Ew! A Social-Media Year in Review

Marketing with social media is exciting with its pace and potential. The speed at which we think and "speak" is astounding, and with that velocity comes some....atrocity. I like to tell myself that I do my best work under pressure (and I like to instruct my teenaged daughter to do the opposite despite her realization of the same), but upon a year-of-social-media-in-review, I could be, gasp, wrong. I found some gems on this memory lane of Facebook and Twitter snippets. And also laughed out loud at some of the silliness. What lives lovingly behind every single post is a sincere desire to share an incredible confidence-building creative experience with every child and adult we are fortunate enough to meet, but......

Wisdom

• I bet for a kid it feels neat to be your own curator, with no grown-up to tell you if your art is wall-worthy. It's why our walls are busy busy.
• Libraries=Knowledge=Progress=Peace.
• WISH is a 4-letter word. So are RISK, TIME, CASH. And so are GLEE, HOPE, LOVE...
• I ♥ giraffes- looks like they move slowly while they're actually making tremendous progress with an eye to the long-view...
• Typing an email and iPhone auto-correct changed "join our mailing list?" to "smiling list". Smart phone.
• Learned a great phrase yesterday that resonates with how we approach being an inclusive studio: "presume competence".
• It's really cool when a camper with special needs has a special day. Don't we all have a need that makes us special?
• Did you know that we grow artists? Not train. Not make. Not test. Grow.
• Hi Planet. Keep up the good work and we'll be better about doing the same. Love, Wishcraft.
• Who needs a coloring book?
• There is big wisdom in this hand-written note by one of our after-school students: "You can draw anything. You can paint anything. You can make anything. You can play anything. You can make projects. We have snack at 3:00."

Fun

• A sewing camper sang our safety instructions. Someone finally took us up on the offer. ♥ ♥ ♥
• How fun is it to have a barefoot dance party ON paint? Like grape
stomping for kids.
• Overheard today: "we're messy, like artists are supposed to be".
• Overheard today: "this girl? I never met her before but we're already friends".
• So much fun to work somewhere in which sparkly things like sequins show up in places like the inside of the radiator. I left it there, by the way.
• Sweetest question from a 1st grader- "how many pounds of fabric do I need for my pajama pants project?"
• Such a happy-house of fun at the workshop today. Giggles galore. We're lucky to do what we do each day, so thank you.
• Seriously? The "Google Punks Me" show goes on with a call today asking if we are wiccan or...just pagan? We didn't realize that allowing children to create spontaneous dances of joy would go so far. I wonder what channel this show will be on once the cameras are revealed.
• Ok fine. The jeweled moustaches are much classier.

Humility

• My laptop case is humiliating.
• Rob told me he was moving one of my books to the "read" (past tense)
 section. I thought he said "red", which was thrilling.
• Have you ever had a thought-bubble hovering over your head, ready to take flight, only to have it ruptured by .....nothing at all? Just. Gone.
• Someone faux-vampire-hissed at me today. Hilarious. Kids today.
• ps- who else feels powerful when they change the huge water cooler bottle? I do.
• OK seamsters, where's the silliest place you've found an errant thread clipping? Today I found one in my coffee cup..but not in the sewing room or even sewing yet today.
• Can you help us rename the Project Hall of Shame? Hall of Try? Hall of Why? Hall of _________?
• I just heard a bird chirp and I'm not even meditating. This is big.

Gratitude

• So neat when students come in for a class and another student tells them how cool their class will be based on their previous experience. Love.
• Student: "Wishcraft should have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame." Me: 'Why?" Student: "Because you deserve it."
• "Oh Mom! Already?" Glad to hear this all afternoon as students were picked up from Crafter-School. Even when it was closing time.
• One of our campers is so giddy to be with us for another camp next week that she suggested we name it "Sew Excited" instead.
• Ha! We were just called the "hardest working women in sew business". Guess I'm not the only one with a silly turn of phrase.
• And for service above and beyond the call of duty, the award goes to Rob, who delivered not just emergency clean underwear, but rockin' cool skull undies, too. You know you're getting crafty Candice when you sign up for CrAfter School, but did you know you also get 3 other kind and silly Cumminseseses too? My boys ♥ every cotton-pickin' Cummins in that joint.
• This morning a Dad that was dropping off his 3 kids to FUNordinary Art Camp pulled me aside to tell me-- "You do really good work. I mean it." Wow. Happy Friday.
• Another fun note from an after-schooler found while cleaning my office. My fave: "They have createful minds (that temt you)".

