Switch Witch Saves Family from Candy Overload

[This post may contain affiliate links.] Every Halloween parents everywhere face a daunting problem: what to do with all that candy??? Here's how we handle Halloween in our family. Our children collect obscene amounts of candy trick-or-treating. When they...

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What I Use Now: Non-toxic Household Cleaners & Personal Products

Knowing my propensity to over-research consumer products, sometimes a friend or family member will call me to ask my advice about a particular non-toxic cleaner, lawn treatment, or mattress. But recently my neighbor decided to completely overhaul all...

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The Wonder of Snow

My children love snow. Are fascinated by snow, as only California children could be. And every winter we read together the amazing story of Snowflake Bentley.  ...

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6 Fabulous Christmas Picture Books about the Joy of Giving

One of our family's very favorite Christmas traditions is a children's book advent countdown. Each night in December, we unwrap and read a beloved children's book about Christmas each night, some from the library and some from our own collection. Several years...

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9 Ways to Help Your Child Connect with Nature (no matter where you live!)

Do you want to encourage your child to connect the natural world but aren't sure where to start? You don't need to plan an all-day hike or trip to the beach to help inspire a love of nature. Whether you live in suburbia or a downtown apartment highrise, you...

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10 Fabulous Picture Books about Birds to Read-aloud

This past year we have spent a lot of time learning about animals through picture books. Most young kids are fascinated by animals, and learning about animals (and observing them in person) is a wonderful way to help kids to care about and fall in love with...

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How Green Is Your Hair? Non-toxic Hair Care for the Entire Family

We are a family of very thick, very curly hair. I am particular about hair products (I never use whatever happens to be in the shower when I stay at hotels or with family), and it always takes me a while to find non-toxic products that I like...

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Our Favorite Wooden Block Sets: Open-ended Play for All Ages

Wooden blocks are well-used and well-loved at my house. We use them to build towers, houses, words, villages, roads, skyscrapers, boats, dollhouses and animal villages. We use them to count, weigh, build, balance, measure, and spell. Wooden blocks are never...

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Give Thanks! 10 Favorite Children's Books about Gratitude and Thanksgiving

At my house, we get out Halloween picture books in October, Thanksgiving books in November, and Christmas books in December. But this year, I decided to get out the Halloween and Thanksgiving books together, to give us more time to enjoy the books that celebrate...

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Simple Kid-friendly Fall Leaf Banner for the Non-crafty

Fall is here! On a walk around the neighborhood last week, my kids and I spontaneously started collecting a few leaves here and there. I am especially fond of red fall leaves and couldn't resist gathering a couple. By the end of our walk, we had quite a collection...

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