Give Thanks - Kids Night In Review

Give Thanks - Kids Night In Review

*This post does contain affiliate links. I do make commission when any purchases are made using these links.

So many things to be thankful for this time of year, and not just around Thanksgiving. We moved a few months ago and we were lucky enough to have some family come visit and join us for Thanksgiving in our new home. My kids LOVED having some extra familiar faces around, and I enjoyed the extra help in the kitchen. Our November Kids Night In box arrived just after Thanksgiving, but that didn't stop us from talking about what being grateful meant. With two independent and strong willed boys, sometimes they need the reminder. If you missed out on the November box, that's ok! You still have time to get the December themed box - Winter Wonderland. The order cutoff is December 13th!

Let's jump right into the contents of this box. I barely have time to take note as my son excitedly pulls everything out faster than I can say "wait for me!"

What's Included:

Night In Itinerary

Included book - Thanks from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Art Paper

Crayons

Water color set

Permanent marker

Plastic shovel

Seed paper

Watch Me Grow pocket greenhouse

Clothespin

Ziploc

Pretzels

Candy Melts

Sprinkles

I always tell myself, next month we'll get to the menu! But then my kids can't wait once we get the box and I end up not doing it. I really wanted to this month, and I still probably will because it was so cute and the perfect snack for my apple loving kids.

Give Thanks Themed Menu:

The menu this month went right along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. In fact, it was a delicious fruit and veggie snack made to look like the Caterpillar himself! Using green and red apples, celery, carrots, and other goodies to make the caterpillar in a little garden. It really went perfectly with this theme, and it will be something we definitely try in the future.

Activities:

One of the activities was talking about gratitude, giving thanks, and paying it forward. The itinerary went through the acronym:

Gratitude
Is

Very

Easy

Thank others

Help others

Appreciate what you have

Notice your blessings

Know your gifts

Serve others

We then talked about family, friends, and objects we have in our lives that we are thankful for. Another activity was discussing how important it is to care for our Earth and planting seeds. We used soil from a planter, planted and watered our seeds. We hung them in the window and my son has been checking them every day! We talked about how plants help us to be able the breathe, rain fills up our rivers and lakes to give us clean water to drink. We always have to be thankful for these, and not take them for granted.

My son's favorite activity was making the Butterfly Gratitude Bag, and he ended up sharing with his little brother. After all, they are thankful for each other. Together, we melted the candy melts and drizzled it over the pretzels. We then added the sprinkles for a special touch. I can't say that there weren't any sticky fingers made in the process, that melted candy was pretty yummy! There was a lot left over, so we ended up using pretzels from our pantry and making candy coated pretzels for an extra snack for a later day.

The last activity was drawing, coloring, and water coloring a leaf. We then discussed what my son was thankful for, and wrote it around the leaf. What a great activity to create calmness and reflect on what's important.

My favorite part of each box is the included book. They are always such great reads that I don't mind adding to our book collection. The book this month was Thanks from The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and if you love children's books like I do (hello former teacher!), you know that he's a great author and illustrator. This book was about saying thanks and being thankful for everything around us, to care for and be kind to all living creatures. Of course, it had the best illustrations.

If this sounds like something right up your alley and want to try out the December box, you have until the 13th to get yours in time, so click my affiliate link here: Winter Wonderland and use code NIBWINTER to save 15% on all plans!

*This post does contain affiliate links. I do make commission when any purchases are made using these links.

Children's Book Favorites: Christmas Edition

Who loves holiday specific books?? As a teacher, I tend to only put out our holiday books during that holiday, but it makes the books all the more special because they haven’t been reading them all year long. We have so many Christmas books, but this is the first time I am putting together a list of the books you can find in my kid’s reading area! If you have any favorites that I don’t list, I would love to hear them! Be sure to click on the links to read a little more about each book if they interest you.

The Littlest Elf [Brandy Dougherty] A cute story about a little elf who gets into a little trouble discovering what his special job is.

My First Christmas [Worthy Kids/Ideals Editors] A short Christmas board book filled with bright colorful pictures and simple words to teach the littlest of readers different Christmas themed objects.

Spot’s Magical Christmas [Eric Hill] Everyone knows about Spot the dog, this a cute little story to follow along on his magical Christmas.

Olive, the Other Reindeer [Vivian Walsh] When a dog, Olive, hears the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with the line “all of the other reindeer”, he believes he must actually be a reindeer and heads to the North Pole.

