There are lots of great giveaways going on this week at Dine & Dish. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out the Bush’s Beans giveaway on the previous post and stay tuned the rest of the week for more great giveaways!
For the most part of this school year, my kids have come home to me on a conference call, me on the computer working on a project or me telling them “just one more minute” while I finished up my last little bit of work for the day. To them, after school meant coming in the door, grabbing a snack and finding something to occupy themselves until I could wrap up. I am not proud of this at all, which is why I recently decided to leave my recruiting job to focus on my family while they are young enough to want me to focus on them.
This is why when a representative from Quaker Chewy contacted me the other day about partnering with them to get the word out about the After School Alliance and the Quaker Chewy After School Rocks program I was thrilled. Reconnecting with my kids, especially during the precious after school hours, is something I wanted to focus on.
Quaker Chewy has partnered with the Afterschool Alliance to study and improve how kids spend their time after school in an effort to help each child have a positive after school experience. Whether children are sent to an organized after school program or they come home to a parent or guardian, the partnership between Quaker Chewy and the Afterschool Alliance is providing necessary resources and activities to make that time quality. As a part of their partnership, Quaker Chewy and the Afterschool Alliance have created a free downloadable Afterschool Toolkit for parents and teachers. Check it out by clicking on this link and scrolling to the very bottom.
After reviewing the Afterschool Toolkit I decided to plan some after school activities with my kids that would help us to reconnect after a long day as well as be fun for them so they could unwind after being “on” all day at school. Considering it is fall, and the ground is covered with leaves that have fallen from the trees, we decided our first after school activity would be to do some leaf rubbing. Simple, fun, and each one of my kids (ages 8, 6, 4 and 1) could participate in their own way.
Step one was to get outside and go on a leaf hunt. I told the kids to pick up some of the biggest leaves they could find. As the three older ones hunted for leaves, one little person, who shall remain nameless, decided all she wanted to do was attempt an escape from this crazy family.
Once the leaves were gathered, we brought them inside, grabbed some plain white copy paper and some crayons and began our project. Leaf rubbing is really simple… place the leaf underneath your paper then with the side of a crayon, rub / color over on the paper over the leaf. You’ll soon start to see the outline of the leaf, including the veins, show up on the paper. It makes for a really beautiful piece of artwork for your kids!
Of course, if you have as many kids as I do, you are bound to find one who is only there for the food. What can you do?
I’m excited to announce that Quaker has given me several After School Kits to do what I’d like to with. I’ve decided to share some of them with you to get inspired to make after school time, quality time! 7 Dine & Dish readers will win 1 kit each. Each kit includes:
- 1 Quaker Afterschool Rocks T-Shirt
- 1 $10 iTunes gift card
- 1 pack of Crayola Colored pencils
- 1 Composition Notebook
- 1 coupon for a FREE box of Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
- 1 Canvas tote bag
To win, in the comment section of this post, share what your favorite after school activity was when you were growing up. Entries must be in by midnight CST on Sunday, November 14th. I will use Random.org to choose the 7 winners. You can enter as many times as you’d like… no limits!
Disclaimer:
This promotion is solely sponsored by Dine & Dish and has not been endorsed or approved by PepsiCo, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates. By entering, you agree to look solely to Dine & Dish for any claims in connection therewith, and not to PepsiCo, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates.
I have been compensated by Quaker Chewy to be a partner with this great program, however, any opinions stated within this post are my own.
strange to admit this, but most of my afterschool time in my younger years was to come home do homework and watch the afterschool specials they use to put on… not exactly like what we try to do with the kids now!
To be honest, my favorite after school activity was to sit down with my sister and watch the Nickelodeon show, Doug, on TV! Or anything on Nick in the Afternoon… 😉 Got to love being a 90’s kid 🙂
My favorite after school activity was to break out the Zesta saltine crackers with some American cheese slices and then watch the Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeanie or Bewitched. Then outside to play in the dirt or swing.
I wasn’t really into any after school activities. I was a mamas girl, so I loved coming home and talking with my mom while she was in the kitchen making dinner.
