We could all use some bright and cheerful in this dead of winter, so I'm thrilled to invite you to an event I'm hosting with Marimekko Cambridge on Saturday, February 22, 1-3pm at the 350 Huron Avenue store. You and your kids can check out the spring/summer 2014 collection, enjoy face painting, nosh on cupcakes, and mingle with other awesome families. Laurel and I just visited the store yesterday and it's like an instant dose of happy juice!

I'll be modeling Marimekko, and I'm thrilled that my blogging friends Audrey and her son Henry, Casey and her daughter Riley, Sharon and her daughter Sienna, and Sharon and her son Bennett have agreed to join in the strutting fun. I hope to see you there; I always love meeting the amazing folks in this community in real life!

In honor of Black History Month I wanted to share some resources to help inspire conversations and learning with your kids. Below is a roundup of books, printables, crafts, and interactive tools; if you've come across other great resources, I'd love to hear about them in the comments! Also, my friend Kelly Wickham, an incredibly smart writer and educator, will be be posting regularly about Black History Month; check her first post on Langston Hughes.

1. An interactive Underground Railroad journey.

2. Rising with Rosa Parks app.

3. MLK poem and timeline.

4. Black History Month worksheets.

5. Black History Month coloring pages.

6. Take a virtual heritage tour.

7. Make a peace wreath.

8. I posted last month about these 4 civil rights movement books for kids. And here are some other highly rated books for kids:

• Freedom Summer
• The Girl from the Tar Paper School
• Amazing Grace
• If a Bus Could Talk
• What Color is My World
• Shades of Black
• Henry's Freedom Box

Image credits: all images via linked sources above

Happy Sunday everyone! It was a gorgeous morning for the 5-miler I ran in Cambridge (so fun to run the whole way with friends, btw!) and now I'm cozied up at home while Violet naps and Laurel is off at a playdate. If you're looking to catch up on some web reading, there was so much great content on the site last month. Enjoy this compilation of the best of January 2014:

At Home

- 30 things to do when school is cancelled

- 7 ways to celebrate the Lunar New Year with kids

Books & Entertainment

- Civil rights movement books for kids

- 14 awesome puzzles for babies, kids, and grownups

Critter Love

- For the love of penguins

- Groundhog Day trivia and celebration

Fashion

- The ridiculously awesome pants everyone keeps asking me about

Food & Fitness

- Meals made easy: warm winter salad

- Jeannie's apple crumble pie

- 16 sources of totally doable fitness and nutrition inspiration

Local

- A great spot for budding thespians

- Local Gems: Beacon Hill, Boston

- Local Gems: Medford

Personal/Professional

- Inspiration to help you be even more awesome in 2014

Hey Internet, Keep Being Awesome

- Volume 1

- Volume 2

Image credit: blood orange loaf cake via Pinterest

Thanks to yesterday's Weekly Blueprint, I learned that tomorrow (January 29) is National Puzzle Day. Yay for puzzles! Laurel has always loved puzzles (as have I) and Violet is following suit with freakish focus. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share some of our favorite puzzles across stages. We love working on big puzzles as a family, but I admittedly still find it satisfying to snap together a 30-piecer! Here are 14 awesome options:

1. Melissa & Doug rules when it comes to chunky puzzles such as this farm animals puzzle. It's perfect for toddler paws that are just starting to strive for motor control greatness.

2. The little four-piece puzzles in this Mother Goose set were a favorite of Vi's. 

3. I love the illustrations in eeBoo products and this baby animals puzzle pairs set is no exception. Laurel loved it as a toddler, and so did Vi. The only thing Vi didn't like was the mismatched pairs (babies separated from their mamas), a function of us losing various pieces over the years.

4. This 12-piece Very Hungry Caterpillar puzzle is a great option for fans of the book (isn't that everyone?). Also, the sturdy pieces and carry pouch are perfect for (sometimes destructive) toddlers.

5. Jon bought this 30 piece barnyard floor puzzle for Violet last Christmas and it has received lots of action. The pieces are nice and sturdy, the animals are beautifully illustrated, and the unusual shape is a nice alternative.

6. On more than one occasion, Vi has sung the Animal Boogie song while working on this 36-piece Animal Boogie puzzle.

7. This multisided Melissa & Doug pets cube puzzle is a little trickier, but definitely offers a lot of bang for your buck (6 puzzles!) once your child is ready for it.

