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When You Find the Right Rock by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by @felicita.sala, is a lyrical & heartfelt picture book that celebrates the quiet magic of nature & the special bond children can form with the world around them. Through gentle, poetic storytelling & richly expressive illustrations, the book explores how something as simple as a rock can become a source of comfort, wonder, imagination, & belonging. It encourages young readers to slow down, observe closely, & discover meaning in everyday natural treasures, reminding us that nature can help children feel grounded, curious, creative, & deeply connected to their surroundings. To extend the literacy experience after reading the book we explored two hands-on invitations designed to complement the story and deepen children’s connection to rocks, nature, and creativity. Invitation to Create a Rock Collage: First, the children painted rocks onto white construction paper using Colorations® Shiny and Regular Tempera Paint. Once their paintings dried, the rocks were cut out and glued onto black construction paper to create unique rock collages. This process encouraged creativity, fine motor development, artistic expression, and a deeper appreciation for the different shapes, textures, and beauty found in rocks. Invitation to Explore Rocks with Playdough: On our trays from Discount School Supply, we set out white playdough, wooden tools, and a collection of rocks for children to explore, create, and play with. Children pressed, rolled, stacked, imprinted, and sculpted with the materials, using their imaginations to investigate the textures, patterns, and unique characteristics of rocks through hands-on sensory and loose parts play. Through both invitations, children observed, created, and connected with the natural beauty of rocks while discovering, much like in When You Find the Right Rock, how something as simple as a rock can spark wonder, imagination, comfort, and a deeper connection to the world around them.

After reading Light Makes a Rainbow by Sharon Coan, we were inspired to look beyond the beauty of a rainbow and uncover the science behind it. This engaging read introduces children to concepts like light waves, energy, and prisms, showing that sunlight, though it appears white, is actually made up of many colors. When sunlight passes through tiny water droplets, it slows down and bends (refraction), spreads into different colors, reflects inside the droplet, and bends again as it exits, revealing the full rainbow spectrum. We brought this learning to life by exploring how to bend sunlight using real prisms. On two mirrored Mirrored Magnetic Sensory Circle & Deep Spot Tuff Tray Mirror, we thoughtfully arranged prisms, acrylic cubes, a translucent rainbow, ,Excellerations® Color Paddles, bowls, a three-panel folding mirror, and a rotating mirror to invite discovery from every angle. As we tilted and repositioned the prisms in natural sunlight, children watched in awe as light refracted and stretched into vibrant bands of color, uncovering the hidden rainbow within. The additional materials acted as visual anchors, helping children connect their observations to the familiar sequence of rainbow colors, while the reflective surfaces enhanced light, movement, and perspective. This immersive invitation blended science with wonder, encouraging curiosity, experimentation, and meaningful exploration. Through hands-on discovery, children not only learned how rainbows form but also experienced the magic of light working together to create something truly extraordinary.

Had the honor of decorating my son’s 1st grade teacher’s door to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week ! During Back-to-School Night at the beginning of the year, I was completely in awe of her classroom library, it was truly one of the most magical spaces I’ve ever seen. Every detail felt intentional, inviting, & filled with a deep love for learning & reading. It instantly left an impression on me. From that moment, I knew I wanted to find a meaningful way to celebrate that magic. The only thing I felt could add to her already beautiful space was plush storybook characters from MerryMakers (Creepy Pair of Underwear, Amy Wu, Pete the Cat, Island Born, Dog Man, Pout Pout Fish, Last Stop on Market Street, Dragons Love Tacos), bringing some favorite beloved classics & popular characters to life. The door design was inspired by the very same books as the stuffies gifted to her, tying everything together in a thoughtful & cohesive way. Since she loves bumblebees, I leaned into that theme with sweet touches throughout. Lastly I had signage made for her library that reads: “Reading Gives You Wings” & “In The Library, We Have Wings.” It also wouldn’t be complete without a book, so A Teacher Like You, written by Frank Murphy & Barbara Dan, illustrated by Kayla Harren. Just a little buzz of love and appreciation for a teacher who helps her students soar, creates everyday magic in the classroom, and leaves a truly lasting impact on every child she teaches .

