Summer Fun Mini Themes: Star Wars Jedi Training Camp

One of my favorite things about these [many] days at home is our ability to follow the kids' interests on a whim and dig deeper. It's kind of like emergent curriculum for play. And that's why last week, the Sprout Scouts took off on an intergalactic adventure and enlisted in Star Wars Jedi Training Camp! The experience was out of this world...

S in particular is very into Star Wars. It shows up in his play quite a bit and I loved the challenge of creating a play theme out of that interest. When I happened across some amazing (and free) printable Star Wars art and activities from Fiddlesticks Education, I decided to run--er, fly with it! I was introduced to Fiddlesticks Education resources through a large nature based summer curriculum bundle I purchased on my own whim (and on major discount). I love planning, curating and creating materials for play and learning but I also love the ease of "one stop shopping" and the ability to skip some of that time consuming searching--especially now! I also love to be able to support fellow like-minded educators. Her watercolor work is absolutely stunning and I was particularly inspired by her Curious Kids Club to create a way the kids can keep track of their summer activities and accomplishments. Everyone was very excited last Friday to earn two of their first "trophies" in their Curiosity Cabinets--one for their study in robotics and another for their successful completion of Jedi Training Camp!

So, what exactly did we do at Jedi Training Camp? Well, we started off the week by adopting an Ewok! The boys each got to color, cut and paste their own little paper doll to play with and care for. There is something so fun and quaint about paper dolls. I have such nostalgia whenever we use or make them and the graphics I collected printed onto cardstock were just perfect for that.

S and Y were each presented with their own Intergalactic Passports. They used watercolors to decorate the cover and I told them each day we would visit three planets for activities. Their mission each day was to find the 3 planet pictures I had sneakily tagged around the house and yard and to glue the corresponding picture into their passports. Finding the planets became a favorite activity in and of itself!

Of course the boys needed light sabers to train with. I created those with sculpting balloons, recycled toilet paper tubes and plenty of duct tape. As you can imagine, there were many replacement balloons throughout the week! S even asked for a double sided light saber like Darth Maul at one point, so why the heck not?

As you can see, S took his light saber Jedi training very seriously. One of our favorite (and most often repeated) activities last week was Jedi Training Light Saber Yoga. We used cards from Fiddlesticks Education and I highly recommend them, but you can just as easily make up your own moves and routines. The boys and I took turns pulling 3 cards from the deck at a time and holding each pose for about 10 seconds.

As you can see, this was really just a fun and playful mini theme. I think it made S feel particularly honored to see his interest taken into action last week. And the fun is continuing this week. We haven't quite returned to Earth yet, but we are back in our own galaxy as the Sprout Scouts enroll in Space Camp! But that's a post for another day--and until then...

Happy Playing!

Petal Play!

Wanna get the biggest bang for your buck on those beautiful fresh cut flowers your husband bought you? Or that you asked your husband to buy you? Or that you bought for yourself? I used to feel a bit wistful when wilting began, but then I discovered the wonder of petal play! From cutting and dissecting to tearing and crushing and grinding with a mortar and pestle to drying and crumbling and mixing into doughs or tea parties or making petal soup or petal potions... The options for play are as limitless as the imagination. You can certainly make use of flowers found in nature when the season permits, but definitely be sure to pick only ones that are OK for picking! You can also inquire at local florists or garden shops about whether they have any flowers or loose petals on the move list--some will be happy to donate these to a classroom or home.





And then, just add wonder, curiosity, imagination and play! Here, for your viewing (and reading) pleasure, is the story of some rose and tulip petals that happily lived a full life (and even a second, third and fourth life)...

First, we plucked and cut the heads off of the best looking flowers that remained. We collected them in a couple of our wooden mortar and pestle sets. I especially like using wooden ones with kids since the ceramic ones can break and these are pretty sturdy and lightweight. You can often find them in stores like Home Goods or TJMaxx quite inexpensively and occasionally at a thrift store if you're lucky!



The first stop on the Petal Express was into a batch of playdough. Yes, folks, that's Spiderman rolling out a petal playdough pancake in our backyard...nothing particularly out of the ordinary in this house!






Meanwhile at the picnic table...

It was nearly time for Afternoon Tea. In addition to leftover petals on the move list, we also had a meyer lemon about to be composted. But--alas, one more stop to make along with some tea bags, water, and only the loveliest (secondhand) dishes and utensils...

