I am a mother that is not comfortable with mess. I don’t like noise or chaos either. And yet, I’m learning to adapt.
In fact, when I read Recipes for Play by Rachel Sumner and Ruth Mitchener (The Experiment, September 2014), I started actually getting excited about trying out some of the activities and crafts mentioned.
I’m a homeschooling mom. Another thing I never intended to do, and yet here I am. Homeschooling gets me out of my comfort-zone many times a day.
As I read Recipes for Play, which is full of play-crafts for young kids and mothers to easily recreate in their homes, I started to think of the many ways I could tie the suggested crafts in to our daily routine: some of them could be adapted for a homeschool lesson. Another one could keep my littlest one busy while I get a chance to over the math assignment with my son. The possibilities got me excited.
It also helps that Recipes for Play is super pretty to look at. It was written by a sister team, one of whom created the recipes and the other took the photographs. I loved looking at their pretty “Pinterest-worthy” photographs. It was set up like a recipe book, with an ingredient list for each craft, estimated time, estimated difficulty level, and estimated mess rating (the cutest ones always were the messiest!).
Little fingers, little feet, paintbrushes in mid-stroke. These are gorgeous pictures.
And then there is the tone of voice. The book starts with a fun letter from a parent to “Mess.” I agreed with every word. I could not wait to read more! These were moms like me who understand the constant clutter, dirtiness, and general mess. They would not give me impossible things.
And I don’t believe they did. My son and I are going to try some of the fun activities. I’ll keep you posted over on my homeschooling activities blog! Come check us out.
Note: I received a digital copy of the book for review consideration.
