Let Them Be Little

written by Jenny Fast

Recently I visited a friend whose children are near the same ages as mine (3years and 1.5years), and as all of our kiddos were running around the house playing and roughhousing, a screaming war broke out. I’m not sure if this is an all-girl thing or not (I’ve got two girls), but mine do this on a regular basis – one of them will let out a high-pitched, looooouuuuud scream, and the other will repeat. Then it turns into a screamy free-for-all, and I just try to tune it out and continue making dinner (okaaaaay, sometimes I join in).

On this particular occasion, however, the friends I was visiting immediately shut down the girls’ game-o-screams with a stern “NO YELLING” scold. I laughed when the kids tried “screaming” in whispers after that, but I did have a few questions for my friend – the first being “Why no yelling?”

The answer was, “it’s just too loud, I can’t think.” And that I understood, because we’ve all been in the position of trying to have a conversation while being flanked by screamy-kids… but then I followed up with, “when do you let them yell?”

And the answer this time was, “um, never.”

NEVER? As in, never-ever? Like, Never-Ever-Ever?

                                 But… when do they get to be kids?

Listen, this post is not going to be some overwhelming “this is how you do it right” parenting post. My main objective here is to introduce myself, my style, and give a little insight into how *I* parent and interact with my kids. Hopefully you’ll find some funny, honest, heartwarming stories of my experiences and ideas that speak to you as a parent, too! I believe there is too much judgment floating around out there in this scary world of parenting to dole it out myself, so instead I’ll just share (and encourage you to share) some great stuff and cross my fingers that you’ll be inspired along the way. 

Before I had children, I (like many) had this image in my mind of wonderfully well-behaved, quiet, clean, polished kids. Now, I think that image is so… BORING. Now, I realize that I don’t want my children to be little quiet miniature-adults… instead, my girls are inspiring ME to want to be a loud, messy, super-fun giant KID!

I can honestly say I love playing with play-doh, and coloring, and painting, and building towers out of mega-bloks… and I let my girls lead me in all of those things. Their creativity is so amazing and inspiring, and I’m just now beginning to see that this is SUCH a good thing. When my toddler decides she wants to see what it would feel like to dump an entire bucket of squinkies (think teeny-tiny rubber figurines) over her head, SURE, I cringe, because ohmigoshihavetocleanthatup… but then I remind myself that she’s really just curious, and the aesthetics are new and cool to her. When my preschooler wants to mix all the play-doh together in one big eventual-brown lump, my mild OCD tendencies scream in my head that “you don’t mix colors!”… but then I remind myself that she’s experimenting, creating, and learning – and I definitely don’t want to stifle that. (Plus play-doh is like dirt-cheap, and you can even make it yourself!)  

That’s my main point here… I don’t want to stifle creativity, experience, or learning in my children. It can be difficult at times, especially when I’m trying to clean or cook or be an adult and my kids are off painting each other with nail polish or covering the dog in stickers… but I remind myself daily that I need to LET THEM BE CHILDREN.

And to me, this is what that means:

Let them be children.

Let them get dirty.

Let them play.

Let them lead.

Let them mix colors.

Let them jump on the couch.

(Let them jump off the couch.)

Let them pretend.

Let them dress-up.

Let them build.

Let them create.

Let them imagine.

Let them perform.

Let them yell.

Let them scream.

Let them be LOUD. 

Let them BE.

Is anyone beginning to see why my family and I love Kaleidoscape? 

Let’s see… a giant studio where kids of all ages (really… all ages. I play dress up almost every time I’m there!) can use their imaginations, build cool stuff, pretend to be an astronaut or a princess or a pirate or a wolf, play with a new sensory table each week, and basically just practice being a kid? WE’RE IN.

How about you, parents? What kind of play are your children into lately? 

How are you letting them be kids?

Play is without age, ability, shade, size, shape or screen.

