Kids Stuff

Kid Craft with Free Printables: Snowman, Reindeer and Elf Christmas Gift Bags

By Christine,

This year for our first grade classroom party we were looking for another Christmas craft. But we also needed to inexpensively wrap the ornament the kids would be making, so why not kill 2 birds with one stone? I looked around online and found a few cute Christmas gift bag crafts, but none were free printables, or they were much too complex for a first grader. So I designed my own Christmas gift bag craft!

I drew these pieces in Photoshop. They’re outlines here (just open each linked image full size to print) so your kiddos can easily color them in with crayons to be cut out. If you want to use these pieces with your Cricut or Silhouette you an easily import them, just don’t cut out the insides.

Note, I have a Cricut Maker, I cut out each color on the machine in different colors of card stock and then glued them on to a white or brown lunch bag.

Kid Craft Elf Christmas Gift Bag Free Printable

Elf Gift Bag

Free Printable Snowman Christmas Gift Bag Craft
Snowman Gift Bag

Free Printable reindeer gift bag craft
Reindeer Gift Bag

A few notes about each design:
The picture of the elf standing there would be super cute with a drawn Christmas tree or presents in the background! Encourage your kids to personalize the bag.

On the snowman, the little circles are meant to be uneven since they’re coal. The ribbon for the hat would be cute with a holly or bow accent, I didn’t design on as I felt like it was a bit too much for the time allotted during our classroom party.

The reindeer’s antlers are the same color as the bag, I didn’t really mean for them to be that close (I was surprised by how close the card stock I ordered from Amazon was to the $2 lunch bags from the grocery store). A darker brown would be better if you have it.

Tips for Hiding Vegetables in Food from Picky Kids

By Christine,

My kids are pretty picky, but I think even the best eaters go through a picky phase. Not all kids will eat vegetables, or at least not consistently. I’ve managed to get my picky kids to eat them by hiding vegetables in food. They’ll eat the food gladly, without even realizing they’re there!

Unfortunately, you can’t just throw random vegetables into what you’re making. There’s a bit of an art to hiding vegetables in food. They truly need to be hidden vegetables. My kids are amazing, if the vegetables aren’t perfectly hidden, they will find evidence of said vegetable and then refuse to eat the food. They can find anything.

1. Choose the Vegetable Carefully

Some vegetables are pretty easy to hide simply because of their taste. Look for subtle flavors that are easily influenced by other ingredients, rather than vegetables that have a strong flavor.

I’ve found that zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower and carrots are very easy to hide in foods because of their flavors and the wide array of textures that they can be prepared into.

Spinach seems like it would be easy to hide in multiple foods, but depending on how it is prepared spinach can take on a bitter taste that makes it easy to find. Kale can also be difficult to hide.

2. Start Small

When you first start hiding vegetables in a dish your family is already familiar with, you should start small. Add a little bit, then a little more the next time. The gradual changes will be harder to notice than a sudden change in a favorite recipe. If you’re preparing a new recipe, feel free to add all of the vegetables the first time.

3. Keep Texture and Color the Same

A major differences in texture and color will call attention to your vegetable immediately! I’ve found a lot of recipes online calling for hiding broccoli in scrambled eggs. Really? You don’t think the bright green will stick out and your kids will be on to you? Instead try cauliflower in your eggs, as the white is much closer to the color of the eggs.

One of my favorite hidden vegetables recipe is Spaghetti Sauce with Zucchini and Squash. The squash and zucchini take on the color of the sauce, and most of the vegetable breaks down easily. The only part my kids have ever called out is the green skin of the zucchini, but that looks just like basil when cooked.

4. When in Doubt, Use a Purée

If you’re not sure you can overcome a texture issue, take texture out of the equation. By steaming or boiling a vegetable and then creating a purée with the vegetable, you can put it into almost any dish. From mac and cheese to a muffin, that purée can go almost anywhere.

5. Bake It

There are a lot of baked items that can handle hiding vegetables. Try adding vegetables to muffins that are already a bit textured or add a purée even to your chocolate cake!

If you’re looking for great cookbooks that feature hidden vegetables in food, here are a few great options:
The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine
Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld
Baking with Vegetables

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Room Parent 101: The Basics

By Christine,

The first time I agreed to be a room parent I almost immediately regretted it. I had heard the stories of PTA moms gone crazy, the super competitiveness of volunteering in your child’s school, and the overall pettiness. Would it be like that? Had I just signed away hours of my life each week? It turns out that all of the stories are greatly exaggerated.

Volunteering to be room mom was one of the best things I could have done as my daughter was transitioning into kindergarten. I’m now in my second year of being a room parent, and I thought I would share the basics that I’ve picked up along the way. These tips will make room parent volunteering more fun and run more smoothly.

What Does a Room Parent Do?

Your exact job as room parent will vary depending up the school and teacher. Usually the job will involve acting as a liaison between the teacher and parents, you might be expected to join and participate in the building’s PTA, you organize other volunteers in the classroom and donations for various events. Personally, I’ve mostly had to help organize events in my daughter’s classroom such as field day or specific holiday parties and help with teacher presents for the holidays and teacher appreciation week in the spring.