8. Laurel and I have done this Around the World 100-piece puzzle about a million times. I love it and can't wait for when Vi is ready for it!

9. Ravensburger makes great puzzles and this 200-piece castle fantasy puzzle includes a good mix of elements to hunt down.

10. Introduce your kids to fine art (and a family challenge) with this Starry Night 500-piece puzzle.

11. We have a different configuration of this 8-in-1 Disney puzzle assortment and Laurel and I did all 8 puzzle options many, many times. The multipack is nice in that you can choose puzzle size (150, 300, 500 pieces) depending on your mood and ambition.

12. When your family is ready to tackle 1,000 pieces, this balloon bonaza puzzle is a fun option. We've done it several times!

13. Not surprisingly, Laurel loves this candy galore puzzle. The unusually shaped pieces make for a fun challenge.

14. Aside from the fun of assembling this 1,000-piece cupcake puzzle, Laurel and Violet both like talking about the cupcakes. The mini-poster that comes with this puzzle became Violet's "menu."

Image credits: all images credited to linked sources above.

Today, Jennifer shares a roundup of books to help teach kids (and adults!) about the civil rights movement:

Last year, a school lesson on the civil rights movement really resonated with my kids. They never willingly offer up information on their school day, yet in this case they were fighting to be the first to tell me all they had learned about Ruby Bridges. (“She was six years old like us and she helped to change the laws!”) To their shock, I was unfamiliar with the story (and yes, I was embarrassed to be getting schooled by two six-year-olds!).

I want my children to understand that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is not just another day off from school. Here are some books we have enjoyed reading on the civil rights movement, all great for ages 4 – 8:

1. Boycott Blues by Andrea Davis Pinkney. The cadence of the text about Rosa Parks' unwillingness to give up her seat on the bus is blues-y. The story narrated by a dog features Jim Crow as a bird who pecks at people. The illustrations are vibrant.

2. This Is The Dream by Diane Shore & Jessica Alexander. This story in three parts uses rhythmic text to summarize the rules of segregation and many events that comprised the civil rights movement, and also provide a look at where are we now.

3. The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles. My children were so taken with the story of this heroic 6-year-old I had to learn more. Ruby faced angry crowds and an empty classroom to become the first to attend an all white school after desegregation in New Orleans. This is a great book to spark discussion!

4. We March by Shane Evans. You can feel the excitement and emotions through the pages of this first person narrative of a family getting ready to participate in the historic march. Colorful illustrations depict an inclusive diverse group of marchers.

Do you have a book on this topic that you felt was really great for young kids? Feel free to share in the comments below?

Today, Lindsey (also of A Design So Vast) recommends a small book with big meaning:

My children have many, many books. I read them all, but I have a few special favorites. The Ant and the Elephant is one of these. Bill Peet's lovely story speaks of the importance of kindness to all and also of the immense power that is contained in cooperation and goodwill.
The Ant and the Elephant begins with an ant finding himself stranded on a lone branch after scrambling out of a fast-moving stream. He asks a turtle for help, and receives an abrupt refusal to help. "If I went racing about helping everyone who was in trouble I'd have no time to relax," the turtle tells the ant before ambling off to sun himself.

It doesn't take long for the turtle to find himself in peril, and when he asks a bird for help he is similarly rudely dismissed. On and on these rude denials of assistance go, threading up the food chain through bigger and bigger animals. The bird rejects the turtle, as do the giraffe, the lion, and the rhino in turn. Finally, an elephant comes rumbling through the forest. He hears the ant calling for help and without hesitation he goes to his aid. The delighted ant says, "How can I ever thank you enough?" and the elephant replies, "It was no big thing." "But it was a big thing for me," responds the ant, and in that line we reach the central theme of Bill Peet's book. Sometimes the smallest effort can have an enormous positive impact.

Later in the day, the elephant is the one who finds himself in trouble. He falls into a hidden ravine and lands on his back, wedged into a position from which he cannot move. After hours of lying in the deep pit and wondering how he will get out, he hears the ant's tiny voice. The grateful ant heard the elephant's cries for help and came to his aid, accompanied with 95,000 of his friends. The elephant thanks the ant for his offer to help, but doubts his ability to do so. But the thousands of ants come together are able to gradually hoist the elephant out of the ravine. The cooperation of 95,000 of the earth's tiniest animals is enough to lift one of its largest.

