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15 Christmas Treats for Kids

November 22, 2021 by Rachel 12 Comments

The Christmas season is my favorite for many reasons. Besides the excitement of gifts and Christmas morning, I really love baking with my kids. Making treats with them is the perfect way to start celebrating the season. Easy Christmas treats are definitely the best way to go. And, while the kids likely won’t care what they look like, it’s still fun to make them look pretty. Luckily, I’ve got you covered when it comes to cute and festive treats that are both delicious and easy to make. I’m sharing my favorite 15 Christmas Treats for Kids to make!

15 Christmas Treats You Need To Make With Your Kids

PB & J Reindeer Truffles

15 Christmas Treats for Kids — PB&J Reindeer Truffles from The Chow Down Blog

Not only are these adorable, but they are vegan, gluten free, and a healthier alternative to buckeyes. Shaped into a reindeer, these peanut butter and jelly truffles will be a tasty Christmas treat that kids and adults will both enjoy! Head to see the full recipe from the Chow Down Blog here.

Decorated Grinch Cookies

Cookies from the Monday Box — Grinch Cookies, The Monday Box

Super easy to make and fun for the kids, these cookies are perfect for dunking in milk. Did I mention they are super cute too? The Monday Box put together the easiest little tutorial on how to make these Grinch cookies.

Fudge Christmas Trees

With a whole lot chocolate, these fudge Christmas treats are super delicious! They’re also absolutely too cute. And just perfect for the holidays! Your guests (and kids!) will be so impressed by these Fudge Christmas Trees from Hungry Happenings.

Santa Suit Christmas Candy Cups

The kids will love these edible Santa suit candy cups and will love that they are filled with their favorite candies! Honestly, adults will like them, too. In fact, they can be used with your favorite adult beverage (21+, please!).
It truly makes these Santa Suit Christmas cups from Hungry Happenings the perfect addition for your holiday parties.

Christmas Reindeer Brownies

This combines two of my kids favorites — brownies and Christmas. I’m not going to lie, I love these brownies, too. These fudgy, homemade brownies are so good. Swirls of Flavor really knocked this recipe out of the park — and put a cute, holiday twist on it!

Celery and Peanut Butter Reindeer Snacks

Trying to sneak in something a little healthier for the holidays? These celery and peanut butter
reindeer treats are cute and delicious. Head to Budget Friendly Family for the details.

Nutter Butter Snowmen Treats

https://www.lifeloveliz.com/nutter-butter-snowmen/ — Nutter Butter Snowmen Treats, Life Love Liz

So Nutter Butter cookies are basically a childhood staple, right? Well take them up a notch this with Life Love Liz‘s Nutter Butter Snowmen Treats! They’re super easy and that classic Nutter Butter cookie that brings all of the nostalgia.

Melting Snowman Cookies

These super cute melting snowman cookies are perfect for holiday parties or when you want a fun holiday treat for the kids to enjoy. Head to Frugal Mom Eh! for the full recipe details.

Snowman Pretzels

Snowmen Pretzels, Dancing Through The Rain

Chocolate covered pretzels are always a hit with my kids. Well, and me! It’s just something about the mixture of sweet and salty that is absolute perfection. Make them into Snowmen Pretzels like these from Dancing Through the Rain? Even better!

Rudolph Rice Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie treats are another one of those perfect kid-snacks. Easy to make and fun, your kids will love these tasty Rudolph themed chocolate rice krispie treats just as much as mine. These gorgeous Rudolph treats from LittleSugarSnaps are the closest thing to perfect as you can get.

Christmas Pretzels

Christmas White Chocolate Pretzels, Dizzy Busy and Hungry

An easy Christmas treat for kids, these Christmas pretzels can be a quick throw together treat for parties or gatherings. Dizzy Busy and Hungry says to be sure to make a big batch and share them with all of your friends (and your kids friends!).

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Christmas Tree Oreos, The Soccer Mom Blog

Easy Christmas treats are really my forte. And all I have to say is “OREO” and the kids will freak out. So I knew my kids would love this recipe from The Soccer Mom Blog. She takes Oreo cookies and covers them with a white chocolate coating for the holidays and tops them with gorgeous Christmas trees.

