Across the garden, on the other side of my neighborly wall, I can hear a young girl playing. There’s a lot of emphatic counting down, the odd shriek and wild splashing, despite the chilly and overcast weather. Would you believe me if I told you she’s currently undertaking multiple, self-induced practical learning experiences that involves leadership, imagination, resilience, problem-solving, debate, and self-advocacy? I can prove it with one quote: “Hey, boys! I’m going to go first this time. You follow me but be quick, the dragon is coming! Okay… 5,4,3,2,1.” Splash. Silence. Thud. “Ouch! My knee. But I’m good… Okay, Jesse also wants to play with us so we need a new game. Mom! Moooom, I’m cold now. I need a towel.” Compare this scenario to three kids lined up silently at swimming school, diving in when the teacher commands and getting out when the whistle blows. “One of the biggest problems with play is that adults tend to hijack it and tend to try and control play. Children are really the best judge of their own play.” – Irene Gunning, CEO, Early Childhood Ireland There are a few reasons for this: Contemporary society and schooling are running a performance-based agenda that’s leading parents to believe that rather than have two children under five playing around the house, they should be grooming tiny adults. Grown-ups are painfully adept at linear, time-based, goal-orientated tasks based firmly in reality. We’re practical. We want to efficiently nurture our five-year-old straight into that Harvard AI program, if it’s the …

Renée Trudeau is the award-winning author of Nurturing the Soul of Your Family and The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. A sought after life balance coach/speaker, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, Spirituality & Health and more. Trudeau graciously agreed to share the following guest post with Girls That Create. As we begin a new year and set resolutions, Trudeau wants you to remember self-care is not about improving yourself.  Self-Care is Not About Improving Yourself One Sunday morning I was lying in bed reading from author Anne Lamott’s beautiful little book Small Victories. In one of her stories about parenting, she shares with a little self-deprecation, but mostly tenderness, how she doesn’t bake for PTA fund raisers, is often disorganized and sometimes forgets to follow-through on updates from her son’s school. Her ability to accept who she is is both endearing and freeing. Her story got me thinking how so many people I meet have a misguided sense about the concept of self-care. I often hear a lot of “shoulds,” and many confess they downright suck at self-care. A a life balance coach/teacher, I have studied, explored, written books about and taught self-care to men and women globally for more than 20 years. I can wholeheartedly share that self-care–a practice that has changed my life more than any other– is NOT about: fixing yourself or turning yourself into a “makeover version” of you trying to become someone who “has it all together” or who’s always …

Whether you love it or hate it, Christmas music is here again. Readers loved the last Girls That Create post on holiday songs by women, so here are 10 more for your playlist. Once again we’ve thrown in some soul, rock and other numbers with all the feels (Spotify link below). Enjoy and Happy Holidays! 10 More Christmas Songs Where Women Rock It 1) Christmas, Baby Please Come Home:  Darlene Love If you’ve seen the 2013 documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, you’ll recall Darlene Love (if you haven’t seen it, please do, the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards). Love grew up listening to gospel music and began singing in her church choir at age 10. She is also an actress. For years Love brought the house down on the Late Show with David Letterman singing Christmas, Baby Please Come Home. 2) Winter Wonderland: Eurythmics British pop duo Eurythmics gifted us this beautiful version of Winter Wonderland. Member Annie Lennox’s vocal range is contralto. She has earned the distinction of “most successful female British artist in UK music history”. Enjoy Lennox’s talents. 3) Joy: Tracey Thorn Tracey Thorn began her musical career in the punk-pop hybrid group Stern Bops playing guitar and providing some vocal backing. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl. Joy is on Thorn’s fourth solo album entitled Tinsel and Lights. Listen and watch this moving video. 4) I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas: Kacey Musgraves  At age eight …