My neighbor boy and I would make clay balls, gathering the clay from the banks along the road, and put them in the road to be run over by any cars that happened by. Since we lived in the country, and there weren’t too many cars that went by our house, it was a fairly safe activity. The object was to get the flattened clay balls and save the impressions of the tire tracks. It was also a gravel road with very little gravel and mostly dirt. Dried tire tracks weren’t nearly as interesting or pretty as leaf rubbings are.
I loved making ants-on-a-log with my sisters. ants-on-a-log: celery filled with peanut butter, topped with raisins.
Oh man, I should totally win this, I eat a Quaker chewy granola bar with (sometimes FOR) every meal – this started when I was recovering from being sick for a year because the doctor told me it was a quick and easy way to get fiber. I KNOW. Ok.
When I was little, I would just come home from school and read.
Hmm… my favorite after school activity was going home and watching Duck Tales =)
my husband and i are trying to start our family and i look forward to the days like this one i can spend with my own children 🙂
when i was a kids i LOVED coming home and playing with one of my parents in the swing set my father had built for me. it was our own little getaway where we could just be us 🙂
My mom worked so after school for us usually entailed picking on my little sister and doing chores until Mom got home. Thankfully, my daughter won’t have this same experience.
I came home and played outside unattended. I could not imagine letting my kids do that.
Not sure what it was called, but I called it the “Smelling Game.” My mom would blindfold me and present different ingredients such as cinnamon, garlic, sugar, pepper to smell and try to identify.
My favorite after school activity was playing outside with our dogs and barn cats.
Kristen, I cannot thank you enough for posting this. I will be on Quakers site later today to learn more about their program. My goal is to have quality time with my kids after school & I always want to do more as their mom. Our favorite after school activity is coloring with our 64 pack of crayolas. Great giveaway! xo
Remember the after school specials? Loved those. And when they weren’t a “must see,” we just played outside for as long as we could. I don’t remember being bogged down with homework until high school.
We used to play with our neighbors outside or watch 30 mins of tv…then it was homework time!
My favorite thing to do after school was to get away from school. Just being home was safe and calm. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and was always there “at the crossroads” to greet us and talk to us.
I remember making leaf pictures in school. So fun. After school was always hanging out with my best friend who lived next door.
Our family border collie always gave the best welcome after school! Watching after-school specials or playing outside until dinner!
I would have to say my favorite activity was just dropping off my books and running outside to see what all of us neighborhood kids could into to. We would play football….dig dong ditchem and tag.
Riding bikes around the neighborhood was always our favorite!
What a wonderful program, Kristen! It’s so easy to just plop the kids in front of the TV, but you lose such precious time with them when you do this. When I was a kid, I would do my homework and then either head off for classes, lessons, or go outside to capture as many hours of daylight as possible.
My favorite after school activity was to go for a swim with my sister in the nearby pool…feeling highly nostalgic about it now…thanks for this great giveaway…
Connecting with the kids is definitely something I’d like to do more of. It’s amazing how hectic things can get, between driving to and from activities, homework etc… This is a wonderful activity!
My babysitter/day care provider used to bake muffins after school – we used to get to pick the berries and she would whip up delicious raspberry muffins.
My favorite afterschool activity was always showing off what I did in school that day. After that, I would curl up with a good book and our Dalmatian until dinner.
My favorite activity had to be baking with my grandma. To this day, she still makes the most amazing food and baked goods. The most amazing part about it all is that she can’t even taste most of it! She is allergic to certain foods so she just goes off of feel and memory of a time when she could. Only a grandma could pull that off 🙂 I’m still lucky enough to have her in my life at 33 years old.
My favorite thing to do was play with the neighbor kids. I went to a small private school and they went to public school so it was the only time we got to play together.
After school consisted of Gilligan’s Island and since we lived on a farm, our outside chores. During this time of year we almost always had a family dinner and spent many hours putting together puzzles and playing board/card games. Maybe tonight is a good night to pull out a board game and spend some special time with my kids . Thanks for inspiring me…..
I would come home and my neighbor would watch me- she was about 5 yrs older than me- we would have a snack and watch the after school specials on tv or play outside. Now that I am able to be at home with my kids we like to walk home from school, we really enjoy this time of the year, to see the changes from day to day in the trees, bugs, and whatever else that may come accross our path. Once home we have a snack and start homework and dinner.
Your kids are adorable! My favorite after school time was actually hanging out with my brother before homework time.
You have the cutest kids! What a fantastic program too.
