Pizza Restaurant Dramatic Play

"Going out for lunch" at Whole Foods

It's not delivery, it's dramatic play! Welcome the our area's first kosher pizza joint! Living in an area with no kosher restaurants means that eating out is pretty much an experience my family has only by bringing our own foods or consuming packaged kosher items in public dining areas or when we are vacationing at or visiting a location with kosher eateries. In fact, S and Y had never been to a pizza restaurant at all until earlier this year! We've been out for pizza a total of two times ever and S has recently been asking about having a pizza restaurant dramatic play center at home. Both of the boys have been particularly interested in pizza baking and pizza eating since we got our hands on a copy of Melissa Iwai's Pizza Day and began growing our own pizza garden.
Our play area had been set up as an ice cream shop for a while around Shavuos and that was so much fun that I moved a portion of the toys to the kids' sandbox out back. Meanwhile, inside, I gathered some materials and resources from Pocket of Preschool's Pizza Restaurant Dramatic Play bundle and set up shop! This set is full of ideas and materials to print and use at home or in your classroom. I paired that along with some of my own ingenuity as I created movable and reusable parts for building, baking, eating and delivering pizzas with sauce, cheese and toppings.

We've been really building on dramatic play at home for some time now. Partly because the boys are older now and partly because I've picked up a few tips of the trade along the way, we've had extended interest in and use out of dramatic play themes and setups here. It was often a gamble at first when I would spend sometimes upward of 3 hours setting up a play theme. Sometimes the boys would engage right away. Sometimes not. Sometimes they would use things as I'd imagined; sometimes not. Sometimes they would stick with a theme for weeks, sometimes just a few days. Our ice skating rink earlier this year was a huge hit. Our Fairy Tale Land was a bit of a flop. Our pet and vet center and fire station were super successful and our Flower Shop kind of withered and wilted away after one or two days.

When you put a lot of time and effort as an adult into setting up a play activity in your home or your classroom, it can leave you scratching your head when the children involved don't take to the space as you'd imagined. Why were some of our themes successful while others were not? And how am I measuring "success" in the children's play and experience? Here are a few things to consider:

First off, what is "success?"
I look first and foremost for interest and engagement. That doesn't necessarily mean that the children are playing with the materials as I would imagine, but rather that they are playing and expanding on their own ideas. We've had some themes that were immediately inviting (usually anything new and novel has that effect) and some that even while new and novel didn't necessarily draw my kids right in. Sometimes that was a case of materials being so new and novel that the boys didn't know what they were or what to do. If you've never eaten in a restaurant, you probably won't know what a menu is for or why a table is set or how an order form is used. If you're not a pet owner, you probably haven't been to a veterinarian and perhaps you've never seen an x-ray. And even familiar themes like fairy tales and fire stations might have new ideas and materials to explore.

Join 'em. That's right, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Take your kids or students on a tour of a new play theme. Use resources like books, videos, songs, community field trips and more to introduce themes that might be new and even ones that are familiar.

S and Y are busy decorating pizza boxes to use for delivery
and takeout options in their restaurant.

Too much grownup stuff. A lot of dramatic play is pretending about the world of grown ups. Our world is fascinating to children. They spend much of their time wanting to be grown up and practicing being grown up and playing about being grown up. That said, a world of play created by grown ups alone is still a grown up world and not one that is necessarily representative of the children it was intended for. I found early on that when I spent so many hours printing, laminating, setting up and designing their play space it still lacked something and that was not their interest alone--it was their hand and participation in its design and creation. Sure, everything needs its place and space and I do have some structure around that to assist with organization, but the boys can also help decide where things "belong" and create art and props for our play together.

I still print and laminate and prepare. But I do less. If we want and need to add more, we can. Now, the boys also design and contribute to props. I printed and stapled some menus into these file folders. The boys colored in and decorated some pictures of pizza slices. S cut them out and we glued them to the front of the menus.

A little goes a long way: I used to spend a lot of time, effort and even $$$ preparing everything we could possibly imagine in our imaginary play themes before introducing it to the kids. And this is what I noticed: some things would be played with and explored right away. Some would get repeated use over time. Some would never be touched at all or merely looked at once. It seemed that when I had more out, less got used and often times, interest would wane rather quickly; not the other way around. This time I really encouraged myself to follow my own advice:

• Less is more: I have three kids and only two of them are really utilizing the materials: we don't need enough to make and serve 28 pizzas!
• Use what you have: this one is always such a challenge for me. I could buy a toy pizza set in a store or even online. Or I could make one out of laminated cardstock, felt, velcro, pipe cleaners and yarn all of which I had on hand. If you are like me and it's very tempting to run to the craft store or Dollar Tree (hey, it's only a dollar--if you buy ONE thing), the Target dollar spot (where it's rarely a dollar even IF you buy only one thing) or Amazon Prime (it can even be there in 2 hours...)...challenge yourself like I did to stick to what you have on hand or even a set budget. This time I only bought a set of cardboard pizza boxes. If I was really thrifty, I might have found a way to finagle these for free from an actual pizza restaurant, although I found that to be a bit more challenging since I can't eat in any of those establishments where I live..
• Timing is everything: Sometimes our dramatic play themes are a flop because timing is off. Our fairy tale land emerged alongside Purim and Y's birthday and an influx of other toys and treats. It was easy to overlook the play area in those days. The flower shop opened at the very end of my pregnancy with C and right before Pesach. We were so busy and I was so unable to move around a lot and engage with the boys that it's not so surprising that they played for a few days and then moved on to something else.
• Layers make the cake: I LOVE layers. Layers in cakes, layers in clothing, even layers in onions. Rather than deal with the stress and overwhelm of having "everything" set up before you start a new play theme, be OK with having it started and adding to it later. In fact, this is even a useful tactic in gauging what is interesting to your little players and what needs to be added, what could be changed or removed...
• Give it its own space: I don't just mean physical space here, though that, too, is important. But having a space and time to designate to opening up shop when you're starting a new play theme is important. You want to be able to introduce it when there's time to play and explore and when you are available to join in and support. You also want to make sure it doesn't coincide with a massive overhaul and shift in other play areas as well. Here, if I am changing up our STEAM drawers, I don't do that on the same day as changing up our dramatic play area.  I also tend to set things up that are new right before Shabbos so the boys will have plenty of time to play and explore without rushing off to an event or other activity. Alternatively, when I am changing up art or writing materials, I do NOT do this right before Shabbos or a holiday when they can't immediately make use of the area.
• Revisit or revamp: Sometimes for whatever reason, a play theme doesn't play out. In these cases, it's OK to shut it down or take it to another space. We brought the flower shop outside and introduced a pop up potting shed one afternoon. When the ice cream shop got a bit stale, we added new life to it by setting up scoops, cones, dishes and toys in the sandbox. The costumes and props of Fairy Tale Land have long since been packed and stored, but I guarantee you I'll bring them out again--probably not at the same time as I bring out a lot of blocks and materials to build castles, graggers and toys for Purim and new presents from a birthday celebrated in the same week. And even themes we've loved that are stored for now will return again for repeated play and expansion. Who knows what will become of our Ice Skating Rink by next December?

Use it or lose it: When you do shut down one play theme and store it for future use, it's a good time to take inventory. Save what you liked and what you'll use in the future. Toss/donate what you won't. I do like to save some of what the boys have created to contribute, especially since it is fun for them to look back on their old artwork at a later date. I also use a lot of my materials across a variety of play themes. The same trays we use for pizza are used for our bakery shop and small world play. Our zamboni also functions as a delivery truck. Our garden hose has also been used in a grooming shop and as a fire hose on a fire truck and even as a gas station for filling up a car. It can be useful as well to consider this if you are making purchases for a play theme.

So, if you're looking around your house and preparing to set up your own pizza restaurant, here are some things you might include:

• metal "pizza" trays with velcro dots corresponding to "slices" of laminated cardstock pizza dough 
• some toys and tools from our play kitchen for baking, mixing dough, measuring ingredients, serving, etc.
• build your own pizza set:

• dough made from laminated cardstock with a velcro dot on the bottom to attach to the tray
• yarn cheese
• felt sauce
• felt mushrooms
• felt carrots
• felt basil leaves
• pipe cleaner onions
• pipe cleaner peppers
• a sealed salt shaker with rice for Parmesan cheese--you could also include recycled spice containers

*You can create your own favorite toppings with whatever you have on hand. Felt, paper, cardboard, cardstock, pompoms, cotton balls, yarn, string, beads, recycled loose parts, etc., could all be used.

• pizza boxes for takeout/delivery
• a riding toy or toy shopping cart or cardboard box for a deliver truck
• a salad bar with a big plastic bowl, tongs and green crepe paper or tissue paper "lettuce" (pizza toppings can be added as well)
• bread or bread sticks made from salt dough or model magic
• menus printed from the set above or created by you and your kids
• order forms and clipboards
• costumes and props like aprons, chef's coats (we actually use kids' lab coats), chefs hats, potholders
• materials for writing/drawing orders
• a cash register, play money
• props for cleaning

As an extension to your activity, you might want to make and build your own actual pizza to eat at home--especially if, like us, you do not live near a real pizza shop you can eat in. We love this simple recipe for pizza dough. I use all purpose flour rather than bread flour and it freezes well if you wish to stock up or don't use it all in one sitting. I usually break it up into four equal balls. One makes a perfect individual pizza so each of the boys makes one to eat and we freeze the other two for another time. We've been able to add in some fresh herbs from the Pizza Garden as we away for the peppers and tomatoes to grow bigger and ripen.

