Apr 18

Travel Tips

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For those of us who love to travel bringing back a souvenir is part of the fun though a plastic trinket is not what I usually seek. A more meaningful keepsake which will bring a smile to your face as you remember the good times is what I had in mind.

Here are just a few suggestions:

  • Fill a clear jar with small items you collected in the area like stones, shells, twigs, nuts. It will look beautiful and unique as a bookend on your shelf

  • Gather paper scraps like tickets stubs, museum maps, restaurant business cards and create a collage placemat you can use at home. Laminate it for longer, more frequent use

  • Have your child draw things he sees (buildings, landscapes, hotel room…) or his favorite parts of the trip. Add a few commentary, frame and display as art

  • Send special vacation postcards home with stories on the back to make into a “story book” by putting them in a photo album with clear sleeves

  • Have older kids keep a travel journal with comments on the weather and daily activities. Short commentaries are usually sufficient to bring good memories flooding back

Feel free to add a comment with some of your own ways to remember your family vacations

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Sep 05

Peaceable Kingdom Press

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Where dinosaurs roam and a mermaid princess swims, where a child can host a fairy tea party or sail the open seas on a pirate ship. A place for imagination, exploration and fun.

Peaceable Kingdom Press was started in 1983 by Olivia and Thacher Hurd. Thacher is the son of renowned children’s book artist Clement Hurd who illustrated the classic picture books Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. One day, Clement made a painting based on the art from Goodnight Moon and asked Olivia and Thacher if they wanted to sell it as a poster. They printed 1,000 posters, sold it to stores in Berkeley, CA and the next thing you know, a company was born.

Over the years, Peaceable Kingdom Press has added hundreds of new products that feature the art from renowned children’s book illustrators. They now work with more than 100 artists and their product offerings include birthday cards, games, stickers, paper dolls, puzzles, diaries, and valentines. All of our products have one thing in common – they nourish children’s hearts, eyes, minds, and funny bones!

What matters most to Peaceable Kingdom Press is simple: make good, do good, and be good. They maintain a personal integrity in all of their relationships, remain dedicated to producing original high-quality products that are manufactured in socially-responsible facilities, use recycled and FSC certified paper in 100% of their cards and envelopes, support local community by volunteering in the schools and the larger world by donating to charitable organizations that support the lives of children.

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May 05

Card games for young children

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“Noah’s Arch” or Matching game

Easy game for small ones to understand and play. You can use a regular deck of cards and/or any other set with matching cards.

The goal is to collect the most matching pairs. The smallest/youngest player is the dealer. Give out all the cards one at a time and picture/face side down.

Players pick up their cards. Look through their cards and take out any matching pairs such two queens, two eights… Each player places the pairs down in front of them. When no mo pairs can be made; start play. Fan out cards, making sure no one else can see them.

Player on the dealer’s left leads the game. Ask any other player for a card that would allow you to make a new pair. For example the player could say: “Chris, do you have any twos, please?” It remains the players turn as long as he/she is successful in making a pair from receiving the requested card. Players must hand over cards if asked politely for them. If the asked player does not have the requested card; he/she can say: “I’m sorry, I don’t have any …”

Keep taking turns, with play going around to the left, until all the cards have been played. The play with the most card pairs is the winner.


Have fun!!

You can also make your own card, using index cards and animal pictures. Pictures do not need to be exactly the same; you just need to make sure not to have more than a couple of pairs of each. You can call the game “Zoo”.

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