Autumn Crafting Inspiration

This year has been anything but normal, but one thing remains the same: the first chill in the air means it’s time to start crafting wonderful woolens for autumn and winter. This is one of our favourite times of the year to pore over the pages of Ravelry looking at all the new patterns and getting inspired to knit and crochet. Today we’ve gathered some of our favourite finds in one post to inspire you!

Sweaters

There are so many wonderful sweaters this season! If you love colourwork check out Columbary by Stephanie Lotven or Unbearable Hoodie by Les Garcons (this one comes in child sizes too!). If you want to stick with classic shapes but add some textural details, try the Sahra Sweater by Leena Hoi or Atlantica by Audrey Borrego from Issue 34 of Pom Pom Quarterly. If you’re a crocheter, the Cherry Blossom Wrap Cardigan by Emilia Johansson looks snuggly, or if you’re in search of an aran sweater, try Henry Street Jumper by We Crochet.

Shawls

We love the drama in Fawkes by Christelle Nihoul, and that burnt orange is perfect for autumn. Or play with fading colours in Candy Shop by Julia-Maria Hegenbart or sweet colourwork in Bouton d’Or by Gabriele Vezina. If you’re looking for the perfect bulky shawl to layer over everything, we love Perplexity by Tif Nielan. A new trend for our crocheters that we’ve been seeing everywhere is the Perfect Pockets Shawl by Sonja Hood. And oh those beautiful colors in the crocheted Disha Shawl by Arunima Goel!

Accessories

Fall is the perfect time for accessories! If you want a cozy warm neck, try Berries, Leaves and Vines by Michael Harrigan or the Mesa Cowl by Wooly Hooligan. Keep your head warm with the delicate lace of Hitherto by Hunter Hammersen or the fantastic colourwork of Hecate by Woolly Wormhead. If you’re a crocheter, we love Dotty by Elena Fedotova and the Perfectly Puff Beanie & Cowl Set by Jessica Carey.

Home

We love to surround ourselves with warm woolens during the cooler months. We’ve found a few new items you may want to add to your home! If you love to cozy up on the couch, check out Looking Forward by Fifty Four Ten Studio to keep you warm. Add some color to those dreary days with the Boho Vibes Crochet Pillow Cover by Jennifer Lynn. Corral your projects in one place and still get to look at those gorgeous yarns and colors with the Scrap Yarn Basket by Cintia Gonzalez!

We hope we’ve given you a bit of autumn crafting inspiration and look forward to seeing what you craft. Tag us on Instagram with the hashtag #Eucalan so we can ooh and ahh over what you create!

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7 Fan Favorites – Customers Share their Favourite Experiences with Eucalan

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know how gentle Eucalan Delicate Wash is in cleaning handmade items, delicate lingerie and even children’s clothing and cloth diapers. But we hear from customers all the time about fun and unexpected ways they’ve used Eucalan. Today we’ve gathered up 7 of our fan favourites – we hope they’ll give you great ideas!

1. Your wedding dress. From customer Kay: “Almost 2 years ago my wife wore this amazing dress. We couldn’t find anyone to clean it after. The outdoor venue had blackened the bottom. Enter Eucalan. I found this to be a great fiber cleaner, including my carpets. So when my wife begged me to try and save her dress so she could preserve it, or sell it I thought I might try using Eucalan. On a 2 year old, set in grass and dirt stain, on a delicate wedding dress. A tiny bit of soaking and direct scrubbing to the worst spots later and I am amazed! Thanks for such an amazing product. Everyone should have some!” We’ve got some extra tips for wedding dress care on our website!

2. Your child’s favourite toy. From the mouths of babes, and customer Vanessa: “My daughter said he was sticky so we gave him a bath.”  Check out one of our newest videos on Laundering Baby Items with Eucalan for our top tips!

3. Your delicate clothing items. Lace? Silk? Bling? Eucalan can handle all of them and keep your favourite delicates looking like new for longer. Instagram customer @girlsavage shares, “A wash in Eucalan lavender for my sequined T-shirt.”

