Crayons. Finger paints. Glitter. Cotton balls. Glue sticks. All things that come to mind when you think about art for young children. Pinterest is teeming with ways to involve children in creating pieces of art. While I’m not a big fan of coloring-inside-the-lines, everyone-copies-teacher sort of projects, giving the children opportunities to learn techniques and…
As I mentioned last week, we’ve moved house recently. The backyard in our former home was mostly a brick patio, with a patch of grass roughly the size of a postage stamp. Our new garden isn’t enormous (especially by American standards). However, there is plenty of room for the boys to run, play, and enjoy…
I mentioned briefly last week that Carl and I took the boys camping for two nights in the Lake District. Before our trip, I spent some time online, looking for a place to take the kids for a day out. When I came across the WildPlay trail at Whinlatter Forest, I thought it looked perfect. As…
After the fiasco of last week’s un-camping trip, our family didn’t have much excitement left for our actual camping trip. Partly, we had had a pretty busy week, but also there wasn’t much to actually prepare. I had done it all the week before! Still, Friday rolled around, I packed the car and the cooler, and we…
Last spring I went for a hike in the Lake District. Towards the end of the hike I stopped to take a few photos and watch some ducks on a river that ran near the trail. As I lingered, I heard a mother call out to her son, ‘Be careful!’. I turned to look and saw…
[sc name=”Disclosure” ] I don’t know about you, but I have spent a fair amount of time envisioning what my boys will be like when they are older. Who they will look like, how tall they will be, their interests and hobbies, and, in particular, their relationship with one another. They are sixteen months apart…
In the time it took for me to say hi to my friend at the playground, my 2.5 year old scaled a steep hill and was halfway up a ladder to a climbing structure intended for kids three times his age. (The ladder was a bit like this one, but much taller.) By the time…