Paris's Profile

My kids love their play kitchen. We made some food that is very similar to the pasta set shown above. I painted little round wooden balls from the craft store green for peas, some white cubes to be sugar cubes, and the little wooden plugs as mushrooms (this was actually my 6-yr-old's idea). We store them in little tins (the kind with a clear top) that also came from the craft store. Other home-made hits are a set of fish simply cut from felt and some old wine corks. They pretend the corks are juice (some have pictures of grapes), but I've also seen them serving them as glasses of wine while playing restaurant! Next on the to-do list is lettuce leaves cut from felt so they can make salads. We've also equipped their kitchen with a shopping basket that is also storage, a small chalkboard, and little bowls for serving/mixing.

Something like the sweater hanger mentioned above would be great if you don't have room for a dresser. It's like a shoe hanger that hangs from a closet rod, but wider, so it's good for folded clothing. And you can see everything. I had one from Target that was a really nice quality (the bottom panels were sturdy and didn't bow under the weight of the clothing). I believe it was the Michael Graves design.

He may still be too young for them, but my daughter loves her Automoblox. She will sit and take them apart and put them together endlessly. She also likes to play with Tinker Toys and Legos, though my husband and I often build things for her to play with (and take apart and change).

My dad survived a massive heart attack when I was 11 years old. I learned from him not only how to care for a house (he's the kind of person who will move a window if it will look better 8 inches to the left) but also how to change your whole life if need be. He also taught me how to sew.

Oh, we are huge McDonnell fans. Hug Time is wonderful. Both of my little girls are animal-loving scientists in the making, so I'll be getting this one for sure.

Be firm! Kind, but firm. I had a dishwasher when my first child was born, and up until my second was 5 months old. At that point, we moved to nyc and had no dishwasher for the next 2 years. I really don't see the big deal. It just becomes part of your routine. I bottle fed, so I just boiled the bottles weekly, no problem. I never had a dishwasher (or air conditioning, or washer/dryer) growing up, and I just never thought of a dishwasher as a necessary thing.

I just moved from NYC to the Atlanta burbs! I will be checking out Becky's blog for sure.

I've tried the dry erase crayons, and they work very well (better than regular). The only problem is that it is harder for little ones to wipe off by themselves.

I actually got my two girls the dry erase desk from Board Dudes. They love them, and they're great except for one thing--you can't put 8.5x11 paper in the inside compartment without folding it. Annoying, since I was hoping to stock them with paper and coloring sheets for travel.

You could cut sponges or foam into shapes and stamp them onto the fabric using fabric paint. Different shaped leaves comes to mind from the discription of your classroom.