Tag: kids

Craft Sale Week

This is one of the busier weeks in our year as we all help to prepare for my table at the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Craft Sale, where I sell Tiny Peasant kits for kids, cards, and Urban Peasant neckwear. The kids know that during Craft Sale Week, they get to be my elves, and after the sale, I am their elf to help with all of their Christmas crafting.

Our homeschooling looks somewhat different during this week, with a lot less structure offered by me. I sort of panicked, thinking that I was abandoning ship and the kids would sink. Well, they are not only surviving but thriving. They have their own craft stations set up, making pony bead creations, finger knitting, crocheting, with breaks to build elaborate block towns, catch up with their lego characters, play house, draw, read a book, work on a project, play a game or head outside to play in the snow.

I’ve had offers from little ones who would like to man the yarn swift, and they all helped to sort out wool for the Tiny Weaver kits, and weigh roving for the Tiny Felter kits. So much elving going on around these parts and it is truly fun to do alongside the kids.

The way they have embraced this independence is amazing – there are no complaints of boredom, to be sure. Today one of them said to me, “The thing I love most about my life is that I can draw whenever I want!” All of this is a great reminder to me that I don’t have to have every moment planned. That they need me to hold space for them to direct their own learning, to fulfill their own needs for creativity, role playing, and decision making. And I can hang out in the wings (busily crafting) and be ready with snacks, with hot cocoa when they come in from play, to support conflict resolution when needed, and reach their halloween candy down from on top of the fridge. Ahem. The candy fairy doesn’t take all of that candy, you know!

November 29, 2013
Simple Summer: Mini Farmer’s Market
Passing on the skills of growing and preparing food to our children is such a privilege and joy – not to mention an important step in the path to their future self-sufficiency. In these summer months the kids love being a part of caring for the garden, from preparing the garden and planting the seeds, to harvesting the fresh, intensely flavoured fruits and vegetables.

How can we keep our little ones interested in learning about food? The answer is pretty simple. Make it fun.

We’re all familiar with lemonade stands and this idea adds a twist – invite your children to harvest some garden produce and create their own mini farmer’s market (just don’t call it “mini” in front of them – this is their very own business venture!). If you’re rurally based, just head over to a friend or relative’s place – or work with your children to organize a market at your local community centre or town hall with their friends.

MATERIALS:
- garden produce
- scissors for harvesting
- baskets for collecting and for display
- table and chairs
- umbrella for shade, if desired
- wagon, to make a traveling farmer’s market
- chalkboard or sign making materials
- small float of change
- camera to document all the fun, if the kiddos want to
- err, grandparents, aunts, uncles and the like – given a head’s up just in case business is slow
The rest is really self explanatory, yet remember: your job is to facilitate and try to bite your tongue when they want to sell a single shell pea for a dollar. This is a learning experience for them, not only to nourish those roots of a love for growing food, but in marketing, sorting and counting money, assigning value to items, teamwork if you have more than one child, and so much more. At the same time, we all know that sitting around and not making sales is no fun – if business isn’t going well after a while, offer up a gentle suggestion that lowered prices or even a “buy one, get a dozen free” special on shell peas might help.

Have fun with your market – please do share a link to your photos in the comments!

This post has been shared at Thank Goodness It’s Monday at Nourishing Joy and featured as most popular post.
August 11, 2013
snow + a mud pie kitchen
You don’t have to let the snow stop your children from enjoying nature exploration. Whether you have several feet of snow, slush, or just plain mud in your yard, you can provide tools for your children to create an enchanting natural play area they will adore.

Over the past few years, some of our kitchen wares have migrated from the kitchen to the backyard into the children’s mud pie kitchen. The kitchen itself travels around the backyard, settling in on a tree stump only to be moved the next hour or day underneath the trampoline, or over into the garden. The important parts are the tools and the imaginations of the children who use them.

A few things that will make your mudpie kitchen the place to be in your yard:
- muffin tin
- wooden spoon
- old pot or pan, or child size versions
- bread tin
- strainer/colander
- baking tray
- metal or plastic bowls of various sizes
- tongs, flippers, and other kitchen tools
If you have small sizes of the above, that will make them easier for little hands to manage, but anything will do. Really.

An adorable little book that I learned about from Ginny over at Small Things, is Mud Pies and Other Recipes by Marjorie Winslow. Overflowing with charming illustrations and recipes – from Wood Chip Dip to Pine Needle Upside-Down Cake, it is a great addition to the bookshelf and would be a sweet gift, especially paired with a second hand muffin tin and wooden spoon.

When the need to move on from the mud kitchen wears off – don’t overlook the novelty of playing in a sandbox surrounded by snow!

Have fun in your outdoor kitchen this spring!
March 10, 2013
Games for Kids: Puzzle Bingo & Balancing

Recently I shared a couple of our family’s favourite games. Carrying on with that, here are a couple more that are adored by our children.

TRAVELLING BINGO

This simple, and whimsically-designed game has a permanent home on our learning shelf in the living room and is brought down to the carpet area once or twice a week. The kids love the combination of puzzle and bingo and little ones love flicking the spinner and watching it go round and round with eager anticipation of where it will land.

Djeco’s Travelling Bingo is simple enough that our youngest played it when he was two, but still entertains older children for at least a round or two. The illustrations are endearing, but do be careful how you store the puzzles as they are made of a sturdy cardboard that can peel or bend if handled roughly.

PANDABO

Neighbour to Travelling Bingo on our living room shelf, Pandabo, by Hape, is a beautiful and fun game. Sustainably made with bamboo and water-based paints, Pandabo offers a strategic challenge and can also be played cooperatively. The idea is to be the one who never causes the stack to tumble, but our family plays together, giving advice and cheering one another on. We aim to get the stack as high as we can as a group. Little ones can practice shape recognition and it’s really fun to see the wheels turning in the minds of older children plotting how best to ‘stay balanced’ as the stack grows.

March 8, 2013