Christmas Cake Popsicles

Also known as Christmas cakesicles, these Christmas treats will be an impressive and fun treat for everyone! Head over to Aubrey’s Kitchen for this adorable recipe.

Christmas Puppy Chow

Perfect for the holidays, this Christmas puppy chow is easy to make. For this particular recipe, we make it and love snacking on it while watching our favorite holiday movie. Head over to 3 Boys and a Dog for the recipe details.

Gingerbread Man Cookies

https://www.keep-calm-and-eat-ice-cream.com/gingerbread-men/ — Gingerbread, Keep Calm and Eat Ice Cream

A classic holiday treat, truly no Christmas is complete without gingerbread men cookies. Growing up, I vividly remember rolling out the dough and pushing out gingerbread men (and women), baking them, and decorating them in ridiculous ways. It’s a tradition I love to keep with my own kids. For the easiest and most delicious gingerbread cookie recipe, head to Keep Calm and Eat Ice Cream.\

What’s your favorite way to celebrate the holidays with your kids?!

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Create an Effective Homeschooling Plan For Your Child

August 16, 2020 by Rachel 27 Comments

Homeschooling has many benefits for both children and parents. The biggest of which is the opportunity to tailor-make an education specific to your child’s individual needs and interests, as well as your family’s beliefs and values. But how can you pull all of that together to create an effective homeschooling plan for your child?

Planning Makes (Almost) Perfect!

The first thing you need to do is to come up with a clear plan and set of goals for your homeschool year. It is here that one of the greatest aspects of homeschooling, flexibility, becomes one of the most difficult. Without a clear plan, you run the risk of creating a scattershot education that puts your child out of place with his or her peers. But with so much choice of styles, curriculum, and subject matter, where do you start?

Set Clear Goals

First of all, come up with a clear set of general goals. Think about why you wanted to homeschool your children in the first place, and what you want them to get out of the experience. What, generally, do you want your child’s education to encompass?

Once you have answered these general questions for yourself, begin to split your child’s education into various subject areas. For each subject area, you want to come up with a timeline and set of goals. You should also take into account your child’s interests and what they want to learn this year.

Homeschooling allows you and your child to learn together, creating not only a valuable learning experience but strengthening family bonds. Taking the time to include your child’s interests in your planning means you will have a happy engaged learning as the homeschool year goes on.

The Curriculum

When planning a timeline, a standard public school curriculum for your child’s grade is a good place to start. While it is almost certainly true that one of the reasons you’ve selected to homeschool your child is to go beyond and outside this standard curriculum, you also want to make sure that your child does not fall behind his or her peers in a given subject area.

A standard curriculum also gives you an idea of what standard your child might be expected to meet at that age in school.

Look at the standard expectations for a given subject level and then work backwards: how do you want to achieve that level of knowledge by the end of the year? What are the targets for each week? By setting these targets you can establish a timeline and curriculum that allows for effective homeschooling.

You can then plan a scheme of work that leads you to these points or buy a pre-packaged curriculum that will meet your goals.

Find the joy

Of course, you should not overlook the joy of flexibility in homeschooling so you do not need to stick to a plan rigidly, but it is useful to have an outline or series of goal posts for the year.

Instead you can make a clear educational plan that allows for flexibility. Plan what your child is going to learn, but leave the “how they will learn it” some breathing room: as you begin the process of homeschooling you’ll learn how your child learns best, and can begin to incorporate this into the lessons. A clear educational plan is one of the most essential tools to effective homeschooling and will lead you comfortably through the school year and ensure your child’s learning is effective and meets the required levels.

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Transitioning From Traditional School to Homeschool

August 3, 2020 by Rachel 34 Comments

How to Help Your Kids Feel Comfortable Learning from Home

Whether you’re a die hard advocate for homeschooling or were pushed into the idea after the Covid-19 outbreak, we all need to find ways to help our kids adjust to this new style of learning. Even if they’re beyond excited for this unique adventure, change is awkward! These tips on transitioning from traditional school to homeschool will help your kiddos feel more at ease studying from home.

Routine

When first moving from public education to homeschool, a certain amount of structure does the body well. So many things in life are changing but if you can maintain a small semblance of routine, you’ll find that everyone feels more grounded at the end of the day.

