Spring 2012 - Rhythm of the HomeRhythm of the Home

Spring 2012 Index

Inspiring Projects to do With Little Ones Story Lanterns from Alphabet Glue Two Little Blackbirds Fingerplay & Tutorial Heart Garden Mobile for Baby Inspiration in Your Own Backyard :: Fairy Houses & Crowns Mama Rabbit and Baby Bunnies Playset Dream Country :: Becoming a Dream Collector Indoor Play Spaces for Imaginative Play Surprise Yarn Eggs [...]

Rhythm of The Home Book Query Guidelines

Rhythm of the Home was created as a collaborative voice, a way to open the world to perspectives on educating and raising our children. It has always been our hope that through sharing the voices of many, we would all one day look back and be proud of the changes that we had made, the [...]

“We All Live In a Tippy Red Canoe . . .” : Paddling With Kids

Spring is the time when our bodies start to twitch and you’ll find our whole family staring out the window longing for sunshine and brighter days. One of our favorite springtime activities is getting outdoors in our canoe. Canoes offer a fun, traditional way of experiencing the outdoors. Designs and materials have changed with time [...]

Indoor Spaces for Imaginative Play

Call me seasonally cliched, but when springtime rolls around, I awaken. I open the windows wide, letting crisp breezes freshen stale air. I scrub forgotten corners. I clean closets. Spring is raucous with new life; what better time to invigorate your child’s play space? My dream playroom is crisp and spare, so it is not [...]

Discovering A Sense of Place

“No matter how much one may love the world as a whole,one can live fully in it only by living responsibly in some small part of it.” [...]

Dream Country :: Becoming a Dream Collector

Sophie later learned that the BFG ( Big Friendly Giant) was a dream collector. She took him with her in the pale country where you can hear dreams sailing along. “Where are we?” she asked. “We is in Dream Country.” the BFG said. “This is where all dreams is beginning.” It is not a rare [...]

Surprise Yarn Eggs

Eggs just speak to us of all things spring. They fill the nests in the trees and our baskets on Easter. Many of us continue to try and find natural gifts and treats for the eggs as an alternative to all of the candy and plastic eggs. This year inspire a little creativity as well [...]

Creating a Children’s Garden

After reading a wonderful children’s book called Princess Chamomile’s Garden by Hiawyn Oram, I was inspired to create a little garden for my girls in a neglected area of our backyard. In the book, the little mouse princess helps the gardener and finds the royal gardens “too big” so she plans out something just her [...]

New Day :: Celebrating the Spring Equinox

The first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the Vernal Equinox, falls on March 20th this year. It is a time of transition in nature and within ourselves. The worst of winter is over, sunshine and warmth are returning, flowers are blossoming, gardens are being planted and the year begins again. Day and night [...]

Spring Flower Baby Hat

Spring is the perfect season for a pretty baby hat that keeps heads warm on cool days, and brightens up any outfit. Size: 3-9 months Hook: H Yarn: Weight Category: 5 – Bulky: Chunky, Craft, Rug Yarn Gauge: Knit: 14.6 stitches x 18 rows = 4″ (10cm) on size 10 (6mm) needles Crochet: 10 sc [...]

Cherry Blossom Picnics

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,Across the spring sky,As far as you can see.Is it a mist, or clouds?Fragrant in the air.Come now, come,Let’s look, at last! [...]

To Market, To Market Play Money

Late one night last week, as I tucked a few coins in a wee envelope with a tiny missive from the tooth fairy, I reflected on the fact that my daughter would still be more excited about three nickels than one quarter. I cannot recall when I first learned the value of each coin and [...]

Interview with Annie Riechmann of Alphabet Glue

The world is a fast moving experience for most of us, and sometimes things of value, like long days spent reading, can get lost. Annie Riechmann has created the publication Alphabet Glue, which is dedicated to bringing the art of storytelling and a passion for reading back to families everywhere. We recently had a chance [...]

How To Host A Birthday Celebration Ritual

I love celebrating birthdays. Do you? I’m a fan of birthday cakes, old-fashioned games, fun finger food, fancy desserts and parties. They are such fun. But there is another way to celebrate birthdays too, one that I have found to be deeply soul-satisfying and important for ‘recognising’ the gifts and quirks of each individual child [...]