This has been one of our more successful dramatic play themes. A good portion of that has to do with following the tips above. Overall, the boys are most eager to play when we join in their world of wonder. My husband and I are their favorite customers! S has somehow combined the words "baker" and "chef" into "cheffer," and he is the busiest and eagerest pizza cheffer I know. I'm off to go make some actual dinner and we will be back soon.

Until then...

Happy Playing!

I'm Round, I Bounce, But I Won't Bounce Back: Opening Dialogue with Children About Body Image

Mr. Harrington was a substitute gym teacher. He lived in my best friend's neighborhood and was retired aside from the occasional gig filling in for an absent phys-ed teacher. Rumor has it that in his time at home, he could be seen jogging around the neighborhood carrying a sack full of bricks on his back and eating a stalk of raw broccoli. Why do I remember Mr. Harrington? He subbed maybe twice ever in my entire public school experience. I remember him because he is the one who told me the following statement when I could not do a tripod:

"You have poor upper body strength. You are weak and you will always be weak."

In his defense, Mr. Harrington did not know about hypotonia or low muscle tone. Neither did I and most kids didn't get PT early on for things like that back then. I was not weak, but the connection between my brain and my muscles was slower than my typically developing peers. In addition to poor upper body strength in gym class, I also had chronically low self confidence. I decided early on that I was "bad" at sports.

I never tried out for any team sports, I never chose to engage in these activities and running was definitely something reserved for people being chased, G-d forbid. I grew up significantly under the curve for height and weight most of the time. When schools used to do the pinch test for BMI, I came up as the "fattest" kid in my class, nonetheless, because the ratio of muscle to fat was higher than most of my peers'. I had a "hollow leg" and could "eat whatever I wanted." "Where did I put it all?" "When I stood sideways, I disappeared!" I intuited a lot of ideas about size, weight, strength, health and movement--spoken and unspoken. But here's what I want you to know. Here's what I want you to remember. Early on, it's all reduced to two broad categories: ABCs and 123s. Letters and Numbers.

When I was small, I wanted to be big. I wanted to be the right number to ride that ride. I wanted to be the right number to wear that dress. I wanted to be the same number as my Mom and my Dad because then I could do the things that they did each day that looked so fun and amazing. And as I grew, the letters emerged. Letters I could use to now recognize my name. And then write it myself. And to read the books that were on that shelf. And make the grades that made the grownups proud. And letters on a keyboard that played up and down the space of 81 black and ivory tones. Numbers and letters that scored "perfect" scores and won me competitions and filled the pages of over 100 compositions.

But something else took place as well. I began to notice numbers on the scale. Letters next to the word "vitamin" making some foods "good" and some foods "bad." Letters like XS, S, M, L, XL and numbers on labels that made clothes fit or not fit and thereby made me worthy or unworthy of wearing them. I stopped wanting to be big. I wanted to be small. And it's not something we talk about a lot as women (or men, for that matter) but here's a set of numbers I'd like you to see:

63
81
204

I am 63 inches or 5'3" tall. At this height I have ranged in weight between the following two numbers: 81lbs and 204lbs. In May of 2000 I weighed 81lbs due in part to a lifetime of yet to be diagnosed and adequately treated disordered sleep and also disordered eating. On the day I gave birth to my daughter 8 weeks ago, I weighed 204lbs. I have seen a lot of numbers between those two figures and my figure has seen a lot of shifts as well. Many professionals with good intentions and great educations offered help to me with my disordered eating and body image struggles, but it's a tricky little bird, and while it's no longer a full on war at this point in my life, it's a silent battle in the background for so many women and men alike. And many professionals with good intentions and great educations offered help for the symptoms I presented with that eventually led to the correct diagnosis of my sleep disorder, but the very same symptoms that led to this discovery at the age of 26 are also ones that pigeon hole patients into misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment each and every day.

At some point in my life, I became less interested in numbers and letters and more interested in what my body and brain could do, like obtaining a college degree, biking 18 miles to and from my internship, learning to love hiking, yoga and even running (without being chased). I've never won a trophy or run a marathon but I've enjoyed a variety of ways of being active at all letters and numbers. And do you want to know something else? The three most intense workouts I've ever done were at my heaviest weights. I took home three gorgeous little trophies after those workouts and they keep me active and inspired every day. Mr. Harrington, if you're still out there, I'd like to see you push out one of those bricks you're hauling around with no epidural and then you can tell me I'm weak.

So why do we go from this stage of wanting to be bigger and bigger to all of a sudden wanting to be so small we disappear? Why do I have to be practically invisible for you to see me? And the answer is, very simply (though more complex, I fear), I don't. A few weeks ago, S quite innocently asked me why my belly is still big if C is no longer inside? I answered him, quite innocently, that it took a long time for my belly to grow as she grew inside so that it could give her a cozy place to get ready for the world. And it could take a long time for it to shrink back down and maybe it never would, but that would be OK because my belly carried her and Y and S and that is pretty cool. And today, as we walked out of my gym where I did my first workout since the incredible one I had 8 weeks ago in the L&D unit, S quite innocently said "Mommy, you are going to get so strong, as strong as Tatty!" "I am trying to get strong," I answered, just as innocently, "but I might not be as strong as Tatty. We might be strong in different ways and that's OK. You can have strong arms or strong legs and carry heavy things. You can have strong fingers and write and draw. You can have strong lungs and play a saxophone or a strong nose like Gerald Elephant and sound like a trumpet." S holds strength and shape on the same playing field. Why can't the rest of us do the same?

There is so much pressure and promotion after birth to "bounce back" and while I am round and I bounce, I have no interest in bouncing back. I just want to bounce forward. I don't want to obsess over numbers or letters for any reason other than computing math problems, reading and writing. I have leopard spots and zebra stripes and hair in all kinds of places I never knew I'd find it after these three pregnancies. I also finally wear a grown up shoe size, so that's pretty cool. I have friends who are on serious diet programs, some of whom even coach others toward weight loss. I have friends who have undergone gastric bipass surgery. I have friends who run marathons and even participated in triathlons. I have friends for whom food is only fuel and friends who love to eat for the pleasure of it. I have friends who will tell you that it is both, who can only eat now through a feeding tube. I have friends who teach Yoga and Zumba, friends who eat vegan diets, kosher diets, Whole30 diets or half the buffet diets. Some will say "it's easy: calories in, calories out." Some will say "it's hard and always a struggle."

And I am somewhere in there cheering everyone on in whatever brings you joy and wellness. Your path may not be mine, but I'm glad our paths have crossed. I'm not at the gym because I want some number or letter of the past. I'm there because, um, endorphins are amazing and energy spent is energy gained and I have three busy little "trophies" in my house that I need a lot of bubbly energy for. Health and wellness come in lots of shapes and sizes. So does beauty. So does strength. It's not black and white for me; that's reserved for piano keys. Grey is a fabulous shade, too and lets not forget red and orange, purple, blue...
I have three very important reasons to be well, to feel well and to talk about wellness on a level that keeps them on the same trajectory. Both of my boys also have hypotonia. Both have had PT, both keep active at their own gym and are, thank G-d very healthy and growing! Their gym teachers are encouraging and supportive but that doesn't mean they're never going to meet a Mr. Harrington, and when they do, I want them to be able to intuit over the sound of his words that they are strong and they always will be. Strength is about far more than hauling bricks and eating stalks of broccoli. And in some ways, I'm grateful for that old man. I'm just about stubborn enough to know that his words that at the time paralyzed me with shame are the same ones that pushed me to prove him wrong. Also, I kind of love broccoli, so we do have that in common.

And with three little differently shaped and sized growing bodies in this house, I want our dialogue to be open. We can reserve the numbers and letters on labels for those labels themselves. Food can be fuel and enjoyment. Broccoli tastes good and is good for you but ice cream is not bad. I have a deep-seeded habit not to look in mirrors so I may have my shirt on backwards and totally not realize it. But I hang mirrors all over this house because there's nothing wrong with seeing yourself, it can be a wonderful thing. Just look at my kids spending hours cracking themselves up at their own funny faces or strawberry juice mustaches. Postpartum bodies are not out of shape; they're a new shape and who the heck ever said a line is a shape at all?! I'm pretty sure I was awake for that part of geometry...

To my sweet sons and dear darling daughter; I'm round, I bounce, but I won't bounce back. You will grow; you will be the right number for that ride before you know it! You will have all kinds of letters in your life, but don't stop at A--there's DR and PhD and MR and MRS and MOM and DAD and don't forget to LOL. Prizes are sometimes metals and trophies and other times they are stretch marks and chin hairs. Embrace both. Be big enough to own your space; you've earned it. Be small enough to let someone share it with you; it's more fun that way. Be strong enough to face the Mr. Harringtons of the world and kind enough to love yourself just as much when you do. Try to find something you both have in common; that will shrink him back down to human size because no one's negativity should be larger than life.

Abundance in life isn't found in the number on the scale or the letter on your clothing tag. Your worth is not defined by a numeric figure or even your figure. What defines you is what is in your heart and your dreams and your willingness and ability to persevere toward both. Run if you love to but you don't have to be first. You don't even have to finish. Sometimes it is a sprint; sometimes it's a marathon, sometimes you're going in circles--but even the least skilled bicyclist quickly discovers that you only fall when you stop moving altogether. So keep pedaling, keep stretching, jumping, throwing, catching, seeing and laughing. Bounce back from the hurts of the world but for everything else, bounce forward. Life's a ball and you've gotta roll with it!

Happy and Healthy Playing

Beyond the Book: "Fairy Houses" by Tracy Kane

S is a longtime participant of Story Stretchers here and pairing fun and creative activities with literacy in our home and on the go has truly, I believe, ignited his love for reading. He often makes his own Story Stretcher activities and, of late, has requested that I plan for more of these. One of my very favorite things to do is take our Story Stretchers outside or on the road, and even better if we can do both!

Tracy Kane's first book, Fairy Houses has inspired a tiny world of wonder for children and adults alike. Fairy gardens cropped up around the nation and even internationally, forcing us all to crouch down, become small again and look more closely at the wondrous world around us. It sparked a simultaneous reverence for nature and fantasy. And woven in between these two worlds and beautiful illustrations on each page is the story of Kristen, a little girl on a family vacation, who creates her own tiny world of wonder in the woods.

We love small world and fairy play in our own yard and garden, but we also are fortunate enough to live nearby some great outdoor spaces and places. A visit to our local botanical garden center was the perfect venue for us to get outside and read! Anytime I'm taking a Story Stretcher on the road, I carry it with a grain of salt--knowing that my kids may be interested in the activities or may be more interested in other aspects of our location. Our botanical gardens is a paradise for kids of all ages (and their grownups, too), so I was not entirely sure how the boys would respond. I never take it personally if they have no desire to stop and read or do a take-along activity. It's just as easy to tow it back home as it is to take it with us in the first place. I also keep it short and simple when I bring a Story Stretcher on the go. Here are a few tried a true trips for traveling beyond the book, both literally and figuratively:

• Keep it light: don't pack a ton of materials or activities you may or may not use. Keep in mind you'll be shlepping it around!
• Keep it short: this may not be the time for a long and detailed book and activities.
• Keep it familiar: this is a GREAT time to bring out a book you've already read and know well. A new location can add new life and interest to an old favorite. It's also OK to not read the book at all and just verbally correlate it with the activity.
• Multitask: reading a book when there's a playground nearby may not be your kids' first choice. Reading a book while they're stopped and snacking might very well be right up their alley and spark an interest in an activity to follow. FYI, this is a great tip for home as well.

So, I packed along our book, and some tiny drawstring canvas pouches I DIYed into necklaces for the boys. I stuffed a few of our tiny fairies and gnomes into each pouch and when we got to the gardens, I pulled them out of my backpack. The boys were thrilled! Right away, each of them got very busy holding one fairy, wearing the other two in their pouches and showing them around as we walked toward the children's garden.

And while I did not give a whole lot of verbal direction or input, I did play along with them as they explored the spaces around them. Some of the time they enjoyed exploring from their own size perspective (as you can see with Y who is pleased whenever there is a broom in every room). And some of the time, they crouched down low to explore and create worlds from a smaller size perspective, that of their fairies and gnomes.

It is from this crouched position that a worm is found on the sidewalk and then a shadow is discovered. It is from this perspective that the outdoors that is so often a means to get to a destination becomes a destination. S and Y are not the fastest pair to travel with in these instances because the notice so much and stop so often. I calculate time for that in our trips when I can; these are qualities I want to nurture and not discourage. There are times we do need to get from A to B before noon and in those instances, I ask for "all hands on deck" to get the boys to join me in pushing C's stroller. However, on days we can manage to stop and smell the roses or look for worms or pick up rocks and sticks of all shapes and sizes, I am just as pleased as they are. It slows me down as well, and goodness knows I need that.

And as I stand, stopped in the amazement that these kids who can't see to pick up the toy they dropped right in front of their two little feet can somehow find a dragonfly on the sidewalk with his wings folded together, I am brought back to my own little world of slow and steady observation. I, too, can find a tiny weed poking through the crack in the sidewalk or a bumblebee basking in the pollen of a purple coneflower. And I am grateful to Tracy Kane for weaving a little bit of magic into the pages of her books so that children and adults alike could have their own sense of wonder in nature sparked again or even for the very first time.

