The Kavanaugh Report

It's not secret that I love nature play at home and in the world. Nature play has so many benefits for children and adults. While nature itself provides so many amazing materials to play with - hello water, flower petals, and pinecones to name a few - it is fun to have a few materials to enhance the play. These toys have broad appeal for lots of ages. I will say that many of these things have been thrifted so always try your thrift store for unique outdoor accessories. Unlike many other areas of our life the toys found in our nature play area , are almost exclusively made from plastic or metal. We skip glass and wood materials that are more likely to break or not withstand the elements.  If things get dirty, I just set up a little cleaning station play with soapy water and some scrub brushes. That invites the children right in and everything is cleaned up in no time.  The Best Montessori Friendly Nature Play Toys for Outside There are so many wonderful choices when it comes to natu

Natural playscapes and nature play areas continue to be one of my favorite things for children. There are so many benefits to allowing our children to play in nature, that I just see no downside. Nature increases their physical strength, sensorial awareness, increases concentration and so much more. As a Montessori parent, I want to encourage my children to be outside as much as possible, even in our cooler climate. And, as a result we have been slowly adding a nature play area to our yard.  In phase 1 of our project , we added large rocks, a gravel river, and a children's garden. Over the last two years, we have expanded on our nature play area to include a larger section of our yard. So, I thought it was time for another tour.  Montessori Nature Play Area at Home A quick reminder that the changes we made from phase 1 have happened over two years. Landscaping work takes a lot of time, can be expensive, and can be limited by seasons/climate. So, it's been a lot of dreaming, pla

One day I would love to be one of those pregnant woman who just loves pregnancy. They just float around glowing, and feeling great. Instead, I'm one of those people that spends half of my pregnancy on the floor of the bathroom. When you already have children, it's really hard to be that sick for that length of time. Morning sickness can really put a damper on your ability to show up as a prepared adult in your Montessori home.