One of our favorite childhood memories are decorating ourselves with those candy necklaces and bracelets. Of course, you don’t want your kid snacking on all that candy every day…that’s just asking for cavities. We have a clever alternative that your kids will actually like too. Grab some string and place a box of General Mills Cheerios on the table, along with any other foods you can think of that have holes in them, like some Mini Pretzels. Have them decorate their own necklaces and bracelets by threading the cereal onto the string. Depending on how daring your child is with different foods, you can get pretty creative with what you can add, such as Dried Apple Rings (which are available in our Fruit Nut and Candy Program). Try adding color by using Froot Loops.
Turn your child’s sandwich into a snowman using Arnold & Thomas Thins. Place two slices down on a plate, one on top of the other. Spread Marshmallow Fluff on top to create your “snow”. You can also spread cream cheese on top of a bagel and stick the tip of a California Carrot inside the top half of the bagel for a nose. Use different foods to make your snowman sandwich complete.
Celebrate the holiday and turn your lunch into a wreath. Toast your bagel and add Chicken Of The Sea Solid White Tuna on top, making sure to keep the hole uncovered. Then spread some Cains Sweet Relish around the top to create the “leaves”. Make your “holly berries” with chunks of Meaty Plum Tomatoes. You could also use Dole Italian or American Salad as leaves to your wreath. Be as clever as you’d like.
If you and your family celebrate Christmas, do a special countdown to the 25th. There’s many ways you can do this. Some get advent calendars, which are typically left at the house. So, we thought it would be a cool idea to try and bring the advent calendar to our kids instead. You of course can present your “countdown” any way you like, but we’ve been packing little origami boxes with their lunches, that have number of days left until Christmas Day written on them. There are a few different ideas we have on how to make it a little more exciting for the kids. Here’s some ideas:
Put your child’s favorite candy inside of the origami box. We like to make little origami stockings to put in their lunchboxes to keep it festive. Try thinking of 25 different fun activities for you to do with the kids each day. Write it on a slip of paper and stick in the stocking. If your kids are a little bit older, make it challenging by giving them a clue about what you’ve got planned. Our kids looked forward to opening their lunchboxes every day so they can find out what special activity they get to do that night. If you’re having trouble thinking of some ideas, here are a few that we’ve used in the past:
Bake Immaculate All Natural Cookies to decorate for your Christmas Cookies using Betty Crocker Cookie Icing and Cake Mate Sugar Decors and Gels. If you are running low on time or have little ones too eager to wait for cookies to bake for decorating, pick up our Fresh Baked Sugar Cookies from our Bakery. You could also make little Gingerbread boys and girls and decorate with Sun•Maid Raisins to make their eyes and buttons on their clothes. Get creative…maybe make them hold a lollipop or candy cane in their hands. Pack them up in their lunchboxes as a special dessert.
Gingerbread houses can be time consuming, so we suggest this for a weekend family activity. Grab all your Cake and Icing supplies, and of course you can’t forget the candy! Try using our imported Italian Candy, Terra Mia Torrone.
Pick up some sugar cubes and create a sweet winter wonderland castle with the kids. Use frosting to hold it all together.
Hold a “Make your own Pizza Night” at your house. Put each family member in charge of something specific so you’re all involved. Use Mama Mary’s 12″ Pizza Crusts, Mama Mary’s Pizza Sauce, Cabot Shredded Cheese and whatever toppings you all like. If you want to go festive, use red and green foods like some sliced Meaty Plum Tomatoes and Jumbo Green Peppers.
Sundae Night! Pick up the kids’ favorite ice creams and toppings so they can make their own sundaes. Grab Breyer’s Ice Cream, some Brigham’s Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping and whatever else you and your family enjoy on top of your ice cream.
Here are some other other suggestions to inspire you this holiday season. Obviously these things won’t appeal to all children, and of course age becomes a factor. But they’re some ideas we had that our kids got real excited about and we all had a great time.
Decorate their rooms with Paper Snowflakes
Have them dress up and put on a Christmas Holiday Play
Watch their favorite Holiday Movie (ours was Home Alone)
Make Fudge
Read their favorite Christmas Books
Make their own cards to send to family and friends
Helping put up Lights outside
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