Ew

• I'm blue for you. Or for whomever you gift me to. I can be whatever you want me to be.
• I wanna be Like(d) by you, just you, and nobody else but you. I wanna be Like(d) by you alo-oh-one. Boop boop be-do.
• Does your expired workshop voucher have legs?
• Recess is still the only good thing about "recession"- we've kept class prices flat for 3 years.
• Dear Soccer Coaches, please advise practice schedules asap so families can choose their creative Wishcraft class. Love, Us.
• 5 spots remain and only 1 one of them will go on to become America's Next Top Camper for Friday 11/18.
• Feed your child's creative confidence and feed someone that needs it. Turn Cyber Monday into food for Common Pantry with our Fiber Funday.
• How convenient for 7/11! Give your kid a big gulp of summer fun with 64 fluid dollar savings off Camp.
• WANTED- shady quick-change artists for recycling magic. Starts tomorrow. Shade of green preferred.
• What has stripes, loves the planet, is fun to be around and isn't a zebra?
• We know a Viking (sewing machine) interested in meeting young fashion designers. The needles, thread and scissors are lonely, too.

Ew, right? 2012 promises to be even more amazing. She told me so this morning.

From your friends at the Wishcraft workshop, our wishes for the happiest and healthiest year yet for you, your friends and your family. Cheers.

Because You're Worth It

A cosmetic conglomerate has been using the line for years.  Yesterday I saw a quote that reminded me-- the people that we love are worth it. You are worth it. It is a crazy time of year. Crazy. There are moments of great kindness and moments of....craziness (drivers in particular.) But there is a reason that we do this every year. We all have our very personal sentiments about the reason for the season and, for some, very strong sentiments about the reason to forgo it altogether. Could it be like tax deductions?  Hurry and get in the last gesture of loving kindness, in the form of a gift, before the new year arrives?  No, it couldn't be.  

Holidays are funny in their predictable way of bringing out the best and worst in us. Someone may disappoint you this year. Some of of us may disappoint others. But really, the point is that we care, and if we were to take that caring into everything that we do, what a wonderful world this would be. 

“As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same.”
Donald Westlake (1933-2008);
American writer

The Richest of Experiences

The internally dark days following the passing of my grandmother June Anne Stone this past week were followed immediately with the crimes of Black Friday-- pepper-spray attacks, trampling, armed robbery. Over games and electronics. Serious crimes committed because of....stuff. Then comes Cyber Monday.  Big deals on big stuff shipped from all over the place. 

I had 10 hours on the I-65 yesterday to consider the lessons to be learned from my grandmother, or at least the ones she would want me to hold and pass on. During the times in which she had not much, she gave and gave. I often didn't understand how she chose the targets of her generosity of spirit. She was a shy activist. A quietly opinionated citizen, making small contributions in whatever way she could...even when she couldn't. She gave me skills. She gave me experiences. And I made my own opinions.  

And so today, at Wishcraft, it's Fiber Funday. Because it's a silly rhyme with Cyber Monday. Because it touches on some of our favorite media (fabric, felt, yarn...touchable things that so often bring people together.) As you make plans today to spend the bounty that we have on those we cherish, consider the gift of an experience. A creative, confidence-building almost inexplicably fun and skill-building experience at our workshop filled with laughter and color and joy.  Be it a camp for Winter Break (or 2012 on one of the days when school is closed), a gift-certificate for a Winter II Session class (starting January 23, 2012) or a small-group workshop for her and her friends, we promise to make memories.  

Feed your child's creative confidence and feed someone that needs it.  Turn Cyber Monday into food.  For today*, Fiber Funday, 10% of all part- and full-day camp fees collected using our website are donated to Common Pantry.  Let's make something and share something.  Tell a pal and let's share some food and fun.

*Expires 11:59pm tonight, Monday November 28, 2011

My 4-Letter Words

WISH is a 4-letter word. So is FEAR. And you probably have your own favorites for moments of frustration and moments of joy. Being an entrepreneur* brings with it a roller-coaster of 4-letter words, starting with RISK, TIME, and CASH on their one-way streets.  But when I STOP and allow myself the moments to GIVE back to the community that has supported us through our first 3 years (Yes! We just celebrated our 3rd Birthday!), it feels GOOD.
(Thanks to those of you that ask and remind us of the opportunity to help your school or your non-for-profit. The gift-certificates are on their way!)