4. Your Winter Coat. If you didn’t launder your coat before you packed it away last season, or if you want to freshen it up for this fall and winter, give it a spa treatment with Eucalan. Customer Joan says “I looked at my wool winter coat and thought, ‘Why not?’ So I did. I love my Eucalan!” You can find more tips on keeping those coats looking spiffy on our blog.

5. Your Vintage Buttons (and other items). This was a new one for us, but we love hearing these stories! Customer Carol shared, “These vintage buttons from Mom’s and Grandma’s button tins cleaned up nicely. Some of them are quite old, and a filmy layer seemed to have built up over the years. I gave them a bath in my Eucalan wool wash and they are good as new!”

6. Your Masks. This one’s new for this year and we hope it doesn’t last forever, but you can use Eucalan on your masks! The owner of Esther’s Place Fibers says, “Let me share a tip that made mask-wearing just a little more bearable for me: washing mine in Eucalan. It smells so good when you put it on, it puts a smile on my face!” We’re right there with you!

7. Your Makeup Brushes. We shared this in a blog article a while ago, but customer Avila says, “First, if you can’t remember the last time you washed your makeup brushes/sponges, wash them! Second, if you’re looking for the best way (that I’ve found) to get them clean use Eucalan delicate wash! It’s better than all the makeup specific cleansers I’ve tried, and cheaper!”

We hope you enjoyed hearing how some of our customers use Eucalan in unexpected ways! If you’re interested in seeing more, we have a Pinterest board where we collect customer stories.

If you’ve got a new use for Eucalan, we’d love to hear from you!

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Back to School 2020

It’s halfway through August and students everywhere are preparing to head back to school for their autumn terms. With the pandemic, schooling this year will be quite different for many students, involving distance learning from home. We went on a Pinterest spree and added tons of great ideas to our Back to School board. Today we’ll share some of the best ideas we found on how to prepare to hit the books in 2020!

School Supplies

First we started by looking for essential supplies for students. Of course, these will vary a bit by the age of the students involved, but we love Our Must Have Supplies for Distance Learning from Mama Cheaps as a place to start. She suggests that at a minimum you have:

• A Computer or Tablet for virtual learning sessions with teachers.

• Headphones for each student so that they can listen to content without disturbing other students or members of the household.

• An array of standard back to school supplies as appropriate for age level. This could include: pencils, pens, calculators, crayons/markers/colored pencils, glue sticks, paper/notebooks. If you want to keep these supplies corralled you should also think about a caddy – you can purchase one or there are tons of fun tutorials on Pinterest to make your own. We really love this Upcycled Lazy Susan School Supply Center from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary and you can even upcycle used Eucalan bottles and decorate them with washi tape (we’ve got a tutorial for that) as containers!

• A calendar of events and activities, or a daily schedule. This can be a prominent display, an electronic calendar or checklist, or a notebook or printed sheets. Again, this will vary depending on the age of your child, but each day should have learning times as well as breaks built in. 

• A timer to track study and break times. This can be as simple as a cell phone or an egg timer, but especially with little ones this will come in handy.

• A printer to print out assignments, worksheets, study aids and the like. 

• Options: A chalkboard, dry erase board, or a bulletin board for sharing ideas, explaining concepts, posting the daily schedule in a visible way, etc. and appropriate supplies (chalk, dry erase parkers, pushpins) to use those tools.

Dedicated Working Spaces

Once you have your supplies handy, you need a work space for your student. If your living space permits, it’s best to create a permanent work space. A dedicated space gives your student a place that feels comfortable and familiar, and you escape the hassle of constantly shuffling supplies. Again, we perused Pinterest and found tons of great inspiration for workspaces, including 35 Homeschool Room Ideas for Small Spaces from Homeschool Superfreak. The ones below are our favourites for repurposing small spaces into lovely learning environments.