Llama Llama Jingle Bells [Anna Dewdney] No drama llama found in this childhood favorite. The same fun rhyme that you find in all Llama Llama books, just with a Christmas twist!

Snowflake Baby [Elise Broach] A lift the flap book that goes through baby’s fun day in the snow.

Eight Jolly Reindeer [Ilanit Oliver] A simple counting book that counts down as Santa’s reindeer fly up into the sky.

Madeline’s Christmas [Ludwig Bemelmans] If your child likes Madline, he/she will LOVE this Christmas version!

Memoirs of an Elf [Devin Scillian] Beginning on Christmas Eve, follow along with the Elf side to all things Christmas, Santa, and delivering presents. This was student favorite, it’s too fun!

Corduroy’s Christmas Surprise [Don Freeman] Who doesn’t love a Corduroy story?! In his story you’ll learn just what Christmas means to Corduroy.

The Polar Express [Chris Van Allsburg] A Christmas classic about believing in the magic of Christmas.

A Pirate’s Night Before Christmas [Philip Yates] Both of my boys love this book. Follows the classic rhyme from The Night Before Christmas…but with a pirate twist! Lots of fun!

Olaf’s Frozen Adventure [Disney] Obviously a favorite around here. If you love Frozen and Olaf, you’ll adore this book. It follows the same story line as the movie, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.

Little Blue Truck’s Christmas [Alice Schertle] Follow Little Blue Truck on a Christmas adventure, complete with a tree and twinkle lights!

I hope that some of these books will get added to your cart this year! We also have a few chapter books that aren’t listed, but we love those too. My boys do have their favorites that I will find them reading over and over, but they eventually make their way through the whole basket. We tend to add new books each year that the boys get for Christmas, giving them something to look forward to next year! Happy reading!

*This post does contain affiliate links, so if you decide to purchase after viewing my links, I may make a commission.

Spooktacular Night - Kids Night In

Spooktacular Night - Kids Night In Review

*This post does contain affiliate links. I do make commission when any purchases are made using these links.

I know Halloween has passed, but since October was such a busy month, we just finished up enjoying our Kids Night In Spooktacular Night Box! If you've been following along, I don't need to tell you how great this subscription service is, but I will give you all the details on this Halloween box and how you can sign up to get the November themed - Give Thanks box. If you are new around here, check out this link, it give you all the information you need to decide if this service is right for you..and for my regulars--don't forget, they have a Date Night In, as well as Faith options!

As always, I love starting these post with going over what all is included in each box. It varies from month to month as the activities are different, but they pack these things with such awesome supplies! some of the items are ones that can be used long after the box is done such as markers, or crayons.

What's Included:

Night In Itinerary

Pack of tissues (for ghosts!)

Balloon

Markers

Soft Pastels

Ribbon

Streamer

Tissue paper

Drawing Paper x2

Plastic hand glove

Corn cob/popping bag

Buildable foam haunted house

Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O'Connell

Seriously, so many fun things! They also include a themed menu, I don't always get to the menu but it always sounds yummy. This month's menu was so great for Halloween, and even though my kids tore through the box before I could even see it, they are perfect to save for next year.

Spooktacular Themed Menu:

The Great Pumpkin Cheese Ball

Spooky Chocolate Covered Oreos

The cheese ball is exactly what you're thinking, a yummy mixed cheese ball perfect for a cracker/pretzel platter. And the Oreos...maybe we won't wait until next year...

And of course, in Kids Night In fashion, a yummy snack is included in the box. This box had Popcorn On The Cob! We placed the corn cob into a popping bag, placed it into the microwave, and listened as the kernels popped, turning to yummy popcorn. My oldest son thought it was the neatest thing ever! And of course, we filled up the creepy glove hand for an afternoon snack.

Activities:

The first thing my son wanted to do was the streamer obstacle course. We changed it up a bit because we wanted to do it outside in the gorgeous weather, so we didn't hang the tissue ghosts from the course. I used lawn chairs and a play set to wrap the streamers around, and created a little space for both kids to crawl and step through. They played and squeezed through the streamers until they just wouldn't hold anymore! I did make them the tissue ghosts while they were busy in the obstacle course, and after carrying them through a few rounds, they ended up just throwing them in the air repeatedly. Hey, it's entertainment!

