Sparkle Stories Blog
A home for Sparkle audio stories, crafts, recipes, and kind words!
Nature School Project: Homemade Bug Repellant
Homemade bug repellant is easy and safe to make. Once you have your ingredients gathered, it takes under two minutes to make.
Sparkle Kitchen: Banana "Mud" Boats
While these are commonly thought of as camping food, there's no reason you need an open fire to enjoy them. Plus, with just a few, commonly on-hand ingredients, they can be pulled out when cabin fever sets in, without too much advance planning.
Friday's Kind Words: A Magical Effect
Our morning commute to school is around 30-45 minutes and the same in the afternoon and so we sometimes listen to as many as 4 stories in a day. ~Aurora
Nature School Project: Egg Carton Seed Starters
One of the easiest ways to get started gardening is by planting seeds. It's fun and easy to do with children of all ages. Like Sylvia and Sofia, you don't need any fancy materials; you can simply use an egg carton, some seedling soil, and your choice of seeds.
Sparkle Kitchen: Smokey Mountain Chicken Sandwiches
Follow this easy, kid-friedly recipe from the Sparkle Kitchen for making your own Smokey Mountain Chicken Sandwiches. This entry is inspired by the Willowbee Tree story, “The Clay Pot”, in the Willow tree takes Piper to the Smoky Mountains to hear an old Buzzard's story, and she learns the importance of listening to one's elders.
Storybox Playlist: Stories of Fun and Foolery
We've got lots of fun light-hearted stories for you this week.
Exploring the Dry Gables Series - "Johann Bauer: Blacksmith"
In this post, we will meet the true power center of our Dry Gables’ community. Our blacksmith, Johann Bauer. There is only one way to treat our Johanns…like royalty—not in terms of honoring their status, as much as respecting their power.
Friday's Kind Words: In Alignment
My children attend a small Waldorf School and it’s always difficult to find outside influences that are in alignment with our family culture and intent. - Amy
Nature School Project: Identifying Bird Calls
We are joined by Monique of Green Acorns who teaches us how to idenitfy and map bird calls.
Sparkle Kitchen: Flower Petal Pancakes
A clever junkyard animal—or regular mom or dad—can make basic breakfast pancakes into beautiful spring flowers, worthy of a first day of spring breakfast.
Storybox Playlist: Stories of Diversity and Difference
By learning to understand one another we can better learn to love and appreciate all people that we meet in our lives no matter that difference between us.
Friday's Kind Words: Help with Dinner
It's fair to say that my 5 year old loves both the Martin & Sylvia and the Junkyard stories - we listen to one or the other on the way home from school every day. ~ Megan
Nature School Project: Three Easy Ways to Improve Garden Soil
You may be wondering, how can you improve the soil in your garden? Maybe you don't have enough space to compost compost everything, or access to goat droppings like Mr. Brown. There are other ways you can amend soil to make it healthy and happy.
Sparkle Kitchen: Monarch Smoothie
Inspired by the bright orange color of Ty's Monarch butterflies, the following smoothie uses citrus-y clementines as a fruit base, but feel free to sub in whatever fruit will tempt your children long enough to sit at the table.
Storybox Playlist: Stories for Spring Equinox and Easter
Spring is in the air and we've got plenty of stories to get you in the mood.
Exploring the Dry Gables Series - "Franz and Lena Denken: Dry Good Proprietors"
The stories from the two Dry Gables Series include an accompanying post from the Sparkle Schoolhouse Educator, Meredith Markow. So, if you’re looking to trust someone, look no further than to our responsible, dutiful and loyal dry goods proprietors, Franz and Lena Denken!
Friday's Kind Words: A Gift for a Lifetime
Consider me a doting granny who is thrilled that her grandchildren enjoy good story-telling. ~Maggie
Sparkle Kitchen: Maple Syrup Candy
Even if you don’t have a maple tree to tap or, like me, your climate isn’t right for the sap to really flow, you can still get in on the fun of sugaring season by making maple syrup candy. You’ll only need three ingredients: pure maple syrup, butter, and a patch of clean snow.
Sparkle Kitchen: Mediterranean Skewers
As frequent “Sparkle Kitchen” readers will know, I'm a big proponent of sitting down to a meal as a way to bring people together and help solve differences. And what better kind of meal to have than a delicious Mediterranean cook-out.
Storybox Playlist: Stories for Healthy Competition
These stories are of healthy competition, winning and losing, what it is to lead a team, and what it is to play on a team: skills useful for anyone who loves to play games.