Yes, folks, that's Spiderman and a Ninja Turtle serving Afternoon Tea in the backyard. Nothing to see here, keep it moving...

Well that was fun!
But wait...
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Still more petals left for play...

Perfect for a Friday afternoon tea party for two most eager Cabbage Patch dolls.

I wonder if my husband knows when he picks out flowers for me that even as I am clipping the stems and arranging them in a vase or two, I'm already envisioning what we're going to play with them in a couple of weeks when they've worn out their dining room table welcome!

Probably he does...

Maybe it's time for another bouquet?

But until then...(and even especially after)...

Happy Playing!

Pretend You Are Playing...

"Mommy, what did you play when you were little?"
In the recent months, my boys have become particularly interested in hearing about what my own childhood play experiences were like. S in particular loves to hear stories of what types of toys I played with and what topics and stories I played about. Trips to our local thrift shop started to result in a growing collection of original cabbage patch kids (I am one doll away from having more cabbage patch kids than actual kids). I may or may not have begun grooming my boys to play with vintage My Little Ponies. They got the surprise of the summer when two brand new Pound Puppies arrived for adoption at our house in retro 1980s true-to-the-original packaging. And yes, I had to retro-actively order one more for myself, because I'm still jealous that my big sister had a big Pound Puppy, Cinnamon, and I only had a newborn, Fudge. I finally got my big Pound Puppy, a similarly colored breed with different ears and spots unlike the original Cinnamon, and if anyone asks, her name is Nutmeg.

And yes, I felt just a little bit foolish standing in the line to pick up my order from Walmart's Customer Service desk, holding onto my wallet and 30 plus years of little sister toy envy, but you know what? As soon as the grown man standing behind me saw what was inside my box he gleefully shouted
"Is that a Pound Puppy? In original 1980s retro packaging???"
"Yes, sir! And it still comes with the sticker sheet..."

And when I got in the line at the thrift store to buy two more original cabbage patch dolls so the boys would stop fighting over mine, the cashier had her own fond memory of being stationed overseas in Asia when cabbage patch dolls first came out and being able to purchase them at insanely inexpensive prices for the time since she was near the factory where they were manufactured. [Sorry to burst anyone's bubble who thought like I did that they were actually harvested from a garden bed...] Another woman remembered standing in line at midnight outside of the toy store when they first came out to buy one for her then two year old daughter. And when I posted a question to my Facebook page about earliest memories of play, the responses flooded in from favorite toys, games, play scenarios and more. How is it that on a good day, many adults cannot remember what we ate for dinner the night before or why we walked into the kitchen just now, but we can all remember playing as a child?

I believe this speaks volumes to the importance of play in childhood. Truly, child's play is more than just child's play. And the world's greatest pioneers of early childhood spoke to this truth. Voices like those of Fred Rogers, Maria Montessori and Vivian Paley all sang the same glorious tune, albeit in slightly different keys: play is the work of the child. It is where they discover and learn. It is where they feel and grow. It is where they grieve and overcome. It is where they worry and resolve. Play is the foundation upon which all else is built and it is truly the integrity of everything that emerges from it. If the foundation of a building is weak, the building itself will lack integrity. Play is where our children thrive, and yet, it is all but disappearing from childhood (not to mention all the years that follow).

Whereas early childhood classrooms once were a space of fantasy and storytelling, perhaps with some meaningful props offered and opportunity to reflect through various artistic, mathematical, literary, musical and scientific lenses, now there are desks and chairs and bodies made to sit still in them that are no more ready to sit still than a baby who's yet to sit at all is ready to walk. We've got so much. We've got research and data. We've got technology and industry. We've got scores to achieve and standards to maintain. What we don't have is time. There is not time for the luxury of play. What was once seen as the work of the child is now seen as an escape from that work. What once was the rule is now the exception to it.

My father is a psychologist, professor, lecturer, author and advocate. His area of expertise and interest is the world of work. His latest book, The Importance of Work in an Age of Uncertainty: The Eroding Work Experience in America talks about the massive climate change in our country's work and career force and how that has so greatly affected people across the board--from the CEO to the janitor and everyone in between. My father is truly passionate about the world of work and how it shapes who we are. So how did I end up an advocate for play? One might argue we speak from opposite ends of the spectrum, but I would argue that we are likely seeing and saying the very same things, albeit from varied stages of life.

