Category Archives: books of interest

My Homemade Play book is now available!

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I am thrilled to say that Homemade Play: Creative Ways To Be With Your Baby, is now finished! What an accomplishment. All these years of staying up late, scribbling notes, reading and rereading page after page….So much went into this book. I thank everyone who has participated in the process.

coverWhat Homemade Play offers:

~ Creative ways to use things from around the house and neighborhood to engage and have fun with your baby.

~ Over 100 activities for babies 1 month to 1 year old.

~ Helpful photographs to ensure that each activity is carried out effectively and safely.

~ Detailed lists of household and nature sensory objects that you can explore with your baby

~ Tips on how to organize play objects into treasure baskets for easy access and clean up.

~ Testimonials from families who have enjoyed the activities with their own babies.

For more information on the book and to purchase you can go to the www.homemadeplaybook.com website.

For quick and easy activities that you can do with your baby follow me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/HomemadePlay?ref=hl

 

 

Gift Ideas For Your Baby

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Are family and friends asking what your little one wants for the holidays or birthday? If so, why not offer some of these simple ideas. Three reminders would be: watch for choking hazards, think ahead, invest in items that will grow with your baby and make sure they are open ended toys (toys with more than one purpose) to fuel creativity.

1. Balls: Try making your own, find “how to’s” on-line for working with felt or fabric.  If you’d prefer to support a local Oakland artist, these felt balls should be in every body’s list. Balls grow with your little one and these are works of art!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/dirtgirldesigns?ref=pr_shop_more

 

Interested in playground balls? Be sure to look for pure rubber balls no PVC, BPA or vinyl please.

 

2.  Kitchen props: Stainless steel or wooden bowl, wooden spoons, measuring cups

 

3.  Fabric: scarves, napkins, bandanas maybe even new bed sheets?

 

4.  Wooden blocks: a variety of sizes and shapes. Or you can make your own (tape up cardboard boxes.)

 

5.  Dramatic play items: hats, fabric doll babies (plus bibs, diapers, clothes), shoes, belts, capes, larger clothing, kitchen, pots and pans, utensils, wooden eggs, fabric vegetables, strollers, baskets to carry.

 

6.  Find items on walks that you can enjoy and play with together.  Leaves, rocks, pine cones, sticks, flowers.

 

7.  Baskets: You want to store items in an open basket where baby can access.  Think about sturdy, low lying baskets for non-sitters and deeper baskets with handles for sitters and walkers, or larger floor baskets for walkers.

 

8. My book Homemade Play: Creative Ways To Be With Your Baby will be ready to launch in a couple weeks, it makes a great gift for yourself or other families!

 

 

Plastic-Free Life With A Baby

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While at the library the other day, I picked up a copy of Beth Terry’s book Plastic-Free.

The information in it is, well, truthfully, pretty grim about how plastic has invaded our lives and since its not biodegradable, never actually goes away.

Aside from her endless ideas about how to reduce our usage, of course, I was most interested in what she had to say about children’s products. Here are just a few highlights.

While she confirms what I already knew about the enormous amounts of toys that are plastic, I was even happier to find her list of companies that are producing toys from wood and natural fibers. I haven’t looked them all up but I wanted to pass her recommendations along for your consideration.

Stuffed Animals: Aminals, Barefoot, Eco Leeko, Dress Me Up Organic

Dolls: The Earth Friends, Global Green Pals

Wooden Toys:  Maple Landmark, Heirloom Wooden Toys, Plan Toys, Tree Hopper Toys

Natural Wood Teethers:  Little Alouette, Ringley Natural Teethers

Online Children’s Stores:  Bella Luna Toys, Hazelnut Kids, Wild Dill, Mighty Nest

I was also grateful to her for bringing up children’s foodware. Looking back, I made a decision early on to not have plastic cups and dishes for my daughter. She has grown up using glass cups and ceramic dishes. Risky? Not at all. I held bowls to help stabilize when she was just learning to eat and drink and she learned and adapted as she grew. Spoons? Well those little stainless steel sugar spoons from my tea set are still her favorite. And we started using stainless steel straws, but then moved on to….glass straws! (they come with a lifetime guarantee).

Here is Beth Terry’s ideas for Children’s Foodware:

Baby Bottles and Sippy Cups:  The Glass Baby Bottle.

Baby DIshes and Utensils:  Life Without Plastic, Mighty Nest

Stainless Steel Popsicle Molds:  Onyx Containers

My two cents wants to add the line made from bamboo, Bambu and the glass straws are thanks to Glass Dharma, made locally in Fort Bragg, CA. (http://www.glassdharma.com). Check out the Smoothie size and Beautiful Bend!

May you find alternatives to reduce plastic in your life as well.

 

 

Why Are Puzzles So Important In Child Development?

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We are cleaning out. My daughter has decided to let go of most of her early childhood toys. I was waiting for this moment to purge, but held on waiting for her to be ready as well. What she clung to for so long, she is very willing to part with now. A sort of celebration of her moving on into puberty. The wooden kitchen and doll house are now in a new families playroom being enjoyed all over again. And there are boxes of toys collecting in the garage.

I didn’t realize how many puzzles we amassed. Reading this post (unfortunately it is an advertisement for a company which I know nothing about, so therefore am not endorsing it.) I revisited all the benefits that puzzles have and why they are so important in early childhood development.

So if you need any, we are having a HUGE sale at our place next weekend…