Big Top Fitness is on Pinterest

With the help of my favorite fancy lady, Tara Hewlett of As Long As It's Fancy, Big Top Fitness is now pinning. Tara and I have been scouring the Internet looking for images and ideas that help parents bring the Big Top to their own homes. The boards include: A Circus Party, Kids Doing Amazing Things, Healthy Snacks, Family Fitness, The Big Top Look, and Circus Stuff. Check us out, and share any pin ideas here!

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Fashion Tips from a Preschooler: Salt-Water Sandals

While teaching preschool in Massachusetts, I began to master the teacher dress code: comfortable yet professional. This usually included loose fitting pants, lots of cotton shirts and blouses, and basically anything that I didn't mind getting paint or dirt on. I always had trouble with shoes, especially during the summer, though.

I was inspired by one of my own students who wore cute, colorful sandals that seemed to keep their shape and vibrance despite all of the running around she did. It was then that I learned about Salt-Water Sandals (cue: angelic singing).

Salt-Water Sandals are inexpensive, bright, virtually indestructible footwear with a great history. They were originally created for children during the Second World War from scraps leftover from military boots. There wasn't enough leather to make the sandals kids had been wearing prior to the war, so a simple pattern was created from the boot leftovers. The company has remained family owned since 1944, making virtually the same product for almost 70 years.

Over the years, these shoes have gained popularity among both kids and women. One of my co-workers recently told me that they were my hipster mom shoes. I took that as a compliment.

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The Ultimate Lemonade Stand

The best kinds of lemonade stands are spur of the moment creations, making a homemade concoction with your parents, and setting up shop on the sidewalk or front lawn. The lemonade stand is not only a childhood right of passage, it's also a great way to practice necessary developmental skills:

• Making the lemonade requires math skills for measuring (dependent on your use of the powdery, mixy stuff), fine motor skills when cutting lemons, and also lets kids practice culinary skills 

• Creating a sign allows kids to practice their handwriting and experiment with their artistic skills

• Communicating with customers means kids are going to have to socialize with other kids and adults (after several reminders not to talk to strangers), and lets them communicate their ideas about their product

• Pouring is another great way to practice fine motor skills and requires focus and precision

• Counting money and making change is a fun way to work on math skills and number sense 

What if you could create the ultimate lemonade stand? I thought about that a bit and put together some of my favorite pieces for the design savvy lemonade parent:child team!

1. Mason jars take the drinking experience up a notch and offer a greener option

2. These pink and yellow straws compliment the lemonade and add a bit of whimsy

3. Don't forget a brightly colored apron to hide the lemonade spills!

4. This vintage cash box not only keeps your earnings in one place, it also brightens up your stand 

5. This sign framed would be a fun and positive reminder for passers-by and potential customers

6. Even if you're making lemonade with a mix, sliced lemons add some fun and flavor

7. Try making your own organic lemonade from scratch with an inexpensive juice press

8. This ceramic lemonade crock has a retro vibe, and the wording is another great way to get the word out on your product

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Friendship Bracelets

So often, we get excited about media and technology for children that we forget about some of the timeless activities that kids are still very much interested in. For example, friendship bracelets. No, I'm not talking about those fancy ones that you buy at Claire's, I mean braids, chevron patterns, and Chinese staircase.

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I came across these familiar childhood tokens while at the beach. Sitting, focused in the shade was a young girl with her plastic embroidery box full colorful thread and a clip board to hold the thread down while she worked. Why didn't I ever think of that?

In typical iGeneration fashion, she wasn't just crafting, she was practicing her entrepreneurial skills. Propped up next to her was a white board listing the different sizes and patterns, and prices associated with them. I couldn't help but shell out a dollar (ugh...inflation) for a green and pink ankle bracelet. These kids aren't just making. They're making, marketing, selling, and posting about it.

I can't help but hope to find my own box of embroidery thread buried in my parents' basement this weekend. I may even take a few tips from this young DIY-er on YouTube.

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Little Hero Capes

This past Saturday, I hopped over two rivers to check out the Renegade Craft Fair, basically Etsy Live.  I didn't anticipate that I would have something to write about, that's why I was so excited to find Little Hero Capes.

Allison Faunce shared her inspiration story with me: her son would use dish towels as super hero capes, but they didn't stay on and they weren't nearly cool enough. That's when she took to designing her own, and they're way cooler than dish towels.

There are a few things I love about this company:
1- The designs are beautiful, bright, and homemade
2- You can purchase a "courage cape" on the company's site that gets donated to a child in a hospital
3- They foster the kind of outdoor, imaginative play that we keep trying to reintegrate into kid culture

The best part of Allison's booth was this sign:

What are some other ways we can support kids' imaginative play and be a hero to a child in need?

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The Odyssey Initiative

Our education system is flawed in a major way. It's something we're all aware of, and something we talk about, but so few people are actually taking action to change it. I was so excited when I heard about my college friend Michelle's new project, The Odyssey Initiative.

This September, Michelle and her colleagues will tour the 50 states to visit some of the country's best schools and classrooms. They'll observe, document, and showcase (on their website), the best teaching practices used by the best teachers in America. They're hoping other teachers will use their site and implement some of the country's teacher's best practices into their own work.

In order to make this happen, they're raising funds on their Kickstarter page. They've only got a month left to raise money for this amazing journey. Check it out and support in whatever way you can!

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Tea Party 2.0

Tonight is a night for catching up. Along with that is catching up on my blog. Where have I been all this time?!

In addition to some really exciting and interesting work that's kept me busy most hours of the day, I had the great opportunity to attend Fred Forward in Latrobe, PA. I owe you lots of posts and goodies, dear readers. I thought I would kick it off with this fantastic YouTube video that was shared at the conference of two girls playing tea party. What's different/unique about how they're playing?

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