10 Ways To Bond With Kids In The Winter & CandyCane Hot Cocoa

The winter months can be difficult for parents and children.  It’s cold outside, the days are shorter and it can be difficult finding ways to bond with kids when everyone is cooped up inside so I wanted to share a few ways to bond with kids in the winter and a super yummy CandyCane Hot Cocoa we made thanks to our partnership with Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa!

10 Ways To Bond With Kids In The Winter

Here are a few things you can do to bond with kids during the winter:

1.) Read together – I love reading with my kids, luckily they are still young enough they get excited when I pull out a book and read it to them.  I am going to have to get a bit more creative when they are teens, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find something that interests them.

2.) Crafting/DIY’ing/Creating Fun Food – There are tons of great winter crafts you can do together, and I’m going to bet you can even find a craft to do with things you have around the house.  Last year we had a whole lot of fun making Christmas Cookie Rudolph The Reindeer Pops together.  Things got a little messy, but it was worth every last second.

3.) Play hide-n-seek – In my house I’m always the person who has to find the kids, but it’s okay I still have fun because I get to hear them giggle and see them smile.  Oh, and they are not that great at hiding, but only because they think its okay to whisper argue while mom is looking for them lol.

4.) Family slumber party – When the kids are out of school for winter break, we have a family slumber party in the living room.  It’s fun; we will pull out a few board games and let the kids tell us ghost stories.  I can’t tell you how much fun it is listening to the ghost stories they have made up.  I typically have to move kids around because they just pass out all over the living room lol.

5.) Cook together – The winter usually means mom is baking, cooking or tossing something in the crock pot.  Why not involve your children?  Not only will they learn to cook but some of the best conversations with my kids tend to happen when we are in the kitchen cooking, baking or getting something ready to put in the crock pot.  I guess everyone is relaxed in the kitchen, lol.

6.) Put down technology as a family daily – Each day as a family drop the technology and do something together.  We tend to like board games, but you can do anything you and your children will enjoy, just be sure there is no technology involved.  One of my kids favorites non-tech activities was making these Glow-in-the-Dark Bouncy Balls.  They asked me if we could make some Christmas Bouncy Balls this winter, which should turn out pretty neat. I’m saving it for an activity while they are out of school on Christmas break.

7.) Volunteer together – One of the best things I ever did was start getting my kids involved with volunteering.  It’s become more of a tradition, and the kids look forward to our volunteer time together.  I like it because I feel like everywhere we grow together as a family.

8.) Go Shopping for a Family In Need – Each year the kids and I buy Christmas for a family in need.  We do everything from choosing the family to purchasing the gifts together.  This is another way I feel like we grow together as a family and I love watching my kids shop for other children in their age group.  Last year they begged me to get them one less Christmas gift because they wanted to get the kids they were shopping for an extra gift.  It’s a great feeling to hear your kids say something like that.

9.) Hot Chocolate on Family Movie Night – You can’t go wrong enjoying a nice warm cup of hot chocolate together on family movie night.

10.) Stay Warm with a Gourmet Hot Chocolate – It’s a tradition for us in the winter months, but we serve each other a gourmet hot chocolate after coming in from outside.  It all started out after sledding but has turned into something we enjoy doing more often.  Yes, it includes all the fixing – whipped topping, crushed candy canes, caramel, chocolate, etc.

My daughter Vayda isn’t a fan of anything candy cane flavored so we made her a salted caramel hot chocolate which of course was fantastic, but I liked the Candycane Hot Chocolate I made!  My youngest is the marshmallow girl, so she had the

CandyCane Hot Cocoa

Ingredients

• Stephen’s Hot Chocolate
• Whipped Topping
• Chocolate Syrup
• Candy Cane

Directions:

• Warm water either on the stove or in the microwave.

• Add hot chocolate as directed on Stephen’s Hot Chocolate container.

• Add whipped topping

• Drizzle chocolate syrup on top

• Crush candy cane and sprinkle pieces on top.

Since each cup of hot cocoa, you drink as an adult or a child has to live up to the first cup you remember having as a child you want to be sure and find one that can do just that.  It’s not an easy task but I think it’s safe to say that Stephen’s has not only nailed it but set a new standard for hot cocoa.

The girls and I recently had the opportunity to try Stephen’s Gourmet hot cocoa which is amazing!  Stephen’s Gourmet has some fabulous signature flavors like:

• CandyCane
• Salted Caramel
• Mint Truffle
• Dark Chocolate
• S’mores

You can view all Stephens Gourmet flavors by visiting https://www.indulgentfoods.com.

Stephen’s cocoa is creamy, rich and they have flavors that not only reach all your taste buds but for everyone’s taste buds.  To make things even better, they are always creating new stands for hot cocoa by introducing new and unique flavors, along with innovations such as the much-loved Single-cups for Keurig®-style coffee makers. Oh, and I don’t want to forget to mention their impressive selection of delicious ciders.  Nothing says the holiday season like hot cocoa and ciders, especially when Stephens has the perfect ciders and hot cocoa for the traditional or not-so-traditional holiday drink and beyond.

This year give Stephen’s Gourmet Cocoa a chance to make your holiday season even more memorable than the last, they have tons of delicious and unique flavors it’s the perfect holiday treat, it makes the perfect gift for your kids teacher, the neighbor or someone at the office, and it’s the perfect way to spice up that holiday party.  Oh, and don’t forget about warming up with a cup of hot cocoa after sledding.  Stephens Cocoa is the perfect holiday treat and the best way to warm up during the winter months.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa as a MomItForward Blogger.  All opinions are my own.