"That was tremendous!" the elephant exclaims when he is out of the hole. "I can't believe it!" "It was nothing," the ants demur. "Nothing for you," the elephant replies, echoing the ant's comment earlier that same day. "But a mighty big thing for me." And the ants hop on the elephant's back, hitching a ride through the forest back to their hill. Bill Peet's simple parable reminds us that the biggest and the smallest can work together and demonstrates the ways in which that cooperation can literally move mountains.

Today, Paige (also of Mudroom Boston) recommends a game that actually lives up to its name:

When my oldest son expressed interest in chess after reading the first installment of the Harry Potter series, I was excited, but tentative. While he loves to learn new games, he gets pretty frustrated when he can't master a game quickly. Not being a chess player myself, I had a vague sense that learning chess, let alone mastering it, was not going to be an easy task.
Boy, was I wrong.

On a trip to Stellabella Toys, I came across No Stress Chess, a version promising that players aged 7 and up would "Play the World's Greatest Game Instantly!" For once, an advertising slogan turned out to be true! The secret, I learned, is the special deck of cards from which players draw, showing exactly which piece to move and how to move it. While the deck eliminates the need to remember how every piece works, we found ourselves learning very quickly and not needing to refer to the card's instructions every time we drew. After just a few days of playing, my son was challenging us to games without the cards. A year after getting the game, his interest hasn't waned. At least once a week he pulls it out before bed and beats us handily.

Today, Paige (also of Mudroom Boston) shares a beloved book, good for Valentine's Day or any day:

"Mr. Hatch was tall and thin and he did not smile." And so begins the story of Mr. Hatch, a lonesome man who leads a gray and dreary life. He leaves his house at precisely 6:30am for his job at the shoelace factory every day, sits alone and eats his cheese and mustard sandwich for lunch every day, and stops at the grocery store for a fresh turkey wing for dinner every day. And then one day, a day unlike every other day, the postman changes Mr. Hatch's world when he delivers a giant heart-shaped box of chocolates, complete with a special Valentine's note. "Somebody loves you," the note says. But who?
In Eileen Spinelli's Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch (our favorite Valentine story that we read year-round), we get a peek into how someone's whole life can change with one simple expression of love. As soon as Mr. Hatch reads that note, his world becomes more colorful and expressive -- captured perfectly by illustrator Paul Yalowitz -- as he begins wearing polka dot ties, helps out neighbors in need, throws backyard parties complete with homemade brownies, and laughs like he's never laughed before.

But just when we think all is right in Mr. Hatch's life, the postman returns to admit that he delivered the box to the wrong address, and suddenly Mr. Hatch's new found joy disappears (as does the color from Yalowitz's illustrations). And just when you want to jump into the pages of Mr. Hatch's world and say, "but WE love you, Mr. Hatch," the many people whose lives he touched in those few brief days of happiness band together and show Mr. Hatch exactly what he means to them.

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch is a story that has brings tears of empathy and joy. With its simply written story and expressive pictures, not only does it teach that saying "I love you" can change someone's life, but that opening up to other people can change your life, too -- an important lesson for kids and grownups alike.

Today, Lindsey (also of A Design So Vast) recommends a favorite family board game:

My family loves to play board games. I haven't had too much luck finding any beyond the old classics -- Sorry, Connect Four, Monopoly -- that everybody really gets into, but that changed when my daughter was given Spy Alley for her ninth birthday. Spy Alley is "a game of suspense and intrigue" and we have found ourselves playing it over and over again. Each player has a secret spy identity, and the goal is to complete your mission by obtaining code books, disguises, keys, and passwords while also hiding who you are from the other players. To do this you have to purchase the books, disguises, keys, and passwords of other spies, hoping to confuse your competitors as to your real identity.
At any time, a player can guess the identity of another, though doing so entails the risk of being eliminated from the game. The game is high-stakes and fun, and my children always enjoy thinking about the nuances of a spy's identity. The box says the game is for ages 8 to adult, but my 6 year old son has successfully played with us as well. Games take about 45 minutes, and anywhere from 2 to 6 players can play. It really is notable that none of us is bored of Spy Alley, even though we've been playing it for a month or more. I highly recommend it!