The Quarry Collective

This tiny treasures story box is my favorite 😍 There are so many opportunities for storytelling and creative writing - it speaks straight to my heart! Add it to your back-to-school resources for only $28 shipped 🥳

Who’d rather be camping?! 🏕 You can grab this camping loose parts kit for $24 at our Back to School SALE! Head to the link in our bio to shop 🥳

We are having a Back to School SALE!!! You can get this tray and all its loose parts fixins for $28 and shipping is free 🥳 Our loose parts starter kit is perfect for small world play, lessons (There’s 10 wood slices and 10 river rocks for a reason!), or just good ol’ open-ended fun! Visit the link in our bio to shop 🌲

It’s finally here!! We’re launching our Let’s Go Camping playbook, and I am so excited to share it with you.🏕 It’s 13 pages of ideas and activities, including sensory play, toxic plant three-part cards, and a book list. Head to the link in my profile to grab your copy of this free resource!
❤️ If you’re already on my list, the playbook is in your inbox!

ℋ𝓸𝓌 𝒹𝓸 ℐ 𝓁𝓸𝓋𝓮 𝓉𝒽𝓮𝓮? ℒ𝓮𝓉 𝓂𝓮 𝒸𝓸𝓊𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝓮 𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈. | ℐ 𝓁𝓸𝓋𝓮 𝓉𝒽𝓮𝓮 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝓮 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓸𝓃 𝓅𝓊𝓉 𝓉𝓸 𝓊𝓈𝓮 | ℐ𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓸𝓁𝒹 𝓰𝓇𝒾𝓮𝒻𝓈, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝒽𝓸𝓸𝒹'𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽.
Is there anything play dough can’t fix? We use it for EVERYTHING - sensory input, story re-enactment, bake-offs, garden play, aromatherapy, letter building, bulldozing, addition and subtraction, fine motor skills - the list goes on and on. Plus, I find great joy in creating new dough for little hands to squish and mold and play, so it’s a win-win 🥰 (or a win-win-win, Office peeps 😉)
The spring play dough trio is on sale now through 5.31, and then it will be gone until next year. If you’re a lemon, lime, and lavender fan, go grab it 💛💚💜
📝: Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
📸: Thanks for the sweet captures, Sarah!
🪴:

Let’s try this again, shall we?! I was allowed to do more than one photo this time! Here’s what I set up for the kids 🥰🐻 And here’s today’s mini unit:

⚒𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒-𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢⚒
This week we are reading our FAVORITE author, Ryan T. Higgins. Everything he writes is fantastic, but this particular lesson focuses on Mother Bruce. You’ll find videos and additional activities linked in my bio 📚
🐻READ: Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
🐻CREATE: a story board or illustrations from the book - I laid out chalkboards and boards from and asked the kids to draw an equation, the story, Bruce, and Bruce’s house (two skill-level-appropriate activities for each kiddo). You can also use plain paper or any medium your littles are comfortable with, really.
🐻GO OUT: Take turns being Bruce and the geese (Hello, opportunity to give the kids some control!) - the person acting as Bruce gets to decide what the geese do and where they go; think Follow the Leader or Mother May I or Simon (Bruce) Says. You could do this in the yard or the house or on a walk.
🐻OTHER IDEAS: study migration, bears, geese, biomes; read some Mother Goose; find an egg recipe you’d like to try; run around outside being grumpy bears - oh! Have a don’t laugh contest!!!

As always, I hope this is helpful in sparking some ideas and easing the overwhelm. You got this, Mama. Tap that bookmark to save this for later ❤️ Happy playing!
P.S. Seriously, ._higgins when is this going to be a movie or show???

⚒𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒-𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝 𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢⚒
This week we are reading our FAVORITE author, Ryan T. Higgins. Everything he writes is fantastic, but this particular lesson focuses on Mother Bruce. You’ll find videos and additional activities linked in my bio 📚
🐻READ: Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
🐻CREATE: a story board or illustrations from the book - I laid out chalkboards and boards from and asked the kids to draw an equation, the story, Bruce, and Bruce’s house (two skill-level-appropriate activities for each kiddo). You can also use plain paper or any medium your littles are comfortable with, really.
🐻GO OUT: Take turns being Bruce and the geese (Hello, opportunity to give the kids some control!) - the person acting as Bruce gets to decide what the geese do and where they go; think Follow the Leader or Mother May I or Simon (Bruce) Says. You could do this in the yard or the house or on a walk.
🐻OTHER IDEAS: study migration, bears, geese, biomes; read some Mother Goose; find an egg recipe you’d like to try; run around outside being grumpy bears - oh! Have a don’t laugh contest!!!

As always, I hope this is helpful in sparking some ideas and easing the overwhelm. You got this, Mama. Tap that bookmark to save this for later ❤️ Happy playing!
P.S. Seriously, ._higgins when is this going to be a movie or show???

I’ve been working on a little something! 💗⚒ Actually, a lot of somethings. We’ve got some exciting things coming, and our summer launch is scheduled for Tuesday, June 1!! Here’s a sneak peek of the summer loose parts tray. Any guesses on our theme??
ALSO. Stayed tuned because I’ll be coming at ya with a sale and a freebie next week 😘😘 Head to my stories for more info on our next launch ☀️

Sometimes sensory play is perfectly curated and on theme with whatever you’re studying or reading, and sometimes you just throw some cool stuff in a tray 🐌🐢

scenes in motherhood...no fancy words, just me trying to revel in the joy and stay present in the difficult

⚒𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒-𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢⚒ Hi, friends! This week we’re focusing on Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I love this book so much. So many opportunities for discussion! Plus, you can use it as a jumping off point for a deep dive into wildflowers if you’d like.
🌱READ: Miss Rumphius {bonus: I found an article about the person who likely inspired the book! I linked it 😘}
🌱DISCUSS: How would you like to make the world more beautiful? Is there something you can think of that we can take action on now?
🌱CREATE: a plan - draw, write, mold, whatever; or grab the water colors or markers and put your own lupines on paper, maybe ask your little to do some narration and tell you what happened in the story
🌱GET OUT: If you can, take some seeds on a walk around your yard or neighborhood, and spread some beauty! Or go on a wildflower hunt. Or on a beauty hunt - have your kiddo keep an eye out for something they think is really lovely. Take action on your little one’s plan if you can.
🌱 OTHER IDEAS: We painted wild flower cards from our nature journal and did some flower potting sensory play. (It’s a classic!) You could get books and reference guides about wildflowers and the flowers in your area. You could use this as an opportunity to study conservation or historical figures (or family members!) who made the world more beautiful. Or, if you like truthful, beautiful, teary conversations, explain to your child how you made the world more beautiful by bringing them into it 😭
Ah!
That took a turn 😳😆 I hope this is helpful! Tap the bookmark to save it for later. The links are in my bio. Please tag me if you try it out! I’d love to see 💗