“Even after weeks of staying home, my kids are just not interested in all the stuff we have. Let’s be honest. If a toy isn’t getting any action amid this distraction-free, stuck-at-home living, chances are it’s never getting touched again.” Liz Russell figures out what really engages and changes kids during the quarantine, and will stay with them forever. This was a lightbulb moment of an essay for me. Click here to read it.
Author: lskenazy
Flour went through some dark days before COVID, shamed and shunned. But now? It is the hero of many, many kids-turned-baking fiends (and their ever chubbier parents). So as we like to say: Let Dough! Er…LetGrow. Read a sweet essay on how a non-baking family started making English muffins and donuts by clicking here.
Want to thank a teacher in your life (and, probably, your living room)? At Let Grow we have a bunch of fun teacher thank you cards you can print out or forward. Find them by clicking here!
Well, if you read the headline, you know what this Let Grow piece is about. Click here to read it — a thoroughly enjoyable piece about what can go wrong (especially snack-wise) when a 4th grade mom tries to make everything right.
We’ve got it all over at Let Grow — instructions for the paper airplane folding and, if kids feel like it, a way to run a science experiment, too. (All free, of course.) COVID is making us all both totally 21st century (all socializing online) and 20th — or even 19th — century at the same time (a return to paper, scissors chalk, paste, board games and yeast). Click here for the paper airplane stuff.
They’re at home, you’re busy, they’re bored: A perfect storm. Suddenly kids are doing all sorts of things on their own. Send us a photo of them being newly independent and you could win $500! Five runner-ups will win $100. Click here for the details at Let Grow. Deadline is Sunday night, April 19!
Fortnite, watch out! Let Grow’s have five games “your kids” can play with a penny. My kids are out of the home but now I cannot stop my husband from playing the penny-stacking game. OCD or Quarantine Crazy? I heard from another friend that he and his 12-year-0ld son are now pitching pennies. Click here for the games. And Happy Easter/Passover/Curve-Flattening. – L.
My piece on The Washington Post’s op-ed page should calm some parents — even those whose kids seem to be wasting every moment. It begins: “How do you not helicopter parent in this environment? Ideas????” This email from a friend said it all. With so many schools closed, playgrounds off-limits and parents working at home — or wishing they were working — we really are in four-question-mark territory these days. What is a parent to do? Here’s a thought: Give up!!!! Yes, even smushed together with the kids 24/7, there is simply no way a parent can be hovering, helping…
“Ask Lenore” is a new-ish feature over at Let Grow, and this week, I address the worry about the long-term effect of this awful episode on kids. Hint: I’m pretty optimistic, and so are the experts I spoke with. Check it out by clicking here! Photo by CottonBro at Pexels.
This is a banner year for seed companies — guess why. I live in an apartment in NYC so no victory garden for me. But Let Grow’s content director, Stacy Tornio, has some real-world tips for anyone with a little bit of land and maybe some kids interested in being able to pick their own strawberries, cucumbers, or something else good and want to…let grow, as it were. Click here to read some basic instructions. I’m rooting for you! – L.