Team Up

Since a lot of parents work outside of the home, you shouldn’t let this deter you from volunteering! Usually there are a few parents that would love to volunteer as room parent if they have some help. Volunteer for the job and get another parent to help you out. Due to my job I haven’t been able to attend all events in the classroom, but I can be very involved in organizing the volunteers and donations for the event. Having a co-room parent is also a great way to get to know other parents in the classroom.

Set Up a Meeting

As soon as you’ve volunteered to be room parent, it’s best to set up a meeting with the teacher to go over their expectations and what they need help with. I think it is much easier to have this meeting in person with all of the room parents, and be prepared to take notes!

At this meeting be sure to ask:
– On going and immediate needs for donations and volunteers. Do they need someone in the classroom twice a week starting now? What about ongoing donations of basics such as anti-bacterial hand gel?
– Have dates and times been set for the parties yet? When is the first party and what is expected at this party? What has the teacher noticed in the past worked well for that particular party?

Go Digital

The internet makes room parenting so much easier than it used to be! I do almost all of my room parenting on the computer, it’s pretty easy once you have all of your resources in place.

Email List
First, you’ll want the email address of every parent in the room. In my school this list is collected by the teacher, but if not you can send a note home with each student asking their parents to email you their preferred email address to stay informed.

Centralize Sign Ups
Next, you’ll want to decide how you’re going to organize your sign ups. You can send out emails detailing how many parents you need to volunteer at the Halloween party and what you need donated, but the back and forth will be very time consuming.

I strongly recommend using an online sign up that parents can use on their own. One option is Sign Up Genius, which will create sign ups individually for each even. I prefer to create a classroom site (for free!) via Shutterfly. You can create a Classroom Share Site that has an area for parents to upload images of each event, a calendar for events, and you can easily create sign ups for parents to volunteer for the parties, donate specific items, or even create a recurring volunteering sign up such as a classroom reader each Thursday at 2:30. The system will email invitations to the parents to join the site when you add their email addresses, and it will remind them of their commitments 3 days in advance.

Pinterest is Your Friend
Gone are the days of polling your friends, it’s easy to find craft and classroom party ideas on Pinterest! I’ve just done quick searches on there for different ideas, but recently I’ve started saving them onto different boards such as this Christmas Classroom Craft and Party Idea Board, you can check my Pinterest for similar boards.

Collect Money Early

You’ll need a small budget for classroom gifts throughout the year. Rather than sending out reminders for each parent to donate $5, it is easier to collect $20 or so at the very beginning of the year. This worked great for our kindergarten class, and was a little less successful for first grade.

Image Credits:
Classroom via Bart Everson
Hand Raising via Jim Heising
Students in Class via Ilmicrofono Oggiono

The Best Vampirina Gifts to Buy This Holiday Season

By Christine,

Whenever Disney Junior comes out with a new show, it takes off immediately. That’s definitely true in my house, the recent releases of Vampirina and Puppy Dog Pals were huge hits with both my 3 year old and her 6 year old sister. We watch each episode as they are released. And rewatch them. And rewatch. It is at the point where my girls can repeat each line in each show before the characters even say it!

It should come as no surprise that when I asked my girls what they thought would be fun to receive for Christmas, their lists were full of Vampirina. Unlike previous Disney Junior shows where products weren’t released for 6-9 months after the show (hello Miles and PJ Masks), there are actually Vampirina products out! I was shocked! After looking around for forever, I found a lot of great Vampirina items to order for Christmas presents. Here’s a look at my favorites!

1. Vampirina Tote Bag: There are a couple of these tote bags over on Zazzle, and I love that you can easily customize them. My girls love a good tote bag, I know they’ll be loading these up with toys and carrying them all over our basement immediately. Note a few of these designs are up on the Disney Store site, but the customization options are more limited there and by going directly through Zazzle you’ll also have better discounts.

2. Vampirina Books: Before she was a Disney Junior show, Vampirina was in a series of books by Anne Marie Pace. You can buy all three of the original books, Vampirina Ballerina, Vampirina Ballerina Hosts a Sleepover, and Vampirina at the Beach.

3. Vampirina Fangtastic Friends Set: I bought two of this set (one for each girl), and it seems to go in and out of stock everywhere. They’re simple plastic figurines, but these seem to by my girls’ favorites always. They create new stories with the characters of a story and then add in friends from other stories. Somehow, the boys are always in distress and need to be rescued. Princesses are great at rescues, just FYI.

4. Vampirina Plush Doll: There are a few plush out there, but Disney has the best price and quality.

5. Vampirina Bat Plush Doll: Again, from the Disney Store.

6. Demi Plush Doll and Wolfie Plush Doll: Again from the Disney store, this is a larger Demi than you’ll find in other stores. It’s also only a few dollars more than the smaller beanie plush that many of the big box stores are carrying.

7. Vampirina Haunted House T-Shirt: Again from Zazzle, there are quite a few t-shirt options available that you won’t find even on the Disney Store website. You can add writing if you want, change the shirt type (need a long sleeved option instead?) and change the color. The shirts are various brands you’re familiar with, such as American Apparel and Hanes, so sizing isn’t as difficult as on Etsy.

8. Vampirina Scare B&B Play House: It has a few levels and comes with both Vampirina and Poppy. What more could a girl want?

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Kid Craft with Free Printables: Snowman, Reindeer and Elf Christmas Gift Bags