Family
Simple School Day Solutions
Make back-to-school shopping fun and easy
(Family Features) Picking out new clothes and shoes, and gathering notebooks, pens, pencils and other supplies is part of the annual back-to-school tradition, but there are other important tools to consider for the classroom – and beyond – when the school bells signal the start of a new year.
This year, make sure your students have everything needed to make the grade with must-haves like the latest tech, on-the-go snacks and tools for organizing and securing valuables, lunches and other supplies on-the-go.
Find these ideas, plus more ways to simplify back-to-school shopping, at eLivingtoday.com.
Reward Your Student with an Energizing Snack
Fuel up for homework time and after-school activities with a back-to-school snack hack like Sabra Snackers. The pre-portioned snacks make snack time easy by providing a single serving of creamy, delicious hummus served with pretzel crisps or chips. Containing 10 grams of protein (11% Daily Value), Smart Snackers are a perfect way to give your student an A+ treat that makes the grade both on flavor and convenience. After long days in the classroom, they’re an ideal way to reward all that hard work. Find more back-to-school snacking solutions and nutrition information at sabra.com.
Secure, Convenient, On-the-Go Valuables Storage
Built to provide premium protection for smartphones, cameras, keys, cash, jewelry and more, the Master Lock 5900D Portable Safe keeps items secure whether on or off campus. It features durable construction made to withstand everyday use and is water resistant, so students can lock up valuables using their own combination for keyless convenience. The cable can wrap tightly to the safe then be securely fixed around an object or used as a carrying handle. Shock-absorbing foam lines the storage area and an ear bud or charging cable access port offers on-the-go convenience. Find more information at MasterLock.com.
Pack Hassle-Free Lunches with an Eco-Friendly Lunchbox
Designed for variety and versatility at mealtime, the PlanetBox Rover Stainless Steel Lunchbox is an eco-friendly solution that makes packing school lunches easy. It has four main compartments and one spot that holds a treat plus two leak-proof containers for “wet” foods. It’s perfect for small portion sizes and keeps foods separated for picky eaters. Start by filling the larger, sandwich-sized compartment with the main dish then add fresh fruit, veggies and other snacks to the smaller compartments. This durable lunchbox is built to last, dishwasher safe and toxin-free (no lead, PVC, phthalates or BPA materials). Visit PlanetBox.com for more information.
Select a Stylish, Sturdy Mobile Organization Accessory
A reliable backpack is a must-have for every student. It’s not just a stylish accessory, but also a practical tool for carrying textbooks and school supplies. When choosing a backpack, look for features like padded shoulder straps, built-in organizational tools and multiple compartments – including padded ones for laptops or other electronic devices – to help distribute weight evenly and keep belongings organized. Additionally, select one that reflects your personal preferences. From classic designs to trendy patterns, there are nearly options available to suit students from kindergarten to college.
Enjoy a Seamless Audio Experience
Whether you’re listening to music during your commute, participating in online classes or working on multimedia projects, headphones are an essential school supply for many students in today’s digital age. To enhance your learning experience, choose headphones that provide noise cancellation, comfort, durability and superior sound quality. Over-ear headphones typically provide better sound isolation and are more comfortable for extended use, but in-ear headphones provide ultra-portable convenience. Decide which type best suits your needs best and choose a color or pattern that also reflects your personal style.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock (kids in classroom)
Photos courtesy of Unsplash (backpack, headphones)
SOURCE:
Sabra
Master Lock
Planet Box
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Gifts That Light the Way This Holiday Season
(Feature Impact) The holidays are a time for giving, whether that’s finding a thoughtful gift, sharing a meal or showing kindness to someone in need. This season, that spirit of generosity can extend far beyond your own communities to aid more than 200 million children around the world in need of humanitarian assistance. For children facing conflict, disaster and other challenges, every hour counts; a gift can mean warm clothes, lifesaving supplies, a chance to continue their education and hope for a brighter future.