As we stopped to snack and read, so did the fairies and gnomes. S found a large chunk of wood that looked like a perfect slide to him and his fairies. Y contributed a couple of tree circle tables and some bark chips for snacking. I found a loose weed on the ground that fit just inside a small hole on the second table and made for a lovely picnic umbrella. And when it was time to get up and play and walk some more, the fairies and gnomes returned to their pouches and the journey continued. But S stopped by a fountain to stop and look some more. "Mommy, a frog!" he shouted and I thought he was looking toward the other fountain nearby, one that has four sculptures of frogs spitting water into the pond. S has even remarked that this is not very nice of the frogs because spitting is a "not good choice," but on this day, he was not talking about those frogs, he was talking about this one:

Somehow, he managed to peek inside of one of many plants like this one, surrounded by dozens of other plants and flowers and people and fountains and excitement of all kinds. Somehow, he stopped and looked in just the right place to see this little green tree frog, crouched deep at the base of a leaf in exactly the same color as his skin, staring just as observantly back up at us from his own little world of wonder. And I wonder, if it were not for the whimsy and magic and possibility of fairies just maybe coming around when we are gone, would we have overlooked our little amphibious friend?

Happy Playing!

Sprout Scouts Playcamp is in Session! (And How We Are Surviving Summer...)

I don't know how it happened, but summer vacation is HERE. Just like that, S graduated from preschool and visited kindergarten and Shavuos came (and went) and now we're all home for the summer... Which means, Sprout Scouts Playcamp is in session!

Sometimes, I am totally rocking this play at home with three little sprouts thing (like when I got all three kids to the botanical garden center and returned home again with the same three kids--the matching camp shirts really helped). Sometimes, not so much (like last Friday when Y stuck a piece of magenta fish gravel up his nose that he recovered from his self-directed turn-his-room-into-a-gravel-pit project from too many months ago to still have gravel on the floor and we had to go to the pediatrician to have it extracted. He was quite impressed. He asked for a shot on his way out. I hope they give punch cards for this kind of thing, like get 12 objects extracted and your 13th extraction is on the house. I am in trouble...). But we are surviving summer here, and with a little bit of planning and lot of deep breathing, humor and perhaps some additional vices, you can, too!

 Give it a feeling of formality. One of the hardest parts of that summer transition is the change from the formality of school and routine. In order to create a feeling of structure and support around us, we create a sense of formality for our time together at home. Even if it is essentially barely planned, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-skirt chaos here, we call it camp. Sprout Scouts Playcamp to be exact. We started off the adventure with t-shirts for each scout and a backpack to decorate for the older two scouts.

Decorating camp bags was a big hit!

We do not have a schedule that requires watching the clock and in many ways that is nice. In some ways, that can also lead to disaster, so having some core routines is helpful. Morning work set out on the table gives a structure to the beginning of each day. It's something we did as well throughout the school year (per S's request) and both of the older scouts quite enjoy seeing what's on the table each morning (whether or not they participate in the activity).

 These types of activities and other table time activities require some setup and preparation on my part, but are aimed to entertain with minimal support from adults. That means they can be busy at work and play and I can be busy drinking my morning coffee or feeding a hungry baby or both at the same time...

Let's Get Outta Here! I love my home and our play area and outdoor area are great places for play, learning and fun. But to be quite honest, I find it easiest with all three to get out of the house for a bit on most days. I need to see other people. Maybe even adults. And it breaks up the day for us (not to mention sibling squabbles).

We load into the van and go. If going out is your thing, too, here's a few tips to help it go as smoothly as possible:

• Dress to impress: Ok, I thought matching outfits were just cute, but honestly I'm only here now because I'm not lost in the mall and I'm only not lost in the mall because I was in an outfit my mother could easily recognize. I'm sorry I complained when I had to wear it again as a hand me down 3 years later... But having the clothing you need (and extras to change into just in case) for where you are going is very helpful. You might want to leave a change for everyone in the car (even yourself). Maybe also a towel. Be prepared for temperature and weather changes. Make sure everyone is comfortable in their shoes if you'll be doing lots of walking...
• Speaking of walking... mobility is a huge aspect of my going out with all three kids now. How will we get around when we get there? Stroller for the baby or will I wear her? Usually I need to have both options since she gets really irked when she's not happy with one. And if you're using a stroller, is the location stroller friendly? With two other kiddos, I also have to keep safety in mind. Each of them holds one hand on the stroller while we walk through parking lots and busy locations. Even getting in and out of the van is now a process of making sure the most mobile are safely in their seats or on a sidewalk as we load and unload. If you're visiting a location where your little ones can be more independently mobile, it can be helpful to station yourself at a central location and to discuss with your brood where that will be. If it's important that everyone stay in one area together, that's also a valuable topic to mention. And in particularly busy and crowded locations, it's useful to tell your children where to go if they do get separated from you and how to identify safe adults to ask for help. 
• Don't go hangry! Packing adequate snacks and water and lunches if you'll be gone that long keeps everyone happy and going. And don't forget yourself. For some reason, my kids are twenty times as interested in snacking while we are away than they are at home. It is the same food. In the same container. But now we are at the museum so they need to snack and ask about snacks and ask for more snacks every five minutes. Yes, this is annoying. Yes, I come prepared. And yes, my last mode of "preparedness" is an equally well prepared statement of "we can leave now and go home for lunch if you are super hungry." Yes, many times that is how I get us out the door with minimal children under my arm being hauled like a football...
• Silver linings: they can be hard to see, but find them... "Two of my kids are NOT crying right now." This is a statement I make a lot these days. Yup, that's my silver lining when one is throwing a massive fit or totally melting down. I'm not a mathematical genius, but those are pretty good percentiles. And know that even if folks are staring and condescendingly shaking their heads, many many more of us are quietly cheering you on--we've been there, we'll be there again, maybe even five minutes from now...you've got this!
• It's More Fun With a Friend! One of my favorite things about our summer outings is an impromptu meet-up with friends. Many families are home with kids this summer and creating a way to communicate plans through social networking or phone groups can help lure us all out of the house and into each other's company with minimal effort and no pressure.

But what if leaving the house is not my thing? That's OK! Sometimes we all like the comfort and familiarity of home and sometimes staying in is necessary either way. When we are here holding down the fort, there are a few tricks of the trade that are helpful:

Set Up for Success: Less is more. I have to always remind myself of that. It can feel like I need to go out and buy a lot of materials to keep us busy or like I need to set up a lot of toys for playing. And honestly, we do best with less. I recently did a massive clean out of our kids' room and closets (as in 12 trash bags full...) and do you know what? My boys LOVE playing in their room now. I also revamped our art shelves and writing center, swapping in a few items that had been stored away and swapping out others the boys had grown bored with. I did stock a big tote bag with some simple craft kits I had in storage. I call it my U-Pick-a-Project Bag and I reserve it for those lulls in activity where we really need something to shift our attention and mood. And if it's not a toy at all, it's automatically interesting. For the last year, my boys have followed me like puppies into the kitchen to empty the contents of our recycling bin. So...I moved the recycling to their very own recycling bin in our art & writing center. Voila! They now have easy access to toilet paper tubes and produce containers and tin cans all day long! Loose parts? Check. Craft supplies? Check. Good to go!

I think we could totally manage to make it all summer and not buy anything special aside from that plastic sweater box their recyclables are now in, but I did invest in some cheap 1 inch binders at the beginning of the season as well. These are our Sprout Scouts Journals and each of the older scouts has one. I hole punch various pages in it as Morning Work activities. S is quite into drawing and dictating and even took to writing his name independently (a skill he possessed long before he actually wanted to demonstrate it at home). This allows him a venue for working on those skills as he nears kindergarten in the fall. Y is also working on fine motor development with these activities even if his drawings and dictations are at his own developmental level. Some form of journal for the summer can be a great and inexpensive investment to keep children of all ages and stages busy (and learning).

All three Sprout Scouts now enjoy a morning routine of "reading" from our Ever-changing Book together. This photo was taken milliseconds before the tiniest scout required 4th breakfast and abandoned Morning Meeting with her mother in tow. I swapped in some seasonally appropriate songs, action rhymes and games for spring and summer and there's no need to reinvent the wheel here, either. We just fish from the pool of materials we used at this time last year. The boys will actually request to "do the Ever-changing Book" and usually between everyone's needs and attention span, we make it through a few pages at a time, so the book in full as it is currently stocked will likely keep us entertained for the summer! If creating your own Ever-changing Book is not your thing, no worries! You don't need any props to sit and sing, read and share some favorite action rhymes.

Troubleshooting Cabin Fever:

Even the most well prepared and protected campers experience Cabin Fever. They get bored or wild or start to squabble with one another. Having some tools for troubleshooting can help. One of my favorites is asking my scouts how they'd like to proceed. They can often resolve their own squabbles and even engage in an activity with some support and minimal suggestions. Having some favorites at the ready can help as well. 

