cool & creative

Halloween is traditionally a time for sweets, sweets, and more sweets, but who says kids must eat candy from dawn till dusk just because that’s how it’s always been done? This year, though my kids will certainly have their fair …

    What happens when you put a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave? Really. Ivory soap. Plain ole sweet-smelling, plain-jane white bar o’ Ivory soap? In the microwave. Try it. Your kids will think you’re a rockstar, and …

    Summer is kicking us hard over here. Actually, swim and dive are kicking us hard over here, like always.  And at five weeks in, between meets, practices, relays, pep rallies, and team events, our family has run a …

While we were at the craft store this past weekend, picking up some supplies for Maddy’s after school club and for Cora’s Butterfly Birthday Playdate this weekend, we stumbled upon this AWEsome springtime craft. Beautiful, easy homemade flower barrettes. So …

That’s right. A stage. So your kids can totally rock it out during your spring break Staycation.  Or so your house becomes THE house for playdates.  Or so you and your husband can John and Olivia to some Summer Lovin’.  …

It’s that time of year when hearts and love and pink and hugs and candy and kisses are in the air. So the kids and I have been busy making Valentines for their classmates—one of our favorite holiday traditions. This …

We are always looking for reasons to play with our food over here, so when we put away the last of the holiday decorations, instead of tossing our candy canes, we held onto those puppies. Today, in between a lot …

We all want to eat our kids’ Halloween candy. At least I do. But we can’t. So here are 5 cool ways to use Halloween candy–other than eating it all immediately which is sometimes what I feel like doing. And …

Our Everyday Journal cards have proven to be a really incredible—and sneaky—way of getting the kids focused and thinking in a way that I’m not sure they’d be willing to do otherwise. There’s something exciting about choosing a card, about …

It’s been a busy few weeks for us, between school, sports, Blogalicious, Halloween, and my parents coming down to spend time with the kids while I attended the NAEYC conference this past week. But when I returned Saturday night to …

There may only be a few more days left until our Jack-O-Lanterns turn into lunch for the squirrels (if they haven’t already!), but the candy that my kids have collected this beautiful Halloween night will be around for days. Or …

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, we’re all getting antsy for summer. So I’ve had to be super crafty during our work time in order to keep Maddy, Owen, and Cora engaged and excited.  As I’ve said …

how to teach kids to tie their shoes | teachmama.com

  We’ve been very busy over here lately, as this week I helped organize and run our elementary school’s Kindergarten Orientation (so fun!) and I have been trying to get myself ready for the theMom 2.0 Summit in New Orleans …

Each year, we end up with tons of leftover candy canes after the holidays.  This year, I vowed I wouldn’t allow one candy cane in our house past January; I was determined to find some useful way of using them. …

remembering the importance of pretend play | teachmama.com | research-based post all about why kids need time to PLAY | imagination and learning