Me and my siblings would rush in after school to get a snack and watch Little House on the Prairie. We so looked forward to it!
I’d go back to my babysitter’s house with another family friend and play on the swing set. We used to set up obstacle courses that were out of this world!
Sadly most of the time I came home to an empty house. It was the era of the “latchkey kids”. Wow, how times have changed. I do remember being so excited when an ABC Afterschool Special was on. Those were the days when you only had “kid” shows on Saturdays. What a treat on a Wednesday afternoon. Then came Disney channel, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network…
I loved to hang out and veg, and then chitty chat in the phone of course!!
I loed to tell my mom all about my day and have a snack. Then take the dog for a walk. Then STALL on doing hw. (that probably wasn’t as much fun for my mom)
I loved creating some sort of after school snack for myself and my sister. We came up with some strange combinations!
I was a latch-key kid, so I would come home and start baking after my homework was done of course! I would call my Grandma and we’d share old family recipes that I will still make today.
I used to come home and do homework and then watch some TV. I do remember on Tuesday nights my mom would bring home Pizza Hut pizza after she got off work. That was always something to look forward to. I find myself telling my kids “just one more second” when I should be paying more attention to them. I will do better at that, thanks for the eye opener.
Love this post, Kristen! Great reminder on the “just a minute” phrase. Those minutes are quickly running into tween and teen years, aren’t they? Ugh!
Great program and your kids are a-dor-able!
My favorite after school activity was going with my mom to Dairy Queen for a Butterfinger Blizzard, almost every day. Seriously, almost every single day. Don’t tell my kids!
My favorite afterschool activity was reading. I loved winding down with a great book. I read ALL of the “Little House on the Prarie” series and also enjoyed “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary (and all of the books in that she wrote!), a great local writer.
In the Fall and Spring we would play outside in the woods or neighborhood–we grew up in the country, so lots of dirt roads and a few abandoned shacks to explore! In winter, I loved to cross-country ski or relax with a book.
Your post hits home for me on so many levels. We blink and they go from hanging out with us watching Disney movies to being in college stepping into their adult lives. This is a wonderful idea. By the way…gorgeous family 🙂
I am blessed to be able to be home with my kids after school as well. I think it is a very important to be with your kids. We come home have a snack and then get homework done before any play starts. Its a great routine and I think steers them away from being procrastinators(at least with schoolwork).
I was a cheerleader all through school..so that always took up my after school hours
MY FAVORITE THING TO DO AFTER SCHOOL WAS TO GO FISHING WITH MY GRANDMOTHER. I MISS HER SO MUCH.
What a great idea! We are always looking for things to keep kids occupied after school without the TV!
PS My favorite activity was when Daddy would pick me up and we’d go to Hardee’s for a chocolate shake. I never saw him eat ice cream EXCEPT those days with me! Mom still says, “Skip? No he doesn’t like ice cream.” He turns and winks at me!
I would come home from school open a can of pork n beans and eat it straight out of the can while i read my books…i have always loved to read
I remember so many after-school favorite activities! It really depends how old I was. When I was 7-8, I loved drawing on the street/driveway/backyard with chalk. When I was 9-10, I loved playing with our pet parrot. When I was around 11, I loved playing the Brazilian version of dodge ball with the neighbors.
I could go on and on but I don’t want to bore you all. I do want to thank you for making me stop for a minute and remember… those were the best times.
well, back in the olden days, when there was only one tv in the house, we played outside after school. Mom would usually make us a snack for after school and I would play with my friend across the street and my four brothers. I loved to roller skate out in the driveway.
Great time spent with the kiddos – love the pics! The leaf rubbing will be a fun activity to do with my little miss this weekend (if the leaves have dried out after this big rain coming!!) I can remember riding my bike everywhere, making piles of leaves to jump into, and playing on the swingset. As long as we were running around outside, we were happy!!
when I was in elementary school I was enrolled in an after school program sponsored by the school, we did our homework together, played ball on the school yard, sometimes went with the teachers out to the fields. On rainy days we had a big play room
Thank you for hosting this giveaway
schnitzomage {at} gmail {dot} com
Well since I am almost 64 after school activities were mostly chores. My buddies in the neighborhood would get together and play ball or some kind of game together until Mom called me to supper. I rode my bicycle a lot, like 10 miles a day if possible. Back then it was safe to do this. This gift would be for my granddaughter who has just started the second grade.
