cool & creative

    One of my dear friends has just published her second book–it’s a book that is so filled with crafty awesome, it’s a must-have for all families. My pal Jean is the author of The Artful Parent blog, and …

    Let’s face it: classroom parties are difficult to throw. Scratch that.  Class parties easy to throw but difficult to throw well. And what I’ve found over time–and by being a classroom parent for five years–is that certain things work and certain …

I’m all about family traditions. Not only does it make your life as a parent easier, but having traditions gives your kids something to hold on to. Traditions give kids the feeling of security. Traditions give kids the feeling of …

halloween party ideas for kids and classrooms | everything room parents need from start to finish — parent letter, games, and more

      This game was surprisingly more difficult than I expected it would be for my 10, 9, and 7 year olds. I don’t know if they were just not in the pumpkin-matching mindset or if they need more matching …

        I love this simple and sweet spider web craft. Love it. And I think it’ll be perfect for a Halloween class party or playdate activity. No matter the children’s age, kids would totally dig it because …

    I’m always on the hunt for fun ways to keep my kids engaged and interested and thinking creatively. And when I find something that works, and it’s unplugged, creative fun, it’s a serious win. Today after school, while …

This week, Liska from Adventure in a Box shares a super-cool, totally new-to-teachmama.com idea.  So cool, it’s nuts. Liska is a toymaker, a creator, a mom, an artist and a lover of books.  She is a Russian who has settled in Canada with her …

We’re thrilled to share another Rockstar Sunday guest post with you–this time from a multi-talented blogger, Viviana. Viviana is a mom of two and the creator of Totschooling, a blog filled with cool printables and tons of early education ideas. …

The following Rockstar Sunday guest post is written by one of the coolest gals on the planet, Becky Morales.  Becky is a mom, teacher, and creator of Kid World Citizen, where she shares activities that ‘help young minds go global’. …

The following rockstar guest post is written by Barb of  A Life in Balance. Barb has a ton of awesome ideas, and you should totally check out her blog.  Gallon bag activities. Plastic bag activities. Ziploc or Ziplock or Glad or store …

This post about getting reluctant readers to love reading is written by Ali Dent of Courage on the Edge of Tomorrow. Thank you, Ali, for this incredible post! ____________________ Getting Kids to Love Reading with a Literacy Club–LITClub, by Ali Dent Reading doesn’t …

      It’s been busy here for the last few days, with our insane weather and with FutureCity, Toy Fair, and National Center for Families Learning Summit all in the last week. But somewhere in between all of this …

It’s been snowing a whole lot over here for the last few weeks, and in fact, this week, about 15 inches of the white stuff were dumped on us. So this mama has had to pull out the stops when …

The snow and freezing cold temps has cause my three kids to be on energy overload lately. They need to burn steam. They need to run, jump, skip, hop, spin, and then do it all again. They need to loosen …

I love the idea of doing some sort of service project for the community to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy.  Imagine how great the world would be if every family did something small for others to celebrate Martin Luther …

While the kids are busy shakin’ their party shakers or rockin’ out to some Bingo Bonanza, the adults can have their New Year’s Eve fun, too. Actually, everyone can have fun with this homemade game of 20 Questions.     No …

Any time we can use recyclables for learning or play, it’s a win in my book. So each year as New Year’s Eve approaches, we clean out our recycle bin and put some of those small containers to use for easy, …

      We’re longtime fans of the advent calendar and and longtime fans of coffee. When we stepped up our game last year and sprung for a Keurig, every day became a little more awesome, starting our day with …