Imagination.
I hate to pull a "back-when-I-was-a-kid" move and completely romanticize the past the way people often do. But I don't think I'm looking through rose-colored glasses when I remember the way we used to play. I had my secret hideout, an overgrown easement behind the fence which my brother and I called "The Nature Spot". We would spend hours there, making mud pies, pretending to be runaways, with nothing but our imaginations to entertain us.
I try to remember what my parents did to foster this sort of imaginative play. I know we didn't watch much television. But we didn't have cable and the only kid shows were replaced by soap operas by midday anyway. There were no video games (well, there were but we couldn't afford them until much later in my childhood). So we played.
Kids now seem to be at a disadvantage. From toddlerhood, they are absolutely inundated with screens, and games, and around-the-clock available shows. There is always an option of something mindless to do. Unless.
Unless they have a parent willing to turn off the screen and equip them instead to think, and play, and create. I love toys that help with this. I love things that don't run on batteries but instead on the thoughts of my babies. And I love the product, their games and their creations.
My friend Kate is a mom like me. She loves to teach her babies to grow beauty and make art and imagine anything they can. And not only does she believe in this line of thinking for her children, she herself love to create. She owns Reed Silk Studio, where she sells her handmade creations.
I have been so excited to work with Kate for a giveaway, and when I checked the mail and found the review box she had sent full of delicious play silks, the kids and I headed straight for the yard to play. I didn't even unload the groceries! It has been so incredible watching them take these beautiful silks and turn them into wings, and fires, and super hero capes.
How incredible a child's imagination is when it is equipped and encouraged!
Reed Silk Studio sell products all hand-made in the U.S. These play silks are made with all natural materials and are all unique, as each one is hand-painted by Kate. She sent us two large silks and two small ones to play with and tell you about. One thing I had wondered before having play silks was what made them different from other fabrics. I thought, surely, I child could play with any fabric cutting just the same. However, I've seen now how weightless these are, which makes them easy for small hands to manipulate and tie and throw into the air and watch them slowly float down. They are a little transparent too, so the light shines through them and little eyes can easily peek from behind them. And maybe it's just the silky. I know my Tobias is not the only small child who is addicted to silky.
I could tell you all about the things my children have pretended to be with their new play silks, but I thought it might be better just to show you. Inspire imagination, and just sit back and watch magic happen.
Would you like to win a "35 playsilk from Reed Silk Studio?
Enter below! There are multiple oppourtunies for entries. The giveaway will close Wednesday, July 2.
Also, Kate has offered a coupon code to The Hodgepodge Darling's readers! Just enter "darling" at checkout to save 10% off your purchase! If you haven't already, go check out Reed Silk Studio's website.
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