Take some extra time today and luxuriate in water play at bathtime!   Try out some new bathtub finger paints – younger kids and older kids alike will enjoy helping with the recipe and bathing in a new way! Combine liquid soap with a roughly equivalent amount of cornstarch; mix until smooth. Pour into muffin [...]

Play researchers who are focused on natural play report what we already know:  play is adaptive and beneficial in and of itself.  Often, no additional inputs beyond time, encouragement and imagination are needed. So what can parents lend to this recipe?  Time.  Space.  Encouragement.  Your own imagination and curiosity about the world.  Imaginative children tend [...]

Make a little extra time today or tomorrow to get dressed with something obviously wrong!  Pants on your head?  Shirt on your legs?  Who can help? Older kids don’t fall for that?   Maybe a new hairstyle will crack them up! Wrong shoes or socks!  See if you can get a smile or a laugh!