28/09/2026
I was not always this fun. *gasp*
No adult’s brain actually is. We go through to this brutal thing called maturing into adulthood and it can turn us into play deprived, survival mode, work machines. *Nod* in solidarity with me.
I found the terribl…I mean terrific two’s really intense as a first time parent. I felt like an idiot sitting on the floor nibbling the edge of a plastic burger in a sensory playgroup I’d dragged myself, an almost two year old and a 3 month old newborn too. The colourful rice and sand could be found for months later in every crevice and crack and our two under two were more often than not, dysregulated messes afterwards. So fun.
I had a moment where doing so much intentional sensory social play was unsustainable. It was a fateful day, that included a nappy blow out in a onesie with clips not zips (if you know you know), one dried up wipe left and a dropped snack covered in dirt.
So I stopped. I realised I had wanted the crinkly, shiny, ricey things to be the play. But, I was always the favourite game.
So I laid on the floor (with the crumbs, so sensory)...and I made up the Burrito game. I paused longer in the hard times… and created Toy Talk. I re-learned how to play in a way that worked.
The Card Deck games are our kids bread and butter, they play them, ask for them and remember them with nostalgia glazed eyes the way we remember Sunnyboy ice blocks and drinking from the hose.
So, short story long, you don’t have to have the skills of a Montessori influencer named Fern. It doesn’t require a $490 craft supply trip.
You are the magic ingredient, the Card Deck is the recipe book.