And likely my own passion stems from the fact that two of the greatest advocates for my own childhood play were my parents. My mother also works in the field of early childhood education and greatly valued the role of children's narrative through play both in her classrooms and in our home. We did not have video games, though we did watch TV. We had plenty of toys and they spanned from those that are more open ended to those we craved and coveted as seen on TV. We did not always have someone standing over us and directing our play or dictating the story. We had times when we said "I'm bored." And we were allowed to dwell in that space and discover what could become of it.

We had two of the greatest assets any child can have when it comes to play: TIME and SPACE. We had the opportunity to engage in deep, meaningful and continued play and we had the ownership of that narrative. Certain games continued on and off for months and even years. (Don't get me started on the Barbie Sagas of the Early 1990s.) When something was worrisome or scary, we played about it. My dad played about allergy shots with me more times than I can account for. There were plenty of areas I was not particularly confident in as a child, but play was a safe haven. In play, I could be whoever I wanted to be. In play, the story could end when it stopped being fun. In play, all things were possible in a world that would gradually close in to cross at least a few of those things off the list: I would not be a ballerina, monopoly money does not work in the mall, unicorns are not, in fact real, and husbands do not really sleep in the bathtub (sorry, Ken, but on Barbie's behalf, Jerry Seinfeld said it best: sleep is separate).

This past July, the world lost a powerful voice in play advocacy and early childhood education when pioneering teacher, Vivian Gussin Paley passed away at the age of 90. In one of my favorite books of hers (and really, they are all favorites), A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play, she writes the following:
"...we discovered that play was indeed work. First there was the business of deciding who to be and who the others must be and what the environment is to look like and when it is time to change the scene. Then there was the even bigger problem of getting of getting others to listen to you and accept your point of view while keeping the integrity of the make-believe, the commitment to the other players, and perhaps the loyalty of a best friend..."

Indeed, the chasm between the cubicle and the playroom is not nearly as wide as we may perceive it to be. Playground politics and office politics are not so different. And the dialogue of play has not changed one bit in the last 100 years although the stage scenery may have. Listen in on any group of 5 year olds and you'll  hear it:
"Pretend you are the mommy and I am the baby. And pretend that the baby wants to play but it's time for bed."
"No, I want to be a puppy! We are all dogs. Pretend you are the mommy dog and I am the baby dog and the baby dog wants to play but it's time for bed."
"Yeah, and the baby dog is really mad. Pretend you run away because you don't want to go to bed."
"And pretend when you're running away you get lost in the woods and it's really scary."
"And there's a witch!"
"And she's got a house made out of candy and cookies and dog treats...."

The characters' names and the plot lines may have changed subtly and significant world events have shaped the stories as they occurred. But one thing always remains the same and it truly fills me with wonder. It always begins with the words "Pretend..."

In "Pretend..." it is safe. Don't get me wrong--it can get dangerous. There are fires and storms and villains and weapons and people get sick and people die and people also come back to life and the plot can also change and the characters can shift and the story can even start over. And in a decade of teaching and working with children and now in 5 plus years of parenthood what has changed? Pedagogues come and go. Tools and technology emerge and just as quickly are replaced by updated versions. Across the board, most children do learn their letters and numbers and will read and write, albeit in their own pace and space. There's not one foolproof method to success, but more often than not the utilization of multiple methods is most successful. What is lacking? For many, it is the ability to "Pretend..." Who knew that was a skill? More and more, the absence of that TIME and SPACE has resulted in the absence of the ability to engage in and maintain that play narrative. And what is lost when we lose the story?

Perhaps we could argue that children don't need to play about being grown up and going to work--they are practically born already doing it, or at least with the expectation that they must be ready to by kindergarten. Blowing bubbles outside has been replaced by filling in bubbles on a Scantron sheet. Children do not lack for lessons on how to do that. They do lack for lessons on how to play--so much so that "play therapy" has become a common resource offered in schools for children displaying a deficit in this area. A deficit in play? How does that even happen? How did the world of "Pretend..." become a world in which children are taught to Pretend they are playing?

And Perhaps the nostalgia we all feel at the sight of a mint condition Care Bear sitting on the thrift store shelf or the vintage toy section displaying replicas of playthings past is not about the toys themselves, but the times that they represent. The days when bedtime always came too soon and even then, the game could always continue again tomorrow--right where it left off. The days when recess was not a privilege to be earned and likewise, taken away, but a standard segment of the daily routine--as necessary as lunch time and using the bathroom. The days when play was not an escape from the task at hand but, rather, was the task at hand. It wasn't a way to pass the time, it was the purpose of the time. And what I truly wonder is this: thirty years from now, what memories will come back to our own children when their little ones ask them "what did you play when you were little?"

Happy Playing!

A Peek Inside Our Playroom: Fall Farm Dramatic Play

After a month of holidays, I just want to play! Not that we didn't play here over the last month, but with so many holidays back to back, we are just now getting into a Fall routine. And speaking of Fall, it seemed like a perfect time to set up a Fall Farm Dramatic Play theme in our play area. So come on in, take a peek inside our playroom and get ready for some Fall-themed fun at our farm!
When it comes to setting up new play themes I need it to be time and budget efficient. That means we repeat themes here--and why not? Every time my kids explore a play theme again, they bring new life and learning to it. I use what I have on hand and many of our resources and props cross over from one theme to another. Storage is always a work in progress so I can actually find the resources and props I want, but I like 2 gallon ziplock bags for flat and smaller materials and larger plastic bins for dramatic play props and costumes. I get the kids on board to create new props and materials because it's less work for me and more fun for them. I also make my setup a gradual process rather than a massive project. For one thing, this is what time and energy allows for right now and it also gives the kids a chance to explore and experience activities one at a time rather than being overwhelmed by so many new things that they end up not playing at all. And with this particular theme, I'm actually going at an even slower pace, intentionally adding in props that the boys will help to make and new activities that I will join in with them so that we can squeeze a bit more use out of one play theme before I transition to another.

In our month of endless holidays, we totally missed pumpkin picking season this year. Last year we spent an afternoon at a dramatic play pumpkin patch, and I knew I wanted to incorporate that into our Fall Farm this year. Printable resources for dramatic play are a great, time saving resource. I especially like the dramatic play sets from Pocket of Preschool and in this setup I used materials from both the Apple Orchard Dramatic Play and the Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play sets. I print and laminate materials once and store them between use.

So far our Fall Farm includes:

• a build your own pumpkin patch for planting and growing pumpkins
• hayrides
• pumpkin picking
• a snack shop
• a "face painting" station
• a kitchen for preparing and selling foods served in the snack shop
• a weighing station for pumpkins, gourds, candy, cookies, etc.
• a cashier's station with tickets for purchase, a cash register, receipt pads and order forms
• "cameras" for taking pictures
• handmade snack and food props (with more to come...)

At the Build Your Own Pumpkin Patch, our shelves our stocked with planting pots, a gardening shovel and rake, a watering can, "seeds" (I used rocks), "dirt" (I used pompoms and also a large piece of fabric to lay down on the floor as a garden bed, real mini pumpkins and gourds (you could make your own or use artificial ones if you prefer), and artificial vines. You can get creative with your props here, using what you have, making what you don't have.

S really liked putting the fabric down as a garden bed and then sprinkling "dirt" and "seeds" overtop. The photo at the head of this post is how his pumpkin patch looked once they had grown and were ready to harvest!

When it's time to harvest, guests can ride "tractors" (scooters--I later taped a photo of hay on top) to the pumpkin patch and pick their gourds and pumpkins. They can take them to the weighing station and weigh them. The boys especially love putting things in bags (I have no idea why!) and some brown lunch bags were perfect here.

They have also really enjoyed baking pies, selling treats and visiting the snack shop. I used some printables from the Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play Set I mentioned above and laminated different foods that they could velcro on to the snack menu each time they play.

We made the "caramel apples" using some foam decorative apples we had left from a few years ago. I stuck in some wooden craft sticks and we drizzled glitter glue over them to look like caramel coating. We made some "pumpkin cookies" using leftover felt shapes I had from last year, fabric paint and glitter for icing. I recycled some empty fruit cups and turned them into "applesauce" by painting the inside yellow and adding a laminated label from the Apple Orchard Dramatic Play set with velcro dots to open and close. Later this week we will be making model magic cookies and perhaps some other delicacies.

Our "face painting" station is just a laminated picture of face paints and some clean brushes. I might b adventurous after October 31st when real face paints go on sale!

This has given us a lot of "food for thought" as we begin our play adventure. Stay tuned for more additions and updates and until then...

Happy Playing!

A Day for Play, the Fairy Tea Party Way

What do you get when you mix your finest dishes, a porcelain teapot full of apple cider, toys across a dining room table, four sets of fairy wing costumes, playdough and three kids ages 5 and under? A disaster waiting to happen.  The perfect Fairy Tea Party!

And indeed, last Thursday we participated in the International Fairy Tea Party, an annual event held worldwide each year around the time of the Autumn equinox to celebrate the wonder of play. I first heard about this a couple of years ago during a conference and this year I decided we would participate in our own little way. This sounds like the kind of thing I could totally get carried away with, but since it is a busy time of year with school, pending holidays and the start of my new outdoor Storytime playgroup (which also got to celebrate a bit with some traveling mud-kitchen play last week), I needed to keep it short and simple. So instead of having an elaborate spread and 368 activities to go along with it, I set out what we had in the house along with some little fairy toys for small world play at the table (yes, at the table!) and a couple of simple activities. And you know what? It wasn't the most planned and prepared party I've ever thrown here, but it was just perfect for us and for the occasion.

My children understand that fairies are "made up" and "pretend." Most children do differentiate between real creatures and fictional ones. It is still so much fun for them to play and wonder about. Perhaps it is because they are so small and children can feel so big. Perhaps it is because you can't see them. Even adults have taken a liking to fairy gardens and houses and here we have little spaces indoors and outside to imagine, wonder and play. In some ways, leaving little setups for the boys to discover (and C when she's a bit older) and for them to alter and rearrange is like passing little love notes between one another. And now that our days are filled by school and other activities, having a little celebration on a Thursday is another lovely way to say "I love you" on an otherwise ordinary day.

I did make one little investment for our fairy tea party and that was a family set of "fairy wing" costumes from our local Dollar Tree store. Once we returned from picking up S at his school, everyone arrived home to find the table set for tea! The "tea" of choice was apple cider, a perfect way to welcome Autumn on a rare but welcome cooler day here.

Even C got in on the fun!

The "spread" was simply some tea biscuits we had on hand, strawberries and some pound cake we also had at home, cut into flower shapes with cookie cutters (which, incidentally was a lot harder than it sounds). The boys are always ready for a snack when S gets home from school and although I do set out a platter each day for them to help themselves, it's not usually full of sweet treats and served on our nicer dishes. This day was definitely special.

And every little fairy needs a home. I thought it might be fun since we were already playing at the table to make some simple edible fairy houses using the tea biscuits and some frosting. Oh, and sprinkles. Definitely sprinkles...

S got quite into this and took some creative license...

Y was mostly interested in eating his fairy house before much building could be completed!

S built a boat house for his fairy!

When everyone was done eating, playing and building (and eating again), there was a fun and simple playdough invitation set up at the kids' table. I took advantage of a major discount on playdough after all the back to school items went on sale in a local grocery store. At 30 cents each, this was a good investment since I did not have time to make playdough that day. I set out some wooden peg dolls with eyes drawn on that we'd used for another activity at one point, the playdough I had and some cookie cutters, plastic knives and rolling pins. I made a little "sample" fairy and the boys had so much fun using the materials to dress and undress and dress their fairies again. Then they began to make their fairies snacks and cakes and other tasty treats.

S has already asked to do this activity again for Purim. And great minds do think alike--I had thought the very same thing as I was setting this up!

I like to think that play is something we celebrate here every day. I am quite lucky that each of the boys have teachers and schools who value this as well. They don't come home play-deprived and having sat at a desk all day at their young ages. They do come home pleasantly exhausted! And home needs to be a place to settle into after a long and fun-filled school day. It's a place where they can let their guards down a bit (and they do) and also a place where they can determine the pace. I feel like (at least for now) we all need a bit of a slower pace in the evenings and some time to connect and unwind. This was such a fun and simple way to do that.

And while I would like to say that I always have our afternoon calendar blocked out only for play, sometimes it's overfilled and there just aren't enough hours in a day. There are afternoons here where I can only describe S's behavior as "frantically playing." He loves kindergarten. He is also so eager to be home and play with his toys. He is also aware that there are only a few hours left before bedtime and there is so much still he wants to do. He is busy from the moment he comes in until he crashes in a heap of snuggles in his bed. Y has a bit more time at home for now, so he tends to be a bit more evenly paced. He also tends to be really tired and grumpy by time 4:00PM hits. C is quite alert in the afternoons and evenings and will eventually fight tooth and nail to stay awake before succumbing to slumber sometime between 8 and 10PM... And having a day blocked off on my calendar, International Fairy Tea Party Day, means that I consciously made time and space for each of the kids' energy levels and play needs. It means that I designated this time to connect with them and play along as well rather than pacing in and out of the room as I tried to unpack backpacks and repack lunch boxes... And I realize that I, too, am in need of that time to play. In fact, I hope I will make the decision to block off an afternoon on our calendar a bit more often!

