Imagine Childhood : Magic & Memories That Last a Lifetime

. . . 5 reasons to love fairies!

5 Reasons to Love Fairies!

1. Fairytales: Peter Pan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, we grow up with them. From Hans Christian Andersen to the Brothers Grimm, fairies in all their iterations, have influenced the way we see the world as we grow into it. There is just something so fascinating about them. Magical, mischievous, and full of fantasy, fairies will never let you down in the play department.  

2. Connection to the Past - History and Anthropology: Fairy stories were not always as they are today, full of songs, dancing, and happy endings. Some of the earliest mentions of fairies goes back to the 13th century and it wasn't all rainbows. Some people genuinely feared them for their nasty pranks. Others though, praised them for their help in the home, offering them a cup of milk as thanks. Whether or not any of this is true is beside the point, the history of fairies gives us insight into a time and place beyond our years. 

3. Connection to Nature: Fairies have long been connected to nature. Have you ever been on a hike and seen a ring of moss on a meadow? That's a fairy circle, a place where fairies dance and celebrate. Stories surrounding fairies are intrinsically linked with nature. As a small child my Mother would tell me how in the spring time the fairies and elves would come out from their winter slumber and help the seeds to grow, and the blossoms bloom. Being an impressionable and fantasy driven child, this helped me to form a connection to the garden I still cherish to this day. 

4. Imagination: Fairies are a creative force for the imagination. They spark daydreams and fantasies that can enthrall an entire nation. To start with, there are several types of fairies, add in locations, plot lines and it of drama, and you have the makings of a great story. It's no wonder kids can spend hours in the backyard playing "fairies". 

5. Storytelling: This one connects to the one above for sure, but goes a bit deeper. The world is a big place, and even bigger the younger you are. Playing make believe gives little ones a place to work out their inner narratives, and using fairies as inspiration is a great way to pretend. 

 

Free DIY Crafting Activity!:

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 A few of our Favorite Supplies:

Handmade Lavender Fairy

Pine Needle Basket Kit

Fairy House Building Kit

Oak Leaf House

Maple Leaf Fairy

Fairy Log Cabin

and much more. . .

xox

~i.c.

. . .5 reasons why outside is the best side!

 

5 Reasons to Love Nature!

Outside is the Best Side - Wonder on the grandest scale: I've said it before and I'll say it again... "worms in the dirt, clouds in the sky, wildflowers in your pocket", these are the little things that make a big difference in this great wide world we call home. And for the littlest of explorers out there, these small details are endlessly fascinating. I can't tell you the amount of times I have taken my fussy 3, 6, 9, and now 11 month old outside and how the rustling of leaves in the wind has instantly calmed her down and made her happy again. Outside brings out everyone's best side, I'm sure of it. 

Peace of Mind -  Nature heals, calms, and inspires: As humans we are innately drawn to it, because we are meant to be out in it for our own health and sanity. Countless studies have shown the benefits of spending just 10 minutes a day in a green space. This is exponentially relevant and necessary for kids, like times a million! Time spent outdoors has been proven to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety in children, while also improving concentration in children with ADD/ADHD. #goplayoutside! 

Physics in Action: What comes up, must come down. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. And the acceleration of an object is directly related to the mass and force with which it is pushed. These are Newton's Laws of Motion, and there is no better place to experiment and learn about them, than outside! I mean, Newton discovered gravity by sitting under an apple tree, right? (wink). 

Unstructured Play:  For all the reasons above and for so many more, unstructured play is our favorite way to discover this beautiful world. When a child is free to explore, experiment, and engage with nature on their own terms, magical things start to happen. Curiosity is peaked, passion stoked, activity levels go up, and happiness ensues. Please oh please (if the conditions are safe of course) let your kids run wild! 

You Take Care of the Things You Love: It's a simple fact of life. If you love nature, if you are excited and fascinated by her processes, than chances are, your kids will too. If you become a steward of this planet and volunteer your time to help keep her healthy and safe, there's a high probability your kids will too. We take care of the things we love. Lets all take care of this planet and hopefully our kids will too. 

 

Free DIY Crafting Activity!:

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A few of our Favorite Supplies:

 Butterfly Net

Bug Blocks

Wildflower Poster

Echo Pocket Scope

Audubon Bird Call

and more. . .

xox

~i.c.

 

. . . 5 reasons to love magnifiers!