The fastest response begins long before disaster strikes, wars break out, storms have names or one case becomes an outbreak. For 80 years, UNICEF has delivered at the speed of need, with supplies prepositioned and teams already on the ground with a presence in more than 90 countries and territories plus a supply network that reaches children by plane, boat, truck, motorbike, donkey and even drone.
From the world’s largest humanitarian warehouse in Copenhagen, the organization can get lifesaving essentials, such as nutrition, shelter and warm clothing, to even the world’s hardest-to-reach children and families within 72 hours of an emergency.
Every gift helps keep lifesaving supplies stocked and ready to move. Your support means when a child needs help, it’s already on the way. This holiday season, there are many ways to be part of that work.
For example, with UNICEF Market and Inspired Gifts, it’s easy to bring education and lifesaving essentials to children around the world. This year, share the warmthby providing blankets for children, empower kids with artby sending a classroom art kit to help children heal and learn or deliver the care bundle of soap to families.
Inspired Gifts will also be featured for the ninth consecutive year in Light the World Giving Machines in cities across the country. The machines work like vending machines, but instead of snacks, passersby can purchase gifts that help children around the world, such as 100 doses of polio vaccine, 125 packets of ready-to-use therapeutic food or a school commuter bike.
You can also support quality education in Malawi through The K.I.N.D. (Kids in Need of Desks) Fund. Now in its 16th year, the fund has raised more than $55 million to remove financial barriers to education and provided more than 420,000 classroom desks and 52,000 scholarships that help girls stay in school beyond the primary level.
Whether through Inspired Gifts, a Giving Machine, a classroom desk in Malawi or a gift from a UNICEF partner, every contribution offers a meaningful way to make a difference and help build a brighter future for children around the world.
Your Marriott Bonvoy points can protect and care for children worldwide. From Dec. 1-8, the travel company will match five points for every point members donate to philanthropic partners, up to 25 million total points. Additionally, members who earn 50 or 75 qualifying nights in a calendar year are eligible to select UNICEF to benefit from their Annual Choice Benefit with a $100 donation. Learn more at giving.marriott.com.
If you’re interested in making a personal donation and your employer has a workplace giving platform, you can increase the impact of your donation by searching for your employer on the matching gifts page to see if they have a matching gift program that could double, or even triple, what your donation can do for children.
Visit unicefusa.org/giving2026 to learn more and deliver at the speed of need to children this holiday season.
SOURCE:
UNICEF
Family
The House That Hosts: When Your Home Becomes Your Holiday Entertaining Partner
The House That Hosts: There’s a special pleasure in opening your home for the holidays to share the menu you’ve imagined, welcome guests to the glow of a room ready for company and enjoy the anticipation of familiar faces at the door. This year, make sure the house itself can lend a hand.
The House That Hosts: When Your Home Becomes Your Holiday Entertaining Partner
(Feature Impact) There’s a special pleasure in opening your home for the holidays to share the menu you’ve imagined, welcome guests to the glow of a room ready for company and enjoy the anticipation of familiar faces at the door. Every detail is an opportunity to make the loved ones you’ve invited feel especially welcome.
This year, make sure the house itself can lend a hand.
From the kitchen to the living room to the guest bathroom, residential technology offers new ways to turn a host’s imagination into a memorable experience. The best innovations don’t take over the occasion. They help the person bringing everyone together make it extraordinary.
Nor does a home need an elaborate network of connected gadgets. A few well-chosen technologies can make a difference. Explore these ideas from the bathroom design and technology experts at TOTO to level up the different hosting areas of your home as you prepare to gather with family and friends this holiday season.
The Kitchen: Bringing Something Extraordinary to the Table
The holidays invite a little culinary ambition, and today’s kitchens are borrowing a few tricks from professional chefs.
Imagine presenting a beef tenderloin cooked to a perfect rosy pink from edge to edge, thanks to the precision of sous vide cooking. Or bringing a platter of roasted root vegetables to the table, their edges beautifully caramelized and their centers tender, prepared in a steam-convection oven. On an induction cooktop, precise, responsive heat helps turn fresh mushrooms into a golden, savory accompaniment.
