Most avid TV lovers know Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin, a kindergarten teacher in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. In efforts to grow necessary funds for schools, Hannigan ironically plays the part of a schoolteacher once more, only this time as an advocate for Box Tops for Education.

Through hidden videos found on the Box Tops website , Hannigan played meaningful pranks on students who were frustrated at how hard it was to go to school without the necessary supplies that Box Tops provide.

“I was a substitute teacher for a day at a real school. These kids had no idea that not only they were coming into a substitute teacher, but one that has taken their supplies away to sort of emphasize what the school could be like without the Box Tops program,” she said.

“They were quite frustrated when in art class I asked them to paint a rainbow but they had no paint. It was just water and paper. Or in the computer lab, the computers had no keyboard or the mouse was gone. The videos are quite funny, but it was incredibly frustrating for them,” Alyson said.

Hannigan was also joined by the familiar faces of Dave Coulier and Mario Lopez in the promo of “Don’t Be Absent” to see how kids react with a lack supplies.

Alyson explained it as, “It just shows how Box Tops for Education effects schools and how much help it brings. General Mills has been doing this for over 20 years now. They’ve raised over 780 million dollars for schools. It helps schools buy the supplies that are sort of the first things on the chopping block when the budget cuts come in like art supplies or computer labs.”


For Alyson, this cause hits home. Not only did she attend a school without art supplies, but now she has two daughters who she hopes enjoy school with necessities unavailable to her at the time.

“This program is younger than I am and was not around when I was in school. I didn’t have an art class and I might have loved school had I had one because I’m an avid crafter now. Imagine if I could have gone to school and had art. It would have been a much happier place for me,” she said.

Due to the digital realm surrounding how we live today, Box Tops created a program through an on-the-go app. It goes by the name of Bonus Tops. This is how it works.

“When you’re done with your shopping you look at your app and press all the items that you have and take a picture of your receipt. That will double the money that you bring to your school in this program. That’s from the months of September and October. You can do twice as much good,” Hannigan said about the mobile-friendly app.

Hannigans daughters, Satyana and Keeva, both consist as her main role focus. As a typical mom, Alyson recently questioned her oldest, Satyana about her first day at school. Here’s the tweet revealing what she said.

The proud momma said, “It’s the best thing a parent could hear. She’s so happy to go to school everyday and that is because the parents we all work really hard to support the school in the ways that it needs, and this program is definitely one of those ways. It’s just like a huge weight lifted when you know your kid is happy at school.

On top of everyday life as a mom and wife, we simply cannot forget about Alyson’s acting career, which just turned a new leaf with the pilot of First Wives Club.

“For TV Land, I just did the pilot of First Wives Club. It was a lot of fun with Megan Hilty and Vanessa Lachey. We just had a blast it was really fun to do so hopefully we’ll get to do that more, “ the multi-talented actress said about her most recent role.

Other than that she’s, “just enjoying the start of school and getting back to having some me time for a few minutes a day.”

Be sure to keep an eye out for the next episode of First Wives Club. Fingers Crossed and good luck Alyson with every one of your diverse endeavors.

Watch our full interview here: