Remember play?
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 ... read more
Play helps a neighborhood find a sense of community
Six months ago, we moved to a new neighborhood. We were moving from a townhouse with almost no yard, and while my boys seemed to be fine playing in a tiny patch of nature, I was hoping for something larger. Our new house has a fenced back yard ... read more
The essence of Seedlings
My daughter Emily started Seedlings last week. The first week of Seedlings, I took lots of pictures trying to capture the essence of what makes this program so unique. But this picture is the one that I keep coming back to time and time again. ... read more
Familiar Sounds
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. ... read more
I call it tiny. My kids call it nature.
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. ... read more
What’s your passion?
At the Seedlings Family Kick Off that Jonathan posted about last week, one of the questions we parents were asked was, “What’s your passion? What will you bring to Seedlings, as a helper?” I was mulling it over when Jaime, ... read more
I Want to Play Too!
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 read more
Go With the Flow
“Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re ... read more
New Scientific Research Proves: Recess is More Fun!
Keith Richardson is a member of the Sunflower Creative Arts Board of Directors. He is a graduate student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, and is dad to Lawrence, a Sunflower theatre student. During the 1970s, researchers tried to ... read more
Bring that beat back to me again…
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 ... read more
US Play Coalition Conference: play’s the thing!
Sunflower Managing Director, Jennifer Ligeti, and I recently attended the US Play Coalition Conference on the Value of Play at Clemsen University. We came back with heads full of practical information from the leading thinkers and advocates in ... read more
Playful morning
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 read more
“I’m a possibility”
by Jennifer Sneeden My daughter Emily has spent the past few days wandering around the house saying, “Mommy, I’m a possibility.” I’m not sure that she has any idea what “possibility” means, perhaps she just likes the feel of it as it rolls off ... read more
Playing with Trees
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 ... read more
Seedlings Spaghetti Day 2012!!!
Spaghetti Day: it’s an annual end-of-year event in our Seedlings program. It’s oily. It’s gooshy. It’s a multi-sensory experience! And, seriously, where else in the world can you experience this!? (I love Sunflower!) ... read more
Sledding, South Florida Style
Kids have been playing with cardboard boxes since the beginning of disposable packaging– and rolling down hills since the invention of gravity. But, in today's world, having the chance to do just that is a big deal. read more
Weaned on play
by Wynna Dunmyer, Sunflower mom My baby weaned, again. At Bridging Day last week, Griffin my 5 year old last baby, weaned. This time it was from Seedlings, the amazing play-based cooperative program that gave him space and time to grow and ... read more
Letting go
I’m a control freak. If you’ve met me, there’s no point in my denying it. So for me, setting my children loose at Little Sprouts and especially Seedlings is as much a lesson for me as it is for them. In those programs, as in ... read more
Just Add Water!
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 ... read more
Plugging in
We made a lot of discoveries on the playground during last weekend’s Seedlings family work day. Lizard eggs, tiny as marbles… cotton plants bearing puffy white snowballs… a giant toad sitting grimly behind the storage shed… and read more