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Using Play Doh to Teach Preschool Lessons

Play Doh is one of my favorite preschool activity toys and art mediums. Mashing the dough can creating people, ice cream cones, pizza, and animals, is as much fun for me as the kids.  I am not sure what came first, the lessons I developed using Play Doh or my desire to play and the need to make it count as part of my lesson plan.  Nonetheless, I have come up with a way to play and learn.  Now, when my husband comes home and finds Play Doh mashed in the carpet its all good. In all seriousness, using a … Continue reading →

Masterly Inactivity: Go Play!

The demands placed on children today to learn and perform can cause quite a bit of stress. While I encourage a challenging environment and think nothing ill of competition, especially when engaged with oneself, there is a time to play. Children learn through play and express what they have learned through play. Masterly inactivity is when a parent steps back and allows the child the freedom to play within boundaries. Every mom needs time to relax and step out of the front of the classroom as much as every child needs time to play. What is Masterly Inactivity? Masterly inactivity … Continue reading →

Teaching Business by Being a Business

As I go through my day I am teaching my children about daily life. They learn about paying bills, dealing with siblings, parenting, how to handle frustration, making dinner, doing laundry and all the homemaking chores required to run a home. These are important skills to teach both boys and girls. These are skills best learned on the job and not conducted in a classroom setting or at the dining room table. My children learn how to make dinner by making dinner. My son learned how to become the best pancake maker in the house by doing every step from … Continue reading →

Zylie the Bear Sends the Right Message

She is 12 years old, adventurous, curious, stylish, brave, and she’s a bear! Zylie the Bear is like the American Girl of bears. Mary Beth Minton and her son, Matt, created Zylie to give children a play experience that is not only fantastic but educational. In a world where toys are plastic and steal the imaginations of children with fixed ideas, Zylie and her friend Shen the Panda are a breath of fresh air. Quality toys that inspire imagination, spark curiosity about the world around the child, and will forever live in a child’s mind and heart is rare thing. … Continue reading →

P is for Pumpkin

October is pumpkin season! Take advantage of this wonderful time of year to engage your child in learning and the world around him. Pumpkins seem to have a charm and appeal that makes kids delight over going to the pumpkin patch. If you don’t believe me try asking your children if they would like to go to the beet farm or squash patch instead. So head on out to the pumpkin patch for some fun and learning with your kids. A pumpkin patch makes an excellent field trip. Both kids and adults can enjoy cider, hayrides, and pumpkin picking. During … Continue reading →

Why Field Trips?

September is rapidly flowing away from me, and with it the potential to do September-ish things like field trips to the apple farm. We had visitors most of September and a death in the family, so we spent most of September otherwise engaged. When I look at my calendar for the fall, I see great field trip ideas. I’m hoping to do some of them this week, when our world starts to get into its new normal routine. Why go on a field trip? First, it gets you out of your house and out of your normal routine. Now that … Continue reading →