For this invitation, we explored the works of Claude Monet by reading The Magical Garden of Claude Monet and Meet Claude Monet. We also shared an image of his famous Japanese Water Lilies painting to spark curiosity and inspire the children’s building experience. Using STEM as our approach, we transformed the painting into a hands-on learning invitation by setting up our Discount School Supply Tuff Tray with black and white Cosy Direct Ones, Plastic Water Channeling Guttering (6-pack), open-play toy cones, jumbo craft sticks, iridescent cups, Acrylic Display Risers Hexagonal, shelves, water lilies in purple & white, flat marbles, and Colorations Metallic Green Paint to represent the water. The children were invited to create their own interpretation of Monet’s painting through building, designing, and open-ended exploration. Experiences like this allow children to extend their learning beyond simply viewing art, they begin to think like artists, engineers, and problem-solvers all at once. Preschool STEM activities are especially valuable because they encourage children to ask questions, test ideas, and stretch their creative thinking skills. Introducing the engineering and design process feels natural in early childhood because children already love to build, experiment, and solve problems. This invitation transformed a simple building activity into an opportunity for deeper thinking, helping children explore perspective, creativity, and their own interpretation of Monet’s work. There was no right or wrong way to approach this experience, which made it so meaningful. The possibilities were truly endless. By providing open-ended materials and the freedom to explore, children could create, imagine, and build in ways entirely their own. The magic of Claude Monet truly came to life through their creations, as the children transformed simple materials into their own beautiful interpretation of his peaceful water lily gardens.

I had the absolute privilege of creating the invitations for my delicate flower bestie Justine’s milestone 40th birthday celebration. She had a vision of elegance, beauty, and blooms everywhere—and she brought it to life so effortlessly. Every detail was thoughtfully curated, making this celebration feel like stepping into a dreamy garden party. From beautiful florals by @bloomandboard_bydanielle to hands-on activities, every moment was designed to make guests feel part of the magic: Flower Bar – Create your own bouquet to take home, because every guest deserves to leave with flowers in hand. Flower Bar Sign Flower Stand Vases - Dollar Tree Flowers -Trader Joes DIY Flower Crown Station – Because it simply wouldn’t be a blooming celebration without a flower crown fit for the occasion. Headbands Gem Flowers Rainbow Flowers Neutral Flowers Wireless Glue Gun Gardening Sensory Bin – A playful sensory experience filled with beautiful blooms, where little hands could dig, plant, and pretend in their own tiny garden world. Flower Sensory Stones Sensory Sand Plastic Pots Shovels Can you tell we love a good theme? Because when it comes to flowers, there’s no such thing as too much bloom.

Construction Site: Firefight! by Sherri Duskey Rinker, illustrated by A.G. Ford, brings a thrilling new adventure to the beloved Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site series. In this 2026 release, familiar construction vehicles team up with a crew of brave firefighting trucks when powerful winds knock down electric lines and spark a dangerous blaze. As the night unfolds, Fire Engine, Foam Truck, Water Tender, and their heroic crew join forces with their construction site friends to battle the flames, clear the debris, and ensure everyone stays safe. Told in the signature gentle rhyme readers love, this story highlights teamwork, courage, and community, crafted with care and authenticity, thanks to consultation with a real fire investigator. At Tinkerwonderplay, we love bringing stories to life through hands-on, imaginative play. To extend the experience of the book, we created a Small World Tuff Tray set in a bed of play sand, allowing children to fully immerse themselves in the scene. The tray included trucks and emergency vehicles, building blocks, cones, traffic signs, faux rocks, Way to Play roads, and Picasso Tiles transformed into “burning” buildings with tissue paper flames. Spray bottles added an interactive element, allowing children to reenact firefighting moments from the story. This type of small world play offers rich sensory exploration while strengthening fine motor skills through scooping, spraying, and arranging materials. As children recreate and retell the story, they build important cognitive skills like, sequencing, problem-solving, and imaginative thinking, all while deepening their connection to the narrative in a meaningful, playful way. The book is now available for pre-order ahead of its April 28, 2026 release, grab your copt of the heartwarming and action-packed addition to an already beloved series that young readers won’t want to miss. Here are other ways to explore the other series: Steam Train, Dream Train STEM Invitation & Construction Site: Merry and Bright Small World Play

