Play from Scratch

So, we have a box & bits collection. I kinda think every household with children needs one. Big boxes, small boxes, boxes with and without lids. Bits of string, fancy and not-so-fancy papers. Egg cartons a-plenty, random inside-gubbins of technology boxes, twist-ties, you name it.

  However, it has sort of taken over the kitchen this summer, and I’m doing my best to be open-minded (YOXO)mom and keep the creative fun flowing. And flow it has…

  But where do we stand on this one?

  “Bugsy” moved in to a wine carton on my kitchen table last week. Well, in fact, he was gently placed onto the top floor of the hotel, to convalesce. (By the way, all tall buildings that don’t look like offices are called ‘hotels’ in our house for some reason. Too cute to correct at this stage.)

Evidently, Bugsy (the common house fly variety) had somehow suffered a near-fatal fall onto the kitchen floor and was last seen buzzing helplessly with only one flappable wing.

Darling Daughter (three cheers for imagination) created a safe haven for him inside her latest heart-felt creation. Hotel Bugsy. Gulp, safely and lovely dying inside a box on the table from which I had recently swatted him… didn’t have the heart to add that part.

Well, it seems like something normal parents ask children to do, non? Normal in the construct of a treasure hunt?

  I thought so, until little Mathilda* let out a great big “MOO!”

It was all going so well. Scraps of paper at the ready, ideas brimming, and kids giddy as we moms sat together planning the 10th Treasure-Hunt-cum-Activity-Marathon of the weekend (um, er of the morning...)

Goat noises a-plenty, we moms were just so happy to see children being children. Good old fun with blades of grass, bugs, twigs and teamwork. Well, is it teamwork when two big kids tip the littlest girl upside down to grab her boots and run? …“but, but, you said to find something yellow!!”

  I guess we gotta give you that one.

Happy Summer Weekend.

YOXOmom

Everywhere I look.

Each time I empty one, I shriek with elation. Quickly followed by the shriek of disappointment as I collapse the box. "MOMMY!! DON'T!!!"

  Oops. Of course.

We need a combination of already-built-boxes and broken-down-boxes to make the tunnel/rocket/home. Sorry.

Taking the sting out of the move is definitely the joy of disorder in the house. Yep, I've let it go and the kids have loved every minute.

  But, where the heck’s the "Calgon" when I need it?

(Oh yah, the emptied bottle is now the fuel tank for the rocket).

Imagine our surprise when we got an email from Daily Candy (yes, that crazy popular website owned by NBC/Universal) declaring YOXO to be "an ecofriendly LEGO alternative."

What’s with all these superheroes?

When I walked my son into school this morning we found ourselves in a sea of caped crusaders. Iron Man was busy stowing his backpack in a locker, Batman was waiting patiently in the breakfast line and there were capes everywhere; pink capes, blue capes and even a green cape with a bright orange lightning bolt (that’s what my son was wearing).

Today is Halloween, so it makes sense that the kids would come to school in costume. But, if given the choice, I think most kids would dress as a superhero every day.

Why do kids want to be superheroes? This question has fascinated me for years and is the inspiration for our new video and “download + make” game Instant Superhero.

A few years ago, when our son started preschool, he announced that he wanted to dress up as “Captain of Safety” for school (note that “OF” is very important – he would not allow us to call him “Captain Safety”). Captain of Safety wore a fireman’s coat, cape (of course), a bike helmet and rain boots, all decorated withawesome fire duct tape. But it wasn’t just that day that he dressed up, it was every day. When he wasn’t Captain of Safety he was Cosmic Boy or some other superhero he dreamed up. Thankfully he went to a fantastic preschool that accepted all kids, even super kids.

I didn’t get it – until I spent the day at his preschool and witnessed the effect the costume had on him and on the other kids. The costume gave my son the excuse to be heroic. He didn’t just walk across the room, he strutted. He didn’t just talk, he proclaimed! He didn’t just play, he went on grand adventures. He loved being a superhero and the other kids seemed to love having a superhero around to save the day.

Being a superhero made my son feel brave. It gave him a sense of power that he didn’t have without the costume. Heading off into the world, even if it’s just preschool, is scary for most kids. But it’s not scary for those kids endowed with superhuman strength and the ability to see through walls.

Eventually the costumes were left at home, except on special occasions like today. But Captain of Safety accomplished his mission. He helped my son venture out into the world and learn that he was strong, that he was brave and that, even in small ways, he could be a hero.

It was time for our kids’ favorite toy to go. Its springs were shot, there were random holes in its upholstery and the stains!  There was a particularly interesting 3D stain made of a gold Silly Putty-like material that was impervious to even the most noxious cleaners.

It was, of course, our couch. The best toy ever. The couch was handed down to me from my parents who, according to legend, bought it from a place that reclaimed furniture that had been through a flood. It was never a fancy or particularly comfortable couch, but it was the best fort, rocket ship, skyscraper, diving board, trampoline and indoor ski slope ever made.

As a toy inventor, the couch was pure inspiration. Its four cube bases and rectangular cushions could be arranged and stacked into a billion configurations, both geometric and organic. In fact, the couch was a big influence on the final design of our (much smaller) YOXO building sets.

More importantly, our couch was yet more proof that the best toys are often what you find, not what you buy.  The couch was a powerful palette for big creative play. Our kids started building with the couch before they could walk and would have kept on building with it until it was a pile of splinters and rags if we hadn’t let it go.

But this weekend we did. We found someone who, in exchange for $50 (they paid us, surprisingly), took the couch as a reupholstering project.  Our 5-year-old son cried and cried when we told him. “But its my favorite!” he said, repeatedly, with all the passion and conviction 5-year-olds are capable of. He kept crying until I told him we were exchanging the couch for the next best thing – no couch.

Yes, we are now couch-free. Our living room (which has been dubbed the “moon room”) is wide open and will soon be filled with piles of pillows for even more crazy large-scale creative play. That is, until we break down and buy another couch.

This weekend, challenge your family to make treasure out of something you usually throw away. We love this egg carton treasure chest (source: www.redtedart.com)  and bottle cork sailboat (source: www.sulia.com) If you make something cool this weekend share it with us on Facebook or @playfromscratch !

This weekend, the Play from Scratch crew headed over to Northeast Minneapolis to take part in Open Streets Minneapolis on Central Avenue. It was incredible and we met some great people. Check out the photo below of the Maker's Maze we brought along with us! 

Cranky kid in the car? Long road trip? Just add bubbles--use the AC vent to fill the car with bubbles and create instant excitement! (tip comes from parenthacks.com)

Looking for a fun game for the kids to play outside that both moves their bodies and is great practice writing BIG numbers? Try Mega Hopscotch!

Jeff gave a big speech at the Next Generation of Government Training Summit today in Washington DC. The message: scarcity is a key to creativity. The 500+ government leaders then dug in with Go Creative cards and tape, getting their own creative juices flowing!http://bit.ly/17G38Un