At the workshop we have been preparing for a craft event next weekend (which involves a lot of MAKE) that pays us nothing but the opportunity to MEET like-minded artisans, crafticionados and their kids and KNOW, if for even just a few moments with each, the child-like excitement that comes with the experience of making something by HAND. That's RICH. We hope to see you there, where "Wish is a 4-Letter Word" will be the project we bring to the KIDS' area. You'll have to come visit to see what we mean. Have your kids start thinking about their list of 4-letter words and get there early to sign-up for a good time-slot to MEET us. 

Until then, I'll be focusing on the better half of my 4-letter word mind-stock, reminding myself that even when the entrepreneurial roller-coaster dips into places that are DARK, tomorrow there is always the GLEE, the HOPE, the LOVE (and in the case of the upcoming few months, CAMP and hopefully some LUCK) that comes with my WISH of crafting a space in which anyone can learn to feel powerfully and playfully creative, solving problems aesthetic, functional and practical. ONCE we HAVE THAT, WHAT CAN'T be DONE?  

Thanks to my daughter Lulu for the following list to help anyone that gets stuck with their list.  We probably don't want my son's list this afternoon as he does his homework.

Wish   Love   Hope   Make   Good   Food   Bake   Live   Give   Life   Know   Glad   Glue (ha!)   Play   Home   Book   Band   Rock   Baby   Felt   Yarn   Time   Knit   Draw   Cozy   Fame

*see Crain's Chicago Business blog to find a great article by Carol Roth about the 5 myths (and one truth) of entrepreneurship. My blog's inability to successfully link to it is beyond the luddite lurking within.

Mummy, Don't Throw That Away (No Boo Hoo's)

Kid-Made Kid-Friendly Mummy

Take some of the boo hoo out of the boo! with a sweet-looking and kinda cuddly stuffed mummy to make with your kids. At the workshop we have just about anything you need to make just about anything. To make a wish. To make something. But what if you have no supplies? Do you have printer paper sitting in your recycling bin and a smidge of cello-tape? How about a crayon? We promise this won't be too scary for busy parents, either.

The Supplies

• 2-3 pieces 8.5"x11" used printer paper (printed on one side)
• Cellophane tape
• Colored pencil/crayon/marker/eyeliner....
• Scissors (or not)
• (really, that's all!)

The Operation

(Step 1) Crumpled Paper

1.  Crumple up two pieces of paper. Unfold and crumple them up again. The crumpling step is done when the pieces are soft and pliable. Set one piece aside.  
2.  Fold one crumpled piece of paper in half hamburger style (i.e. cross-wise, or fold the 11" side to make two halves that measure 8.5"x5.5"). On this paper sketch a squared-off oval mummy-like shape. 
3.  With the paper still folded, cut (or rip) out the mummy shape. This will yield two mummy-shaped pieces. Trim one of the pieces so that it is slightly smaller than the other.
4.  Draw a friendly face on the blank side of the larger of the two mummy shapes.

(Step 5) Folding + Taping

5.  With blank sides facing outward (i.e. printed sides touching), fold the edges of the larger shape around the edges of the smaller shape and affix with tape.

(Step 6+7) Stuffing the Mumm6. 

6.  Take the third piece of paper and rip it into smallish pieces. Wad these up into little balls to be used as stuffing.
7.  Stuff the mummy and close the opening with tape.
8.  Remember the remaining soft and pliable piece of paper? Rip that paper lengthwise into slim strips (about .5" wide).

(Step 9) Wrapping the Mummy

9.  Starting on the back-side, tape down the end of a paper-strip and begin wrapping the mummy. Tape strips together to make enough to wrap the mummy to your satisfaction.

Not too scary, right? Please enjoy a safe and silly Halloween.

Have you heard of Craft City, Michigan?

We're sorry. Really we are. We haven't ever intended to make anyone feel awkward, and if you have, please accept our apologies. If your child has refused to come home at their designated pick-up time, we apologize for our inner-smile and freely accept responsibility. We have every intention of helping your child feel readily comfortable in the workshop so that they can get to the work and play of getting to know their own creativity and capabilities. We do it on purpose. Some cry out ("oh, Mom!", "not yet!" or "I told you not to come so early!") and some may actually cry. Some kids feign sleeping from fun-exhaustion on our window seats or in our library. And one recently did an incredible mime-rendition of a baseball umpire's gesture of the safe call through the window to signal their parent that they just weren't ready to go home yet.