Finding Resources

Since many are becoming “first-time teachers” to students at home, we turned to home school parents to find other resources on how to help your children learn and thrive during these uncertain times. While your school will likely provide you with assignments, virtual learning sessions and the like, we love the tips in Homeschool Resources for Parents During Social Distancing or Summer Break from Apple Slices.

In addition to specific links to learning resources, she highlights how to fold every day experiences into home learning. For example, reading is learning! It doesn’t matter what your student is reading (comic books, fiction, nonfiction, etc.) just that they ARE reading. If your local library is open and you can do so safely, build a weekly or bi-weekly trip in to gather new reading materials. Or find a little free library near you, or swap books with other families in your neighborhood or school!

Struggling to teach math skills? Cooking together involves lots of measuring ingredients. Shopping for groceries or other supplies also involves math. And you can teach simple math skills just by playing card games!

Need to encourage writing skills? Let them write anything they want! Get each student a notebook and if they’re interested, use a tutorial like this one to help them build them their own unique place to write! 

We hope we’ve given you a head start on building distance learning into your back to school routine. We’ve got tons more great ideas on our Back to School Pinterest board and we’d love to hear your favourite tips and ideas!

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Creative Fabrica: A new resource for crafting!

This spring and early summer have given us lots of time at home where we’ve been crafting up a storm. We’re constantly on the hunt for new and fun crafting resources and today we’d like to introduce you to a new-to-us website we’re excited about: Creative Fabrica!

Creative Fabrica was launched in Amsterdam in June 2016 with the following mission “Our goal is simple, to provide exceptional resources for your projects at a fair price.” They want to change the way people consume digital assets: namely fonts, graphics and downloads like knitting and crochet patterns! Creative Fabrica now has more than 1 million digital assets from over 5000 designers, and they’re adding more every day. 

You can interact with Creative Fabrica in a variety of ways and in a variety of crafts. Knit or crochet handmade gifts, and then select some fonts and graphics to make your own gift tags or care instructions. Machine or hand embroider fun patterns that you can download directly to your computer! Can’t find what you’re looking for? Make a request in the Craft Club. Print thousands of different designs on demand, AND get the benefit of a commercial license (you can sell your handmade wares!).

As far as shopping goes, you can make individual purchases or join Creative Fabrica’s subscription model. And in the subscription model there are several options: purchase a Crafts subscription for $12 for three months, a Fonts or Graphics subscription for $19 dollars a month, or get an All-Access subscription where you’ll have access to all products on the platform for $29 a month.

(Note: the Crafts subscription only includes graphics files related to crafts, you’ll need a Graphics or All-Access subscription to access knit and crochet patterns.)

Since we’re avid knitters and crocheters, we’re excited that Creative Fabrica is currently focused on growing its knitting and crochet resources and we’d love to share with you some of the great patterns we’ve found!

Love amiguri? You’ll find tons of cute knit and crochet patterns from designer Amy Gaines. 

Knit fabulous accessories and colourwork hats from BlackCatKnitCo.

Or check out all the knit and crochet accessories from Knit and Crochet Ever After!

And how adorable are these dolls? You can access all these patterns for free!

If you’re curious about what else you can find on the Creative Fabrica site, you can check out the Knitting and Crochet categories to find more patterns!

We’d love to share Creative Fabrica and something special with you! Now when you sign up for any Creative Fabrica recurring subscription plan, you can receive 30% your membership price with the code EUCALANSUB30. This code will give you 30% off for as long as you stay a member.

Just add a subscription plan to your cart, enter the code EUCALANSUB30 in the appropriate box and click apply – it’s that easy!

Have you tried Creative Fabrica? We’d love to hear what you think!

Disclosure: Eucalan received an All-Access Subscription (value $29/month) for free for the purposes of this review.

Eucalan Summer Recipe Roundup

We’ve spent a lot of time at home this spring, so we’ve been cooking quite a bit more and we bet you have too! Now that we’re into summer, we’ve been looking for inspiration for delicious meals that are quick and easy to throw together. So we went to our favourite source for inspiration: Pinterest! Today we’ve rounded up some of the most enticing summer recipes that will have your family asking for seconds!