Easel painting offers children a unique, full-body creative experience that goes beyond traditional tabletop art. Standing at an easel encourages proper posture, engages core muscles, and allows for broader arm movements, which helps develop gross motor skills and coordination. The vertical surface also supports visual tracking and hand-eye coordination, making it easier for children to control brush strokes and explore different painting techniques with confidence. Beyond the physical benefits, easel painting nurtures creativity, independence, and self-expression. With a dedicated space to create, children are more likely to immerse themselves in the process, experiment freely, and make their own artistic choices. It also naturally supports social interaction when shared, encouraging collaboration, communication, and the joy of creating side by side. Here are two ways to paint on the Colorations® 2-Way Indoor / Outdoor Acrylic Panel Easel. This durable, double-sided acrylic easel is designed for indoor and outdoor use, allowing two children to paint simultaneously on reusable, easy-to-clean panels while keeping supplies organized and within reach. 1. Invitation to Paint- This traditional setup invites children to explore painting with  easel paint brushes as their primary tool. Fluorescent paint is poured into Colorations® No-Spill White Lid Paint Cups and paired with  easel paper,  offering children a familiar yet engaging opportunity to experiment with color, brush control, and expressive mark-making. 2. Gravity Painting-This open-ended STEAM experience shifts the focus from brushwork to movement and flow. Using Double-Dip Divided Paint Cups, droppers, and Liquid Watercolor Paint Tropical Colors, children explore how paint travels, blends, and responds to gravity. This setup invites experimentation with cause and effect, encouraging curiosity, prediction, and discovery through process-based art. Together, these experiences transform the easel into more than a painting surface, it becomes a space of inquiry, expression, and connection where children create images, develop confidence in their ideas, strengthen fine and gross motor skills, and build foundational STEAM understanding through hands-on exploration. Whether through intentional brushstrokes or fluid paint movement, they engage with color theory, cause and effect, and the physical properties of materials in meaningful ways. In this shared creative environment, art becomes a language of discovery, where process matters as much as product, and every mark reflects thinking in action, curiosity in motion.

Georgia O'Keeffe, a pioneering female artist known for her bold, close-up paintings of flowers. O’Keeffe often painted flowers on a much larger scale, encouraging viewers to slow down and truly observe the beauty and details found in nature. Her famous poppy paintings are a beautiful example of how she transformed a simple flower into a vibrant and immersive work of art. To inspire the children, we looked at images of her poppy paintings, poppy flowers in a vase, and discussed the colors and flowing shapes she used. The children were then invited to create their own poppy-inspired artwork using  Texas snowflake coffee filters in a variety of sizes to represent layered petals. We provided  pipettes and liquid watercolors in a color palette inspired by her work, reds , yellows , and oranges . As the children used the pipettes to drop color onto the filters, they watched the paint spread and blend across the paper, creating organic patterns that resembled flower petals. This type of art experience supports many important developmental skills. Using pipettes strengthens fine motor control and hand coordination, while watching the colors move and mix encourages curiosity, observation, and early scientific thinking. Exploring the work of artists like Georgia O’Keeffe also helps children understand that art can be inspired by nature and that their own creative interpretations are meaningful and unique.

