"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." --Robert Louis Stevenson
"Are We There Yet?"
Summertime is a season of travel for many families, a season of making memories. Studies show that vacations and time spent outdoors are what we tend to remember most in our childhood. Make your travel memories fond ones with a little extra planning to keep children occupied during the journey. There are several places on this site for travel activity ideas--under the Meet Nancy, and Project tabs (click on the link for More Projects. Another way to consider travel time is to look at is as an opportunity to teach your child the gentle arts--how to tie a shoe, blow a bubble with bubble gum, or tell time (pack an old alarm clock, take it apart when you return home). Traveling together can provide a relaxed climate to learn in. It is also a great time to tell all those old stories from our own childhoods. My children grew instantly alert with the words "When I was a girl. . . ." I told them the indignities I suffered, the adventures I had, bullies escaped, and tree forts I built. It is hard for children to imagine a parent as a kid, but our own childhood memories humanizes us and enriches our relationships.
Happy Trails!

The Way From Here

- Nancy

The featured project this month is Dancing Raisins
NEW!

The Way From Here: Essays from the Mudpies Files
:
These essays and journal entries reflect the lurching, joyous process of raising four children. It is a place where terrible birthday parties are thrown, tempers are lost and found, and the ways of a child bring the whole world into perspective.

Open Site


Speeches
Why is resiliency a critical life skill?
How can we raise creative kids in a hurried world?
What can families do to reclaim time for joy and connection?
Why does too much choice diminish a child's life?
How does spending time outdoors make healthier, smarter children?
More Info

Workshops
Recycled Art
Earthquake Exploration
If the World Were a Cookie
Things That Fly
Discovering the Pop and Fizz in Science
More Info

Lotions, Potions, and Slime Mudpies and More

Lotions Potions and Slime is filled with the kind of projects kids love: slippery science, potions to paint with, recipes for bath time. We don't have fond childhood memories of the sparkling clean house, we remember the handmade volcanoes and butterfly mudpies!

More Info

Go Outside!


The outdoors is one of the finest places for making childhood memories. Time spent out the back door is better than TV, better than computer games, and Go Outside! is filled with over 130 activities for outdoor adventures.

More Info

Order a Book

Home | Kids | Parents and Teachers | Books | Articles | Meet Nancy | Contact | Copyright | Credits
© 2004 All rights reserved.