Categories
crafts holiday/feast natural open ended Product Reviews

Hippity-hoppity: Eggnots for Easter

Hippity-hoppity, hippity-hoppity, Easter’s on its way!

Paging through my most recent issue of VegNews magazine recently, I happened upon an advertisement for Eggnots, a dyeable, ceramic egg that looks just like the real thing. It was the answer to a question I had posed only days before to my husband:  how can we give our children the traditional experience of dying Easter eggs without betraying our philosophy of doing as little harm as possible to non-human animals?  

Categories
Lightning Bugz open ended play toys Waldorf

A bit of natural wonder for Valentine’s Day …

A very quick post to share a wonderful (yes, as in full of wonder), natural, open-ended, handmade gift that any child would love to receive for Valentine’s Day, Easter, a birthday … is there a day that wouldn’t be brightened by Wonder Wandz by Lighnting Bugz?   On Valentine’s Day, I plan on setting up a little trail of chocolate kisses (in different colors for each child) from their bedroom doors to our living room where they will find two magical boxes.  Open the boxes with me, and see where your imagination takes you …

The woman behind the wonder describes how her latest creation, perfect for girls and boys, “can be used for everything from dancing, to running and twirling, to casting magical spells, to helping fairies, to piloting space ships, to fitting in gnome homes, to digging wondrous caves! The possibilities go on forever!! I love how children just seem to know what the wand should be used for at the exact moment.”

Categories
open ended play toys

Felt Storyboard/Storybox

Looking for a quick, painless and easy craft that will entertain your children long after the crafting is done?  Look no further …

As holiday gifts arrive at my doorstep, my house becomes increasingly overtaken by cardboard boxes of every imaginable size.  What to do with so many bins as we await recycling day?  Make a traditional, old school storyboard or storybox, of course.

Categories
Inspiration natural open ended school days

Time travel

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, but as you’ll surmise, I am experiencing many new beginnings and some happy returns.

Welcome autumn!  Enjoy these brilliant, colorful days!

_____

N.B. – I have changed details/names in the piece below, but the tale it relates is true.

We stood together, my son and I, his little hand encased in mine, at the threshold of the familiar red building. 

Categories
open ended play toys

Open Ended Toys: Play Kitchens

“The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” Plato

This weekend as I watched my children derive intense pleasure from endless hours of digging sand and splashing water on the beach, I started thinking about all of the toys around our home that sit gathering dust.  Everyone with children can probably name the top ten toys that see the most action in his or her home, and I’m no exception.  I’ve come to realize over the past year that the best toys are those that allow my children to invent new games at will, that don’t constrict their imaginations with one specific way to play, that are by nature “open ended.”