We live in a very flat area surrounded by cornfields, so a visit to Nana’s house a few hours away is always fun because of the different terrain there. There are more hills, more twists and turns, lots of rivers, streams and forest preserves and Nana’s house is surrounded by woods. It’s magical to go from our neighborhood of houses near cornfields into the solitude and majesty of the woods, so we call Nana’s house “The Enchanted Forest.” On our visits, we always carve out

Kelsey and Naomi were interviewed about the importance of self directed play, children being the experts of play and what's next for KOOP. Check out the interview below! http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/imagination-encouraged-in-proposed-playground

I first heard about the idea of a decrease in creativity through Sir Ken Robinson. He elaborates on his well- known Ted talk about how schools may be ruining children’s creativity. He speaks about seeing the many kinds of abilities that each child possesses and giving them the opportunity to seek it out as opposed to one discipline being ‘worth’ more. He goes further and says that creativity should be treated in the same way as literacy. Children are not afraid to be wrong

Our lop eared bunny Robin has been missing since last night so I put some food and water outside the kitchen door hoping that she will come home. So my kids have been unplugged for quite a while now and it is all starting to pay off. Today was filled with self-directed moments, creativity and spending time connecting with people. Starting at 7 AM I took a bath and my kids ate their breakfast downstairs and played on their own. They made their way upstairs and started makin