Cubby Archive

At the start of winter, things at our house were getting a little dire on the physical activity front.Our preschooler had a lot of energy to burn through and nowhere warm to do it. On the other end of the spectrum, our middle schooler would rarely leave her room on virtual school days, and my husband and I couldn’t break away from the kids or working from home in blocks long enough to fit in a workout. By the end of the day we were too exhausted to do anything but collapse on the couch.

Kids are creators — messy, wild, and sometimes destructive little creators who need a few basic art supplies to get their juices flowing. Setting up and stocking an art station for kids can be a bit overwhelming — especially if you yourself aren’t naturally drawn (pun intended!) to the joy of discovering the latest and greatest in art supplies.

I want to build an easy indoor swing to occupy my two boys while we’re all cooped up inside. Got any advice? GeneDear Gene, You’ve come to the right place! A dad after my own heart. I did this exact project back when my daughter was almost 3 and it worked like a charm. Below are all my instructions.This past Saturday I woke up and was suddenly seized with the notion of making a swing to hang in our apartment for Ursula. It’s January. It’s cold.

As a parent considered very high-risk, in this past year we could not take shortcuts when it came to safety. That meant, all social gatherings for my kids always included being outdoors, wearing masks, and keeping at least six feet apart (if not much farther). And I found myself wondering: How do I enforce the rules while still encouraging effortless fun?At first, it was a challenge.

Staring down a pandemic summer without a single playdate or vacation, our youngest started clinging to the one thing she could look forward to — her August birthday. She was so excited to turn 4, we had to start a countdown calendar a month and a half out, marking off each of the 48 days until the big day. So the pressure was on to think of a safe celebration that would live up to all that pent-up anticipation. Our parameters: no guests from outside the household, and no leaving home.

Ours is a LEGO-loving family. My wife and I both collected them as kids. I took fastidious care of my LEGO sets, and still have all of my models and their instructions, plus a small (very small!) list of pieces that have been lost over the years. As with many families, LEGOs make for easy gifts, especially with the advent of licensed sets like Star Wars and Marvel; they make regular appearances at Christmas and birthdays in our house.

If you’re a parent, you’re surely more than used to your little ones making messes anywhere they can in your home. But cleaning up crayon stains on your walls is a different beast entirely—and we don’t blame you for wondering how the heck to safely remove your mini Picasso’s brand new work of art. One Oregon mom did a bit of Googling and found the answer right in her refrigerator.

If you’re a parent, you’re surely more than used to your little ones making messes anywhere they can in your home. But cleaning up crayon stains on your walls is a different beast entirely—and we don’t blame you for wondering how the heck to safely remove your mini Picasso’s brand new work of art. One Oregon mom did a bit of Googling and found the answer right in her refrigerator.

Water is the ultimate sensory play experience for kids, but, when you’re in the midst of a pandemic in winter (and in my case, holed up in a New York City apartment), there’s no pool, sprinkler, or ocean on offer. However, you still have two options for water play: One is bath time, of course, and the other is what I like to call “Mix and Measure Time.

Trends may come and go, but one thing that’s not going away anytime soon is nostalgia for the ’90s. This year alone saw reboots of classics like “Saved By The Bell,” “Party of Five,” and “Animaniacs,” as well as the confirmation of a “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reimagining and that long-awaited “Friends” reunion special. So, to say that many of us are sentimental for the decade may be the understatement of the millennium.

In my house, we’ve been hearing a lot of complaints from our son lately that his toys are “boring” (and this is after the influx of new Christmas gifts!). Despite the fact that he hasn’t played inside at a friends house in going on ten months, he seems to have a photographic memory of his friends’ supposedly superior toy collections.