We share more of our favorite nature books for kids here and some favorites for adults here.
Happy Earth Day! Come along for a little glimpse at why we love this book. Continue reading
Category Archives: Kids
Getting Outside : Kids Edition
This post was originally published as part of an ongoing series where we share ideas, big and small, for getting outside. Our first post shared a few ideas for getting outside at every energy and adventure level. Sarah followed-up with suggestions for week-day doses of outside time. We also wrote another post that suggested taking advantage of the awesome national and state park programs.
We’re republishing the post because we realize that everyone is social-isolating at home with their kids for an extended period of time. With all of those hours together, this is the perfect opportunity to create new, healthy habits. Something we’re passionate about is spending time in nature with Alex and Luc.
Have you seen the headlines?
Honestly, this shouldn’t be that hard of a task, but in the craziness that is life getting outside with kids can be hard. Here are our tips for helping to get you and your kids out the door and into nature. Continue reading
Reading with Kids: Math Games!
These are some of our favorite out-of-print “thinking” books.
The back of the books say: “This is not a mathematic book in its usual sense; it is a book about thinking. It is about perspective, and about abstracting to look at things in a new way.” That simple description concisely explains why I love them. These books are unlike any typical math book.
Cooking with Kids: Make a Silly Cake!
Cooking with Kids is an ongoing series where we share recipes that are easy enough to make with a two-year-old. If you’re new to the series, our first post that provides our detailed tips for cooking with little ones.
I hear that all of this time at home is leading to more baking. We’re definitely in that boat, and no one’s complaining that there’s too much cake in the house (yet!). If you’re in the !bake-more-cakes! camp, we’re sharing our favorite banana cake recipe below. The cake is great, but what really sets it apart is the frosting extremely exquisite decorations. Continue reading
Unicorn or Narwhal?
PLEASE tell me that you stocked up on ice cream and milk during the great TP hoarding of 2020. Because if you did, you could make milkshakes. BUT if you also have some icicles hanging around, then you can make something magical. Continue reading
Quiet as a Mouse Tea Time
A couple of weeks ago during a string of snow days, we came up with the sweetest afternoon routine, and it centered around something we’re calling “Quiet as a Mouse Tea Time”. Continue reading
Make with Me : Edward’s Menagerie
Meet Whip Horn, Luc’s newest little buddy. Continue reading
Crafting with Kids: Knitting Looms
Knitting looms are a great tool for helping young kids make useful garments and play items out of yarn. Click through to see a variety of looms and how we use them.
Cooking with Kids : Pumpkin Cookies
{This post was first published in 2015. We’re reposting it again today because there’s nothing better than a pumpkin cookie on a cold November day.}
Pumpkin is our ingredient of the season. So far we’ve used it to make some pumpkin butter, pumpkin popsicles, and a quick weeknight pasta.
Welcome back to our new Cooking with Kids series, where Alex is the true star, and these pumpkin cookies are the runner up. If you haven’t seen our first Cooking with Kids post, it’s worth a glance, especially if you’re just starting out on this whole kids-in-the-kitchen adventure. Today’s post will not go into as much detail about how to make the cooking fun for your little one, instead, I’m just putting all of our past tips into practice and sharing a few ideas related specifically to this recipe and baking cookies in general. As a point of reference for any moms out there, Alex helped with these cookies when he was 29 months old (just shy of 2 1/2 years).
This is a recipe that I first saw on Design Mom. I made a batch for a party last fall, and predicted then that they would become a fall favorite. This year’s batch turned out just as delicious and well-received by everyone in the house, that they’ve retained their position as “favorite fall cookie”. The cookies are delicious little fluffy cakes of pumpkin, and if kept in an airtight container, they will stay moist for at least two weeks (surprisingly a few cookies made it that long in our house!). The original recipe includes instructions for a glaze, I didn’t make it this year, opting for a plain cookie, but made it last year and loved it. I’ll include it below in case you’re craving the extra touch of sweetness.
Baking with Kids : Halloween Style
Cooking with Kids is an ongoing series where we share recipes that are easy enough to make with assistance from a two-year-old. If you’re new to the series, our first post provides detailed tips for cooking baking with little ones.
On Tuesday Sarah shared a Halloween appetizer. Yesterday I shared a well-wrapped main dish, and today we’re sharing the dessert that’s sure to make your little trick-or-treaters squirm giggle.
The focus of this Cooking with Kids post is all on the decorating, and in this post we give you sources for all of our fun supplies (including the spider cupcake holders!). Kids LOVE decorating treats, and Halloween is the perfect time to let them go wild. Make it spooky, creepy, silly, cute. It definitely doesn’t have to be perfect. And that’s what makes this project such a hit with big and little people.
I like to plan projects for us to do throughout the season, some more time and energy intensive than others. Decorating spider cupcakes purposefully falls on the easier side. It’s something that you could do on an afternoon when you want to add a little bit of Halloween excitement (and sugar!) to their day.