Is it just me or do the holidays creep up sooner every year? (Or maybe I’m just less organized each year?) Having kids will do that to you, so my strategy for tackling the gift list is to put the little ones to work in the kitchen. The mess will be worth the outcome – special presents for teachers, grandma or just about anyone on your list. Here are a few ideas to get started:

Mini Breads & Bites – Combine your kids’ favorite fruit and nuts to make mini quick breads (you can purchase small foil loaf tins at the supermarket.) Try this recipe for Mini Pear Walnut Bread or Carrot Cake Bites. Cool and wrap in colored plastic wrap.

Cereal in a Jar – Look online for homemade granola recipes, which are usually simple enough for the younger kids to help make. Package in a Mason jar with a few cinnamon sticks tied with a bow. Or simply layer oats, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts in a jar for a flavored oatmeal mix.

Spice Sets – Have kids stir up different spice mixes. Pour into glass vials with a handwritten tag attached listing the ingredients or ideas on what foods to flavor with. Some fun combinations:

Sweet Spice= Cinnamon + nutmeg + sugar
Salt Replacer = Black pepper + thyme + garlic powder
Spice with a Kick = Chili powder + paprika + cumin

Fruit Sauces- Cook down cut apples with a little sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a pot over medium heat. Or make other fruit sauces using canned pears, peaches or apricots. Mix in nutmeg, cloves or allspice for different festive flavors. Seal in Mason jars tied with sprig of rosemary or evergreen. (Keep refrigerated.)

Herb garden – Have your kids paint small planters then have them pot herb plants or seeds. “Kitchen window friendly” herbs include basil, thyme or parsley. For an extra festive gift, pot a small rosemary plant and trim like a Christmas tree.

Here’s to happy kitchen memories this holiday season!

Thanksgiving has always represented a day to me when, whatever situation you’re in and wherever you find yourself, you go out of your way to be with your family and friends to share your life’s blessings. These were values instilled in me when I was growing up, and I’m more and more aware of the importance of instilling them in my own children now.

But how do you keep the traditions of Thanksgiving alive in a world where everyone seems to be busier and busier and where technology is changing our communication from face-to-face conversations to text messages on personal devices? I take two approaches to overcoming these kinds of challenges. First, I make it a point to work in our daily family conversations the things that we have to be thankful for. This includes everything from the basics such as our food, clothes, and house, to luxuries such as vacations and birthday and holiday gifts, to more intangible things such as our health and family time.

Second, I find a local charity, such as a food bank, where I can get my children some hands-on involvement in helping those less fortunate. I want them to get their hands dirty and see with their own eyes the help they can deliver to others as well as the need of the people they’re delivering it to. And I want them to walk away having a greater understanding of how lucky we are and how we cannot take our luck for granted, as there are many people just within our own community who don’t have what we have.

So, for us, we try to live the ideals of Thanksgiving every day. While it isn’t always easy to make this understood to young children, it’s something I firmly believe they need to understand so they are encouraged to give back to their communities.

I hope in the weeks before and after Thanksgiving that you, too, can find ways to remember to be thankful in your everyday life, and not just on the fourth Thursday of November.