5 Reasons to Love Magnifiers!

1. Wonder - Start 'em Young!: For our littlest explorers everything is a moment of wonder. Want to instill this sense of wonder so they hold on to it the rest of their lives? Give them a magnifying glass, just a simple handheld one, and let them take a closer look at this beautiful world we live in! The amazement will last a lifetime, we promise! (Disclaimer for our little explorers: ages 1-5, it's important to supervise this time, as incorrect use of a magnifying glass can cause damage to their sweet little eyes.) 

2. Your World Up Close: This one connects to the first reason, but magnified (sorry, had too). Observe the way a hawk's wings and feathers adjust to the breeze during flight. Discover a world of crystals on a rock you never noticed before. As little ones get older, more powerful magnifiers and binoculars act like a magic set of keys, unlocking the natural world in a whole new way. 

3. Perspective - Telescopes: Telescopes are magnifying glasses on an epic scale. Powerful enough to see deep into the outer realms of the universe. As kids grow up, it's easy to for them to think they are the center of this universe, which can be tough for parents, guardians, and kids alike. Would you believe me if I told you that Telescopes, beside their awesome magnifying powers, also had the power to give perspective? It's a rather peaceful and humbling lesson to look out into that deep dark sky and realize just how big it is, and just how small you are. 

4. Scientific Discovery: Ah the microscope, how we love thee so. So if you thought your telescope and binoculars were pretty cool, get ready to blow your own mind. Ever wonder what a cell looks like? Or a piece of lichen on the molecular level, or how about the common cold? All of the elements surrounding us contain secrets and answers to lots of tough questions if only you are able to look close enough. Microscopes do just that. 

5. Optics: Concave, convex, and all the combinations of the two. Optics are how we wrangle all these amazing magnifying powers and make them work for us. But did you know that nature was the inventor of the magnifying lens? Just look at a droplet of water hanging from a leaf. What do you see? You see our world, a upside down, and a bit closer up. How cool is that? 

 

Free DIY Crafting Activity!:

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A few of our Favorite Supplies:

Wooden Magnifying Glass

Duo-Scope Study Microscope

Botanist Case

Treasure Hunter's Kit

More Optics and Navigation :)

xox

~i.c.

. . . 5 reasons to write stories with your kids!

5 Reasons to Write Stories with Your Kids!

 Basic Writing Skills - Grammar - Sentence Structure - Essay Structure: in the world of texting and twitter, the art of writing is losing some ground. Lets put a stop to that. Words get lost on a screen, but when you physically write them out, it's easy to see structure, grammar, and meaning. When in doubt, write it out! 

Freedom: Much of children's lives these days is very structured. Between school, sports, and extracurriculars, there's not a lot of time for free time, or freedom in which to decide what you want to do. But what if that free time moonlighted as an extracurricular? Writing stories, aka creative writing, tackles both. And it's loads of fun to boot! Create a jar of words at home, pull a few out and see where they take you and your kids. From poems to short stories, to narratives that go on for years, there's no telling where the freedom of writing will take your kiddos. 

Emotional Development: This crazy, beautiful world we live in can feel a bit overwhelming sometimes. So think of creative writing as a safe place to sort through all the trials and tribulations, the joys and the accomplishments. Writing has a pretty magical way of taking whats going on in our head and in our heart and giving it a place to be, outside of us. Once it's out, it's a lot easier to deal with. Writing stories with your kids also can also help develop empathy, by placing them in the shoes of someone they might not have understood.

Cognitive Development - Dance of Movement: If you think about it, writing is like dancing on on paper. Each letter has a movement, a step. Put them all together and you have a waltz, a tango, or even a cha cha. It takes coordination, not just physically, but mentally, opening up pathways in the brain that typing on a screen rarely touches. Not only that, but if you physically write something down, you are far more likely to remember it! 

Imaginary Forces: Creative writing is a highly productive creative outlet. Stories have a way of developing far beyond their original boundaries, and it's so fun! A story can start with one word and before you know it, your kid is on to the sequel. Growing up, my best friend's dad had this story about two mice that lived in the compost pile. It started as a simple made up bed time story, but after 4 kids and many years of telling, it had completely taken on a life of it's own. Where will your child's story take them?

 

Free DIY Crafting Activity!:

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A few of our Favorite Supplies:

Decomposition Notebooks

Handwriting Practice Set

Fountain Pens

Rip the Page: Adventures in Creative Writing

19th Century French Student Writing Kit

 

xox

~i.c.