Elementary: 5-9 years

With two teachers for grandmas, the girls are frequent recipients of books.  The grandmas often think alike too, and this Spring, both gave Big M mermaid-themed books.  MerMer, our Texas grandma, gave her Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet when she came to visit for Spring Break.  Today, we are…

Before I was a Stay at Home Mom, I never thought I would be… what could those moms possibly be so busy doing all day long?  How hard could it really be?  These were the thoughts that ran through my head as I sat in the cool, relative quiet of…

Last month, on a trip to the local playground, I observed my 3 year old’s first encounter with bullying.  Sure, young kids often don’t want to share toys, but this was different.  This was her approaching a group of kids, most of which she knew, to play, and being told…

If you have ever seen Lil’ M wield a paintbrush, you will understand why we take many of our crafting activities outdoors when weather permits.  At almost 2, she has a fierce independent streak, wants to do it herself, and when I try to help, she gets mad and paint…

Happy Friday, y’all!  Welcome to Playground Parkbench, and this week’s installment of We Love Weekends.  If you’ve never been here before, I’m Meghan, the Playground Parkbench Guru – SAHM to two girls, Big M and Lil’ M, almost 4 and almost 2, and 7 months pregnant with M3, our first…

A summer road trip to Bar Harbor used to be the hubby and my annual summer tradition.  It is one of the few places I have been more times than I can count on one hand.  And we keep going back because there is so much to enjoy – from…

I am super excited to join in Study at Home Mama’s 31 Days of Kids Kitchen Activities this month.  The girls LOVE to help in the kitchen and run to pull in chairs as soon as I start putting ingredients on the counter.  I love to encourage them given all…

Happy Friday, y’all!  If you’ve never stopped by my Playground Parkbench before, welcome – I’m Meghan, also known as the PGPB Guru.  I write about all the things my fellow parents and I kick around on the sidelines at the playground: at-home activities for kids, parenting tips, financial savvy and…

At our house, summer means long hot days spent outdoors as much as humanly possible.  And with two, active kids under 4, there’s no better place for that than our local playgrounds.  After nearly 3 years now of playground adventures under my belt, I have just about perfected the list…

Happy Friday, y’all!  If you’re new here, welcome!  I’m Meghan, the founder of Playground Parkbench.  I write about parenting, household tips, and at-home activities for kids.  Every Friday, I partner with four of my fellow bloggers to bring you We Love Weekends, an open forum for our favorite family-friendly bloggers…

For those who have been followers for a while, you know we are gearing up to move into our forever home.  After two years of searching, another 6 months of designing and contract negotiating, followed by another year of construction, it looks like we are finally moving this month!  And…

Last week, the Ms and I upheld one of our favorite summer traditions: strawberry picking!  We went with a group of Big M’s friends from preschool.  If you are local to Connecticut, Jones Family Farms has a great, family-friendly set-up, and if you go this week, you’ll just catch the…

Last week, we went strawberry picking with a group of Big M’s preschool friends.  It was a productive outing, and we came home with over 8 pounds of freshly picked strawberries!  Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing over 50 different ways to put all those strawberries to use, but one looked so…

Happy Friday, y’all!  If you’re new around here, I’m Meghan, the founder of Playground Parkbench.  I write about parenting, household tips, and at-home activities for kids.  Every Friday, I partner with four of my fellow bloggers to bring you We Love Weekends, an open forum for our favorite family-friendly bloggers…

You know the aisle at the grocery store that always has all the seasonal specials?  Like pumpkin puree in the Fall, baking supplies at Christmas, and marshmallows and Hershey bars in the summer?  I am a sucker for that aisle.  And as much as I love S’mores, when marshmallows are…

How many of you love Instagram as much as I do?  I will admit to being late to the Instagram game… until I started Playground Parkbench last Fall, I never used it.  And now I am hooked.  Scroll through beautiful images, no ads, easily scan and search by fun hashtags,…

Happy Friday, y’all!  It’s time for another edition of We Love Weekends – a chance for all our favorite family-friendly bloggers to share their great ideas with you for inspiration to help you and your family love the weekend too.  This week, we are our featured favorites from last week’s…

One of my favorite crafting mediums is contact paper – it’s the great age equalizer for craft activities, that allows Lil’ M, my 22 month old, to participate as easily as Big M, my 3.5 year old.  This is a huge sanity saver since Lil’ M wants to do everything…

Every parent has had one of these days… from the moment your child wakes up, they are crying about something.  Or maybe you didn’t get enough sleep last night, and you are the one with the short fuse.  Regardless of who the grump is, the day starts off all wrong,…