Picket Fence Post

 My editor at Parents & Kids Magazine (Heather Kempskie), along with her twin sister (Lisa Hanson), kindly agreed to field several snarky questions for the August issue of the magazine that I lobbed their way about their new book, The Siblings’ Busy Book, a book comprised of hundreds of easy activities to do with different-aged children in da house. Easy is key. (If the activities they have listed in the book weren’t simple, I wouldn’t be writing about them. In fact, I later told them I wished I’d had this book when my kids were toddlers.)

Here’s a sample from our interview:

Meredith O’Brien, Picket Fence Post: A number of these activities — most of them [in the book] actually — involve simple uses for everyday, household objects. They don’t require that parents shell out hundreds of dollars for twenty minutes of fun, which is a refreshing change. Was cost and accessibility a factor in which activities you included?

Lisa Hanson, co-author of The Siblings’ Busy Book: Absolutely, that was our biggest component. Life is expensive and parents can take their kids to museums and other places that cost money, but while you’re at home you should be able to create moments without a high cost. It’s not about materials; it’s about the time you spend with your kids.

Heather Kempskie, co-author: If you think back to your own childhood, the most pleasurable moments you have are the simple ones, that involved your imagination and a few materials. We wanted to recreate that in the book.

***

O’Brien: Were either of you camp counselors? Work in a circus? I know I certainly wouldn’t have been able to come up with the bulk of the activities you have in here. How did you come up with some of these ideas? Did you get contributions from your friends?

Hanson: I think I’ve had every single job out there available to work with kids. I’ve worked in daycares, elementary schools and got my masters in creative education. So a lot of the ideas came from my experiences of working with children.

Kempskie: Where Lisa is on the frontlines, I’m behind the scenes as the editor of P&K. I work with lots of childcare experts, pediatricians and parents and that’s how I get my sense of what is important to families and how they could benefit from [The Siblings' Busy Book].

Hanson: Other parents would mention something to us in passing, and we’d be like, “Wait a minute, we could use that!”

Kempskie: Inspiration arrived on a daily basis.

Click here to get the full interview.

Image credit: Siblings’ Busy Book site.