Do you have tips for creating a baby play group that I’ll actually LIKE?
My highly sociable 15-month-old baby is now at an age where he is intrigued by other kids. He loves playing and constantly wants to interact. This sounds great… but I’ve happily avoided local play groups now for the past 15 months and the idea of going to one fills me with dread.
How can we create a kid-friendly zone in a small city apartment?
K has already said that he will miss his backyard mud kitchen, and I don’t blame him. First of all: MUD! GLORIOUS MUD! Secondly, there is a lot of “No” in the life of a little kid. K’s mud kitchen is his world of “Yes!” He can make all of the mess he wants and experiment to his heart’s content without anyone fussing about set-up or clean-up or telling him what to do. Now he won’t have a back yard, so no more mud kitchen for him.
The world’s best playground might be London’s Diana Memorial Playground
On a good day in London, on our local playground where race, class, school uniforms and linguistic boundaries may as well have been built out of concrete, I was a cynic. Visiting the Diana playground was a most welcome respite from all of that. And, though I am wary of entering the treacle zone, it is a testimony to the spirit of the Lady who inspired it. This playground exists in an unlikely place and it gives some pointers, some idea of what our society could be like. Maybe even our world.
Build a seesaw and put it in your yard for less than $30
The very inspirational Mallory over at Classy Clutter recently rocked my world with this hand-built wooden seesaw — which they put together for less than $30. Mallory (a self-described novice wood worker) put together the entire thing in under two hours.
5 suggestions for playing safely when your “yard” is a parking lot
We moved into an apartment last year and I noticed something odd: two of the buildings have smushed patches behind them that could count as yards — one unit inexplicably has a back door, even — but it’s not in a place where the kids can really play safely and supervised. What’s the alternative? The parking lot? With cars?!
Why bloomers? Why not?
So, if there is a little girl in your life, you may have noticed that they are not too terribly bothered about modesty when wearing dresses and skirts. That’s all fine and dandy of course — no shame issues need apply! However, for many reasons, and especially at recess, Bloomers like this adorable pair from […]
Who says you need a yard to raise kids?!
We recently moved to downtown Seattle, and were shocked that the first question family asked is “What do the kids do without a yard?” Um, EVERYTHING.
Terrible yellow eyes, ala Where The Wild Things Are
Spotted this simple, relatively mess and pain-free craft idea over on Se7en. It looks like two yellow circles on some ribbon until you know the context. Then it becomes something else entirely. It’s inspired by the following passage from the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak: “…And when he came to the […]