One of the most heart wrenching things I see is when a parent tells a child, "You can't do that, you are too <insert here> old/young/smart/little/big/slow/fast/green/anything for that." Too old? to play? I say NEVER! At what age does a person become too old to participate in play?
Is it something that we choose to leave behind or does it become stifled? I choose to champion play! Everyone should laugh and be silly and do a maze, to be delighted by the unexpected, to twirl and spin. It is our position that the random collision of these five elements IS play: Creating, Performing & Building, Experiencing & Imagining. When this happens... it is magical.

Play is for All Manifesto
Play is without age, ability, shade, size, shape or screen.

Create without worry of what your final project will be.
Perform... the world IS a stage.
Build and rebuild when your tower topples.
Experience new things; let your senses lead you to playfulness.
Imagine. Oh my stars... imagine a new world, a new way of being.
Embrace your silly side. Release your inner goof-ball.
Do these things in your own way.

Kaleidoscape Play Studio is on a mission to promote play for all!

We LOVE this toy! (Like, REALLY!)

Part of our goal at Kaleidoscape Play Studio is to bring play elements that everyone wants to play with. We fell in love with the Perplexus mazes and actually have all four! Although they were purcahsed for the Play Studio, we couldn't resist them and opened them up!

 

There must be something pretty special about a man who can come up with a toy that appeals to so many age groups, that is durable and visually stimulating as well as completely addictive. Michael McGinnis is the inventor and developer of exactly that; the Perplexus. Michael is not only a sensational toy-builder-man, but also a sculptor, painter, art installation-er, and a host of other things…our kind of guy for sure! Michael has said how the development of the Perplexus was something of a dream, as he developed his long term passion of creating beautiful designs into something practical that could be enjoyed by numerous people, and thus a great business venture.

 

With eleven siblings and thirty-three nieces and nephews, as well as two children of his own, all of whom are cut from the same creative cloth that he is, the development of his invention may have been partly a result of creating something for the people he loves.

The Perplexus (formerly known as Superplexus) is a 3-D ball-in-a-maze puzzle or labyrinth game enclosed in a transparent plastic sphere. By twisting and turning the sphere, players attempt to maneuver a small steel ball through an intricate maze composed of 100 steps along narrow plastic tracks. Additionally, some of the steps involve dropping the ball into a cup or through a small rim to take advantage of its three-dimensional nature. There are obstacles of varying difficulty that must be navigated in order to reach the end.

We got our all of our Perplexus mazes at Over the Rainbow Toys and we are tickled to put the official KPLAY stamp of approval on them!
Reference Links
An Interview with the Perplexus Inventor
Wikipedia

Mustache Monday Explained!

It is possible that you may have noticed on our Facebook page that we have an awful lot of silly mustache photos and particularly on a certain day of the week. You may be wondering, "What's with all the mustaches?!"

Allow me a moment to explain.

By nature, I am attracted to all this silly and I love to laugh. I all love alliteration, so when the concept of Kaleidoscape Play Studio was created (<<< example of alliteration) the idea of Mustache Monday was born. I just think it's so splendid to see all these people donning handlebars for the sake of silliness. (<<< another example of alliteration)

That's pretty much it. Turns out, there isn't a mystery or an obsession with facial hair... just one person making a difference in her corner of the world. <3

alliterational·lit·er·a·tion     noun
The use of similar consonants: a poetic or literary effect achieved by using several words that begin with the same or similar consonants, as in "Whither wilt thou wander, wayfarer?"

You're are gonna get in troooooouble!

True story:
For years I had an art studio in our house. It was a joy, full of creative mess and open space. I had eight bar stools in there for years, but one summer, on a whim I decided to alter my plain-o chairs. Now, let me set the scene for you...

So first thing, I do NO prep work at all.
I just start to paint, alter and create!

I begin painting the first chair and my oldest comes downstairs and stops in her tracks.
"What are you doing? You're are gonna get in troooooouble! Daddy's gonna be mad at you."

And I start laughing. "Honey, they are my chairs, Daddy won't mind if I paint them."
Dubious, she said "Well, I don't like them. I won't sit in them and I'm NOT helping you."

Of course, I got the giggles and continued on my project. When Daddy did come home, he liked them and then OH! Suddenly, she has a favorite! (See the pink one in the middle?)

