Spiriteds, school starts today. A summer full of shenanigans comes to a close, and Twinkle and I are back to our dynamic duo status. It’s our last year at home together before she heads off to kindergarten. I am ALL UP IN MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS. Excited for new beginnings and weepy over the end of an era. For ten years, every day will have been “take your daughter to work day.” It wasn’t easy but it was my normal. Melodramatic much? Ooh, and dear Spiriteds, you only have an entire calendar year ... continue reading...
Gluten-Free Easy Cloud Dough
If you want a super-easy, hands-on activity for your preschooler (or maybe second grader), may I highly suggest Easy Cloud Dough? It is exactly like it sounds. Easy to make and easy to use in sensory play activities. It's also gluten-free! I have a confession, though. While I totally found a version of this in Asia Citro’s ridiculously amazing book 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids, I managed a similar recipe WAAAAAY back in the day when Toodle was two. Back then, I didn’t even know “sensory ... continue reading...
Rainbow Rice Recipe – How to Dye Rice for Sensory Play
A few weeks ago, I wrote about sensory play ideas for preschoolers. I provided a rundown of activities we do at home. But then I realized, it might be more convenient for you if I broke those activities down into individual blog posts with more specific recipes. So here we are! Today’s blog post focuses on our family’s beloved rainbow rice recipe. It is modified from Asia Citro’s priceless book, 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids. For this recipe to work, it had to meet a few criteria. ... continue reading...
Sensory Play Ideas for Preschoolers
Spiriteds, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING? Or not happening, as it were? Where is SPRING???? And if you’re a Midwesterner, you know how this weather is going to go down. We’ll be in the middle of a snowstorm on Wednesday and have 85-degree weather by Friday. I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book The Long Winter as a child and thinking how fun it would be to cozy up indoors until May. Mom disagreed. What tomfoolery was I even trying to sell myself? Winter until May, Mom’s ... continue reading...
Sensory Play Activities for Children – Loose Parts
Spiriteds, we break from our regularly-scheduled food programming to bring you Sensory Play Activities for Children: Loose Parts. I’ve written about this before, and undoubtedly I’ll write about it again: Toodle and Twinkle are spirited children through and through. In fact, this spiritedness permeates our family (including Mom, The Gram, and Auntie) so much, it inspired the name for this blog. And channeling Toodle’s and Twinkle’s energy levels is a WHOLE THING in our house. In the event you ... continue reading...