Playdough is always a favorite here, so on one unexpectedly rainy Friday when we'd planned to take a trip to the science museum but had to stay home at the last minute due to inclement weather, we moved through feelings of disappointment by heading to the kitchen to make a fresh batch of playdough. When you need to shift activities or plans or just moods, even grownups can release some stress by squeezing the lumps out of warm playdough...

And Don't Come In Until It's Dark Out! Ah, how I miss those days of being tossed (with love) into the back yard for hours and hours. Nowadays, I join my little ones out there, but indeed the yard is where I long to be. And it's also a great location for messy play! In fact, any location that is not inside my house is great for messy play. What's that? Playdate at your house? Sure! We'll bring the glitter...

As it is, my apartment has increased in property value now that we can officially declare it beach front property after the installation of a sandbox in our backyard that likes to enter our home via 4 very adorable feet, 4 equally adorable hands and 2 very sneaky (and oddly sticky) little boys...

Location, location, location...sometimes we need a little change! If we can get outside, some time in the yard is great! If we can't, we head upstairs and play in the kids' room. Or turn on some music. Or head to the kitchen to whip up a batch of pizza dough for Make Your Own Pizza Night...

Just Call It a Party: I had no idea how much of my parenting would involve lying to my kids re-branding. One thing I know for sure: If you call it a party, they will come. Let's have a pajama party. A bath party. A bubble party. A Dinner Party. A Dance Party. A Movie Party. A Laundry Folding Party (Ok, I haven't actually tried that one yet...)

Here we are at our Butterfly Release Party

A little celebration can even lighten the bittersweet mood of saying farewell to the 12 butterflies we grew from caterpillars 

Resources: Use 'Em! Don't be a hero; use your resources. Surviving the Summer with Kids is not for the faint at heart. I love being home with my scouts and it's also challenging! There are some great resources to support us this summer and we are going to use them.

Libraries are incredible. Especially ours. Story times, special events, summer reading programs and contests keep us reading, learning (and sane) all summer long. S and Y are both at the stage of loving to choose their own books. We bring our Sprout Scouts backpacks and hit the stacks.

Other Humans with Tiny Humans: Misery loves company. Don't go it alone. Grown-ups need playdates just as much as kids do. And if you need some ideas on how to meet more humans with tiny humans, check out those libraries I mentioned above, meet-up groups, gyms, grocery store aisles, the parking lot at Target...

Screens for Everyone! Yup, you read that right. Sometimes I scream, you scream, we all scream for screen time. Pop in a video, it's OK. Or use that screen to peruse some websites with apps and activities for kids. Or websites with ideas of activities you can do with kids. It's not your all day long solution (at least not every day) but it is an option.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and ours is full of great parks, farmers' markets, museums, garden centers, pet shops, a zoo, a botanical garden center, playgrounds... We have memberships to some favorite locations and this is a worthwhile investment for us (or great gift idea for family members wanting to buy a birthday gift). We also make use of many free attractions like the amazing parks and playgrounds we live near. Have a list of places indoors and out that are good for your family or check out some new ones. We tried strawberry picking at a farm last summer and had an amazing time. We tried a visit to our local art museum and it was a little too museumy for a certain Sprout Scout. But be open to adventures (even flops) and you will find new family favorites along the way! Many local shops have summer specials geared toward kids. Craft stores, garden centers, bookstores, pottery painting studios, and museums are great places to check. Some programs and events may have a cover cost, others are free.

Breathe, air is free! This last tip is mostly for me, but perhaps you will find it useful as well. During the school year, life is a rush of getting places on time and maintaining order and routine. Our summers are a little more relaxed, but that doesn't mean I am. We don't need to rush, it's OK to slow down. It's OK for there to be empty space that is not filled with adult-directed activities. It's OK for not everyone to be happy at the same time all of the time. Keep a big picture mindset and don't get stuck in the moment. It's OK to start over even if you need to brew up a pot of coffee at 2PM or eat breakfast for dinner. Let the kids skip a bath night and go to the sprinkler park with some baby shampoo in the morning. Get them dressed in their pajamas for bed way too late and then instead of going to sleep, go outside and play with glowsticks in the dark. Pitch a tent in their room over Shabbos. Give in to that extra stop at 7-11 for Slurpees on a Thursday. Say yes when you can because no is exhausting for everyone. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from summers long gone by, but the joy and the whimsy are so palpable even still that it's as if they happened yesterday. Those are the memories I want my Sprout Scouts to grow with. They will be beanstalks before I know it! But growth is slow and slow is OK. Stop and smell the roses this summer; don't get stuck on the thorns.

So there you have it, we are only a few weeks in, but we are surviving the summer and you will, too. Check back here for updates and activity ideas along the way and until then...

Happy Playing!