Salads

Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of the bounty of fruit and vegetables that are seasonally available. When the days are hot, there’s nothing better than a fresh salad. Our mouths are watering at this Blackberry Chicken Salad recipe from I am Homesteader, and the Watermelon Salad with Cucumber and Feta from Recipe Runner looks like the perfect mix of sweet and savory. If you have easy access to a farmer’s market and fresh vegetables, check out this Grilled Vegetable Salad from A Farmergirl’s Dabbles!

Light Pastas

We do love pastas, especially when they’re part of summer dishes that are lighter than your standard fare. This Summer Skillet Gnocchi with Grilled Corn and Burrata from Pure Wow uses fresh summer vegetables, and the Light Lemon Garlic Pasta with Salmon from The Cooking Jar looks like the perfect summer dinner. If it’s greens you’re after, check out these gorgeous Jade Noodles from Feasting at Home!

For the Grill

For many of us, summer means grilling! If you’re looking for new ways to skewer up your favourites, check out these recipes that can be assembled fairly quickly and thrown on the grill!

The Chipotle Honey Chicken Skewers from Skinny Ms. are blend of sweet and hot, and the Rosemary Garlic Steak Kabobs from I am Baker seem like a hearty dinner re-imagined for a summer grill. On the lighter side, these Salmon Citrus Skewers from Cooking with Mima are beautiful!

Sweet Treats

No summer meal is complete without a sweet treat. Keep it healthy and full of fresh fruit (and veggies!) with these Rainbow Popsicles from The First Year. Or try your hand at baking some of that summer bounty with this Blueberry Peach Crostata recipe by Coley Cooks. This one probably doesn’t qualify as quick or easy, but we bet it’s worth the effort: French Fruit Tart by House of Nash Eats!

We hope we’ve given you some great recipes to supplement your summer favourites. You can also check out our Pinterest board, Summer Recipe Roundup, for more inspiration!

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9 Fun Facts about Eucalan!

2020 is a big year for Eucalan (keep reading!) so we thought we’d take a little time and pull together 9 fun facts about us that you may not know!

1. A little bit of trivia: Do you know how we got our name? The derivative of the company name, Eucalan, is the combination of two of the prominent ingredients from the original product formula — eucalyptus and lanolin!

2. What makes Eucalan different from other wool washes? Our natural formula is 100% quickly biodegradable and eco-friendly. Eucalan includes lanolin to naturally condition fibers and help keep static away. Except for our unscented version, we use natural oils (eucalyptus, jasmine, grapefruit and lavender) as moth and flea inhibitors, antiseptics, and to add gentle scents to your woolens. Eucalan is gentle enough for everything your baby touches, your most delicate items, your cherished woolens and heirlooms, and even your pets (and their toys, blankets, etc.)!

3. Eucalan can be used in so many ways! For instance, you can dilute Eucalan Delicate Wash in a spray bottle with water and spritz upholstery and curtains to freshen them up or use it on clothing that’s been in your closets or drawers too long. Pick your favourite scent to refresh just about anything!

4. Lavender is a popular scent for promoting relaxation and improving sleep quality. Wash your pillowcases and bedding in Eucalan Lavender (hint: don’t rinse – or – add a few drops to the rinse water) to help calm down at night and sleep deeply all night long!

5. Worried about winter temperatures? If Eucalan freezes during shipping, it’s okay – let it thaw and it will be clear again! The liquid doesn’t separate and the effectiveness of the formula is still the same.

6. Eucalan loves supporting our customers! We’ve been to gifting suites for all kinds of events like the Grammy Awards, MuchMusic Video Awards (MMVAs), Toronto International Film Festival, Candian Country Music Association Awards (CCMAs), and the Kentucky Derby!  In addition to working with celebrities and their causes, we also work with our retailers to support their events and what matters most to them. This year, find us in goody bags at Stitch Up Events!