2020 has had us all on an emotional roller coaster, kids included. Many children have experienced feelings of sadness, loneliness, fearfulness, anxiousness, and disappointment. Chicago-based writer Fern Schumer Chapman shared the following guest post on why books are an ideal tool to help children identify and express their feelings. Chapman recently wrote Happy Harper Thursdays, a picture book that explains to young kids why we can’t be with the people we love during COVID-19. Give Children Books This Holiday to Help Them Understand Their Confusing Emotions Many children have wrestled with powerful emotions this past year, as they have had to adjust to the pandemic’s required changes at school, at home, and with friends. Many young people are sad, lonely, fearful, anxious, and disappointed, and they don’t understand their own feelings. Now, the pandemic will disrupt upcoming holiday gatherings and traditions as extended families won’t be able to celebrate together. These disruptions are likely to intensify a child’s feelings of confusion and loss. Books, always a wonderful holiday gift, may be even more appreciated this year; books can be an ideal tool to help young children identify and express their feelings. Picture books are especially engaging and helpful for young readers; the images and words work together to evoke powerful emotions. For children, reading is like role playing, where they can see the world through someone else’s eyes. Through reading, young people gain new perspectives, and learn, for example, how to negotiate friendships and handle conflicts on the playground. In addition, books build empathy in children. The …

It all started with figs. In 2010, siblings Nate Padavick and Salli S. Swindell launched the website They Draw & Cook (TDAC). The duo came up with the idea during a family vacation. Padavick had been trying to replicate a fettuccine recipe with figs while Swindell was using her watercolors to paint the fruit in its crate. This led them both to realize how fun it was to illustrate food. Today artists from around the world submit their work to TDAC, making it the largest online collection of illustrated recipes. TDAC has generously shared several recipes with Girls That Create. Take time to create these delicious dishes with your family (click on recipe images for larger view). Jungle Critter Pancakes by Sue Mattero (website, Instagram) Harvest Apple Kale Salad by Lisa Lane (website, Instagram) Butternut Mac & Cheese by Lisl Christie Grandma Susie’s Ranger Cookies by K. We Recipe books can be purchased on the TDAC site. Swindell and Padavick are also behind the website They Draw and Travel, which is a collection of illustrated travel maps created by artists from around the world. More recently they launched Illustrators for Hire, an online global directory of creatives. Across all three sites the founding principle of TDAC is as true today as it was 10 years ago: to promote the careers of freelance illustrators. They Draw & Cook Website Instagram Pinterest Salli S. Swindell Website Instagram Nate Padavick Website Instagram Images provided by They Draw & Cook More Girls That Create posts: Kate Allan: Q&A With Author and Illustrator …

Shannon Brescher Shea is passionate about telling stories that bring together parenting, sustainability, and social justice. Shea has been participating in some form of environmental activism since the age of ten. A mother of two young boys, she recently released the environmental parenting book Growing Sustainable Together. It has tips, tools, advice and activities for raising eco-friendly kids while nurturing compassion, resilience and community engagement. Shea spoke with Girls That Create by phone about her book and why inspiration struck to write it. Her writing can also be found on the blog We’ll Eat You Up – We Love You So.  Q&A With Shannon Brescher Shea What inspired you to write Growing Sustainable Together?  I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I was a kid. I started reading at a young age and have just always been enamored with books. I really loved Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods and how he combined personal experiences, historical research, and scientific aspects. My day job is working as a science writer for the federal government. I’d always known I wanted to write a book but had no idea what it would be about. That changed with having kids and me constantly feeling a combination of green guilt and mom guilt. After talking with other environmentally conscious moms, I came to realize green living and great parenting can actually go hand in hand. What I loved most about writing this book is that it gave me an opportunity to combine all the things I am passionate about. When …

