Find Your Solution

Top Fall Harvest Recipes

Baked Brie and Buttercrisps
Click for recipe >>
Kellogg's® Rice Krispies Treats® Autumn Leaves
Click for recipe >>
Pesto Cheese Terrine
Click for recipe >>
All recipes >>
Town House
Select a different occasion:
Vanessa

Mother of 3
A Little Fuel for After School

My 7-year-old gets off the bus at 3:30 p.m. every day and skips towards me with a big smile, thrilled to be home after a long day navigating the hallways of her elementary school. But as soon as she walks in the door, her smile disappears and she begins to beg to watch TV and eat cookies.

Faced with the prospect of tackling homework and heading out to various after school activities, my daughter would much rather collapse on the couch. Unfortunately, I've found that vegging out immediately after a long day leaves her cranky and short-tempered instead of reviving her energy.

In order to avoid the TV temptation, I like to welcome her with a fun activity centered around a snack to help her relax. I find this especially helpful when she has a friend over for a play date. The combined whining power of two tired elementary school kids can be difficult to overcome if you're not prepared.

I recently put my daughter and her friend to work in staging an after school tea party, complete with animal cheese sandwiches and sweet treats.

A Smart Snack Disguised as a Fancy Tea Party

activities after school

after school

after school care

1) To get the party started right, we took out a few pieces of fancy china to set the table.


2) Next, I set the girls to work with preparing tea sandwiches. Since smoked salmon and cucumbers would probably not be a big hit with this group, I armed them with miniature cookie cutters and some American cheese slices. They created cute, little hearts and bunnies that we then set out on Town House Crackers.


3) The sweet treats were just an exercise in presentation. I gave them an assortment of Fudge Shoppe Cookies, Rice Krispies Treats, and Yogos and told them to make the dessert plate as beautiful as possible.


4) I like to tempt my kids with a fruit and veggie option at every meal, so we added some color to the savory plate with some bright baby carrots and with some juicy green grapes to the sweets plate.


5) Once the table was fit for a princess, the girls drew up some invitations for my younger children. The special treatment alerted them to be on their best behavior for our fancy tea.


6) Soon we were all around the table, enjoying a table filled with a variety of fun snacks. Our tea was ice cold water served in tiny china cups.


after school program


Hungry for more? Snack on these other great ideas...

Cook Up Some After School Fun

Simple kitchen chores can help young kids practice hand-eye coordination and learn about shapes, colors, smells and tastes before dinner. As children grow older, they are able to learn about recipes which can challenge their reading and math skills, too. Plus, cooking is also a great way for them to try new foods which is always a challenge.

Being in the kitchen can also teach kids to plan ahead, cooperate with others and follow through with a task. Most importantly, your time in the kitchen can provide you with invaluable time together. With a pinch of love and a dash of imagination, you can turn your kitchen into a learning laboratory.

Children develop skills at different rates, so it's important to have an adult introduce children to skills that match their ability level. In general:

2-3-year-olds can: wash and scrub vegetables, name and count foods, break bread into pieces, tear lettuce to make a salad, talk about colors and shapes.

3-4-year-olds can: shape meatballs, shell peas, peel bananas, mix dry ingredients together, pour pre-measured liquids into batter, talk about tastes and smells.

4-5-year-olds can: break eggs into a bowl, help to measure out ingredients, open packages, pour cereal, wipe up after cooking, press cookie cutters into dough or soft food, sort and classify foods.

6-8-year-olds can: fill and level measuring cups and spoons, set the table, beat ingredients with a wire whisk, mash soft fruits and vegetables, learn about food groups.

8-10-year-olds can: use a can opener, use a microwave oven, prepare simple recipes with a few ingredients, practice reading and math skills.

A Few More Tips on After School Snacks

If you have children around the house who often choose snacks without supervision, consider adopting a few tricks to help them pick. For example:

Keep a list of snacks on the refrigerator door as a reminder of choices they should make most often

Use one shelf in your pantry or one bin in your refrigerator to stock "everyday" snacks that kids can choose from

Keep other "sometimes" snacks – like potato chips or ice cream – out of sight and out of mind

Make Your Own Rice Krispies Treats Art

Here is one more final after school activity that will give your "little artist" and their friends a chance to express him/herself with their own Rice Krispies Treats artwork!

after school work

Ingredients:

  • - 1 Box of Rice Krispies Treats
  • - 1 Platter
  • - A handful of friends or family
  • - Assorted colors of canned frosting, sprinkles, decorating
  •   gels, chocolate chips or colorful candies

Directions:

  • 1 - Line bottom of a cookie/oven tray with Rice Krispies Treats.
  • 2 - Let your child and his/her friends design their own artwork.
  • 3 - Enjoy the finished product together and take pictures to savor the moment!