It can maybe explained this easily-- it is a second home for many of us. We like working here. We spend a lot of time here, and so it feels like home. We even have some dirty dishes, just like home (or at least like my home.) Be it a class, a camp or our after-school program, the time that we spend together in this colorful and comfortable place that generally smells really great has crafted some great memories and has knit quite a community. So while we really are sorry if it has ever made you uncomfortable, we are really glad that your child has been that comfortable.

Recently a friend in our creative community asked me for the name of the paint color that we used on the first floor of the workshop. A few months later she asked how we keep our table legs so level. The first question I understood (it really is a lovely blue), but the follow-on question not so much.....until she told me about Craft City. Craft City is an art room in her vacation home in Union Pier, MI outfit to replicate our workshop as closely as possible, including the tables, stools and brand of all-purpose cleaner. We knew that her child liked her time with us-- she told us as much in embroidery stitches. But this! Well if that isn't a compliment.

So yes, we humbly and sincerely accept responsibility for our role in this, but you need to own your part. This little house of fun, or Fun House depending on the day, wouldn't be anything, anything at all, without you.

Putting the "Why?" in DIY

We are four whoppin' weeks into our Summer Camp programs, and I am already blown away by the talent and boundless creativity of our campers. This year has brought with it a new format for us (two floors of fun and two separate camps for ages ranges 5-9 and 9-14 years) and so much more fun as the age range has expanded both to the left and the right of previous years' boundaries. As I reflect on the two previous summers, and all of the classes and camps and parties and workshops and other activities that precede this moment, I struggle, no make that giggle, with a mix of pride and.....perplexity.....at the projects that have passed through these colorful doors.

When we come up with a project that has all of the magic ingredients, we call it a "wow".

Wishcraft's Recipe for a "Wow" Project

• Engages the imagination in an open-ended way
• Teaches or practices a creative skill
• Uses recycled/green/safe materials, or just-enough new materials that have been thoughtfully sourced
• Invents a new technique, or combines existing techniques and ideas in a new way
• Optional Variation- It doesn't have to be useful, but this seems to be an extra bonus with the kids. Like grated parmesan cheese on already delicious pasta.

So the reality is, not every project can be a "wow". We try, for certain. But to try means to test and to experiment, and in any experiment there are fixed variables and, well, variable variables. Wobbly variables. Different-age and different-capability variables. Cruddy-instead-of-sunny-weather variables. I-had-so-much-fun-having-a-spontaneous-dance-party, and want to do it again right now, variables. In the controlled environment of the instructor's prototyping and preparation we can get one result, but in the wild.....anything can happen.

Which is why we have our own virtual version of the book Regretsy. We have our Hall of Fame, including many of the projects we've shared with our Facebook, Twitter and Flickr updates this year. And we have our Hall of Shame, but today we will rename that Hall. Hall of Try. Hall of Why? These non-wow projects need a place of honor, too, as they have helped us to hone our own skills and deliver camper and class experiences that leave our new friends excited to come back for more. Can you help us name the Hall of Misfit Projects? C'mon now, fill in the blank: Hall of ___________.

Communing with the Cardinal and Joe- Life Lessons from a Bird-Feeder

I've always had a special love of birds. Could it be their range of colors? Their delicate music? Or an evolutionary connection? They find their way into my art, my toys and now more than ever into my backyard. We finally installed a decent bird-feeder, a diner of sorts that serves many at a time, and my life as Snow White has become more about my newest haircolor. Every morning before I heigh-ho I look into the yard to see which visitors have joined us for breakfast, and every morning I seem to witness something I've probably always known but for which I am thankful for the reminder.

