First Day of School Traditions

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Del Monte, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DelMonteBTS http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV Here I’ll share some of our family’s back to school traditions and my Del Monte Fruit Kabobs.

It is hard to believe that my little man – born a preemie baby at 3 lbs is now old enough to start preschool. Where did the time go? Even now I nearly fall apart when he wants to curl up into a ball and cuddle on my lap. He may be bigger – but he’ll always be my baby.

We’ve spent the last two years preparing by preschooling him at home. Using Montessori inspired techniques, alphabet lessons, reading lots and lots of books, and loads of crafts and painting. We found a wonderful preschool for him that will further our efforts to teach him our values and beliefs and help get him started in a more structured and academic setting. It’s a great fit for our family and while our eldest son is in preschool for about five hours a week, I can spend more time with our youngest, now 2 and a half.

These are my two adorable boys showing off some back to school signs we made. My boys love superheroes so it was only natural for their blogger mommy to create some fun back to school signs for them.

Back to School Traditions – FREE 5″ x 7″ photo

We’ve started a few new traditions – taking “first day of school” photos and packing a “school” lunch.

Did you know that from now though September 13, 2014, while supplies last, you can take your favorite “back to school picture” into select Walmart Super Centers for a FREE 5″ x 7″ photo enlargement? You will also receive a coupon for a $1 off Del Monte products in the envelope that holds your print. I was pretty excited to learn about the FREE print and coupon since I know our family will enjoy both. My boys devour the pears and peaches fruit cups by Del Monte.

The FREE 5″ x 7″ photo is available only at participating Walmart Super Stores, so you may want to ask at the photo center before you send in your order. To create the free photo, you can either upload your photo online or find the 1 hour photo kiosk inside the store. We used the in-store kiosk which was pretty easy.

You can follow the following steps to get your FREE print.

Check to see if your Walmart Super Center supports the FREE 5″ x 7″ back to school photo enlargement promotion
Locate the one-hour photo Kiosk in the Store
Insert SD Card into Kiosk
Select the picture you want to use from the Kiosk menu
Select Prints
Select Enlargements
Select Border
We picked “kid art” but you can print a 5 x 7 all by itself – selecting a border is optional
You get the free print via the 1 hour service, so you can do a little shopping and pick up your free print when finished 🙂

Packing the Perfect Lunch

Every new endeavor is a reason to celebrate and we decided to have some fun by putting together a trial-run lunch box of my son’s favorite foods. If you have a little one heading off to preschool or elementary school – including favorites to create a healthy lunch they love can help ease the transition from being home to being at school.

My son is four and half years old, and he definitely has some favorites when it comes to food. Fortunately for me, some of his favorites are also some of the easiest foods to find and pack in a lunch box.

My boys love fruit snacks and my son was so excited to see me pack a Del Monte fruit cup and fruit squeezer into his lunch box. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are also very popular at our house. If your kids love peanut butter and jelly as much as my children do, you might be looking for an alternative to peanut butter and jelly since many preschools and schools do not allow peanut butter due to peanut allergies. Fortunately, nowadays, options like sunbutter and almond butter are great alternatives.

I also found some great easy-to-pack organic milk from Horizon and a lunch sized bag of veggie-straws. And, since mommy had the fruit cups open, I created a fun little recipe using our Del Monte fruit snack cups.

Del Monte Fruit Kabobs Recipe

You could easily create these fruit and marshmallow kabobs with toothpicks. I wanted to create an entirely edible snack so we used some Pocky sticks. Just know that if you use Pocky sticks they will soften after about four hours. This is the type of snack that is better when eaten right after preparation. The fruit is sweet and and tastes fresh. If your family enjoys Del Monte fruit cups, you’ll like the recipes and fun food ideas you’ll find on their website at Del Monte.com

Ingredients

1 4-Pack of Del Monte Mixed Fruit Fruit Cups
1 4-Pak of Del Monte Mandarin Oranges
1 4-Count box of Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers in blueberry
1 Pack of Great Value mini-multicolored marshmallows
1 box of Pocky – chocolate covered cream sticks
2 Celery Stalks

Directions

Drain off the syrup from the fruit cups to make this project a little easier. Gather ingredients and something to insert holes into fruit and marshmallows (I used a bent corn on the cob holder). Gently poke a “lead” hole into each marshmallow and piece of fruit you plan to use. I made sure to alternate fruit and marshmallow colors to make our kabobs as colorful as possible. If you use Pocky sticks, be careful to keep any wet ingredients away from the exposed cookie part of the stick. The stick will stand up under the weight of the fruit and marshmallows as long as you stay on the chocolate part of the stick.

I drizzled everything with Blueberry Fruit Burst Squeezers and the combination of fruit flavors is like fruit explosion in your mouth when you eat it! I think you could also freeze these sticks if you want to make for an even cooler treat. 🙂

I created some celery “boats” loaded with Del Monte fruit and put together a fun plate of fun fruity snacks to celebrate our family’s new first day of school traditions. Just wash and trim each stalk to the length you desire. Load it up with fruit and presto – you have a fruit boat. A yummy, healthy, crunchy fruit snack!

Looking for even more great recipes?

Check out Del Monte online at: Pinterest / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Daddy is a great role model and he had no problem testing my fruit kabob recipe. My husband loved the Del Monte Fruit Kabobs and so did my four-and-a-half year-old and my two-and-a-half year-old.

I think creating new first day of school traditions is a great way to commemorate each new milestone from school year to school year. With each passing day I’m reminded to savor every moment. Even my mom likes to remind me that this time is fleeting. Just seeing my baby growing so big makes me wish I could freeze time and keep my boys right where they are at – right now. Of course, if I did, I wouldn’t get the chance to watch them grow up – and, well, I don’t want to miss that!

What are your family’s favorite back to school traditions? This is one of our first big transitions and I love hearing from my readers! If you have a fun back to school idea, please leave a comment. You can help this relatively new mommy cook up some more new first day of school traditions for our home.

Warmest back-to-school Wishes!