A perk of homeschool is the flexibility to learn as you please. It’s more than okay to take breaks (it’s encouraged actually) so that you and your little ones can recharge. The daily routine is there to guide you through any given day but it isn’t set in stone. Somedays, it’ll be just to remind you of everything you aren’t going to do! Schedules are nice to start with while you’re still getting your footing, but once you feel like you and your children are embracing homeschool, you can completely shake it up. Which brings us to our next tip!

Fluidity

You might realize your child prefers to read or do art in the morning and get to math in the afternoon. Maybe they like to dedicate a few days to one of two subjects before moving on to others. However they learn best, its not a bad idea to leave wiggle room for your child to alter how it is they absorb information. Embracing new methods of learning might be exactly what your kid needed to finally fall in love with history etc. I think we can all agree that freedom often leads us towards more joyful paths and it’s no different with learning. Going with the flow could end up making your child even more curious about the world around them.

These first two tips don’t sound complimentary but I assure you these two can tango. In combination, routine with fluidity is the ideal life even for us adults. In a homeschool setting, the balance of structure and flexibility makes for a happy environment.

Don’t Recreate School

This is a super tempting option because it feels natural but this is not the way to get your child to adapt into homeschooling. While you might be able to use bits and pieces of what you liked from public school into your new homeschool routine, it’s important to be aware of how this role changes your identity. You’re now a parent AND a teacher. Which is beautiful! Instead of separating the two, leaving your children with conflicting ideas of you, you should allow them to merge. Be their parent who teaches them by integrating authenticity with education.

transition kids from traditional school to homeschool

Social Time

One of the biggest struggles when transitioning from public school to homeschool is leaving behind the social aspect. We are social creatures by nature and this can be a lonely part of the journey but it doesn’t have to be! Host play dates or zoom chats to keep friendships blossoming even when distanced. Not only will this make your child happy but will also teach them more about platonic relationships such as how to keep them alive. You can also turn these into learning opportunities by making the play date a field trip!

Transitioning From Traditional School to Homeschool

Support

This is one of the most important things to have when beginning homeschool. A network of individuals you can vent to or lean on when you need to. There are so many ways to find community through homeschooling. You can seek out co-ops in your area, follow blogs with homeschool connections, or join homeschool groups to start.

This isn’t a step to be taken lightly! It’s crucial to have people in your circle that understand what you’re going through. If you’re struggling, someone else might have just figured out how to help their own child with that and can now guide you. Homeschool promotes continued learning for adults as well!

Take it Day by Day

Allow yourself time and patience as you take on this new lifestyle. Everyone adapts differently but eventually homeschooling will become as fluid a routine as the rest of your life. Enjoy this extra time with your family. The bonds you are creating are invaluable.

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If you have any advice on how to transition your child from traditional schooling to home school, comment below!

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Five End of Summer Bucket List Items

July 7, 2020 by Rachel 33 Comments

After the Fourth of July, it always feels like summer comes barreling to an end and before we know it, we are back in the grind. That is why I made a vow to make sure my family takes full advantage of the rest of the season by coming up with an end of the summer bucket list!

Visit a Farmer’s Market and Make Dinner as a Family

Farmer’s markets are so fun to visit! I love browsing the different stands, seeing all the unique goods, and teaching my kids about new food. I also love knowing that I am feeding my family fresh, locally grown food that helps support Ohio’s economy. To make a fun experience even better, we plan to take the food selected by the kids and cook dinner together as a family. My apple galette recipe will be a perfect dish to serve at this dinner!

Go to a Drive-In Movie

I can remember my parents taking me to drive-in movies each summer when I was younger. I thought it was just the coolest thing to watch a movie in our car. This summer is the perfect time to introduce my kids to the drive-in movie experience. We haven’t been to a movie in months, so this will be extra special!

Get Some Ice Cream and Pay-It-Forward

One of my favorite things to do, summer or not, is getting ice-cream. For some reason, ice-cream just tastes better when someone else scoops it for you. Am I right?! But, do you know what is even better than ice-cream? Making someone else’s day! Next time we get ice cream, we will pay-it-forward and treat the next person in line with a sweet treat. I can guarantee my kids will enjoy the giving, more than the ice cream.

