Kids spend more and more time in front of screens. These five tips will help you limit screen time for kids and find a healthy balance for the whole family. Silence is golden, unless you have kids. Then silence probably means that they’re on an electronic device. Sometimes this is exactly what us parents need to grab a shower or finish cooking dinner without constantly getting interrupted by View Post
5 Outdoor Mindfulness Activities for Preschoolers
Try these five outdoor mindfulness activities for preschoolers to help your child wind down and refocus. Ever since my daughters started preschool we've had the same after-school routine. It's simple, it's effective and it helps my kids decompress when they need it the most. For our family, it's by far the most likely activity to get the afternoon off to a good start. So, what's the secret? We View Post
5 Ways to Avoid Having Too Many Toys
Are toys taking over your home? Try these five true and tested method to avoid too many toys and embrace toy minimalism. The other day I stepped on some ill-placed plastic beads in what was supposed to be my workout room in the basement. Now it looked more like a toy minefield with too many toys strewn all over. As I yelled out a few choice words to soothe the shooting pain, I quietly thought View Post
A Scandinavian’s Guide to Playing
When I enrolled my oldest daughter in a U.S. preschool some six years ago, I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured she would sing songs, learn how to take turns, and maybe make some new friends. If she’d learn the alphabet in the process, I’d consider it a bonus. Mostly, I just expected my daughter to play. After all, playing is learning. I realize now I was clueless. Preschool in View Post
There is No Such Thing as “Boy Colors” or “Girl Colors”
“I'm so sick of people telling Sam pink is a ‘girl color’”, my friend, Heather, lamented recently. “He went to pick out his soccer cleats today and was about to pick the pink ones until the store employee told him they were for girls. I've always told Sam, ‘There is no such thing as boy colors and girl colors. There is only color. People can choose to like any color they want’. But it's confusing View Post
The Amazing Benefits of Forest School
The practice of immersing children in nature from an early age has long been popular in the Scandinavian countries, not the least through the tradition of “forest schooling.” Now the concept of learning in nature is finally starting to catch on in the U.S. And with good reason - for young children, the benefits of forest school are both plentiful and profound! The original Scandinavian forest View Post