Wikis tagged with activities

    Bath time is fun time in our house, but my 6 year old keeps telling me how all of her friends use strawberry smelling soap, and won't stop asking me for some.  Of course the first thing that I think of is all of the toxic ingredients in those yummy smelling soaps, and how I'm certainly not going to use them to get her clean.  Sorry Quinn!     So instead, while she was at school her brother and I decided to make her a special bath time surprise!  Oh-so-pretty smelling Lavender Soap Balls!  It turned out to be a super fun project for Ethan and I, and Quinn couldn't wait to use them....

  We recently asked the members of the Mothering Community to tell us about their favorite family Christmas movies and received some great responses! Here is a list of our top ten faves from that discussion.    Head over to the original thread to see all of the recommendations and to share your own must watch Christmas list!        A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) Starring Ann Altieri and Chris Doran   "I haven't watched A Charlie Brown Christmas in a long time. I should, because it's an ongoing family joke that my mom and I love "Charlie Brown trees." I don't like my trees...

by Loralee Leavitt and Elaine Bassett   Candy is a traditional part of Halloween. But since it contains so much sugar, corn syrup, and artificial dye, many parents don’t want their children gorging on Halloween loot. Whether you’re planning a Halloween party, or using up candy after Halloween, these activities will help your children enjoy their Halloween candy without eating it.   Halloween Potions   Halloween’s a perfect time for potions, and kids love to mix and stir. Let them stir their Halloween candies into mad scientist potions. Set out spoons or colored straws for stirring,...

DANCE! Cleaning up 35 years of magazining is painful. So, obviously, is saying goodbye to the fabulous Production Department trio we’ve* had the opportunity to be, back in the  golden days of yore** when we worked together to create a magazine. So when Melissa stopped by last night, Mel and I stopped our cleaning and sighing, threw a CD (one I had found in a pile of old review submissions), Totally ’80s for Kids, into the computer, cranked up the volume, and danced our saddened hearts out.   P.S. For the record, I am not a fan of ’80s pop, but I have to admit it’s hard to beat...

Looking for a fun way to introduce science and nutrition concepts to your kids?   In her new book, Candy Experiments, author Loralee Leavitt shares dozens of brand-new experiments that use candy to teach about these topics. The following excerpt from Candy Experiments contains fun and easy ways that you and your children can test food for sugar, hydrogenated palm kernel oil and artificial dyes!   About the Book:   Make giant gummi worms, turn M&Ms into dazzling comets, grow candy crystals and turn cotton candy into slime! You'll find all these experiments and more, plus simple...

Articles and studies Toddlers and TV "Students with cable TV at home 'do worse in exams'" Babies, TV, and maternal interaction TV Research: Let’s Get Smarter About What Young Children See, Hear and ExperienceArticle examining multiple studies from an early-childhood-education perspective The Death and Life of American Imagination  Books The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn Remotely Controlled by Aric Sigman To Kindle A Soul - TV chapter The Big Turnoff by Ellen Currey-Wilson Living Outside the Box by Barbara Block Buy, Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas Unplugged Play by Bobbi...

March 18, 2011 A new documentary film on vaccines, The Greater Good, premieres April 2nd. Please view the press release.

Love this unique Valentine craft! Corey Colwell-Lipson from Celebrate Green and Green Halloween shows us how to felt valentine heart necklaces.  This craft is a creative and eco-friendly way to present something special to your child’s school class, homeschool group, or to friends and family for Valentine’s day. Easy enough for the older kids to do on their own, and with some help at any age.   About Melanie Mayo-Laakso is the Content Manager for Mothering.com. Mothering is the birthplace of natural family living and attachment parenting. We celebrate the experience of...

  In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the residents of New York need our help more than ever.  Mothering has partnered with City Harvest to provide our members with information on how they can help during this time.   Now serving New York City for 30 years, City Harvest is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city's hungry men, women, and children. This year,City Harvest will collect 42 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then...

Image courtesy of Creativity103's Flickr photostream   Are you on Pinterest? This virtual pinboard that lets you create, organize, and share what you find online. Because it’s a visually-oriented site, it attracts us using something other social media sites haven’t done nearly as well: images. While online we tend to be seekers. We look for information, distraction, connection, and inspiration. Pinterest lets us find (and revel in) all these things through compelling images. The site was launched in March 2010. One of the founders, Ben Silbermann, said in an interview that the...