Ambush Your Kids with a Surprise Water Fight

My kids love when we play with them! They’ll love it even more if we surprise them with something totally unexpected like a water fight. We’ll fill balloons and buckets of water beforehand and ambush them when they least expect it. It will be a blast!

Actually Rest and Relax

Summer is supposed to be the time of year when things slow down so we can relax and enjoy each other’s company. With so many responsibilities, it is sometimes hard to remember to enjoy this slower season and live in the moment. We are going to make a pointed effort to rest and relax intentionally during these long summer days.

I hope the end of your summer is blast!

Tell me – what is on your end of summer bucket list?!

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Tips to Get Picky Eaters to Eat More Vegetables

December 12, 2019 by Rachel 27 Comments

This post is sponsored by CAULIPOWER Cauliflower Tortilla but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Before having kids I was convinced my children would have a sophisticated palette. I mean, Chad and I have always been adventurous eaters. We weren’t going to change our eating habits for our kids. Nope!

For all of the parents in the room, you can totally eye roll and laugh with me now. Because the parent I thought I would be and the parent that I actually am? Those are two totally different people.

As babies, all three of our kids would actually eat anything and everything! But as they group from toddlers to preschoolers, they decided they only wanted ‘kid’ things. So I got creative.

Picky Eaters Will Be Picky Eaters

We make our kids try bites of foods they “don’t like,” but it often ends there. In my experience, creating a battle for the full length of a meal can be exhausting and lead to few results. I, for one, recall endless fights with my parents over my refusal to eat what they had prepared. I also recall having won those battles several times. It’s a battle of wills. And, guys… kids can be really strong-willed.

Beyond making them try the “gross” foods, we then allow them to have an alternative. I realize that this isn’t always a viable option. Preparing separate meals for the kids versus the adults can be exhausting, too.

Other Options

The good news is this — you have other options!

Mix it in!

I’ve come to love the option of pureeing vegetables, like carrots, and adding it to whatever I’m preparing. Our macaroni and cheese isn’t just any mac and cheese. It has pureed veggies in it! (Mom hack: You can sneak it in the boxed kind, too!)

If you don’t have the option to puree your own veggies, you can find dehydrated powder at the store to mix in.

Get creative with alternatives!

CAULIPOWER Cauliflower Tortillas have been a game-changer for our family. Since we are always on the go, we eat a lot of quick and easy meals like tacos and quesadillas.

My kids cannot tell the difference between a traditional grain tortilla and these CAULIPOWER Cauliflower Tortillas. They are vegan and dairy-freeand are available in both Original and Grain Free versions. And the best part? The first ingredient is cauliflower!

I picked up three bags from our local grocers freezer or refrigerated section, where I scored $2 off with this coupon! It’s also nice to know that they’re better for me, too. CAULIPOWER Cauliflower Tortillas contain less fat, fewer calories, and more fiber than traditional tortillas.

If they like it, give it to them!

My three-year-old has been on a near-hunger strike lately if she doesn’t get exactly the food she wants. But the one vegetable that she has decided she likes is brocolli. Sometimes her request for broccoli comes at breakfast.

My gut reaction was to say “no, we don’t eat broccoli for breakfast,” but I decided that if she wants it at 7:00 am, she can have it. So if your child is clinging to one vegetable, let them have it!

The Good News

The good news, friends, is that we all go through this phase. I went through it, my sister went through it, my husband went through it, and I’m sure his siblings did, too.

But it’s just that — a phase! Keep offering new foods, keep introducing new vegetables, and stay creative.

And don’t forget to save $2 off CAULIPOWER Cauliflower Tortillas by clicking here.

better late than never // our weekend wrap up

April 29, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Friday //

My BFF from high school, Carli, moved down to Akron over a year ago. As mucha s we SAY we’re going to get together now that we’re living down the street from each other, we just haven’t been able to as much as we’d like. ‘Cause life happens, y’all. But Friday night we had a date! We planned on hitting up The Office Bistro for a glass of wine and dinner, but the hostess was incredibly rude so we just left. (Note: this is not my typical experience at this restaurant; but her attitude completely justifies us leaving without a second glance).

I told Carli that I had had great experiences with Craft Beer Bar, right next door. Sure there was beer (hey, Bodhi!); but there was also an incredible spread of food.