Another activity was to use tissue paper to make a "dancing" ghost with the included balloon. Decorate and cut the tissue paper to look like a ghost, fill the balloon with air, rub it on your head to get it ready with static, and then watch as the tissue paper ghost dances from the static of the balloon. Clearly my boys thought this game was hilarious and could have done this for hours if I would have let them. There was also a foam haunted house that could be put together, it did require the use of hot glue (we tried school glue but it just wouldn't stick) so many of those pieces had to be put on by me because hello hot glue! But both kids loved watching and they helped to pop out the foam pieces from their backing.

The biggest activity was creating by drawing and coloring, the haunted house from the included story Ten Timid Ghosts. My kids are still young, so they definitely needed assistance. If I had let them go for it, you may have gotten a single rectangle from my oldest, and s bunch of random scribbles from my youngest. Normally I wouldn't care about "perfection", but my oldest knew what the picture was supposed to turn out as and randomness wouldn't have flown. This activity did take patience, as well as markers and pastels, but kids love art so it was a win.

We also enjoyed the included book. We actually already had this one in our Halloween arsenal, but getting a second one just meant my kids didn't have to share, ha! It is a simple and silly Halloween book about a witch moving in and scaring away the 10 ghosts who already live there. You count down as each ghost is scared away, and the pages are fun to read and rhyme. Eventually the ghosts realize that something is up and they aren't going to let a little witch take over their house. We read this book so many times, my oldest even started rhyming along with me!

I think that covers everything! These boxes are seriously packed full of goodies and we just love them. I am really looking forward to getting November's box and teaching my children to be thankful. You shave until the 13th to get yours in time too, so click my affiliate link here: Give Thanks

I did receive this box for free as part of the Night In Boxes Affiliate Program, and will make a commission if you decide to purchase a subscription using any of the links listed in this post. As always, I appreciate the support and all opinions are my own!

*Giveaway* The cariPRO Ultrasonic Electric Toothbrush by Smile Brilliant - Review + Giveaway

The cariPRO Ultrasonic Electric Toothbrush by Smile Brilliant

Review + Giveaway

Notice: This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase a new toothbrush using these links, I will make a small commission.

Fun fact: At 30 years old, I have never had a cavity. And no, I don’t visit the dentist every 6 months like I’m supposed to, nor do I floss more than the 3 days after a dentist appointment because I feel guilty…you know what I’m talking about! I’m a soda and coffee lover, and eat my fair share of sweets, but I’m also a stickler when it comes to brushing my teeth, I can NEVER skip a brushing and I LOVE using an electric toothbrush.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
Before Smile Brilliant sent me the cariPRO Ultrasonic Electric Toothbrush, I was already using an electric toothbrush and have been for years. I feel as if this experience has really helped me to be able to compare the differences between a regular electric toothbrush and an ultrasonic. I have used cheap non-name brand electric brushes, and most recently I have been using a Crest Spin Brush. Honestly, I have no complaints except for the fact that I have to replace the batteries in it so often as it does not have a charging station. Though, with that being said, I would definitely recommend the cariPRO over a basic electric toothbrush, and I’d love to tell you why!


WHY ELECTRIC?
For me, I have always felt that an electric toothbrush did a better job at cleaning my teeth than a manual toothbrush. I love getting that after dentist silky smooth feel and having something that rotates on your teeth while you move the brush is doubling that cleaning action. I feel like they reach into places that a stiff manual brush can’t get to.

WHY CARIPRO?
Most electric toothbrushes have a single on/off switch, and that’s it. On to brush, off to stop. The cariPRO has 5 different settings once the toothbrush is on. The toothbrush lights up indicating which setting you are in and is easily changed with the push of a button.

Brushing Modes:
Clean: normal day to day cleaning
White: stronger brushing than the clean setting, good for buildup and stains
Massage: use on the gums after normal cleaning
Gum Care: gentler care for cleaning gums
Sensitive: if you suffer from sensitivity or the Clean mode is too intense, this mode is much more gentle

I often find myself switching between the Clean and Sensitive modes for regular brushing, while using the Gum Care setting for my gums. The back of the toothbrush head has a grooved surface for tongue cleaning as well! I love love LOVE that the toothbrush head is only a single piece, I can't tell you how many times I have hurt my tongue with my Spinbrush because it has a space between the brush head and the moving parts. Seriously, ouch. The cariPRO can't do that because it uses vibrations and not extra moving parts to clean your teeth.

