Congratulations to Sunflower blogger Jaime Greenberg, 1st place winner in KaBOOM!‘s national guest blogging contest! In her outstanding winning entry, Jaime writes about one of the ways she is keeping play alive -- for her children and herself. You can read her post...
Sunflower blogger Victoria won 4th place in KaBOOM!'s recent guest blogging contest. For those of you who missed it, check it out below and on KaBOOM!'s Play Today blog. Then read more great Sunflower posts by Victoria here. Also--read Jaime's winning entry in the...
Whenever I ask a group of adults to share a favorite play experience from their childhood there is a visible shift in their bodies. They become energized and I swear I see each of them as their little kid selves. Sharing treasured memories, we easily re-live those...
Congratulations to Sunflower blogger Victoria Green, 4th place winner in KaBOOM!'s national guest blogging contest. Go Victoria! Check out her (awesome if we do say so ourselves!) winning entry on KaBOOM!'s Play Today blog here: I call it tiny. My kids call it nature....
Tools for the important work of play My son Dante was a Seedling for two years, when he was three and four. The first year, he spent most of his time digging in the dirt or playing in a tub of water. When I'd come to pick him up, he'd be covered from head to toe with...
I have always felt the need to fiercely protect childhood and play. Why? Kids at play epitomize exactly what we as adults all strive toward: living each moment with energy, confidence, fully engaged and capable, fearlessly exploring relationships, working to...
Just Add Water isn't just an improv comedy troupe at Yale. It's a creed. If I were asked for the number one thing to do with children that is fun and has the broadest range of use, I would say to take whatever it is the child is doing and just add water. Young...
To seven-year-old Jonathan it was the edge of the world. To everyone else at the Coral Springs Aquatic Complex it was just the tall diving platform. After climbing the stairs I inched my way to the edge of the 33 foot tall precipice and looked at the pool below. The...
Overheard at Sunflower's Seedling Family Kick-Off... I close my eyes and let the sound surround me. These familiar sounds always make my heart beat a little faster. Some of them are subtle, like the twang of a rebounding rubber band. Slightly less subtle is the...
I recently got back from an amazing vacation, visiting a wonderful, playful, up-for-anything friend and seeing my most favorite band in the world (Dave Matthews Band ♥love them!♥). I went completely on my own--no kids, no husband--and it was beautiful. For five days I...
It’s Friday 5:30 AM, on my way to 6 AM yoga. This morning I am met with a damp chill and sweet smelling air filled with birdsong. Over my shoulder I nod a good morning to the lake, still and barely awake. A white feather floats down before me as I cross the street. I...
When was the last time your eyes floated up above your head and you looked at a tree? I mean, really looked. At the leaves, the branches, the bark, all the stuff that falls off and is lying on the ground at the foot of a massive tree? As I walked to a business meeting...
One day while I’m out running I stop at the park in my neighborhood. I look around to make sure nobody is watching, and then I jump on the swing. Thinking of my three-year-old, because this is something we usually do together, I pump my legs and point my feet-- up to...