7. Eucalan is a family owned and operated business located in the beautiful town of Paris, Ontario, Canada. We are 1 hour west of Toronto and if you look on a map you’ll find us between Buffalo and Detroit!

8. This year, Eucalan is celebrating its 30th anniversary! We can hardly believe it’s been 30 years and we’re still going strong!

9. Do we have plans to celebrate our 30th? We sure do! Coming soon – an updated look!

We hope we’ve given you a few fun facts about Eucalan! We’d love to hear your favourite Eucalan stories – leave a comment for us here, or post on Instagram using the tag #eucalanfan or share your story in our Facebook group!

Adding Handmade Touches to Your Nursery

If you (or someone you know) is expecting a bundle of joy this year and you happen to be crafty, you’re probably looking for ways to add the perfect handmade touches to the nursery. Today we’ve rounded up some of our favourite ideas that you can use to welcome your little one!

Mobiles

Once you’ve got your crib in place, why not add a pretty mobile to catch baby’s eye? If you’re a knitter, we love the Woodland Tales Animal Mobile by Amanda Berry. Or what about this adorable Monster Mobile designed by Rebecca Danger? If you’re not ready to pull out the needles and hooks, we also love this DIY Floral Wreath Mobile tutorial from Elevated Mommy Life.

Wall Art

Here’s some inspiration to fill your little one’s walls with warm and welcoming items. If you’re on a budget, we love these Baby Animal Prints from Just Measuring Up, created from leftover fabric scraps and inexpensive frames. If you’ve got lots of fabric leftovers, why not create an Easy DIY Fabric Garland using this tutorial from Project Nursery. If you love stitching, check out the Once Upon a Time Sampler pattern from Frosted Pumpkin Stitcher and cross-stitch a fairy tale wonderland for baby! If paper crafts are more in your wheelhouse, how sweet is this DIY Heart Wall Hanging from Sweet Happy Life?

Something Snuggly

Quilts and blankets are perfect for snuggling with your new little one. Whether you wrap them up for a cuddle, or lay them down on the floor to explore and play, they add beautiful finishing touches to a room. We’ve already highlighted some of our favourite baby blankets in a previous post, but we’d add Bounce by Tin Can Knits and the Daphne Afghan by Tony Lipsey to that list! If you’re a sewist (or want to be) this Simple Quilt Tutorial from the Seasoned Homemaker includes links to a free pattern and video tutorials from precut fabrics! We also love all the tutorials from Diary of a Quilter, but particularly this one for an Easy DIY Modern Lone Star Quilt. 

Now that you’ve created some lovely items for baby, how can you keep them clean and germ-free? Check out our handy video tutorial on Laundering Baby Items with Eucalan. Whether they’re store-bought or handmade, keep every item that your baby touches fresh and clean with Eucalan!

We hope we’ve inspired you to create for your new little one! If you’re looking for more inspirational ideas we’ve got plenty. Check out these posts, Crafting and Laundering Baby Items with Eucalan and Caring for Vintage Baby Clothes & Quilts from our archives. And we’ve also got a Pinterest board, Oh Baby!, with tons of fun links for you to try!

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Lift Your Spirits and Learn New Things!

We are now finishing our second month of staying at home. While there are many things we miss from life as it was before, every day we find new things to entertain and delight us even during this difficult time. Today we’d like to share a few of our favourite resources for keeping ourselves in good spirits and learning new things each day.

1. Subscribe to Clara Parkes’ Daily Respite: Treat yourself to a little nugget to start your day off right from Clara Parkes, knitting author, yarn critic and wool expert. Delivered directly to your email inbox, the Daily Respite includes poems, video clips, quotes, music and other little bits of joy. You can subscribe for free, or support Clara with a modest monthly subscription of $6 and access extra goodies.