Most dentists recommend brushing your teeth twice a day, for 2 minutes each time, but do you set a timer? I certainly don’t. This toothbrush has a built-in timer that turns off at 2 minutes, but it also pauses briefly every 30 seconds for those 2 minutes, so you know when it is time to switch to the next quadrant of your mouth. I love this feature and so wish that it was a feature that kids electric toothbrushes had…it would be such a great learning tool! And honestly, kids could use the cariPRO, I just don’t think my son could resist playing with all of the features, ha!

Another awesome feature is that on a full charge, the toothbrush can last about 30 days. That means you can take it on vacation and not have to worry about bringing extra batteries (because it doesn’t take them) or the wireless charging dock. It is also waterproof for if you are a shower brusher and it is so incredibly light, even compared to my Spinbrush.

electric toothbrush
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
You have a couple of different options when purchasing your cariPRO toothbrush. Here is a brief look at what each package includes:

Individual Package ($119):
1 cariPRO Ultrasonic Toothbrush
2 replacement heads
1 wireless charging dock

Deluxe Package($129):
1 cariPRO Ultrasonic Toothbrush
4 replacement heads
1 wireless charging dock

Couples Package ($199):
2 cariPRO Ultrasonic Toothbrushes
4 replacement heads
2 wireless charging docks

I have the Individual Package which comes with everything that one person would need, but if you are looking for purchase for you and a significant other, the Couples Package would be your best deal. All packages do come with a 2-year limited warranty and a 60-day trial, so you really can’t lose. While doing some quick researching, I found that some other name brand Sonic toothbrushes start at $220 so this truly is a great value for an Ultrasonic toothbrush.

THE OUTCOME
I have been using the cariPRO for about 2 weeks and I LOVE it. The Spinbrush got my teeth clean, but I really can feel a difference after using the cariPRO and it is wonderful. I’m pretty sure it reaches to new places giving an even cleaner feeling, and I don’t feel as guilty about not flossing (btw, you should totally be flossing!). As mentioned above, I switch between the Clean and Sensitive settings, but I have tried out all of them and can truly see how this is a toothbrush for everyone. 

Want to win one of your own?! Click HERE! And if you can’t wait to see if you’ve won, use code buglittle20 for 20% of cariPRO Toothbrushes at Smile Brilliant!

*I received this product for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Notice: This post does contain affiliate links. If you purchase a new toothbrush using these links, I will make a small commission.

Kids Night In - Common Bonds

"Smiles are the same, and hearts are just the same, wherever they are, wherever you are, wherever we are.." - Mem Fox (author)

If you've been following along with us, you already know how much my kids love getting a Kids Night In box every month. It's fun and educational, so what's not to love? The September theme was called Common Bonds, and title says exactly what it was about...learning about common bonds between everyone, everywhere. Though me may look different, speak different, live in different parts of the world, there are so many traits that make us all the same. A message that needs to be heard AROUND THE WORLD because differences really are what bring us together.

Before I dig in a little more to the September theme, October has a spooky Halloween theme so be sure to click here if you’d like to give it a try and get yours delivered, you won’t be disappointed! (Order cutoff for the Halloween box is Oct. 13th.)

If you need to read a little more about Night In Boxes, click here, otherwise let’s get going and see why last month's box was truly a great topic, especially for kids, but even for adults. 

What’s Inside?
night in itinerary*
book related to topic – Wherever We Are by Mem Fox
This Bar Saves Lives x2 (kids chocolate chip)
Recipe with shopping list
Inflatable globe
Pen Pal Letter
Crayons
Pencil
Game Cards
Game figurines x2

Common Bonds Themed Menu
Friendship Mix
Minestrone Friendship Soup

One of my favorite aspects of the Kids Night In box is that the included books are always top notch. This month's Reading Rainbow book was titled Whoever You Are by Mem Fox. It is a beautifully illustrated book with great meaning. It is a simple way to teach children about differences around the world, while also focusing on things that make us the same such as smiling, our hurts, and our happiness. When the little boy has a scraped knee, my son was able to connect with that because he too falls and gets hurt sometimes.

We also enjoy the little snacks that are sent each month. This month has the This Bar Saves Lives Kids Chocolate Chip bar. If you have never heard of them, you should check them out! When you buy a bar, This Bar Saves Lives gives food aid to children and families in need. How amazing is that?! They were also very delicious.

