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Cooking with Littles: Raddish Cooking Club Subscrition Box Review

June 22, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Complimentary box provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I never really learned to cook while I was growing up. Cooking wasn’t really a strength for either of my parents (Corned beef hash? From a can? Sorry, guys…). It’s a skill I had to fumble through during the early years of my marriage (apologies, Tim) and it’s not something I want my daughters to fear in any way.

But cooking a skill that has to be taught; it isn’t intuitive. Being comfortable in the kitchen takes some practice.

So I was very intrigued to see a cooking themed subscription box for kids called Raddish (Get it? Rad dish?). Darah and I did an unboxing video so that you can see exactly what’s inside a typical box. Take a moment to check it out!

Understandably, my girls were eager to make the carrot cake first. We got out our ingredients, which were very beautifully listed for us in our laminated recipe card, and mommy, quite honestly, got overwhelmed.

Because I have the arms of a T-Rex, I couldn’t even capture half of the stuff I had to haul out and put on the table. I was annoyed; this was going to be too much work.

But you guys, here’s the thing: I went into this with the totally wrong attitude. I went into this project wanting to work at the speed I would work all by myself. I didn’t want to lay out all the ingredients. I didn’t want the girls to make a mess. I wanted to get in and out of the kitchen FAST. That’s my cooking style! And actually, it’s a GREAT one that I won’t apologize for having.

BUT

If I’m going to teach my girls how to cook, then I simply must slow my roll and get comfortable being a little uncomfortable. Cooking, just like many other skills we teach our kids (reading, writing, even using the potty!) take a great deal of effort on our part, but once we impart those skills, then we have given our children precious gifts that will last a lifetime.

Also? There are fringe benefits to having that special time together in the kitchen.

When Darah realized that she would be licking the beaters clean, she exclaimed, “Oh cool! We are clean eating!”

Yes, child. That’s a kind of clean eating that I can get behind!

So, yes. Cooking with your kids is messy and takes a long time. Getting a Raddish box doesn’t change that. But it does make some of the steps a bit quicker for you (recipe lists, recipe ideas, supplementary activities, etc.) and it certainly is fun in the end. I would order it again! 🙂

Rad Savings

Raddish subscription boxes are $24/month (you can get a 6 month subscription for $22/box or a 12 month subscripion for $20/box). If you’d like to get a 3, 6 or 12 month membership, your first box will be 25% off by using the code DELICIOUSSTUFF.

Animal Trackers Club Subscription Service Review

June 16, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Complimentary box provided for review purposes. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I agreed to review the Animal Trackers Club subscription box for kids because my oldest is particularly fond of animals. Her favorite cartoon is Wild Kratts (all about different animals in the wild) and one of her favorite things to do is to tell anyone who will listen all sorts of interesting and even random animal facts.

The Animal Trackers Club seems designed for kids over 3, but probably not older than 5, based on the skill level of the activities included.

Our kit came with the following items:

Introduction to the Animal Trackers Club
Animal Trackers Club Safari Lunchbox
African Savanna Information Card
Cover and Ring for the Safari Animal Photo Collection
Savanna Art Project
Savanna Animal Cards Activity

Each month your child will receive:

Animal Information Card
Animal Play Figure
Animal Foam Mask
Animal Magnet
Safari Animal Photo Card
Learning Activity
Art Project

So the lunchbox is a one-and-done kind of deal. The box is $11.95 plus shipping each month. This subscrition service is a bit less expensive than many of the other subscription boxes I have tried, and I think you get what you pay for here, as the activities, in my opinion, lacked imagination.

I will say that this might be a great choice for the animal loving-child who isn’t particularly fond of arts and crafts. I think I was expecting activities that were a bit more involved, when the reality was that we had a few worksheets, each of which only took a few minutes to complete, a craft that involved styrofoam (yuck) and a sticker activity that took about 30 seconds.

Now with that said, the animal figure and the animal mask that came in the kit were big hits, and the girls played with them for quite some time. So I could see this being a draw to the child who loves to form a collection, as each month you will get an animal figure and an animal mask to stow away in your safari lunchbox so that you can easily play all sorts of animal-based imaginative games. But the other activities will be over and done surprisingly fast.

The activities also seem geared toward those just learning letters and numbers, which will make them too old for the 7 or 8-year old who really loves animals and might otherwise enjoy the subscription. I think the target age here is small (3-5?) but for that age group, it could be a hit. It wasn’t a hit for us, but it wasn’t a complete miss, and I should remind us all of its price point again, which is lower than most subscription boxes for kids.

Bluum Box Customized Subscription Service for Infants-Preschool

June 16, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Thanks to Bluum Box for providing a box for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. Affiliate links may be included.

I’m so excited to show you all the fun things that came in our recent Bluum Box for Layah! This subscription service for young children came very prettily packaged and was custom created not only for 25 month old little girls, which is pretty specific, but it also came with items that were perfect for the start of summer.

bluum box

I was TOTALLY impressed!

The box we received from Bluum was all about spending time out in the sun, and protecting ourselves from those pesky UV rays, as well as some fun ways to relax. The first item of note was KidZ BanZ, which are sunglasses that you can strap on to your child so they won’t fall off. Cute, right? I wish I could tell you that she loved them as much as I loved seeing her in them. Unfortunately, I can’t get her to agree to wear them. Bummer…they are an awesome idea, and they retail for $17, which makes them worth a good chunk of what the Bluum Box costs (you always come out ahead, price-wise, with a Bluum Box!).

But I can still get her eyes some protection (as well as the back of her neck!) with this cute sun hat which she WILL wear! 🙂 Darah has even tried to wear it, but alas, her head it just too big!

But she CAN wear the sunscreen that came in the kit. It’s from a brand I didn’t previously know (Purple Prairies Botanicals) and it is a mineral stick of sunscreen. Darah likes putting it on herself, and I like that it is water resistant. I will say that I personally prefer the spray-on sunscreens just because other types take longer to apply and to soak in, but I have used this sunscreen a handful of times and have been pleased with the protection it provides each time. This product retails for $9.99, so by the time you factor in the tax you would pay at a store, the sunscreen and the sunglasses are items your subscription price covered, and everything else (as well as shipping) was free. Not too shabby!

Other items in the kit included a great reusable snack container which has been going to school with the kids for their 2 day/week program, and the book Ten Little Monkeys (which we actually already owned, or else it definitely would have been a hit!).

Bluum Box Pricing

A one month subscription to Bluum costs $29, and we certainly received more than $29 worth of merchandise. But the price improves to just $25/box if you make a 3 month commitment. Up it to 6 months and your price is $23/box, and if you go all in and get a 12 month subscription, you get the very best deal, as each box will now only cost $20.79.

So I’m VERY seriously considering getting the 12 month subscription because I think the value is so high. If you have ever had a Bluum Box subscription, I’d love to hear from you about your experience!