I will say, Shawn and Dustin did not disappoint! Dustin was insistent that we try some of their new menu items and pretty much force-fed us. Ha! The potato pancakes (in the upper left hand corner) are not yet on the menu, so we were lucky to get a “sneak peak.” And they were delicious! As soon as we were completely full, thanks to the Bacon Queso (upper right), Poutine (lower right), and the Mac and Cheese (lower left), Dustin came out with yet another surprise — an orange creamsicle ice cream sandwich. I honestly don’t know the menu name for this dessert yet because I was in a serious food coma by the time it came out.

While we were out I got a call from my husband that he had a work emergency, so I quickly rolled home — ha! — so that he could run out to Cleveland for a night of work. Unfortunately, he was out ALL night and didn’t get home until 6am. I swear if we didn’t have events scheduled for Saturday, my poor husband wouldn’t have gotten out of bed. And I don’t blame him one bit.

Saturday //

We had a bit of a lazy morning. Between Chad working all night and Moosh sleeping in bed with me, we were all kind of exhausted. We did manage to make it to Crafty Mart, a local artisan and maker show located in downtown Akron, in time for Chad to go to a kombucha-making workshop with the Bearded Buch!

We’ve been fans of the Bearded Buch for a while now; and Chad has been itching to make his own Kombucha at home; so a workshop with the ‘buch guru himself?! Hecks yes!

While Chad was in his workshop, Moosh and I walked around Crafty Mart where the first stop was the Akron Art Museum! The art museum is one of my favorite places in Akron, so the fact that they open their doors for these local vendors to showcase their craft just is that much more awesome.

But it was definitely one of the most popular Crafty Mart locations. And my dearest, dearest, Crafty Mart — as a patron, the one piece of advice I would give you is that as this event grows (which it has!), please locate this event in one single location! 🙂

But one of Mooshie’s fave places is the Akron Art Museum. He ADORES this place. We bought a few things and headed over to Musica, a local music venue. Musica. Oh dear Musica. You are a beautiful location. I would love to see a show at this venue. Scratch that. My early 20-something-year-old self would love to go to a Taking Back Sunday show at your venue. Cause this gal finds herself in PJs by 6pm these days, let’s be real.

I didn’t get any pictures at Musica because it was way too crowded. Way too many vendors in such a tiny space. I think this does the vendors a disservice because people, such as myself, aren’t lingering nearly as long because they are getting quite claustrophobic. After one purchase, we popped out into the alley for some air.

Post-Musica, we ended up at Summit Artspace. It’s a little “off-the-beaten-path,” that’s for sure. It’s a spot I’d heard of in passing, but I didn’t really KNOW what it was.

Apparently this spot is one of Akron’s best kept art secrets. I’ve likely heard of it in passing, but I had no idea that it was a space where local artists have their own little ‘shops’ inside to showcase their art. It’s fantastic to have this, but sad that I had no idea it existed up until this point.

But back to the art and the vendors… I was majorly impressed with the fact that this space was a bit more open. Plus, they borrowed an idea from the way the Cleveland Flea is set up and had vendors on one floor and food and drinks on another (just like the last holiday flea). A HUGE thank you to Nuevo (remember that amazing mod mex restaurant we went to for our anniversary??) for providing tacos á la carte (along with amazeballs guacamole and homemade chips!), Thirsty Dog for the beer, and Stray Dog Cart for the ‘dogs and the (free for kids!) cannolis!

This is exactly what we needed to ‘rest’ until we were ready to do more shopping. I hope next time there are even more food/beverages available.

After Chad was done with his Kombucha workshop I took a terrarium workshop with Land Of Plenty. It turned out beautifully and wasn’t nearly as difficult as I imagined it would be!

Sunday //

I was supposed to go to an event in the early afternoon, but after such a busy busy Saturday and severe lack of sleep, I decided to stay at home with my boys and get things done instead. It was just what we needed. <3 Sometimes you’ve just gotta listen to your body/family. 🙂

It was a wonderful weekend, but unfortunately our week has begun with a sick Moosh, hence the not getting this post up until mid-week! Sigh. Blog fail; parenting win.

The next weekend is just around the corner…