So, now that we are opening a play studio, I want to bring that same whimsical element to the space. While I don't doubt that I could do a whip out some chairs for the space myself, the point of Kaleidoscape is to draw our community together. Wouldn't it be more fun to feature twelve extroidinary artists as a permanant exhibit within the Play Studio as a collaborative effort?
So, I'm hosting a call to artists...

Allow yourself to be inspired by kaleidoscopes, playtime, fun, kids, birthdays, party (any of those, not nessecsarily all of them!) Artists may select a sturdy chair to "flip" and transform with the inpiration. I invite you to take a look at what style we are drawn to in my "eye candy Pinterest Collection of art chairs".

The collection here are just ideas found online, NOT to copy.

 Criteria: MUST still be a functional chair to sit at regular table height and be family friendly.



Deadline to submit: December 5th by midnight.
Submit detailed photos by email to: kplaystudioak@gmail.com subject: “Chair Party”​
12 chairs will be selected for the final project display.

Selected submissions will become the property of Kaleidoscape Play Studio.

Each artist selected will recieve:
Artist Credit for their work at Kaleidoscape Play Studio
A commerative, limited edition Chair PARTY calendar.
If you have any questions: please contact Jennifer: kplaystudioak@gmail.com 

In Search of Elephants

September 22 is National Elephant Appreciation day and you may or may not know, Alaska doesn't have any elephants living in the state. We used to have an elephant (two actually) at our local zoo. But after much controversy, she moved to California. We really miss her, but we understand that an elephant sized treadmill just wasn't enough. NO, I am not kidding!

So, with it being National Elephant Appreciation day and nooooo elephant to appreciate, my daughters and I set out on a mission. You guessed it... in search of elephants.

We made four stops today... and found elephants at each place!

As you can see, we stopped at Title Wave books looking for pachyderm... found a few picture books, but NOT exactly what we were looking for. All of those books are there still...just waiting for someone like you to take them home! Then, on to Barnes & Noble... as we had a specific elephant in mind. There, we found the stuffed version of Elmer... but no books!

 

 

The girls and I decide that we must bring Elmer home for adventures at our house and he has surfed the net to find that he is famous, had a princess tea party and painted.

The only place we found the actual Elmer the Patchwork Elephant book for sale in Anchorage was at Over the Rainbow toys! and they only have two! It is a treasured story at our house (we can't find our copy, thus the search!) about an elephant thinking he needs to change to fit in.

 

Amazon's Book Review:

Elmer the elephant is bright-colored patchwork all over. No wonder the other elephants laugh at him! If he were ordinary elephant color, the others might stop laughing. That would make Elmer feel better, wouldn't it? The surprising conclusion of David McKee's comical fable is a celebration of individuality and the power of laughter.

Elmer the elephant, a colorful character because of his patchwork hide and sense of humor, tries to blend in with the herd, but soon realizes that he's happiest just being himself. "McKee's gentle humor and love of irony are in full force in this celebration of individuality and laughter." -- Publisher's Weekly.



"Thank you for believing in my weirdness."

Kaleidoscape Play Studio is a dream coming true for me. I honestly believe that my whole life’s work has led me to to do this. Our name is based off of how when you look through the lens of a kaleidoscope and turn it, the picture changes. We believe that as our community changes and our children grow, how we play changes too! 

With paint in my cuticles and glue in my hair, I laugh that if I had a super-power, it would be transforming ordinary items into new forms. I have always said there are no mistakes in art – only room for more embellishment! I am a mother of two and a longtime Alaskan and I take pride in using that super-power of creativity for the betterment of our community. (Hmmm is that a real word?)



Creativity is my super power!

I have taught art classes based on literature, storywriting workshops, have been a fairy-for-hire and it thrills me to take birthday parties to impressive heights. With Kaleidoscape Play Studio, we just expanded the party to everday life.

One of my favorite quotes is from pop icon, Katy Perry and I used it to lead off this post, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, truly, for believing in my weirdness.