As I scan news headlines and scroll through social media feeds, my heart grows increasingly heavy for the world in which I’m raising my two littles. The violence and division that stem from issues of race and justice are particularly weighty. This heaviness has caused me to examine my own attitudes and actions regarding racial reconciliation and justice and forced me to consider how this impacts my parenting.

When my firstborn son was a toddler, I had a particularly memorable bad dream. I was with a small group of familiar faces. In the way that only makes sense in dreams, we knew we needed to get to a certain destination and we were headed in that (ambiguous) direction. Determined though we were, around every corner of our journey we were met by another life-threatening obstacle. Quicksand, falling rocks, medieval weaponry—the obstacles became more and more terrifying and relentless. In the dream, I remember feeling real fear. I also began to dread the next turn in the journey because I knew something else was coming, most likely more awful than the previous passage.

Certain moments and seasons of life require that we stay home more than is typical. In my case, more than me or my people would like! Staying in because of inclement weather, illness, or any other reason typically requires a bit more creativity in keeping young troops from getting too restless. Sometimes I struggle to drum up this creativity. I am so thankful for the myriad of free, online education resources and activities available, but I do occasionally find myself slipping into what feels like a black hole of trying to find the right activities. So I asked three Kindergarten teachers what activities they recommend for parents and preschoolers spending extra time at home. Here are some of their suggestions, along with related links that I've sifted through...