By Janet Kearney, Guest Contributor

Janet is the founder of Vegan Pregnancy and Parenting, the largest vegan parenting group in the world. She also owns Raise Vegan, an online resource for parents who are raising or considering raising their families plant-based. Find her on Instagram if you have any questions.

Stumped on what to buy your little vegan this holiday season? Here are some recommendations on what to wrap up and stick in their stocking or under the tree. These gifts are unique, human and animal-friendly, and will have them grinning from ear to ear.

Bath Bombs

If there’s one thing kids love, it’s making a mess and seeing their devoted parents cleaning up after them. Why not make your life that wee bit more entertaining—what were you planning on doing on a Saturday night anyway?

Bath bombs fizz, bubble, and will generally make your kids really happy until their little fingers have gone the great old wrinkly way.

Kids’ Cookbooks

Despite what it feels like now, your kids will fly the coop one day. And when they do, they’ll need to know more than how to burn water and order fries. Getting kids involved in cooking also provides opportunities for parents to explain why they choose not to eat animals.

And you never know—if the kids cook their own broccoli, they might even eat it!

Clothing

We know that vegan festival season is right around the corner, and your cool little vegan needs the latest trends. Have them prepared with their not-too-aggressive, but eye-catching shirt that lets others know there’s a mini vegan activist in the works.

A quick google search will give you plenty of vegan clothing options, or you can check out Vegan Pregnancy and Parenting for some ideas. For example, the Herbivore is an awesome shirt with all the fun and animal-loving messaging.

Happy Kitchen Vegetable Stickers

Simple Happy Kitchen has a range of plant food stickers on their site, but my favorite is the cutout vegetable characters, such as Tomato Face and Mr. Pedro Almondvar. They’re a riot!

I’ll be scraping these off the walls for all of 2018—join me!

The Pet Tofu

This little Pet Tofu is a step-up from the pet rock days and is a sure way to please your little ones. All Pet Tofus are made to order, come with their own little home, and are ready to be named and taken for daily walks.

Eco-Friendly Water Balloons

Depending on where you live, these might be a gift that gets stored away for the warmer months. These water balloons are reusable, animal-friendly, and would be a welcome addition to bath time or the summer-time picnic.

Have more ideas on what to buy vegan kids? Leave a comment below and tell us!

Victor Sjodin, Vegan Outreach’s Director of Outreach, has been leafleting college campuses throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico since 2008. In this time, he’s reached over 875,000 individuals with a Vegan Outreach booklet.

Aside from his personal leafleting accomplishments, Vic paved the way for Vegan Outreach’s successful outreach programs in Mexico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Most recently, he’s spearheaded our expanding outreach in India.

Check out the video below to get a glimpse into the life of this truly one-of-a-kind activist—one we’re very happy to have as a part of the Vegan Outreach team.

A huge thank you to Eric Day, with Lively Days, for the production of this video.

“I don’t think it’s a radical notion that we can have better ways of living and thinking.” -Vic Sjodin

By Katia Rodríguez, Mexico Campaigns and Spanish Media Coordinator

A few weeks ago, Vegan Outreach’s Mexico outreach team—staff and volunteer—visited one of the most important private institutions in Mexico, the Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Together with the university’s student animal rights group, Comprometidos por el Cuidado Animal (CCAN), we organized a vegan cooking class for approximately two dozen students. The turnout for the class was amazing! In fact, CCAN had to limit the number of people that could be in the lab because of the high demand and the lack of space!

To help teach the class, we invited Sergio Carreón. Sergio is one of our wonderful volunteers who also happens to be a cook. At the beginning of the class, we all shared our personal vegan stories, discussed the benefits of a plant-based diet, and described how delicious vegan food can be. This got the students inspired and anxious to start cooking! And we were surprised to find out that there were already three vegetarians and one vegan in the class.

The students made lentil chili, black bean burgers, and vegan nacho cheese. We chose these recipes because the ingredients are easy to find, reasonably priced, and super delicious. Most of the students had little to no experience cooking, but that didn’t prevent them from making delicious vegan food!

We had a chance to talk to the students about what inspired them to sign up for the class. One of the most interested students, Samantha, told us she’s been vegetarian for years and had tried going vegan without success. After the cooking class, she said she’s never been more inspired to go vegan. She sent me a long email later on to thank the VO team for being so positive, patient, and inspiring.

Thank you CCAN for helping us host such a successful event and for all the great work you do on campus!

As part of our activist profile series, today we meet Brian Chavez. Brian has been involved in the animal rights movement for several years, and this semester he’s been helping Vegan Outreach leaflet college campuses in Southern California. To date, he’s traveled to 18 schools and handed out 17,743 leaflets. Let’s get to know Brian!

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I’m from San Diego, and that’s where I currently live.

What got you interested in animal rights and veganism?

It was an accumulation of many thoughts—I wanted to help create a more peaceful and joyful society, and I realized that respecting animals is an important step in doing that.

How did you get involved with Vegan Outreach and leafleting?

I signed up in 2007 as a volunteer to help pass the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. The San Diego campaign was coordinated by Kath Rogers, who co-founded the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL). After the proposition passed, I handed out Vegan Outreach leaflets as a volunteer at many events hosted by APRL. I liked leafleting so much, I started ordering them from the Vegan Outreach website.

Do you have a favorite leafleting moment to share?

One time, a student told me she’d decided to go vegan after reading the leaflet I’d given to her. When I asked to take her picture for the Vegan Outreach e-newsletter, she agreed and then proceeded to ask her friend—who was walking alongside—to go vegetarian. Her friend said yes, and I ended up taking a picture of both of them!

What do you do for fun when you’re not leafleting?

I like to hike, bike, go out to eat, and listen to music. I also love to play board games, soccer, and the guitar.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add about leafleting?

When it’s slow and a student stops to tell me they’ve read the leaflet, I like to ask what their thoughts are on the subject and briefly respond if they have concerns. I’ve also found that many people are very close to going veg. Overall, leafleting is a great way for vegans to volunteer together, prevent burnout, and get new people interested in volunteering!

Can you tell us one of your favorite vegan products to share with our readers?

I like the Black Bean Tamale Verde frozen meal by Amy’s Kitchen.

By Lori Stultz, Communications Manager

One of the most rewarding parts of working for Vegan Outreach is hearing from people who’ve received one of our leaflets and changed their eating habits in efforts to reduce the harm done to animals who are killed for food.

Less frequently, we hear from people who’ve received one of our leaflets and were inspired to sell their business, buy farmland, and start their own all-natural, vegan cosmetic and hygiene product line. However, that’s exactly what founder of the Natural Vegan, Jaymie Friesen, did! And now we get to help him and his business partner, Hannah Christian, share their success story. Watch the videos below to get all the details!

I’ve had the opportunity to try various Natural Vegan products, and I can honestly say that I love everything about them! They’re light and fresh, and I love knowing that the mission and values of the company are right in line with my own.

The coolest part? Jaymie and Hannah want you to try their products, too! Visit their website and sign up to receive free samples to let them know what you think!