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Photo by Missy Kaiser

What, if any, new rituals have emerged for you?
Signing up for online courses out of general interest and logging in for course work each week has been the most consistent change. It's so important right now to have reminders that the world is still a big, beautiful, amazing place, and someday it will be safe to go explore it again.

The worst thing about quarantine: for me, it has been the sheer isolation. I live alone. I don't have any family in the area. My boyfriend is deployed overseas. It has been a wrenching experience to have all of the normal social parts of my routine cut off, but it's so important that we all do our part and comply with social distancing requirements right now.

The best thing about quarantine: having a chance to actually finish all those pesky little projects around the house, read some books that have been waiting for a while, and learn some new things. It's also been really wonderful to see the many ways that different people and businesses in the community have come up with creative ways to help each other, like pop up grocery stores and curbside services.

What are you most thankful for? Friends taking the time to reach out and check in, books, the internet, and all the people who are still bravely going to work everyday to keep our essential services running. It's important to be mindful that staying in and safe is a privilege that many do not have.

We made these cardboard castanets last September at the Stillwater Music Festival and they were a big hit with the kiddos! Sometimes you just want to make some noise, right? Our castanets are animal inspired but you could decorate them any way you’d like. All you need is some stripes of durable cardboard and two bottle caps. Pro tip: Use liquid tacky glue to adhere the RIM of the bottle cap to the cardboard and make sure to hold them together until the glue is completely dry. For more art activities and prompts, visit our Creative Classroom.

Who doesn't want to color? These coloring sheets designed by Jenn Johnso will let you play in the ocean or take a walk through the woods. Breakaway for a few minutes and just color. It's good for your mind and heart. We have more coloring sheets avaiable for download on our creative classroom.

Link to the Whale coloring sheet.

Forest animal download

This making project could provide hours of imaginative play for your favorite aspiring fisher(wo)man! All you need is an egg carton, string, paint (optional), and a stick (aka fishing pole) and you’re set. Pro tip: make the tail longer than we did so it sticks out further.

This one’s got some serious yin (pretty flowers) and some hard core yang (hammer time)! For the best results, use vibrantly colored flowers, watercolor paper on the bottom, and either waxed paper or a paper towel on the top. Don’t be surprised if you have to pluck off some plant matter when you pull off the top layer. Consider adding to it with sharpie outlines.

Check out these super cute coloring pages made by Jenn Johnson! Download links are given below.

Download link for Whales coloring