These technologies put sophisticated techniques within reach of adventurous home cooks, opening the door to new preparations and dishes worthy of special occasions. Experiment with new flavors and rich cuisines that fill your home with enticing aromas and your guests with awe at the first bite.
Nothing says “happy holidays” quite like watching guests discover what you’ve created for them.
The Living Area: Setting the Stage for Connection
Holiday gatherings have a rhythm all their own. The first arrivals are greeted with excitement, conversations pick up where they left off months (or years) prior, and before long, the room is filled with laughter and the pleasure of being together.
Today’s smart lighting systems allow hosts to create and schedule scenes that shift from the sparkle of a festive welcome to the softer, golden glow of an intimate evening. Multiroom wireless audio systems can bring lively music into the kitchen while keeping it a gentle accompaniment to conversation in the living area. Digital art displays can turn a television screen into a gallery of artwork chosen to complement the celebration, bringing holidays past to life as loved ones mingle in the present.
Successful holiday entertainment engages people not merely as observers, but participants. A short film could start an inspiring conversation, the right music might get people dancing and atmospheric visual-audio experiences, like a crackling fireplace or soft snowstorm, can create a relaxing seasonal backdrop for shared activities.
With the atmosphere changing quietly in the background, no one needs to interrupt a favorite story to adjust the lights or lower the music. The host can simply enjoy the company they’ve brought together.
The Bathroom: The Art of Personal Comfort
The most gracious hosts think beyond the rooms where guests gather. Fresh towels, fragrant soaps and a few unexpected comforts can make the guest bathroom feel every bit as welcoming as the rest of the home.
Technology adds a new dimension to that hospitality. Consider a TOTO WASHLET bidet seat, which offers the welcome warmth of a heated seat, the refreshing pleasure of warm-water cleansing and the soothing comfort of warm-air drying. It’s an unexpected luxury that makes an everyday experience feel special.
Hosts can choose an option that complements their home’s character. The S2 offers inviting simplicity with convenient side-panel controls. The sleek S5 pairs contemporary elegance with a wireless remote. Meanwhile, the S7A adds a touch of theater with a lid that opens automatically, a softly glowing nightlight and personalized cleansing settings.
Even the housekeeping benefits from a little ingenuity through automatic PREMIST and EWATER+: One mists the toilet bowl before use to help keep it cleaner, while the other cleans the cleansing wand and, on select models, the bowl itself with electrolyzed water.
It’s another way a thoughtful host can anticipate guests’ needs and make them feel wonderfully welcome.
Long after the last guest has departed, what lingers isn’t the sophistication of the house. It’s the meal that inspired compliments, the conversations no one wanted to end and the little surprises that made everyone feel at home.
Those are the moments that make holiday entertaining special. Behind each one is a host whose warmth, creativity and attention to detail made it possible, with a little help from the house. Explore more sophisticated bathroom upgrade ideas for the holidays and beyond at TOTOUSA.com.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock (holiday table)
SOURCE:
TOTO
Lifestyle
Beyond the Piggy Bank: How to Build Your Child’s Financial Future
Your Child’s Financial Future: When money is tight, saving for the future can feel out of reach. Rent, groceries and bills come first, but building something for your kids doesn’t have to start with your paycheck. For millions of families, there’s already money waiting.
Beyond the Piggy Bank: How to Build Your Child’s Financial Future
(Feature Impact) When money is tight, saving for the future can feel out of reach. Rent, groceries and bills come first, but building something for your kids doesn’t have to start with your paycheck. For millions of families, there’s already money waiting.
Michael and Susan Dell put $250 into the 530A (Trump) Accounts of 25 million children across the United States. Children born between 2016-2024 who live in eligible ZIP codes received the money. Families didn’t have to apply, and they don’t have to pay anything back.