One year, I made a ‘To Read’ list, composed of five novels-Mozart’s Women: His Family, Friends, His Music by Jane Glover; Hot and Bothered, Annie Downey; Painted Shadow: The Life of Vivienne Eliot, First Wife of T.S. Eliot by Carole Seymore-Jones; Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire and Howard’s End, E.M. Forster-to be finished within six months. Pretty ambitious, considering the proposed books are all within the 200-300 page range, one at nearly 700+ pages. Some would say, that doesn’t sound ambitious at all! It is when there is a toddler running around the...

Image courtesy of Harold Kuiper's Flickr photostream   The magnificent blues guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr. performed regularly not far from my childhood home. But the divides of race and radio kept me from hearing him play until I was an adult. Even when I started spending my babysitting money on music I was limited to what was available in stores within walking distance. Just like everyone else born before the net, my musical ear was limited to narrow channels of exposure. As I got older and discovered what to me was new music, I felt my smaller world crack open. Music pours...

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to everyone who entered and to Abby Epstein and Ricki Lake for the great giveaway. The randomly chosen winner is Miranda Cassidy!! Congrats!! You will be contacted by email. Don’t forget to look for the release of the More Business of Being Born DVD set in stores Feb 7th—or grab it online now. — To celebrate the release of the More Business of Being Born DVD set in stores Feb 7th, Director Abby Epstein and Executive Producer Ricki Lake would like to offer Mothering readers a chance to win The Mother Lode Pack, a $109 value! This release follows...

by Lynn Colwell & Corey Colwell-Lipson What to do with the Valentine’s Day cards and gifts your child makes at home or brings home from school? Stick ‘em in a drawer? Seal ‘em in a box? Instead, how about turning them into Valentine’s Day decor? (Items saved from previous years may be used as well.) In my house, we used an empty mantle and a bare stick-wreath as the “blank canvas”. My daughter, Zoe, was allowed to decorate the area as she pleased. She had fun with the process and, in the end, was so proud of the display and the seasonal mood it conjured. I have a feeling this...

By Jessica Williams Most people know about Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon,” Alice Walker’s “In Search of our Mother’s Gardens,” and Wallace Thurman’s, “The Blacker the Berry,” all of which I whole-heartedly recommend. My husband was born of a black father and white mother. When I birthed our first daughter I was obsessed with reading about mixed race children. Here are a few reviews of some lesser known gems centered on being black and white. Caucasia by Danzy Senna This book is a page turner from jump. It is...

When I was 19, I went to Europe with 2 girlfriends for 9 1/2 weeks. On the train in France, I was listening to Sinead O’Connor for the first time on my walkman (yes, I am that old) and I was deeply moved by just how incredible she was. Everyone had told me she was amazing, but I hadn’t checked her out yet because I thought if she was that great, I would have discovered her myself. I had a similar experience with The Mother Daughter Project. My friend eagerly told me about the book by SuEllen Hamkins, MD and Renee Schultz, MA. The movement had been a game changer for my friend and...

Are you a mom blogger? Do you have a passion for a topic and want to share it? The All Things Mothering blog is looking to take on more weekly bloggers who want to write about their passions and help parents find the information they need. We are particularly interested in topics related to natural family living and are open to new and unique suggestions that will be a good fit for our readers. Blogging positions are unpaid but you will receive unparalleled exposure in our large community. Below is a list of the topics we are most interested in. Please feel free to suggest yourself...

On Sept 29th hundreds of museums across the US will provide free admission as part of Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day Live! event. Only two members per household can gain free admission during the event, and must present a special ticket to do so, but it is a good chance to reduce the costs of visiting a local museum you have been wanting to bring the family to.   In the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, who offer free admission everyday, Museum Day Live! is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone...

Did I mention we’re in a swirl of redesign action over here at Mothering? Yes, indeed. Both the magazine and the website are getting makeovers, and in my pursuit of new design input, I recently came across an exciting find: Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton. This beautiful foray into the world of typography is a delight to pore over, chock-full of typographical tips, informative examples of design principles put into practice, and info about the historical and cultural contexts for the development of type.The fun-to-read appendix includes a section called “Free Advice.” Here’s a...

Exciting news! Much loved publishing company, Barefoot Books, has just released their all new World Atlas and is doing a HUGE giveaway to celebrate. I recently had a chance to explore this wonderful new addition to the Barefoot library with my seven-year-old. and we both adore it. Barefoot has skillfully combined a diverse array of information about our world with captivating images, fun flip-up “Did You Know” tabs, and an easy-to-navigate layout into the best world atlas for kids I have seen yet. Now until Nov 23rd Barefoot Books will be giving away an atlas a day on Facebook....