What does it take to tie-dye a shirt? Our video and lesson at Let Grow explain what you’ll need: 1 – Some plain white tees and colorful dyes 2 – Rubber bands 3 – An incredibly cute 5-year-old* The mom who wrote the accompanying essay just happens to be Tracy Tomasso, the exec director of Let Grow, and as she notes: This tie-dye project ended up being a perfect lesson in independence and failure. And not just for Fiona—it was good for me, too. Often when we do things together as parent and child—especially when we’re in the more typical…
Author: lskenazy
So I’d never heard of “Fairy Gardens.” Turns out they are the garden equivalent of a doll house: Mini backyards with mini amenities (swings, see-saws, ponds) and lots of pretty flowers and plants. Over at Let Grow we’ve got a 1-minute video explaining how to make the different elements. If I were a kid, it would get me pretty psyched to create a whole world for the fairies who, it seems, are about 1/50th the size of us humans. (Which means that even one of them would have trouble dancing on the head of a pin.) No matter. The project…
Handy, smart and fun! The kit includes: *Instructions for lots of classic games like “Red Light/Green Light” *A list of ideas for kids to do when they’re bored *A one-pager explaining why free play — play without adults organizing the activities — is great for kids *And a lovely yellow “Let Them Play Zone” poster to print out. Click here!
This 4-year-old can! At one and a half Abby was going on mile-long hikes with her mom, who treasures the girl’s spunk and love of nature, and bear poop. (Something some of us wouldn’t recognize if it was roaring us in the face.) Now she’s a seasoned hiker who can go 6 miles at a stretch. Video below, obviously. And if you want to read her story, click here for her mom’s post on Let Grow!
We’ve got great advice on encouraging — and not ruining) — free, unstructured play. What’s more, we’ve got a cool list of the different types of play kids engage in. I, for one, didn’t realize there’s a difference between Symbolic Play, Creative Play and Dramatic Play. Now I do! Read up, over at Let Grow, by clicking here!
America has gone Child Abuse Hotline crazy: 7.8 million kids get reported to child protective service each year — and 7.1 M turn out to be fine. That’s a lot of extra calls! Why so many? Onlookers can mistake Free-Range parenting for neglect, but they mistake poverty for neglect, too: A child looks “too young” to be running an errand. A child is dressed “wrong” for the cold. A child is coming home with a latchkey. Free-Range Parenting Laws like Utah’s — what we now call “Reasonable Childhood Independence” laws at Let Grow — would curb this. Read the…
Is it a waste of time when kids look like they’re wasting time? Interesting question. I write this while looking out my window watching a couple of kids playing with a toy car. Before that, two other kids were chasing a dog. I’m sure a lot of older kids are inside on their phones. And here I am, online. (As are you!) Is there a difference between wasting time and spending time doing something kind of enjoyable that is mindless or unproductive? Is all time wasted if there’s nothing to show for it? That’s what I’m thinking about in my…
A professor friend reviewed my new podcast, “Supervision Not Required.” Click here for the podcast. And here’s the review! Funny, wise, reassuring. What a great podcast from Let Grow advocate Lenore Skenazy and developmental psychologist and play researcher Peter Gray. Being a parent today is exhausting. From the time our kids are born, we are told that we have to be actively engaged with them every minute, because if they don’t hear us say twenty million words by the time they are five or whatever, then they will be scarred for life. We (parents) feel like anything that makes our…
Let Grow has compiled a great resource: The simple rules for 20 classic backyard games, including: Duck Duck Goose Red Light, Green Light Mother May I? Blindman’s Bluff Leapfrog And, obviously, another 15 more. Click here for the rules and even some videos that will bring these games back to life! Photo by Jo Naylor
How can you get your kids to stop whiiiiiiiiiiiining? Let Grow has some truly workable, real-world tips from a mom of two whining (or, I guess, previously whining) toddlers. The article is really honest and fun. Best idea? When the kids are CALM tell them that, henceforth, you’re going to ignore their whining. “When children whine, any kind of response, negative or positive, is attention. By not engaging, you take away any kind of reward. Click here for the rest of the basic, straightforward ideas.