make 2011 the YEAR of play (because Einstein never used flashcards)

Our friends over at Classic Play have dubbed 2011 "The Year of Play." And we're joining in on the fun.

This week is a full week of PLAY. And we'll be continuing the series through 2011.

We're all guilty (?) of wanting to give our children the best possible foundation to become the best possible people. Intelligent. Healthy. Kind. Compassionate. Appreciative of the arts. Those are just a few of descriptive phrases that come to mind when I think of the kind of person I hope my daughter becomes.

And that's where the panic sets in. However will she get in to college if "my baby can't read?" (Anyone else want to blast those commercials from the sprout-o-sphere?) If she's going to be bilingual, doesn't she need to start Spanish classes at 6 months old? What about dance class, soccer, and painting lessons? She'll need to start those early if she's going to be 'well rounded." And of course, eventually we'll have to fit in leadership courses and time for giving back to the community. Maybe we can schedule that in between 4:15 PM and 4:52 PM. Because that's all she'll have time for if she 'needs' all these things. And 37 minutes of working on a community service initiative will be "meaningful." She'll really understand the concept of giving back if she can just squeeeeeezzzeee in a little time.

Fact is, we've turned ourselves into a generation of paranoid schizophrenic parents. And what we really need to do is kick our kids -- and ourselves -- back into play.

My friends, Einstein never used flashcards.

{{Aside: we do have the Discovery Kids My First Words Touch and Feel cards. The Bug loves them - - but we use them to put together stories, not to drill.}}

From a recent New York Times' article on the movement to restore play:

Too little playtime may seem to rank far down on the list of society’s worries, but the scientists, psychologists, educators and others who are part of the play movement say that most of the social and intellectual skills one needs to succeed in life and work are first developed through childhood play. Children learn to control their impulses through games like Simon Says, play advocates believe, and they learn to solve problems, negotiate, think creatively and work as a team when they dig together in a sandbox or build a fort with sofa cushions.

So we're jumping on the Year of Play bandwagon. This week, we've got posts coming your way on our favorite local places to get your kids' play on, throwing a sledding party, this whole thing called 'play groups' and ideas to spark play in your own living room. No rush to {{insert your favorite toy store here}}. You'll have it all lying around the house.

And many thanks to Jen Cooper and the Classic Play contributors for this fabulous idea! Check out Jen's post on making 2011 the Year of Play. Yeah. We're pretty sure you'll join the movement, too.

PS: You all know I'm an educational technologist. So no, I'm not about doing away with technology or depriving kids of multimedia. That is a HUGE skill that we need to learn alongside our kids. After all, they are the true digital natives. I'm just about balance. Getting to whatever zen means for you and your family.



image credit: Classic Play

Lila's Rainbow Ladybug Picnic Party: Part Three

First birthday party entertainment. Eek? What to do?

I had two goals: 1) Entertain small children for more than 30 seconds, thus giving adults time to catch up; and 2) something light hearted and funny to showcase how much the Bug has grown over the past year.

First solution? Baby pools and bubbles.

We bought two cheap $10 blow-up pools from Target and placed them under a canopy in the backyard. My plan was to fill one with water and water toys, and to fill the other with balls as a ball-pit-on-the-cheap. I envisioned hours of contained toddler fun while adults sipped sangria and talked in a 'civilized manner.' I bought 200 ball pit balls from Amazon. I bought flower garden stakes and balloons to decorate the play area. It was going to be perfect.

I should have known better.

The day of the party, my sister's boyfriend blew up the pools. I handed him the 200 balls and told him to fill it up. He did. He laughed.

It was the Charlie Brown of ball pits.

200 balls didn't even cover 1/3 of the space. I needed more like 800. I tossed in an exercise ball and a couple of other large playground balls. Better. Not great. But what's a mom to do?

The kicker? The girls didn't even want to get in the ball pit. They just wanted to hang out in the pool. So we threw about 50 balls in the pool. Water ball pit. They LOVED it.

We added bubbles. HUGE bubbles. Whole new level of delight.

After most of the guests dwindled and we were down to the family members that helped throw the party, we filled our Charlie Brown Ball Pit with water. Eight of us collapsed into lawn chairs around the pools, toes in the water and cocktail in hand. The talk wasn't necessarily civilized... but it was great.

The other hit at our party? An iMovie with photos of Lila (and various family and friends) over the last year. Like the food, I opted for simplicity by using automated tools in iMovie. My mac definitely made me look good! I simply went through our photos on iPhoto and created an album of images I wanted to use. I then exported those photos to iMovie. iMovie automatically introduced transitions between photos based on the theme I selected. I added a few audio tracks, a bit of video we'd captured over the year and some text. Exported to iDVD. Ta da! Finished product.
I struggled with the music selection. Every website I scoured suggested songs like "I Hope You Dance" by LeAnn Womack. While I do hope she dances, I didn't want various family members (i.e. me, my mother, and my mother in law) to get too teary. Crying guests and hostesses do not usually make a great party. I wanted something upbeat, friendly, and colorful. Just like our Bug.

We selected three songs (perfect to cover our 200+ pictures): "She's a Rainbow" by The Rolling Stones; "Life Less Ordinary" by Carbon Leaf; and "Smile" by Uncle Kracker.

After all ... she comes in colors everywhere, we definitely live a life less sedentary, and she makes us fall out of bed.

Worked perfectly.

Did I mention I'm the proud owner of 200 balls?

Be sure to check out our break down of the party scape details and the food!