An Edible Flower Garden

There is a clear division of labor when it comes to the gardens at our house. My husband plans and manages the vegetable gardens. I help in various ways – picking out new varieties of vegetables; planting, weeding and harvesting; and most importantly, cooking with the garden produce. I, on the other hand, love to [...]

Welcome Spring Wreath

Every year, when the calendar page turns to January, I breathe a heavy sigh as I resign myself to several long months of cold, gray, and dreary weather. As if on cue, the seed catalogs start to arrive, lifting my spirits and helping me to turn my eyes forward to spring. Dog-eared and paged through [...]

The Chicken TV :: Why We Adore Our Backyard Flock

Unbuckle my baby boy from his car seat. Jiggle the lock to open the back gate. Grab the old quilt as we pass the porch, and spread it out one-handed in the yard while the other hand keeps the boy securely on my hip. Plunk him down in the center, singing a silly song as [...]

Finding My Way to The Mat

There is a place that I go to everyday, rain or shine, sick or well. It is a place where I find comfort and solace, and a place where I would like to think that I am able to tap into my true nature. My yoga mat is a source of peace for me, a [...]

Easter Egg Game

Growing up in a Greek family meant Easter was always a very special time of year celebrated with lots of ritual, food, and special traditions. One of my favorite traditions that I love sharing with my family and friends today is the Easter egg game called tsougrisma. To play the game you need some dyed [...]

Coconut Granola

Here Andrea Belcham shares a recipe from her book Food and Fellowship: Projects and Recipes to Feed a Community. For more information about her book, see her interview in this edition of Rhythm of the Home. :::::::::::: This is a recipe I use often, both for my CSK customers and my own family. It makes a [...]

Throwing a Strawberry Picking Party

There is something special about fields filled with warm strawberries in late spring. My children and I have made strawberry picking a yearly tradition, and one of our favorite farms is also a beautiful location for a great party. Throwing a party in a natural setting makes for easy decor and minimal fuss, and it [...]

Story Lanterns from Alphabet Glue

This spring, Annie Riechmann of Alphabet Glue shares a wonderful project from her magazine. This project first appeared in Volume Two. You may read more about Annie and Alphabet Glue in her interview in the spring 2012 issue of Rhythm of the Home. Story Lantern Project :::::::::::::: Annie Riechmann is an educator, parent and unapologetic [...]

Mobile for Baby

Preparing for a new little one to come into our home has been such a joy. My deep desire is to encourage love and excitement with our two at home, even before the third arrives. This little mobile is a project in which one, two, or several can be involved in the creation process. Materials [...]

Frugal Cloth Diapering Made Simple

Deciding on cloth diapering can be a daunting choice when you are about to have a baby. The world of diapering is an overwhelming one and once you have that sweet baby in your arms, there is nothing that you want to be a hassle in your life. There are entire sites devoted to cloth [...]

Interview with Andrea Belcham of Food and Fellowship

As the discussions on healthy eating continue, an old concept is beginning to be popular once again. Batch cooking, cooking clubs, and co-op sources for food are beginning to see a resurgence in popularity, and are helping thousands of families to begin eating healthier, more wholesome meals. Author Andrea Belcham has recently released the book [...]

Brighten Your Table with Cloth Napkins

In the center of our dining table is a simple basket that brings me joy. It is filled with cloth napkins in a rainbow of colors and prints, some made by me, some made alongside my sons. I grew up with cloth napkins, and we have been using them in our family since my husband [...]

Mama Rabbit and Baby Bunnies Playset

Rabbits have long been a part of Easter folklore. They are well known for their fertility and are often used to symbolize the Earth’s own fertility as we approach Equinox. Rabbits begin having the first of their adorable babes in the Spring, usually followed by at least one more litter of babies soon after. You [...]

Inspiration in Your Own Backyard :: Fairy Houses & Crowns

One of the most pleasant surprises of having children is their seemingly boundless creativity. My son and daughter’s ideas and interests help me explore some wonderful and unexpected paths. From their vantage point, the most ordinary place (our backyard, and a few found objects) can become transformed into a setting of magic and wonder. One [...]

Mike :: A Sparkle Story

::::::::::: David and Lisabeth with Sparkle Stories will be bringing a story to life each season here at Rhythm of the Home. Their Spring Junkyard Tale story featuring Mike, can be found HERE. If you would like to follow along with the other stories in the series, please see the links below. Their summer story called [...]

