My 5-year-old loves cats. His favorite color is purple. And he adores all things with fairies and sparkles.
About a year ago I stumbled upon a pair of purple socks that had cats adorned with fairy wings stitched into them. When my son opened them as a gift, he told me, “Mama, these are the socks of my dreams.”
He loved his new socks. … Continue reading
Part of helping kids to grow is challenging them to explore and utilize the myriad of intellegences that reside in their bodies. Gross motor skills, emotions, logical reasoning, fine motor skills, empathy, planning, and on and on and on.
I try hard to teach these different things to my children through interactions in our everyday lives. I include them in my own efforts and learning (see HERE). … Continue reading
I make my own Healing Skin Salve (recipe HERE), Amazing Face Serum (recipe HERE), and Diaper Cream (recipe HERE), so it probably comes as no surprise that I’ve also made my own lip balm. I first made a version of this recipe at a workshop hosted by some local bee keepers. The recipe worked so well, that with a couple slight variations I kept it as part of my natural body care routine.… Continue reading
My 9-year-old loves inventing and building things. Sometimes he sees an idea somewhere and decides to build or make something similar of his own. Sometimes he sees an object, figures out a way to improve upon the design, and sets about creating his own improved version. And, sometimes, he sees a need for something and comes up with a way to meet that need through something he imagines and then makes.… Continue reading
Do you want to encourage your children to engage in imaginative play? In that case, I’m generally of the theory that less is more.
Kids do not need fancy costumes or toys in order to pretend. While this picture shows my son thoroughly decked out in a costume, kids can have just as much fun without such things. Dirt, sticks, rocks, and anything else they find outside are generally enough. … Continue reading
My 4-year-old has repeatedly requested that we make bath bombs again (you can read about our first endeavor HERE). So when our friends suggested that we get together and make a batch, of course we said yes.
The bath bombs in the picture may not be the most beautiful (please remember they were made by young kids), but they are everything a bath bomb should be. … Continue reading
My 4-year-old has recently become very interested in necklaces. He’s always had a bit of interest in my necklaces, but it never really stuck. Then his big brother bought him a cat necklace at the Artisan Fair where his big brother had a booth (see HERE), which immediately turned my 4-year-old into an every day necklace wearer.
Following the introduction of the cat necklace, we took a family trip to Michigan, where – in addition to lots of family gathering and fun – we cleared out my [deceased] mother-in-law’s (see HERE) belongings in order to donate them to a local women’s shelter.… Continue reading
Last year, my elder son made a family friend a series of four bead ornaments depicting the life-cycle of a caterpillar (an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and a butterfly). She loved them, and suggested that he start a business selling them. My then 7-year-old leaped on this idea and began to make ornaments to sell.
The problem arose when we couldn’t find a venue through which he could sell them. … Continue reading
Are you looking for ways to eliminate more plastics from your life? Here’s a simple way to stop using plastic wrap as well as most plastic bags. It’s an organic cotton food wrap.
You can use it to top a glass bowl. Goodbye, plastic wrap. You can also use it to wrap fruits and vegetables, cheese, a sandwich, or whatever else you desire. … Continue reading
I’ve done tie dye projects with my children in the past. While they were fun, they were also extremely messy and rather time consuming to set up and clean up. So when one of our favorite children’s librarians showed my 8-year old how to get a tie-dye-effect using Sharpie markers and isopropyl alcohol, we had to give it a try.… Continue reading