Happy Playing!

Sunflower Investigation

There is something so incredible about giants of the garden and even a small space is the perfect size for a few mammoth sunflowers to tower over you, attract pollinators and spread joy (not to mention pollen and seeds...). Last year was the first time I ever planted these jolly giants. When they had finished their glorious reign in our front garden, we brought the heads in to dissect and explore. We saved hundreds of seeds. Seeds to share. Seeds to save. Seeds to plant again this spring and sunflower season has officially hit. Our blooms are gracing our garden in various shades and sizes. Some blooms were prime for cutting and gracing our Shabbos table last week. As those began to fade, I decided they should make a final stop before the compost heap--to two curious horticulturalists in training!





We've explored sunflowers here before and S in particular remembers dissecting the large flower heads last year. Both of the boys love to look outside each morning and note which buds have blossomed and how many bees are on the centers of our opened flowers. (We counted 4 bees on one today after a rainfall!)

Even a goldfinch blessed us with a well camouflaged visit to one of our sunflowers last week!

And when it comes to learning about plants and garden life, there are so many books and directed activities. My favorite way, however, is to get hands on and dig right in.

There is something so wondrous about standing below a giant flower and looking up at a leaf that is bigger than my head. There is something so amazing about a flower opening up after months of waiting and watching. It lasts comparatively as long as the blink of an eye. The center of the sunflower houses hundreds of tiny little flowers and behind those, hundreds of tiny little seeds--that given the best of circumstances and luck will perhaps one day bloom into another jolly giant of the garden. But until then, we have these early days of August. A wistful and whimsical time. The garden is in harvest. The sun is still hot and it's the peak of summer. But mornings and nights begin to cool a bit. School supply lists are arriving and Fall is around the corner. So we savor the sunlight just a little bit longer and play just a little bit harder to squeeze every last drop out of these summer days at home. And the garden follows us wherever we go. In the front yard, out the back door to the back yard. In the kitchen, in the playroom, in the mud caked on to our garden clogs. This is summer! And admittedly, the play residue is all around us. Cleaning up is maybe not the first priority with all three Sprout Scouts at home with me each day. But it starts to look almost like a work of art after a while, reminding me that we were here. We played until we were carried in like footballs, screaming and kicking and covered in mud and sand and who knows what else, because no matter how many nights we've done it, bedtime is always a surprise...

So head out to your own garden. Deadhead your flowers without fear or remorse, because before those wilting blooms head to the composter and return to the earth, there are young horticulturalists at play. Ready to dissect. Ready to observe. Ready to grind and pour and mix into fairy tea and sunflower soup. Come take a peek in our own little whimsical world of wonder as we carry our sunflowers on one final journey, perhaps in a football hold, screaming and kicking and covered in pollen, because no matter how many years they have bloomed and wilted, the compost heap is always a surprise!

Sunflower Investigation

Gather some trays, bowls, mortars and pestles, tweezers, magnifying glasses, scissors and sunflowers...it's time to investigate and explore!

If you're feeling especially ambitious and brave, I encourage you to add water, mix some sunflower paint, try pounding the petals into paper or fabric...

Or take it outside and open up your own Sunflower Garden Tea House...

Sunflowers, coneflowers and even cut herbs made their way to the picnic table, ready for action...

...and here's some action now! Y is busy measuring and pouring water and plants parts into the perfect pot of tea...

Just add water! The sensory table was filled and some dishes and flowers were ready for tea time...

S wanted to clip some oregano to add to his soup

C had such a blast watching the excitement. She is so happy to be in the garden with us!

S is busy washing and collecting herbs for his grill and his soup stock...

Y is helping to wash herbs and flowers as well. 

S cuts some freshly harvested oregano...

We finally made it inside (I bribed them with a smoothie) and Tatty is home, so I headed out to tidy up a bit before the pending storm. And that's when I find the most beautiful bits of play residue. A bowl with just a bit of water Y poured in, a silver spoon, a measuring cup and a 1/2 teaspoon along with some fresh cut mint and lemon thyme and lemon balm...

...and just a few remnants of those jolly golden garden giants, mid-grind in our mortar and pestle... 

Happy summer, happy gardening, happy harvesting and, as always....

Happy Playing!