2. Take in a show or learn to dance: Lincoln Center at Home through a new portal that enables families and communities to keep the performing arts front and center. Check out the daily schedule and watch everything from jazz concerts to opera. Take a ballet class, learn shadow puppetry or line dancing – the opportunities are endless and free! Or if you’re really interested in ballet The National Ballet of Canada has a whole host of activities for little ones as well!  Or discover the magic of Cirque du Soleil with some of their live specials (available for free on YouTube!)

3. Draw or paint: The Kennedy Center presents 15 episodes of Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems, American writer, animator, voice actor, and creator of children’s books. Perfect for kids or adults – learn to doodle and sketch your creative thoughts! Or check out the official YouTube channel of Bob Ross’ the Joy of Painting Series and paint yourself some happy little trees!

4. Listen to Audible Stories: Free Audiobooks for Kids: For as long as schools remain closed, Audible has made a selection of its audiobooks for children available for free, including titles across eight different languages. Keep your kids dreaming, learning and loving reading (or being read to)!

5. Visit museums: Many museums have taken their exhibitions online for you to enjoy from the comfort of your home. New York’s Museum of Modern Art offers both modern and contemporary art from the 1880’s through today. Tour the Uffizi in Florence to explore one of the best collections of Renaissance art in the world. Explore the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, home to an incredible collection of Van Gogh and Cezanne masterpieces. Pop into the Tate for a taste of British art or explore amazing artifacts at The British Museum. Or check out this list of over 500 attractions and museums!

6. Learn to cook: So many folks are delivering free content on how to make the most of your pantry during this time. Check out the Home Cooking audio podcast with Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway to learn what they’re noshing on. Tune in on Tuesday nights at 6pm to Quarantine Kitchen and cook live with Alton Brown and his wife, designer Elizabeth Ingram (be careful – this one is not safe for kids due to language!). Or watch Alton’s Pantry Raid series to make something delicious from ingredients you already have at home! If you’re looking for something closer to home, you can also stream Top Chef Canada online. And if you’re looking for a great resource for all things food and kitchen related don’t miss Food 52. What’s the best way to cook bacon?  They’ve done the experiments and provide their findings.

7. Watch the animals: The Vancouver Aquarium has added several live cams to share everything from playful otters to entrancing jellyfish! Start watching birds local to you with the help of eBird. Or check out the penguins and orangutans at The Kansas City Zoo (our favorite is the tuxedo penguins visiting the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum)!

8. Explore science! The Ontario Science Centre has a lot to explore online and many exciting experiments for kids to try at home. Perhaps make your own slime? Episodes of Mythbusters, the popular Discovery Network show all about science are also available to stream on Hulu, Amazon Prime and YouTube.

We hope we’ve given you a few resources to lift your spirits and help you learn new things while at home. What has been keeping you entertained during this time? Please let us know in the comment what you’re loving right now!

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7 Tips for Building a Beautiful Home Office

Now that we’re mostly staying home, many of us are faced with how to both work and live (play?) in limited spaces. If you don’t already have a home office, now is the time to repurpose or create a space where you can work comfortably. Today we’ve pulled together some of our best suggestions on how to create an efficient, beautiful home office that you won’t mind spending your working hours in!

1. Find a space you can make your own. Whether it’s your own dedicated room, or a corner of another space, set up a dedicated work space. You’ll need a table and a chair, some electricity and at the very least, a few storage options. If you’re really pressed for space, it could even be a closet! We love the tutorial from Houseful of Handmade (left) and this home office in a closet from Tidy Little Tribe (right).

2. Add inspiration. Words have power and meaning, and keeping inspirational words in front of you can help you start each day in the right mindset. If you’re looking for inspiration we found ours here. Or print up your favourite sayings, add a frame, and keep them where you can see them!

3. Liven it up. Adding plants to your workspace have proven benefits! A UK study found bringing plants into the workplace increased productivity by 15%. Meanwhile, a US study found 10% of employee sick days could be explained by a lack of nature and natural light in the office. Why not go green? If you’re not always green-thumbed, we liked this brief article on what plants were best for workplaces.

