Take Your Kid To Visit Willy Wonka

 

It was the last day of vacation. In the morning, out would go sleeping in and wide-open, carefree days. In their places, would come waking to the alarm, schedules, routines, homework, deadlines, and other fun things like stress and exhaustion. So, the Missus and I decided that it was high time we introduce the Boy to the wonders of Willy Wonka. Not the awful Johnny Depp version, but the original classic with Gene Wilder. You know, with the hair and the purple jacket?
Our original plan was to simply watch the movie together, which would have been just fine. But, our idea grew to include making Willy Wonka Pops and issuing a golden ticket to the Boy which outlined the fun things we were going to do. To have your visit with Willy Wonka, start by printing out Golden Tickets for your kids and fill them out with what activities you want to do as a family. 
To have your own Willy Wonka Day (& make Willy Wonka Pops), you'll need:

• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on DVD or Blu-Ray.
• 1/2 gallon of reduced-fat vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
• 12 to 14 Oreos, crushed
• A slew of candy, placed inside a sealable bag and bashed within an inch of it's life with a mallet. We used M&M's, Kit-Kat Bars, & Butterfingers, but use what you like or what you already have.
• Plastic cups (use small ones unless you want your kids to be so high on sugar they never come down. And, no, they're not coming to my house)
• Popsicle sticks
• Golden Ticket: print here

*You'll undoubtedly need to adjust the quantities if you have a lot of kids underfoot.
 

Crush each ingredient on it's own and place in individual bowls so everyone can take what they like. Write the name of the owner on each cup. Combine a heaping spoonful of your choice of ingredients at the bottom of each plastic cup.

In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer (we used our stand mixer, which was unnecessary) to mix batches of ice cream with the candies and cookies each person picks (This could take hours. Just kidding). Spoon the ice cream into the cup and insert a popsicle stick into each pop. Repeat until everyone's cup is full. Place cups in freezer to harden and get everyone situated to watch the movie. Along towards the end of the movie, Mom or Dad will need to remove the cups from the freezer to give them a few minutes to soften just a little.

 

When you are ready to chow down, remove each pop from its cup. If the cups are stubborn about coming off, dip each one in warm water for a few seconds and they will slip right off. Sit back, talk about the movie, and enjoy being together as a family. Was that last part sickeningly sweet? Either which way, the pops were a hit, the movie was great, and the company was terrific.
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