Encouraging Creativity to Blossom
I attended an event over the weekend that was run by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. One of the topics that came up in presentation and in…
Reading Activity: Scavenger hunts (free downloads)
My boys LOVE anything that involves treasure, maps and clues - they often draw their own fantasy maps, complete with sea monster, lava lakes and buried treasure. I have to…
Family Media Agreements
Two things happened recently which brought technology into sharp focus in our household. The first was when my laptop died a horrible, untimely death after Mr 6 accidentally (argh!) knocked…
Reading rhyming stories 101 (for parents)
This post is for parents who are neither musically-inclined, nor poetically-inclined but who find themselves suddenly confronted by brightly coloured books by authors such as Dr Seuss, Mem Fox, Julia…
Helping your perfectionist child with creative writing
A mother in a Facebook group recently asked for tips to help her perfectionist nine-year-old boy with his creative writing - to overcome his fears and get his ideas down on paper. This…
Three audio tools for peaceful car journeys with kids
If you're anything like us when driving in the car with kids in the back seat, you avoid commercial radio stations in case of swearing or sudden news breaks, argue…
Why we should avoid controlling what children read
It's been a while since I've blogged, but a lot of things have been going on behind the scenes. I've been working on a new middle-grade fiction novel - this…
Getting Organised with Sensory Kids
I've been a bit quiet this week, on the blog and in my writing. I managed to submit a handful of manuscripts to two competitions early last week and so…
Surviving Term Two with Young Children
Summer has gone, the Easter Bunny has been, we've commiserated with the ANZACs and the excitement of a new year of school has long passed. Our friends in the northern…
10 Picture books that encourage empathy (and one chapter book)
I do my best to as a mother to resist the rush rush rush that seems to be the norm for children these days. I limit their activities, I have…