I could get my kids to do about anything for Kinder Surprise Chocolates, long known to me, but only recently introduced to my children by their babysitter Valentina. Kinder Surprises are egg shaped hollow chocolates (an outer layer of milk chocolate and an inner layer of white chocolate) that contain a little yellow capsule, and inside the yellow capsule is a toy. This toy can be a stamp, a little animal that jumps, a top that zings out, an airplane... and they appeal to my kids in so many ways. They are just over a dollar and are therefore affordable to homeschooled children who work harder and take their schoolwork more seriously with outright financial bribes. The bright colors of the display in stores demand a child's attention. They appeal to a kids urge to destruct when they crack open the chocolate, but then they get to eat what they've destroyed, and make no mistake, this chocolate is DELICIOUS. It is not a waxy rectangle of Halloween chocolate or a chocolate flavored something, it's quality stuff. The yellow capsules hold way more anticipation than the clear plastic flimsy wrappers that you get (or used to get) in a box of Cracker Jacks, and putting together the toys gives the kids a sense of accomplishment. When assembled, the toys can entertain for tens of minutes. Multiplied by a week, when they are in a little mountain in their capsules, they also satisfy the juvenile urge to collect, hoard, and trade. It's a brilliant invention, marketed with pure genius.