• Yes, we can all get along. Finches, robins, cardinals, squirrels, a baby bunny and even a deer enjoy the fruits of our feeder, and they might bicker a little every now and then but we have a community of little friends that are practicing their social skills and working toward a common purpose. (I know, right? A deer came to visit our urban yard earlier this week.)
• There is enough for everyone if we work together. Our little feeder is such a microcosm. What would happen to hunger in our city, in our country, in our world, if we actively reminded ourselves that we have the capability to ensure that every person is fed? Would we hoard and waste? Or would we change our own habits? Would we live simply so others might simply live?
• The early bird really gets the (big, juicy) worm. Really. The robins are up at dawn to dig in the moist soil in order to provide for themselves and for their families. Sure sleeping late might feel like a luxury, but why bother? The chirping wakes me anyway. Let's get busy- there's lots to do (see solving world-hunger above) and this mama-bird is awake.
• Slow down and smell the coffee. I sometimes catch myself trying to rush through my morning peek at the feeder and then am reminded that this planet and its flora and fauna are amazing. It deserves my full attention, if even for a moment. And when I slow down enough to hear the individual bird-songs, I find that I can really relish in the aroma of the coffee awaiting me downstairs, all of which reminds me to breathe and to be very, very grateful for every little thing.
• Give a little, get a lot. Sure, refilling the bird-feeder is another task on the to-do list, but it pays us back in so many ways. Every time a cardinal (two mates and their young have moved in) is spotted in the morning, the remainder of the day is stellar. Why? Maybe it's the lucky color red. I don't need to figure it out. It just is.

If you need me this fine morning, on World Environment Day, it will have to wait just a bit as I'll be communing with the cardinal and joe.

Professorial Musing on Motherhood

By guest blogger Rob Cummins, 17-year-husband of one, father of two and walker of one other one (dog, that is.) Rob, MA English and M Ed. (Secondary Education), certified teacher (Type 09) and Adjunct Professor of English Literature is looking with hope for that perfect Middle-School or High-School teaching position. This gentleman knows more about just about everything than anyone I know. Just don't accept an invitation from him to play Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble. Really.

To be and to do. That’s the definition of what a mother, a mom, is. A noun and a verb (and a superlative adjective.) What we are talking about, then, is that mothering a child isn’t simply a physical, emotional, or psychological action. It’s all of these things, a process of incredible difficulty and complexity and just when you feel like you’ve got this whole thing wired, then something new and unexpected occurs which can change your perspective completely--in ways transcendent and, well, not-so-transcendent, but always, always, totally and utterly humbling.

I’ve had the great fortune to be blessed with a bevy of brilliant mothers in my life: my wife, my own mother and grandmothers, aunts, in-laws, friends who each bring their own uniquely powerful parental practices into my societal mix, protecting, nurturing and caring for their children, showing us, again (I can’t reiterate this enough) that mothering is a process. My own wife,who was nice enough to let me encroach on her blog space--a good example, by the way, albeit a small one, but not one of small consequence, of a nurturing and caring person--is a prime example of everything I’ve been talking about. Now don’t get me wrong, I like to think I’m a good father, but, my wife was born to be a great mother (I don’t mean this in some old-fashioned, anti-feminist way--barefoot and pregnant, and all that). She is, I’m not even going out on a limb, here, remarkable at mothering.The dictionary doesn’t even come close (and how could they really define any mom in two hundred and fifty words, or so?) to getting at my wife’s parenting essence. Being a mother is her raison d etre, and it’s not only being a brilliant mother to our own children, but through her business and other efforts, nurturing other children and adults, as well. Nurturing and caring, helping them through the process of becoming great. This is not hyperbole.

Know that what all great mothers do is not hyperbole. It is greatness, pure and simple. The process of creating good citizens isn’t an easy one, but it’s a necessary one if we want our kids to grow and develop into thinkers, artists, designers, big dreamers. Mothers who want their children, all children, really, to move forward in so many different ways, reinterpret the basic ideas that surround and inform us, not looking to conserve their energies or visions for a later date, fighting the fights that need to be fought, so other mothers and mothers-to-be become empowered and feel like they’re part of a spectacular process which will transform and transcend. A process of nurturing, caring, protecting: mothers. Don’t forget to call yours on Sunday.

Switcheroo Woohoo

I sit in the same chair every day, for a good part of the day. It gives me a full view of the first floor of the workshop, as well as a window to the world. Or at least Roscoe Village.

When I sit down to one of the work tables to lead a class, a magical shift happens in more than my lower-back. The simple act of switching seats turns on a creative place in me that can easily get sleepy in the comfort of my every-day spot. Earlier this week we had a camp with multiple students that didn't know one another beforehand. When the first 3 students arrived, they sat elbow-to-elbow along one side of the table. The instructor sat on the other side of the table to begin the class, and the students listened quietly and began a project in similar fashion. I waited for the right time to try an experiment with a powerful technique that I have used previously in my corporate career-- change seats to change perspective.

