Open Minds & Messy Hands
Growing up in California, we very rarely got snow. When we did, it was so short-lived that we would quickly build a snowman and briefly play before running back inside and warming up with a cup of hot chocolate next to the fire. Now, living on the east coast, our
Play is SO important. We often appreciate how much enjoyment kids receive from playing with their peers or their favorite toy, however, we often overlook the power of play. While kids are playing, there is so much social, emotional and mental growth occurring. These ways to encourage unstructured play in kids
Have you seen the movie ‘Inside Out’? The movie is about feelings and emotions, a prominent topic in our house at all times. Raising spirited kids, I am constantly discussing feelings and appropriate ways to deal with emotions. This is usually discussed in our calm down corner, but I also try to talk
Sensory bags are great ways for kids to explore textures, colors and different objects, all while being mess-free and baby-safe. We love making themed bags for holidays or to discuss different learning objectives such as shapes and colors. (Check out how we made these 4 different baby-safe sensory bags!) These color
Follow my blog with Bloglovin My kids love to pick fresh fruits and vegetables from our local orchards. It’s one of our favorite summertime activities and always serves as a nice platform for our ‘projects’ (as the kids like to call them). Whenever the kids are getting themselves into trouble
Continuing our ice and snow exploration for January, we put together an arctic small world complete with a block of ice, water, ocean animals and ice skaters. A small world is simply a miniature play scape intended to evoke imaginative play. We used the freezing temperatures outside
Sensory play is not only important for kids, but it is also a fantastic way to keep them occupied, especially on cold days spent indoors! One of our favorite seasonal activities to do is a sensory bath. I love to keep foam sheets on hand (from the dollar store) to
This project was a bit of a failure considering what we had intended to create, but evolved into some great pumpkin sensory play instead! My daughter has recently been placed on a gluten free diet so our whole house has been cleaned out of all things gluten. I hadn’t even considered
We have been celebrating Shark Week in our house! While I haven’t actually shown my kids much of the actual shark week on Discovery Channel…shark week is all around us so we are celebrating as well. If you have followed my blog at all, you might know by
Gel sensory bags are one of my favorite and super easy go-to sensory play ideas. They are extremely useful for babies as well as older children! Gel sensory bags are one of my favorite and super easy go-to sensory play ideas. I love that they are extremely useful for babies as