Summer is finally here, and my boys have already uttered the dreaded words “I’m bored” numerous times this past week.  I work from home, so I’ve been trying my best to keep them occupied while I’m busy.  They spend a lot of time kicking the ball around in the backyard, or if the weather isn’t nice, they’ll be inside playing Minecraft, Lego, or board-games. They even set up a lemonade stand a few days ago and made $2.50 to split between them. All of that hard work and play makes them pretty hungry, so they really look forward to snack-time. A fun way to keep their bellies full and their minds busy is to set up a snack mix bar, so the kids can design their very own mix.

It turned out to be a great excuse to organize my pantry as well, because I pulled out whatever I could find that I thought might be good in a snack mix and set everything out on the table for the kids to use. Chex cereal was our feature ingredient. It’s a healthier alternative to a lot of snacks and cereals out there, and it’s gluten-free.

The boys had a lot of fun making their mixes. Bennett went a little heavy on the chocolate and other sugary items, so his snack mix wasn’t the healthiest of snacks, but at least it was something to keep him busy.

Cole tried a little bit of almost everything in his mix, and put a lot of thought into his creation. It was so cute to watch.

If you’re looking for something fun and easy to do with your kids this summer, try your own Chex snack-mix bar. Snack mixes are also great to take with you on summer road-trips, and camping trips, too.  I think I’ll get my boys to make up some more of their signature mixes to take with us on our camping trip next weekend.  I can’t wait!

Bennett’s Snack Mix

1 cup Chex cereal

1 tbsp. dried cranberries

1 tbsp. mini M&Ms

1 tbsp. butterscotch chips

1 tbsp. chocolate chips

Cole’s Snack Mix

1 cup Honey Nut Chex cereal

1 tbsp. mini M&Ms

1 tbsp. peanuts

1 tbsp. sliced almonds

1 tbsp. raisins

1 tbsp. sunflower seeds

1 tbsp. chocolate chips

1 tbsp. butterscotch chips

2 pretzels, broken into small pieces

Disclosure: I am part of the Summer With Chex Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.