Think about the last meeting you attended (groan) where contention grew between two or more people that sat next to one another. How much more difficult is it to be difficult when you sit across from someone? Sure, the table between us gives a little buffer, but being able to read the other person's expression and grab, or try uncomfortably to avoid, their eye contact creates an entirely different playground. To stoke creativity and foster teamwork, I would ask meeting participants to choose a chair that they hadn't inhabited for a while. Even the simple consideration of "why is Candice always asking us to do silly things" was enough to lighten the mood and prepare everyone for something better than the dreaded meeting.

So when the moment was right this week, I asked some of the campers to try a new seat. Woohoo! Moments later the giggle factor went through the roof. That's right. The Chief Giggle Officer's job here was done.

Now it's your turn. Give it a try. At work, at the dinner table, or in the next class that you take. See what a change in view will do. We can't wait to hear how it works.

"REAL" ART? Really?

My eleven-teen daughter has taken to repeating my seemingly unbelievable statements and then appending them with the rhetorical "really, Mom?" I found myself using the same when recently looking for an art class to give her as a birthday gift. (Ironic, I know, but I teach many a little person to sew that come from a family of seamstresses- who wants to learn from their own family of experts? Remember learning to drive a car and how many familial arguments that would spur?) I found what I thought was the perfect class- curriculum looked right, time fit the schedule and the location was an easy walk. And I almost went through with it, when the online description of the class began to loop in my mind: "REAL" ART. Philosophers have been debating this forever- we're still doing it. Defining it seems to almost always require a circular reference. "REAL" ART. Really?

Kids like to make stuff. They naturally know it's good for them. There are times when parents might feel obligated to resort to something easy to help them along- there's an entire aisle of easy at big supply stores. But part of what is so amazing about the creative process is the problem-solving skills that it fosters...when we thought we were only playing. I know that my kids will tire of me being a constant coach for building their creative muscle, so I've looked around town for places and things that, in my humble process-over-result opinion, are open-ended fun for kids of all ages without presuming we need to be told how to be creative or when our art is, ugh, real.

-Pick a warm indoor space, like one of our many museums offering free-admission for the rest of January. People-watch but only from the knees down. Take turns crafting stories about the people you see. Where do they work? Are they friends or sisters? Where else have they been today, or where are they going next?

-Pick up a book to bridge the busy-parent gap: Green Genes in Andersonville also stocks the planet- and thereby kid-friendly art supplies you need to go with it. (And if you forget the book in the diaper bag by the front door, there is always napkin-doodling: take turns making a small scribble and ask your playmates to describe what they see by having them add to the drawing.)

-Pick a really packed vintage store, like Hoard in Ravenswood. Browse every corner of the shop and find one little intriguing thing. Don't hoard, just pick one thing (this will help focus your energy.) Now do something with it. It can be as simple as creating a small still-life sanctuary in your home or a complete photo-essay of your thing enjoying your favorite places around town. Or turn it into a lamp or a journal cover or a fascinator hat! Let the thing and your new perspective be the clues to its new life as a __________.

-Watching clouds can be endless fun. What do you see? It's a fluffy Rorschach game for family and friends, which can be a cool way to get to know a little more about each other's point of view. To keep warm, drive to the top of a parking garage and peep from a car (free is best, and these are two of my favorites: 2939 W Addison St & 1550 N. Kingsbury St.) or pick your favorite skyscraper. If we weren't in our 2nd of 3 annual winter seasons, I'd recommend a different location conducive to prone viewing, but the activity is the same, just at a different angle.

-Dramatic play is as creative as it gets. And highly-entertaining improv comedy, too, for anyone eavesdropping. Say goodbye to clunky-germy plastic-play and say hello to Little Beans Cafe in Bucktown. The playspace is a storekeeper/mechanic/fireman/pretend-mommy haven, and parents can stay comfortably close by while sipping or noshing. Eavesdropping on the grown-ups might be as entertaining and creative while the eavesdropper crafts assumptions about the context of the conversation. (Did I just write that?)

Bored in the winter? Hardly. Real creative fun? Really. (For more about art from the mouths of babes, see this short-film created by a tween.)