Sometimes the universe sends us a message. The most recent (for me) is this graphic from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It’s a strong reminder on why I created Girls That Create and believe in its purpose with my entire heart. I’ve been trying to figure out how to financially support Girls That Create with an online platform. Several weeks ago I was chatting with a dear colleague who suggested I look into setting a Patreon account. What is Patreon? They’ve put together a great video to explain. Basically Patreon allows you to directly support Girls That Create on a monthly basis at predetermined giving levels (tiers). Based on the tier level you support, at the end of every month (and in some cases every three months) your support is rewarded with special offers that only those giving through Patreon receive. As written on the Patreon page, “Our platform provides thousands of creators the opportunity to create on their own terms.” Right now there are 200,000+ creators on Patreon. In a nutshell, if you like the content appearing on Girls That Create and want to see the project grow – become a Patron. If you feel strongly about balancing out representation in mainstream media and seeing more women in leadership positions in the arts – become a Patron. If you want to help artists and inspire the next generation of artists – become a Patron. You can stop being a Patron at anytime. Click HERE to see the different tier levels, they …

Renée Trudeau is the award-winning author of Nurturing the Soul of Your Family and The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. A sought after life balance coach/speaker, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, Spirituality & Health and more. Trudeau graciously agreed to share the following guest post with Girls That Create. In these uncertain times, cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a powerful action that can greatly benefit our emotional well-being. Want to Feel Good? Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude Growing up, our overachiever family placed a high value on competency. Often that translated into a critical mindset toward self and others, where we frequently saw the bad before the good. This way of being, like all patterns, became habitual for many of my siblings. And as my father’s daughter and a champion of “let’s make it the best,” it’s a tendency I’ve been unraveling for years. When you walk into a room and see your child working on a science project, greet your partner at the end of the day after a big presentation, or receive an email update about a work project, do you see what’s going “right” or immediately look for what’s going “wrong?” Cultivating a gratitude practice has helped me to shift my perspective and see the gifts in any situation–even those that look horribly astray. An attitude of gratitude doesn’t come naturally to us. It was something I had to learn, to bring my attention and focus to, and to practice, practice, practice. I chose to …

What do Alice Guy-Blaché, Carmen Herrera, and Claudia Rankine have in common? They are all exceptional women in the new book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed the World. This third installment in the popular Rebel Girls book series allows young girls to travel the globe and be home by bedtime. It also teaches tolerance and sparks important conversations about immigration. What Does it Mean to be a Rebel Girl? The book contains one hundred biographies of immigrant women who left their birth countries for a multitude of reasons: some for new opportunities, some out of necessity. From chefs and surgeons, to musicians and politicians, to champions of judo and chess, these extraordinary stories will inspire girls everywhere to follow their dreams, no matter where they lead. Seventy female illustrators worked on the book to beautifully depict the women celebrated. In its preface, Rebel Girls founder Elena Favilli shares she herself immigrated to the United States from Italy. Favilli also writes, “People often ask me what it means to be a Rebel Girl, and there can be many definitions—just like we are all different from one another. At her heart, a Rebel Girl is someone who tries to make the world better for herself and the people around her, no matter the risks.” The book’s age range is five to ten-years-old. Rebel Girls Podcast Favilli created the first two volumes of the Rebel Girls books with Francesca Cavallo. The Rebel Girls brand prides itself on throwing out forced stereotypes, breaking down barriers and emphasizing the inherent value …

It’s safe to say a lot of us are doing porch drop offs this year when it comes to gifts. Why not spruce up your present for a special girl with one of these free printable Powerful Girl Gift Tags?!? There are eight different gift tag designs included in the printable. Just print, cut, and write to and from on the back and you’re good to go! Click to download Free Printable Powerful Girl Gift Tags Things you should know before downloading: Girls That Create printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY You may NOT modify, re-sell, redistribute, or claim the design as your own If you’d like to share this project, credit must be given to Girls That Create and linked back to this post For best results, print the gift tags on cardstock paper. More Girls That Create posts: Self-Esteem Activity for Girls: What I Like About Me and Picture Books With Women and Girl Main Characters www.girlsthatcreate.com