During the elementary school years, that’s before after school sports was such a big deal! I came home to my grandparents every day after school, and if I couldn’t convince my older brothers to play with me then I usually called my friends, went bike riding all over the neighborhood or up to the library to get the latest Judy Blume book, or met all the other kids on our street for games, like kick-the-can. Playing school or Barbies was another favorite past time.
Then of course I couldn’t wait until the after school special came on TV, I think they were only on once a week back then, but I loved watching those, they seemed so serious and taboo but you always learned some important message. I wonder what happened to those shows??!!!
I always enjoyed playing outside after school – until the weather got too cold that is. Thanks for the chance – my 6 and 4 yos would love this!
I remember playing Sega & Nintendo with my little brother after school – it was the only time we got along and only lasted about a 1/2 an hour!
When I was young, I used to love to go outside and play, play, play with wild abandon! I’d soak every bit of daylight, pushing the boundaries, often racing into the house at 1 min. after the sun was down (my school week curfew).
I watched way too many soap operas after school… but my favorite activity was sledding or building snowmen. A granola bar would work well as the nose for a dashing snowman!
Definitely riding my bike. I grew up in the 60’s/70’s in a small town and we rode everywhere without worries. Great memories!
My favorite after school activity was to go to the neighbour play with the rabbits with my friends. I loved rabbit and now that I’m 31 years old, I still have one 🙂
I loved to sing and act when I was in school, so my absolute favorite after school activity was to gather some of my friends and act out scenes from musicals or movies. So much fun!
My favorite after school activity when I was a kid was listening to music – I loved to get home, relax, and listen to my stereo.
Best memories from after school. Going outside and playing until we couldn’t see anymore. No tv, no video games. Just fresh air and running around
I remember walking home from school, putting our backpacks away and hanging up our coats, and then sitting down at the kitchen table for an after-school snack. Then is was off to do homework. Once the books closed, my brothers and I would hang out with neighborhood friends.
My favorite after school activity was going to the mall with my friends, seeing a movie and going swimming or hiking 🙂
We also liked stopping by the neighbor lady’s house for cookies or a piece of candy.
I loved to go in our backyard and play in our “playhouse” which was actually a huge pine tree/bush that we could go inside and make our own “house”…it was huge!
My favorite memory is going outside to play in our huge back yard!
I loved to ride my bicycle.
I remember getting an afterschool snack, playing outside or in my room, watching tv and doing homework.
After school I would get a snack for my sis and brother. Then we would watch TV or play outside.
After school I would get a snack for my sis and brother. Then we would watch TV or play outside.
We would ride our bikes with friends.
I remember riding my bike with my older brothers up and down our street. Times have definitely changed now and unfortunately it is not as safe for my kids to do that these days.
My after school activities when I was little was when we lived in a townhouse with a neighbor family that lived below us. There was a mom and her son, the same age as me, she worked during the day like my mother did and we were *latchkey kids* (old expression for children who come home to an empty house for a few hours until their parent(s) get home from work). We would always hang out after school playing on his handy dandy Tandy 1000 computer (haha! nostalgia!) playing Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy! When we weren’t playing on his computer we would barter with each other over activities. He would force me to play with his silly little army men (those plastic green g.i. joes like on the new Toy Story movie) which I only agreed to if he would play Barbie dolls with me! HA! Yeap, my childhood bestfried (a boy) would play barbie dolls, rofl! Other times we would play baseball in our very tiny square shaped backyard (where the bases were about 10 feet apart if even that). We grew up together from 5th-8th. grade until my mom and I moved here to Tennessee. I lost contact with my best friend and tried over the years to locate him but sadly never heard from him again until very recently when I joined Facebook. I finally reconnected with my friend and caught up on all the years and then of course recollecting all the fun times we had growing up (and of course me teasing him about playing with my Barbie Dolls, hehe! Great memories and so happy to finally be reconnected again). The internet is a great thing, esp. when it connects us all from all over the country and brings people back together.
My favorite activity was riding bikes with the neighborhood kids. 🙂
My favorite afterschool activity was fishing with my neighborhood friends in our backyard lake 🙂