“Every American child now has their own investment account,” said Matt Lira, executive director at Invest America, a nonprofit that helps families understand investing. “It’s in your child’s name, it’s built to grow and it’s theirs from the very start. That’s a real stake in America’s future. Claiming it takes a few minutes, and your child begins life as an owner.”
U.S. children under 18 with valid Social Security numbers already have accounts in their names, and any money in it is invested so it can grow over time. You just need to claim it. Download the official app, available on iOS or Android, or go to the official website then sign in as a parent or guardian to access your child’s account. You can choose to add money if you want, but it’s not required. Claiming the account also lets friends, family, employers and others contribute.
“Parents and grandparents, please claim your child’s account,” said Susan Dell, co-founder of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “These accounts are ready. They’re waiting for you, and they have money in them. Claim your child’s account and start adding money to their account and preparing a wonderful future for them.”
Money Lessons That Don’t Cost a Thing
Claiming the account is the first step. Helping your child understand it is the next. When kids know they own something that can grow, money lessons stop feeling abstract. These everyday habits can help them make the most of it:
- Let them see how you make choices. You probably already compare prices, stretch a grocery budget and decide what can wait. Talk through those choices out loud. When kids hear why you picked the store brand or skipped something this week, they can learn how to tell needs from wants.
- Give them a little to manage. Birthday money, a few dollars for chores or earnings from mowing lawns or babysitting are all chances to practice. Let kids decide how much to spend and how much to save then talk about how it went.
- Explain saving vs. investing. Saving is putting money aside for something you want soon, like a bike. Investing is letting money grow over many years. For example, 530A (Trump) Accounts are a real-life example of investing that kids can check a few times a month to see how money grows.
- Talk about what they dream of.Ask your kids what they want someday, like a car, college, a trade, their own business or a home. Knowing they have money saved or invested can help them dream bigger, because those goals start to feel possible instead of out of reach.
Small Amounts Still Count
If you’re ever able to add something to an investment account, even a few dollars now and then, it has years to grow. Relatives can help, too. A small amount on a birthday or holiday adds up over a childhood. However, if adding money isn’t possible right now, that’s OK.
“In America, small beginnings can become extraordinary things,” Michael Dell said. “When we invest in children’s futures, we invest in America’s future. We are so excited to see what they build.”
Claim your child’s account today through the official app or at TrumpAccounts.gov.
Common Questions About 530A (Trump) Accounts
What is a 530A (Trump) Account?
It’s a free investment account for U.S. children under 18 powered by the U.S. Treasury. It’s in your child’s name. The money in the account is invested in hundreds of America’s biggest companies at once, so it has the chance to grow over time without you having to pick anything. The account also has tax benefits. The money can grow for years without being taxed along the way, which helps it grow faster.
Does my child have one?
U.S. children under 18 with valid Social Security numbers were signed up automatically, and nearly 70 million children already have accounts. You just need to claim your child’s account to track its value over time and help it grow. You just need to claim your child’s account to track its value over time and help it grow.
How do I claim it?
Download the official app on your smartphone or visit the official website. You’ll confirm some information and claim the account. It only takes a few minutes, and it’s free.
Do I have to put money in?
No. Adding money is always possible, but claiming an account allows other people to contribute, even if you don’t.
Can other people add money?
Yes. Parents, grandparents, other family members, friends and even employers can add money. The total limit is $5,000 per child per year. Other government or charity programs may add money in the future, too.
How were children chosen for the $250 from Michael and Susan Dell?
Families did not apply, and children were not picked one by one. The foundation started with the lowest-income ZIP codes, based on U.S. Census data, and kept adding ZIP codes until it reached 25 million children. Learn more about eligibility at investamerica.org/dell.
My ZIP code wasn’t included. Does my child still have an account?
All U.S. children with a Social Security number have an account. The ZIP codes only decided who got the extra $250.
When can my child use the money?
At 18, your child can decide what to do with it. They can keep it growing for retirement or use it for things like school or buying a first home.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock
SOURCE:
Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