4. Make it fun. Decorate your desk with a few of your favorite things to give your office a piece of personal intimacy and sentiment. Photos of your family, favourite toys or craft supplies, handmade pencil cups… add a few personal touches to remind you why you’re working hard! (Combine items 3 and 4 using the Oui Yogurt Jar Cover designed by Mattie J, available on Ravelry!)

5. Get organized. Purchase organizers, drawers, and storage bins – whatever you need from places like Ikea and Target to organize all your tools and keep them within handy reach. These can easily be ordered online and can help you keep your workspace neat and tidy.

6. Invest in a good chair. If you’re going to be sitting for hours in your space, make sure you’ve got a comfortable, ergonomic chair. Going out furniture shopping may be daunting right now, but office stores are still open if you want to “test drive” your new chair. Or check out this report from Wirecutter which compiles reviews of the best-rated office chairs and order your pick online.

7. Make it cozy. Add a plush rug, a blanket on the back of your chair, twinkle lights or candles, anything to make the space feel cozy and comfortable, something we’re all looking for right now.

We hope we’ve given you inspiration to create or update your home work space! For more great ideas, we’ve started a Pinterest board for creating beautiful workspaces.

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Eucalan’s Top Stay at Home Activities

The last month has been a whirlwind and as we’re settling into our new “normal” we find ourselves with lots of time at home. Whether you’re in the house alone, or sheltering with a partner and children, we’ve pulled together a few of our top ideas for what to do when you’re staying at home!

Movement

Keep everyone moving around to burn off energy! Crank up the tunes and have a dance party. Head into the backyard for relay races or play a game of tag. Take a walk in your neighborhood and enjoy the sights and sounds of spring. Or dust off your yoga mat and practice on your own, or with one of the many classes available on YouTube! (If your yoga mat is a bit dusty, here are our tips for making it clean and fresh again!)

Art Projects

Everyone loves to be creative! Spread out some newspaper and pull out the paints so everyone can work on their masterpieces. Make use of those single socks (you know, the ones left after the laundry dryer eats the mates) and make sock puppets, then hold your own puppet show. Want to draw? Practice on your own or check out Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems for a little guided practice for you and the kids! Or head out to your driveway with some sidewalk chalk for a little drawing and physical activity.

Quiet Activities

Everyone needs a bit of quiet time these days. Institute an hour or two each afternoon reserved for quiet time and indulge in some solo activities. Escape into another world and read a book. Work on a puzzle for some quiet contemplative time! Let the kids color with crayons or order yourself an adult coloring book and some colored pencils or markers. Or slip into a bubble bath for a little pampering!

Cooking

Nourish yourselves and your family and enjoy doing it together! Purchase ingredients for dinner and work together in the kitchen to make a fabulous meal. Or try baking some sweet treats that everyone will enjoy! You can teach counting and measuring and practical skills all at once.

Toys

You probably have a house full of toys! Play board games together as a family or divide into teams to battle it out. Keep your child’s mind occupied with fun activity books, or do sudoku or crosswords to keep your own mind sharp. Pull out play doh, kinetic sand or other fun household items that can be used to create small science experiments (think volcanoes of baking soda and vinegar).

Get Creative

Right now is the time to use your imagination! Gather up blankets and pillows and build a fort in the living room. Add s’mores and you’ve got the perfect indoor campout! Head out to the backyard for a picnic to enjoy the spring weather. While you’re there, plant some seeds, flowers or vegetables, and work on tending them for some beautiful sights or yummy eats! Or take up a new hobby – check out Staci Perry at Very Pink to learn the basics of knit and crochet.

We hope we’ve given you a few ideas on activities to try while you’re staying at home. Even though they’re out of season, we’ve also got some past blog articles with more ideas. Check out 7 Snow Day Activities, Kids Summer Crafts and Our Top 5 Spring Activties or our Pinterest boards for more inspiration!

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