberries, but however you design it, you can give yourself a pat on the back knowing that you came up with a healthy, fun, and adorable snack! If you want to take it a step further and add in some veggies, I recommend making Minnie Mouse bows and ears out of grape or cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices.
Activities Right after food, I tend to think about the activities we should do together. I mean eating is great, but you want to make memories too right? Even though I am probably the last person on Earth that you want doing your hair or nails, I decided that we should take turns giving each other manicures (with polka dots of course!) as well as add some bows (or Minnie Mouse headbands in our case) too and have our own Minnie Mouse Bowtique. This was probably my daughter’s favorite part… she kept asking me when it was time to do our nails! And even though it wasn’t quite the results you might get at a salon (indeed, my daughter painted quite a bit of my toes as well as my nails), we still had a great time, which is what having a Mommy-Daughter Date is all about.
Another activity we did had to do with perler beads. My kids (okay, and me) were also into a really big perler bead phase over the summer and so had acquired quite the collection of perler beads to make various crafts. I thought it would be a lot of fun to try and make a Minnie Mouse perler bead craft and then glue magnets on the back to add them to our fridge. Nothing reminds you of all the fun you had than passing by something you made every time you decide to grab a snack.
Disney Diva Tip: Make sure you have plenty of space to work when you’re dealing with perler beads. The beads are tiny, and can easily be lost, so I recommend keeping them all in a bowl or a tray. There are plenty of patterns you can copy on the internet, including this one we found here. And because I figured I’d save you all the headache of counting, for our Minnie Mouse perler bead craft, we used 16 white, 2 red, 60 black, 34 pink and 44 peach beads. Don’t have perler beads at your home? No worries! You can order the variety pack of beads here, the boards here, and the peach colored beads here.
Outfits- My daughter doesn’t do a whole lot of dressing up anymore, but we had a friend give us a Minnie Mouse polka dotted dress a couple of years ago that still fit my daughter and looked close enough to Minnie’s that she could wear it for Disneybounding. I happen to LOVE polka dots too, so finding something polka dotted for me to wear wasn’t too hard either. I opted to wear a red polka dot shirt so I’d look a little more like Minnie Mouse and we could rock the dots together.
No matter what you choose to do, the main thing is to get together and have fun. My daughter and I loved our Mommy-Daughter date, and had a great time “Rockin the Dots”.
Disney Magic Diva and Family with Lightning McQueen
Of course, there’s no better place to rock the dots than with the big cheese herself. If you want to plan your next trip to visit Minnie at Disneyland, Disney World, or any other Disney destination, we highly recommend using Patricia Payne from All For Dreams Travel. Because she is paid by Disney, her services are FREE, and she will be more than willing to help you with all of your travel needs from Fastpass reservations to airfare. Click here for a free quote.
