I’m a mom, stepmom, and theatre educator helping exhausted parents access their inner creative playfulness for more connection and joy. No messy crafts, complicated setups, or sensory bins here! Just simple, silly moments that bring your family back together through laughter. My short weekly emails share reflections from real life and a simple invitation you can try for yourself or with your kids.
Our two current favorite games
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I’m writing this sandwiched between two sweaty snoring babies so I’m keeping it short (Okay so they’re 4 and almost 2 but… I’m still calling them babies, okay?? 😭) If you know me you know I lovvvve my word-a-time games like One Word Story/Commercial/Complaint Letter/Love Letter… Add “One Word Warning” to the top of the list because it’s our new fave. You simply make up a ridiculous warning together by alternating every other word. When I played with my stepdaughter (10) the other night the first result was: “Warning: Do not eat the silver plated chicken. It isn’t dead.” We were howwwwling (if you follow me on IG, I’m putting the video up today!) BTW: my new resource FAMPROV is full of my favorite improv games for family connection! As for my 4yo… his new fave is taking turns thinking of different animals at the zoo and guessing them. Super simple but for some reason it’s been the most magical thing for transitions and coming out of a funk! 10yo actually loves it too. My invitation for you this week: Try one of these games out with your fam and let me know how it went! Cheering you on always, MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: The best improv games for family connection! Prompt-based games and easy, silly moment ideas (1400+ prompts and counting!) 11 core strategies for using play as a tool for more ease and joy in parenting. |
Playful Heart Parenting
I’m a mom, stepmom, and theatre educator helping exhausted parents access their inner creative playfulness for more connection and joy. No messy crafts, complicated setups, or sensory bins here! Just simple, silly moments that bring your family back together through laughter. My short weekly emails share reflections from real life and a simple invitation you can try for yourself or with your kids.
In case you missed it... a couple months back I shared a video of my stepdaughter and me playing our favorite game: "One Word Commercial," where we make up a fake commercial on the spot, trading off every other word. It ended being about ointment for an itchy butt... but with lots of disastrous side effects. The video went viral, with folks chiming in with their own playful comments and excitement to try this with their own families (yay!!) (If you want to watch it after you read the rest of...
The other night, when I was fatigued and had a sore throat, my stepdaughter (10) said, “Hey. You’re not happy. Let’s play a game.” Ohhh that made my heart so happy that she noticed this and wanted to play to cheer me up with a game—our favorite way to connect! 🥹 AND, I didn’t know if I had much capacity to even talk… and most of our favorite games require a bit of that. My son (4) then said, “I know what we should play!” and he ran over with a piece of paper and pen. “The drawing a person...
I was EXTREMELY grumpy last Friday night… The kids wanted to paint and there’s just something about paint with little kiddos that gets to me if I'm not in the right headspace to manage it. On top of that, 1.5yo little gal kept getting hurt… first her finger got smashed in the door while I was going in and out getting supplies… THEN she somehow busted open the little ice pack for her finger while I was trying to get her dinner and I freaked out that she was going to eat the gel inside and be...