The itinerary also had some great questions related to the book and could easily be adapted to any age. There were pre-reading, during, and post reading questions that helped to dig a little deeper into what this book was trying to tell us. For example, one of the questions to ask during reading was - what does "love the same" mean? 

After reading we used the inflatable globe to talk about different places. We just moved halfway across the country, so showing our son where we used to live and where we are now just showed him how big our world actually is. The globe was great to use for the included Spotify soundtrack, listening to the music and finding the country that the songs represent was a fun and useful learning game!

Another activity was writing to a Pen Pal about yourself in order to connect with other kids in other places who also love getting their Kids Night In boxes. Although my son can't write whole words other than his name, he had fun answering the questions while I wrote down his answers. What a fun way to learn about others!

At the end of the itineary was a fun Around the World game, which is when the 2 little figurines came out to play! My 2.5 year old was a little too young, but with my help we were able to all play together. The game was great for recognizing colors and counting, as the game cards had pictures and colors, and although no one actually won (because kids), we all had a fun time and my oldest has played a few solo games since.

Are you ready to give Night In Boxes a try? I'd love for you to use my link to shop, and be sure to let me know how you like it! Click here to try out your own Kids/Date Night In: Sign me up!

*I received this Kid’s Night In box for free in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own. This post DOES contain affiliate links, which means if you click on them and purchase your own Night In Box using the links posted, I may make a commission.

Kids Night In - Under the Sea

“Under the sea, under the sea! Darling it’s better, down where it’s wetter take it from me!”

It’s always an exciting day when we find a Kids Night In subscription box sitting by our front door and oh how we loved last month’s theme- Under the Sea! The theme topics vary so greatly that each month is truly a surprise, and I really love that each box has some sort of educational concept to it. Have you seen next month's theme? It's called Common Bonds and looks like it is going to be a great one, click here if you’d like to give it a try and get yours delivered, you won’t be disappointed! (Cutoff for this particular box is Sept. 13th.)

If you want to read a little more about Night In Boxes, click here, otherwise let’s dive in and see why my kids loved last month’s box so much.

What’s Inside?
night in itinerary*
book related to topic – Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
package of Goldfish Giant Grahams
2 fish themed masks
sticker sheet
glue stick
permanent marker
washable markers
paper cup
tissue paper squares
watercolor palette
2 water color papers
2 drawing papers
sea life yoga book

Sea Themed Menu
Shells and Pearls Mac n Cheese
Fish Bowl Punch

Naturally, the first thing from this box that my kids went for were the masks. They were especially excited that one of the masks looked like Dory! These masks went great with the Spotify playlist for the kids to dance and swim around to.

One of the main activities was drawing and painting a watercolor seahorse, just like the seahorse in the included Eric Carle book. In the itinerary, there were step by step drawing directions which would be very helpful and could be done solo for older kids, but since my kids are itty bitty I did help them…more so my 2.5-year-old who gets very scribble happy. Once the seahorse outline is drawn, we used the tissue paper to “watercolor” it. This works by placing the tissue paper on the seahorse, and painting water across them. You remove the tissue paper and the color from the tissue paper transfers to the white paper! You can tear the tissue paper squares to make the colors mix a little more, and although we had done a tissue paper watercolor activity before, the colors didn’t quite spread like I had hoped but they still turned out really cute! 

While those were placed to the side to dry, the kids used watercolor paint to create an underwater scene on the other paper, we would later cut out and glue the seahorses to this! The included washable markers were used to decorate the seahorse a little more after it was dry. I loved how different they turned out and each kid had their own styles to painting, my oldest painted extra fish in the background and my youngest was all about using a rainbow of colors. I think I might frame them to go in their nautical themed bathroom!

Not only does the itinerary have the recipes for the themed menu and directions for activities, it also has useful information and extra little activities, like using the included stickers to decorate an ocean scene. Seriously, the simplest activity but what kid doesn’t go crazy for stickers?! I cut the sticker sheet in half, so my boys could go crazy without fighting over them, ha!

One of my favorite aspects of the Kids Night In box is that it ALWAYS includes a book related to the topic. So far, they have all been great books by known authors. The included book with this box was Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle, this was the inspiration behind the watercolor activity. Eric Carle is known for his great stories and colorful pages, we really loved this read and I am excited to add it to the bookshelf!

Are you ready to give Night In Boxes a try? I'd love for you to use my link to shop, and be sure to let me know if you how you like it! Click here to try out your own Kids/Date Night In: Sign me up!

