One thing I’ve really come to realize while spending so much time with my kids these last several months, is that quality time and quantity time are not nearly the same. I can spend hours and hours in the same room with my kids and not get five good minutes of quality time because I’m trying to multitask with work, responding to messages, straighten up, or a dozen other things.

Then there are times I slow down and give them my undivided attention and realize how much we connect in a short time. When I turn the radio off on rides to the grocery store. When I’m sitting supervising my son while he handles his pet snake. Or when I’m singing to and rocking Lee Lee to sleep.

Summer is coming to a close and school is starting back up, but childhood is always in session. I want to make sure I’m carving out time with them.

Some of my absolute favorite moments with my kids are when we have scheduled time together. Over the summer we spent Lee Lee’s nap time bonding watching all of the Marvel movies together in chronological order. In the mornings I’ll read a quick fable with them over breakfast and we’ll discuss the moral. At night we will sit and enjoy a chapter of a book together. You get the idea. It only needs a little bit of time, but it makes a big difference.

This school year I’m committing to a little bit of quality time together each day. I mean, of course hopefully we get more than that, but scheduling a little bit of time where I’m not trying to teach them curriculum, or take a conference call. It’ll be our snack time break time where we can all chill. 

So here’s the deal:

Grab a snack. It can be anything, but I’m going for a bit of nostalgia with a new-age twist here with the new Sun-Maid Sour Raisin Snacks. You know we had the raisins as a kid in those red boxes (actually who am I kidding, we still buy those–and the yogurt ones). But my kids are loving these Sour Raisin Snacks because they taste like sour candy, but they are real fruit and have no added sugar.

While they chow down, initiate one of these activities. You could do a different one every day of the week or mix and match the activities just like you can mix and match the flavors (there’s four of those too: Strawberry, Watermelon, Mixed Berry and Blue Raspberry). I let my kids pick which flavor they’re in the mood for but you could change those up by day or week too!

Ok so on to those activities!

5 ways to make Quality Time During Snack Time

Read a Story

I can’t get enough of books and I can’t say how much reading aloud to my kids makes such a HUGE difference in so many ways. From the conversations we’re having about connections they’re making to life, to vocabulary, and learning about life outside of our little home. We will be reading a lot for school this year but reading for FUN is so important and I can spare a quick book, or a chapter while they chow down on their Sun-Maid Sour Raisin Snacks.

Hide a special love note with their snack

I’m a big fan of love notes. I love getting them, and writing them just as much. I used to put a note in my kids’ lunch box every day. But now that we’re homeschooling again we’ll have to incorporate them other ways. Weekly (or daily!) you can jot a little note and wrap it around their snack for a sweet and sour surprise when they open both. You can sit and take some time to let them read the note and talk about what you love about each other and yourselves. 

Quiet time with music

Sometimes we just need to chill out. I love turning on some classical music (sometimes classical renditions of pop music so the kids have a little familiarity). A regular snack time with soft music to reset while you just listen and munch sounds delightful to me.

Listen to a children’s podcast

One of my favorite activities we did when we homeschooled years ago was turn on podcasts in the morning while we got set up. Every time we got in the car to go anywhere. It was like a short story I didn’t have to read, or a quick audiobook we could all listen to for the first time and enjoy and discuss together. I want to get into this habit again. I think it’ll be really fun to do during snack time while we each enjoy a pack of Sun-Maid Sour Raisin Snacks (and yes, the perk about this activity is I can just listen and enjoy them too!). 

Tell a story

I don’t know about you, but my kids LOVE when I tell them about life from my childhood. I may need to dig up some journals or talk to my mom and grandma about stories but I love the idea of sharing a story from my life… Family history if you will, during snack time. In fact, we could even Facetime with relatives and have them share a story too. Give them a heads up that you’ll be calling and to be ready with an oral story.

Combining a yummy treat, a set time, and an activity makes for some great opportunities for quality time. By the time they empty their pack of Sun-Maid Sour Raisin Snacks we’ll have a new memory together.

And you can do this any time of day. For us, this will be snack time, but maybe in your home it’s  different. No matter when it is, or where it is (inside, outside, on a car ride home), making some time for quality time won’t be something you regret.

I’m excited to get started. And if you try any of these, please let me know how it goes! 

Tags: quality time