Giving children space to fall, fail, and learn on their own. One of the most important things we can give our children is permission to fail. The understanding that failure is not the end of the story. I have worked with foster youth in South LA and most recently with teens in Beverly Hills. I had some preconceived notions of what to expect working with the latter and boy, was I surprised. I have never seen a more stressed-out generation of young people. Hours upon hours of h

(This video & more info about Caine's Aracade available at www.cainesarcade.com) Some years ago, in my Social Work days, I was introduced to Caine's Arcade- a video about a then 9-year-old boy who spent his summer hanging at his Dad's used auto part store. Like any kid spending his summer with "nothing to do"- Caine got creative... he created a huge arcade out of stuff he found at his Dad's store. Pretty creative, indeed. I was blown away by this kid's determination, innovati

Maybe it's the "Luck of the Irish" that inspried me today, but I've been thinking a lot about MAGIC. St. Patrick's Day was always a favorite holiday of mine growing up. Mostly because there were silly, fun traditions attached to it. My best friends' Mom was Irish, so we always went BIG for the holiday. We'd go out for a traditional Irish dinner, Irish dancing- the works. But nothing made a more lasting impression than the year we discovered Leprochauns were real. We were 11.

To start, when I say "traditional" day camp, I am referring to a camp that offers a variety of camp activities, including art, crafts, sports, games, nature, cooking, outdoor play, indoor play, etc. Some camps that are more outdoorsy have Archery, or lakes for water sports. In LA, most of the traditional day camps I worked for, were a little more "city"- taking place on colleges or elementary schools. The last 6+ years I spent as a Camp Director of "general" style day camps-

On occasion I find myself having playdates with a very precocious 7-year-old. Last week was one of those special times, and I got to take her on a one-on-one trip to Color Me Mine. I honestly haven’t been in 10+ years, because I’m a DIY girl and I usually have more fun creating art with random goodies, but for a special treat, I was willing to make an exception for a little extravagant art adventure. When we stepped inside, I immediately felt like I was 10 again. The possibi