For the little girls in my life, ages 6–9 has been a craftaholic phase. One that's moving away from cardboard and pipe cleaners and more toward DIY craft kits for kids that result in beautiful finished products they can keep themselves o…
My family has a tradition of reading Christmas books at bedtime every night during Advent. Some years, I wrap each holiday book in our collection, so they'll be surprised which book we're reading each night. Other years, we take turns ch…
Now that Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror, it's really starting to feel like Christmas to me. And as much as I love the shopping and the hot cocoa and the decorations, my favorite part is the parties. Instead of sending the kids to…
Houses up and down our street are starting to turn on their holiday lights, and it's beginning to look at lot like Christmas in our neighborhood. My craft-loving kids would like for us to DIY everything holiday around here -- cotton-ball…
If you're like me and Thanksgiving totally snuck up on you this year (seriously, today ?), fear not! The CMP team has been hard at work for weeks now, sharing the most helpful resources and great advice to help you master the big day. Fr…
One of our most favorite parts of the holidays (no, not presents, though we like those too) are the family traditions we celebrate year after year. There's just something so special about looking forward to our annual holiday rituals, wh…
If you've been following us this season, you know we've already discovered some amazing printables for Thanksgiving . And while these activities should buy you at least some free time Thanksgiving morning to conquer your cooking, we thou…
Our favorite crafts around here are simple ones that don't require an MFA, and it's a big bonus when we don't even have to head to the craft store for supplies. And if these crafts help us have conversations about the world around us, al…
I've always loved Thanksgiving and although I have been looking forward to it for weeks now, it feels like the events of the election may loom over the dinner table like 50-foot floats in the Macy's Day Parade (except not as cute and fri…
With the massive popularity of Cards Against Humanity, it was only a matter of time before someone created a G-rated (ok, G-rated-ish) adaptation that pays homage to its irreverent mastery. Enter Not Parent Approved , a truly hilarious, …
I truly love spending autumn weekends doing fall crafts with my nieces, and now that we're done with pumpkins and ghosts, I'm looking into cool craft projects for Thanksgiving . I searched around and found some favorites from the harvest…
In an effort to reduce screentime at home, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks around the bend, I've been stocking up on some arts and crafts-type activity books for kids. Instead of everyone sitting on the couch, looking a…
If you've been following our Halloween coverage this year, you won't be surprised that we've been seeking out cool Sharpie Halloween pumpkin decorating ideas. After all, we're busy! So we're all about cutting down on fuss , days of exces…
The leaves are crunchy, the air is crisp, the sky is blue, and your kids need to have fun in those adorable costumes too. So we've put together a list of we think are some of the best local Halloween events for kids all around the countr…
Not everyone has kids that want scary Halloween decorations around the house. Like mine, for example. Hosting a trick-or-treat party is one of my kids' favorite traditions of the year, and they totally love Halloween, but they'd prefer w…
This year, with all five of my nieces dressing up as Star Wars characters, I couldn't think of a more perfect Halloween craft than creating Star Wars Halloween pumpkins together. So I've searched the web for them -- and all of you! -- an…
My favorite fall break destination with the kids is unquestionably Asheville, North Carolina. Even though it isn't a kid-centric destination per se (no Mickey Mouse for miles), there's still so many fun, family-friendly activities we can…
If you ask me, it's never too early to teach a child about emotional intelligence. I still remember my teacher making us practice "I" statements -- as in, "When you steal my Hello Kitty pencil, I feel hurt and sad." A couple of decades l…
This summer my family hit a new milestone on our bikes: my youngest learned to ride without training wheels, and my oldest is now big enough to be trusted to ride his bike a couple blocks to his friend's house on his own. (Although I sti…
I've never actually forgotten to send the invites out to one of my kids' birthdays, but I've definitely waited until the very last minute to plan their parties. The thing is: if your child's birthday happens to land during one of the cra…
If your family is divided by the word nerds who love Scrabble and the strategists who love Monopoly, then we've found the family tabletop game for you. It's called Word Domination , it's on Kickstarter now, and it's already winning gamin…
We all know the transition from balance bike to training wheels to full-on bicycle takes a while (and can get a little wobbly). Add the required coordination to ring that out-of-my-way-new-rider-here bell and your kid may be in danger of…
Back in 2014, Kate spent some time with the original Taga Bike with some pretty stellar results, and I'm not the least bit surprised she fell for this cool family bike. It's brilliantly designed, can ferry up to two kids in the front com…
There have been a lot of hard things in the news this year, and I think we can all agree we need a little more happy in our lives. So when a friend told me that her kids found $5 and a note to buy some candy "on us" tucked into her movie…