There are so many options when it comes to teaching our kids. Learning at home is where the greatest amount of time is spent. But sometimes it can seem like a burden, because we aren’t sure just what to do. Or how to do it. Or even have the energy to spend time planning and gathering materials and making it happen.

That’s why subscription boxes can be such a game changer. When you choose the right one, it can save you time and energy, plus help you teach your kids a little better.

Why Subscription Boxes For Kids

In general, a subscription box is sent monthly to your house and includes something for your kids to do. The point is to have something regular for kids to look forward to. It’s something for them to do, and often to learn and practice something they’re interested in too.

I was not an easy or early convert to this concept. But then I changed the way I thought about it, and now we get several different subscriptions for my kids–it’s one of my favorite things.

Finding the right one

The key to finding good educational subscription boxes for your kids is knowing what they’re into, and finding one that meets your criteria. It should be both fun for your child and keep them engaged and learning like you want.

There are sooooooo many options for most interests you can think of, for any age range–from babies to teenagers. Here are some of the categories your kids may like and what I recommend for each one.

For cooking I recommend Raddish Kids. It go into a whole lot of detail about it in this post, and even more in this one. I like it because it’s easy enough for kids to follow, especially because it uses pictures for its recipe cards. There is a monthly theme that’s often to do with cuisine from a different country, but sometimes follows the time of year–this month was all about lunchtime. And it comes with a high-quality utensil or cooking device to use with one of the recipes.

For reading and books we LOVE our Literati box. I did a lot of searching before deciding on this one, and am so glad that I did. All of the details about it can be found in this post, but basically you get 5 books each month that you can choose to keep or send back. The pricing is the same or cheaper than Amazon, so you know you’re getting a great price too. They’re all based around a theme like friendship or space or adventure. They come with a beautiful art print and little extra goodie (like a book mark, friendship bracelet, cootie catcher game, etc.) to keep. I like this one because the base price is a whole lot lower than other options, and I get a variety to choose from.

For all-around variety and value nothing beats KiwiCo and their line of crates. All the details about them are here in this post. They have different options for babies all the way up to teenagers, focusing on STEAM–science, technology, engineering, art and math. And you can switch between crates at any time. My son has tried the Tinker Crate and Eureka crate (for engineering) and my daughter will be getting the Kiwi crate.

For science we’ve used the Young Scientist’s Club based on the Magic School Bus and my kids love it. Everything you need to complete experiments is in the kit (except water) and there are 6-7 experiments to complete each month.

Kids have many more interests than these, so check our some more options at Crate Joy.

Making it cost effective

I was not on board the subscription train for a long time because I thought they were just expensive and not worth it. I thought I could find the materials and put things together myself for a whole lot less. Which may be true in some cases, but a subscription saves you so. much. time. And energy. And mental space. Because they’re put together by people who do this full time. Especially the ones I listed above.

But, to make it have the most value, you need to look at what you get and what you want them to get out of it carefully. The reason I chose Raddish Kids was because after looking at the other options (and there are many) I liked that it checked off my criteria. The emphasis on building skills and not just making things; the way it was presented; and what was included both in the box and online– dietary substitutions, and additional recipes.

Same thing for Literati–the base price is only $9.95, so it’s not such a large monthly investment. I also get several books for the same price as many other boxes that only include 1 book plus extra goodies we don’t need. My goal is building our library, not adding to our clutter.

Another way to make it cost effective is buying the full year subscription all at once. It’s almost always cheaper on a per box basis that way.

We then give them as birthday and Christmas presents. They’re gifts that keep on giving throughout the year instead of ending up in the corner after a few weeks.

Or, view the price as class or camp you may sign your child up for. You’re spending the same amount of money, but just for a different thing.

How to use your subscription box

The beauty of having something fun and engaging for your kids to look forward to is that you’re in charge of how and when they can do their box.

Want to reserve them for rainy days? Cool.

Want to let them open it up and start on their project as soon as it lands on the front porch? That’s cool too.

If you’re homeschooling or remote learning this fall, add it to their curriculum. It will give them a little something extra fun to do and learn.

The point is, there’s no wrong way to use your educational subscription boxes with your kids. The important thing is them learning and have fun–and you having the time, mental space and energy to use for things other than keeping your kids entertained all. the. time.

The post Educational Subscription Boxes for Kids appeared first on Vibrant Mom Society.

(I want to make clear that yes, I know that in the grand scheme of things, canceling a trip is not a big deal. But, it’s still disappointing.)

We are all a bit bummed, so we decided to make a virtual trip instead. And where else would we start but with the food? Because eating our way through a country is one of the best ways to get a feel for its culture.

Seriously, a lot of times whenever we go on a trip, trying local food is 90% of what we do, and bring back with us if we can.

Spain is one of the largest countries in Europe and has several different regions known for different things. Some for wine and grapes, some for beaches, others for ham so soft and tender it practically melts in your mouth.

To make our virtual food trip both authentic, and simple enough to actually make, we decided to use our Spain box from Raddish Kids. I talk about a lot in this post, but basically it’s an awesome themed box that arrives monthly full of delicious recipes, culinary quizzes, a high-quality cooking tool to be used for one of the month’s recipes, (like a spatula, tongs, masher, whisk, measuring cups, etc.) and some extras to help you learn more about the theme. I love that it helps me have fun while cooking with my kids.

Inside our Spain box the recipes were for Tapas, Spanish Paella and Churros. Tapas are small plates, like appetizers, meant to be finger foods. These were such a hit in our house we’ll definitely be making them again:

Dates wrapped in Bacon, Roasted potatoes and Pan con tomate (bread with tomato) They were all sooo good, and my kids loved them.

While this paella isn’t the most authentic version (there aren’t shellfish, thank goodness) it is pretty close, and definitely kid friendly. Those people at Raddish really do know what they’re doing.

And for dessert we used our included piping bag and made churros with chocolate sauce. I loved that my daughter could help and learned how to use a piping bag to make these .

Oh. my. goodness. They’re delicious! Ours are even gluten free and they turned out perfectly. The combo of the cinnamon sugar, and the chocolate is simply divine.

While eating I quizzed the kids about the different regions in Spain and what they’re famous for, and they colored them in on the included map. (Valencia for oranges!) We also practiced some basic Spanish words and phrases that were included. Since B and K already know them all because they’ve had Spanish for years, they taught them to C who hasn’t. It was fun watching them practice together.

We love all of our Raddish Kids cooking boxes because they make cooking together so fun and easy. The recipes are always delicious, and often more simplified and kid friendly than some strictly “authentic” versions of food. (Like with the Paella not having shellfish or their French Nicoise salad that doesn’t have tuna or green beans. But, I like these versions better myself, so I’m not complaining!)

We especially adore the boxes dedicated to a specific country because we love eating foods from around the world. This box was especially appreciated since it helped us feel a little better about not being able to be there in person–and everyone gobbled everything up too!

The post Cooking with Kids: A Trip to Spain appeared first on Vibrant Mom Society.