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.
The quickest, easiest game that made me feel closer to my son before bed
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My favorite part of the day yesterday was oinking like a pig with my son for five minutes. Hear me out, because it wasn't your typical "let's just act like animals" kind of play... I know that can feel unbearable for parents! It was because he ran and jumped on me before bed and did a little snort-laugh so I said, "Aww is this my little piglet?" He said yeah! Let's snort! I couldn't snort because I've already had a stuffy nose, but I could oink! So of the cuff I said, "Let's oink messages to each other and try to figure out what we're really saying!" He was all for it. We used our tone, gestures, and facial expressions to communicate purely in "oinks" and got so excited when the other person got it right. The messages were simple like, "I love you sooo much," "Ew, did you fart?" and "It's time to brush teeth!" It was the perfect quick and easy way to connect before bed after a long, busy day, and I was so grateful that I'd made time for it even though I was so tired (because truly, it didn't take any energy... I was lying down the whole time! In fact, it reenergized me because his laughter is so infectious). My invitation for you this week: 1. See if you can communicate in "oinks" (or "moos" or "bawks" or just plain gibberish!) 2. If you're interested in more improv-inspired games, check out my brand new resource FAMPROV that just came out last week! It's a digital library of video demonstrations and instructions of my favorite improv games for family connection along with a printable booklet. Tap HERE to learn more! Cheering you on always, Mia MORE FROM PLAYFUL HEART PARENTING: Family improv games for connection! A digital library with demonstration videos plus printable guide of fun improv games to bring you closer together through laughter and creativity. Simple, creative apps + printable card decks with 1400+ prompts that take the brainwork out and put connection and laughter in! Audio course + community: Playful strategies for navigating everyday parenting challenges and reducing power struggles. |
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.
Welp... just realized I never sent an email last week! If I didn't notice, I'm willing to bet nobody else did either... but just in case you were sad about it, here's this week's email a day early 😂 I recently told my therapist that, other than playing games as a family, I don't really do anything to relax and unwind that's just for ME. Some of my friends read fantasy romance novels. Some watch TV shows. I don't really have a "thing" and whenever I have downtime I find myself trying to cram...
An unfortunately true haiku: Virus number fourWe should just get a punch cardBetter be the last 🙃 My invitation for you this week: Find a moment to stop the scroll (literally or figuratively) and give your brain a mini-creativity break. Like making up a haiku! (5 syllables, then 7, then five). Cheering you on always (and hoping next week’s email mentions nothing of germs), Mia P.S. FAMPROV is available to preorder for a couple more weeks at the earlybird price! Info below :) MORE FROM PLAYFUL...
I don’t know about you, but we are on our THIRD virus within a month. Over it!! 😩 Yesterday was just one of those days where I felt tempted to go into “woe is me” mode (and I did slip into it a few times, let’s be honest!) One super random thing that helped me a little bit was a game I played in my own head throughout the day… and it all started with a stinkbug lying dead on the floor next to the couch. For some reason the phrase “Stinkbug Revival” popped into my head (don’t ask why because I...