All my girls need is each other and a handful of trustworthy toys. The kind I know won't fall apart when they inevitably sit on them or smash them together. For us many of those toys, the ones I trust my kids with and the ones they spend entire days playing with, are Mattel brands like Fisher-Price, Hot Wheels, and Thomas & Friends. Which is why when Mattel approached me … [Read more...]
Summertime Bubbles!
Photo credit: Holly Pageau … [Read more...]
Board Game Made by 3 Year Old
This is the "board game" my three year old laid out to play with me. For dice we rolled small dolls and then she yelled out to me how many spaces I was allowed to move. Crazy silly, but fun. … [Read more...]
Building Blocks & Bricks Are For EVERYONE
One night last week I was online chatting with some friends about how building bricks are NOT just for boys, and then I discovered that while this conversation was going on my daughter was in the other room building this: And then she asked if I would make a video. A video about her spare tire wielding, turbo charged, monster piloted, princess kidnapping, … [Read more...]
Who Needs a Sandbox When You’ve Got Snow?
Snow Castle Monster {Wordless Wednesday w/Linky}
According to my G-Girl and her extra-large sized imagination this..... is a snow castle monster who eats people, but is sad because he has no one to eat. Got a Wordless (or not so) Wednesday post to share? Link it up here! (co-hosted over at Mom vs. The Boys) … [Read more...]
The Floor Is Lava!
Not a quote, as I usually go with for Monday Mutterings, but true none the less. I so remember doing this as a kid, and I now find my own girls playing the lava game. Having never shown it to them I have to wonder, where do kids come up with this stuff? How the heck did my brother and I come up with the game, way back when? Is pretending the floor is made of lava genetically … [Read more...]
Sandbox Play, 1970s vs Modern
THEN My mother in-law noticed my latest giveaway, the one for the fantastic $270 sandbox, and she emailed me this awesome photo of my husband at 16 months old playing in his sandbox 1970s style. As she put it, "The canopy on his didn't lower but it did provide shade and the play value was the same...years of imaginative fun." NOW … [Read more...]
Rainbow’s Very Big Imagination
My daughter has probably easily a hundred different imaginary friends. Most of them are animals (zebras, cats, dogs, beavers, quattis, you name it), some are people she's seen on TV (like Blue and Magenta from Blues Clues, or the Kratt brothers from Zoboomafoo), or characters from books we've been reading, (like Ozma and Dorothy). They usually just stop by for the … [Read more...]
Happiness is… a Really Big Box
As part of the P&G Mom program Procter & Gamble sent me a giant box full of all sorts of household goodies, everything from lipstick and tampons to a a new Swifter duster and a fancy electric Oral-B toothbrush. Which was pretty awesome, and my kids were really, really, excited... Yeah, my kids get excited when I receive Pampers and Tide in the mail? Um.. no not really. … [Read more...]
Come over to our house, come over and play…
Did you remember to bring your swimsuits? Please ignore the weeds and the horribly botched landscaping. We're also just going to gloss right over the fact that I HATE the pool, hate the up keep, hate the work, hate that it constantly malfunctions, hate hate hate it. The kids sure enjoy the darn thing. Come on in... We've got a sandbox. We've got a pool. Our … [Read more...]
Virtual Play Date: It’s a Tea Party!
My Aunt, who is a very awesome Aunt and a really rocking grandmother, has this giant plastic bin full of Tea Party goodies. There are dozens of beaded necklaces, and tons vintage gloves and wacky old hats. When I bring the girls over to her place to visit we have a blast. A few weeks back we borrowed the bin of dress up goodies and had a tea party at Mimi's … [Read more...]
Me and My Shadow
So, I bring my kid to the playground and forget the play equipment.... all she wants to do is walk in circles in the sand and check out her shadow. Kids! Go figure. … [Read more...]
In a Galaxy Far Far Away…. {Star Wars Giggles}
Okay here are a couple of gems I recently overheard while the big one was trying to teach the little one how to play Star Wars the "right" way. First there's the names they call "The Star Wars Guys" by... Star Guy Gun Guy Good Guy Bad Guy Woooookie and Mom. Wait, Mom? Yeah, I tried to convince the kids that Leia and I don't even bear a passing … [Read more...]
Get your butt off the computer and… Play!
As most of you know, I was really torn about Rainbow starting Junior Kindergarten. Do you know what she does all day at school? For 99% of the day they play! During the teacher interview at the beginning of the year they even gave out pamphlets on the importance of play, and how children learn through play and exploration. Though I still have mixed feeling over whether or not … [Read more...]