*I received this Kid’s Night In box for free in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own. This post DOES contain affiliate links, which means if you click on them and purchase your own Night In Box using the links posted, I may make a commission.

Kids Night In - Mind Your Manners

Set the scene: You’re out to eat with your family when your child lets out a HUUUGE burp….and he laughs. Dad chimes in, “What do you say??”

Sound familiar? If you have children, I can most likely answer that question for you—YES! It happens, especially at meal time (or not), but teaching them to be polite and say excuse me is a huge step forward in learning manners.

Why am I talking about burping? This month’s theme for the Kids Night In Box, from Night In Boxes, was Mind your Manners…a perfect topic for all kids! Night In Boxes is a monthly subscription service that sends themed boxes every month with either a kids geared theme or a date night theme, we have been enjoying the kid themes for the last few months. Oh, excuse me, where are my manners, lets discuss what this box was all about!

What’s Inside?
night in itinerary*
book related to topic (Mind your Manners B.B. Wolf by Judy Sierra)
2 labeled placemats
2 plates
2 straw cups
2 paper napkins
2 sets of “silverware”
materials for napkin rings: beads, pipe cleaners
Colored pencils (for coloring placemat and decorating cups)
Materials for spinner board: brad fastener, spinner card, paperclip
2 pack of cookies
*within the itinerary you would find recipes for your night in, games, and how-to instructions for folding napkins, making napkin rings, setting the table, etc.

Manners Themed Menu
Sweet Honey-Lime Fruit Salad
Tea Sandwiches
Or simple cookie party option

We started off our manners lesson with read the included book, Mind your Manners B.B. Wolf. It’s a cute book about B.B. Wolf attending a tea party in hopes of getting cookies. He learns some manners and has some silly mishaps in this colorful attention-grabbing book. My son loves when the wolf says, “excuse me” BEFORE he burps…now that is being on top of your manners! We then pulled out the colored pencils to decorate their cups (after washing). This lasted a whole hot minute because my boys aren’t into coloring just yet, but they loved that they were putting a special touch on their cups. Side note: I love that these boxes come with enough materials for 2 kids. I can do the activities with both of my boys and no arguing about who gets to do it! We also made their napkin rings since the cup decorating went so quickly. Putting beads onto a pipe cleaner is a simple activity but is so great for little hands, I loved that my boys were working on their fine motor skills without knowing—especially my 2-year-old.

We could have colored the placemats as well, but I chose to skip right to setting the table. The placemat is great because it is labeled, but obviously with a 2 and 4-year-old who can’t read I did show them where everything went on the placemat. They were totally shocked that I gave them a knife, or a “sharp” as my 2-year-old calls them, I told them not to get used to it..ha! I told them that this is how you set a table to for a fancy dinner with friends, even if you don’t use all of the silverware. My youngest really didn’t grasp the whole set table thing and I wouldn’t expect him to, but my 4 year old was able to remember where everything was supposed to go once we played a round or 2 of the spinner game. This is when we ate our delicious tea sandwiches, applesauce, and cookies.

The tea sandwich recipes included a chicken salad sandwich or pimento cheese, we chose to make chicken salad because my kids are big fans of it. We made it a little differently as we don’t like celery or grapes in our chicken salad, but there are so many varieties you really can’t go wrong going your own direction. Although they would have loved the fruit salad, my kids decided to have applesauce on the side. They aren’t the biggest lunch eaters, so small tea sandwiches were perfect for a light lunch.

The itinerary gives a lot of great tips for using manners at the dinner table like not talking with a full mouth and keeping your elbows off the table. My kids also already know to ask to be excused after dinner, which is great for keeping them at the table longer since they aren’t allowed to just get up and go. “May I be excused?”, “no, eat your green beans!” Sometimes it works, other times they just stare at me in disbelief, but that’s ok because they are being respectful by asking. It also includes a link to music and instructional videos to end your dinner party with ballroom dancing. Now I don’t know if my wild boys would appreciate a good ballroom dance yet, but they do like to dance post dinner!

My kids have thoroughly enjoyed receiving and reviewing these boxes each month and we think you’re family would enjoy them too! If you’re interested in learning more click my affiliate link here or the picture below!

*I received this Kid’s Night In box for free in exchange for a review as an affiliate, all opinions are my own. This post DOES contain affiliate links, which means if you click on them and purchase your own Night In Box using the links posted, I may make a commission.