A Beaded Blessing

During my Mother Blessing that took place almost two years ago this June, all of the women brought a bead for me that was somehow connected to our friendship or to my future birth. Among them were a bead made from a bean (since my friends and I are gardeners and beans remind me the [...]

Naturally Fun Parties for Kids

Rhythm of the Home co-creator Heather Fontenot is getting ready to release her first book, Naturally Fun Parties For Kids, this month. We sat down and talked to Heather about the challenges of writing a book and the joys of seeing her words come to life. We also talked with her co-author, Anni Daulter, about [...]

Visiting My Childhood Garden

It’s the place where I can breathe, where my bare feet touch the earth. It’s my little corner of space and time where I am able to connect to the natural world, to let go and be closer to the person that I want to be. As a child, this was my world, my life. [...]

Two Little Blackbirds Fingerplay & Puppet Tutorial

From the time my older son was a baby, I’ve always carried small things in my bag to amuse him. When he was very small, I carried a washcloth and a wooden block for him to chew on. When he got older, I kept an assortment of small cars and books in my bag to [...]

The Big Thaw

Mud, mud, glorious mud,Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood.So follow me, follow me,Down to the hollow,And there let me wallow in glorious mud. [...]

Flourish Where You Are Planted :: Creating Community in Rural Ontario

Moving to the woods was inevitable and right for us in so many ways. My husband has a wonderful job working for the County in the heart of cottage country. We wanted more land for exploring and growing our own food; it would cut his two hour commute (and thus, our gas bill and general [...]

Woolly Sheep

Sweet and easy crafts are always welcome in our home. We first came across this one at one of our regional parks on a celebratory day when families were invited to dig their hands in and make things together to celebrate the season and farm life. My little girl especially loves this project as it [...]

Celebration Bunting

As my son’s first birthday rapidly approaches, the mama to-make list grows ever longer: the gift, the birthday crown, the food. There is one item on the list, however, that I know must be completed without exception: The Birthday Bunting. In my youth, we had a Birthday Streamer that made an appearance every year for [...]

The Magic of Raising Butterflies

For the past year, I’ve been raising butterflies with my two young girls. It started with a simple act, as most transformations do. It was spring, and my backyard was vibrating with new life; wispy feathers of green had emerged on the cypress tree, orange blossoms and jasmine perfumed the air, and butterflies shimmied amongst [...]

How Tall I Am :: Growth Chart and Fingerplay

Life is full of celebrations. One of our favorite is our children’s birthday. Birthday traditions include parties, birthday candles, cakes, gifts, and in our home, marking the growth chart with the date and age of the child. (When they are very young, we do it more frequently.) We have a simple fingerplay to accompany the [...]

Heart Garden

In the dark of the winter our house finds itself plunked down in the middle of beautiful frozen tundra where you can almost expect to see a team of dogs mushing by at any moment. To keep ourselves fortified and hopeful for easier living days to come, the family stays huddled together at the heart [...]

Spring Festivals and Celebrations

Spring is a time for renewal and rebirth, and the festivals celebrated around the world reflect this seasonal shift. Festivals help bring communities together to share the joy of the season, and to look forward to times to come. The following are spring festivals to many cultures and faiths, and include a list of resources [...]

Springtime Puddle Stomping

Spring is capricious, changeable, unpredictable. Some years it is gentle and welcoming. Other years it is fierce and frustrating. One constant is that spring is most certainly wet. For my family, that means that spring is prime puddle-stomping time. As soon as the snow begins to melt and the early puddles emerge, my children [...]

Flower Pot Cheese Bread

Anni Daulter shares with us a favorite spring time recipe, and one that can be found in her new book Naturally Fun Parties for Kids. You can read more about Anni in her interview in this edition of Rhythm of the Home. Flowerpot Cheese Breads 3 cups warm water 2 teaspoons yeast 1 cup mozzarella [...]

A Story of Rebirth

During the cold days of winter I received some sad news about a beloved relative. Thoughts of illness and treatment and worry crowded out space in my mind where happiness and joy usually reside. It felt strange to be with my children, because you really can’t fake silly or fun. I was as frozen as [...]

Spring Reading for Families

Spring is the perfect time to open a book and bring the beauty of the season to life. Below is a collection of some of our favorite spring books, and those of our readers. We hope you enjoy and cherish these treasures for many years to come. The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons The [...]