We stepped into a world where space stretches endlessly and reflections linger, unfolding into infinity. Inspired by the luminous work of Yayoi Kusama, the Infinity Mirror Rooms transcend traditional art experiences. First introduced in 1965, these immersive environments use mirrors, light, and repetition to dissolve boundaries, blurring the line between self and surroundings. Rooted in Kusama’s exploration of infinity, self-obliteration, and interconnectedness, the rooms invite each viewer into a quiet confrontation with scale, presence, and belonging. Within these mirrored worlds, one becomes both observer and participant—at once small, and yet part of something immeasurable. Inspired by @100languagesatelier, we reimagined this experience through the lens of the child. Mirrors ( Deep Spot Tuff Tray Mirror ,  Mirrored Magnetic Sensory Circle , rotating mirror, 3 way mirror, rectangle) , loose parts ( pom poms , wooden circle grappat, iridescent & primary color acrylic circles, flat marbles, mini disco balls, gems, round jewel gems, small dot charms, buttons ) in our  Translucent Sorting Tray , and gentle light sources came together to create “mini infinity rooms,” spaces where curiosity leads and imagination unfolds. Here, children encounter endless possibilities, where a single object becomes many, and perspectives shift with each movement, each gaze, each discovery. Alongside this visual dialogue, loose parts offer a language of their own. In the hands of a child, materials are transformed, arranged, combined, revisited, and reimagined. This open-ended exploration supports fine motor development while also nurturing creativity, emotional expression, and a deep sense of agency. Each placement becomes intentional, each creation a trace of thinking made visible. Together, light, reflection, and material become co-constructors of meaning. They invite children into the hundred languages of expression, where ideas are not only spoken, but seen, touched, and felt. Within these spaces, children are not simply observing the world, they are in relationship with it, constructing knowledge through wonder and discovery.

As part of exploring influential women in art, we introduced the children to Yayoi Kusama, a renowned artist known for her bold colors and signature polka dots. Yayoi Kusama’s artwork often features mushrooms, which she transforms into whimsical, dreamlike forms covered with her signature repeating dots and patterns. Inspired by nature, her mushroom paintings explore ideas of repetition and infinity, turning simple, familiar shapes into vibrant and playful works of art that invite viewers to see the ordinary in extraordinary ways. Inspired by her work, the children were invited to create their own 3D mushroom sculptures. We began by providing mushroom forms made from recycled packaging materials. First, the children painted their mushrooms, choosing bright colors to fully cover their sculptures. Once the paint dried, they added Kusama’s signature style by covering their mushrooms with dot stickers, experimenting with pattern and repetition. This activity supported important developmental skills. Painting and placing stickers strengthens fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, while repeating dots encourages pattern recognition and early math thinking. Using recycled materials also helps children see how everyday objects can be transformed into creative works of art. Experiences like this allow children to explore color, form, and pattern while building confidence in their own creativity.

As part of exploring influential women in art, we introduced the children to Yayoi Kusama, a groundbreaking artist known around the world for her bold use of color, repetition, and her iconic polka dots. Kusama has spent decades creating immersive installations, paintings, and sculptures that transform everyday spaces into vibrant works of art. Her work often explores the idea that small repeated elements like dots can grow and spread until they completely transform an object or environment. One of her most famous interactive installations is The Obliteration Room. In this installation, an entirely white room filled with white furniture is slowly covered with colorful dot stickers by visitors. Over time, the once blank space becomes completely “obliterated” with dots, turning the room into a collaborative and ever-changing artwork. The installation invites people of all ages to participate and become part of the creative process. Inspired by this idea, we invited the children to create their own miniature version of Kusama’s concept. We began by providing 3-D box structures made from recycled packaging materials, which were spray painted white to resemble the blank space of the Obliteration Room. The children were then invited to transform the boxes by placing colorful dot stickers all over them. As they worked, the simple white boxes slowly became vibrant and playful sculptures filled with pattern and color. This experience supports many important developmental skills. Placing small stickers strengthens fine motor control and hand-eye coordination, while repeating dots encourages pattern recognition and early mathematical thinking. Working with recycled materials also introduces children to creative reuse, showing them that everyday objects can be transformed into art. Most importantly, this type of open-ended experience encourages children to experiment, collaborate, and see themselves as active participants in the creative process—just like visitors contributing to Kusama’s Obliteration Room.

The picture book  The One & Only Googoosh   tells the inspiring story of Googoosh, one of Iran’s most beloved performers. She began singing at a very young age alongside her father and grew into a national superstar known for her voice, style, and influence. At the height of her fame, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 forced her into silence, preventing her from performing for over two decades. Despite this, her music continued to live on in the hearts of fans around the world, preserving her legacy across generations. The story beautifully honors not only her life and career, but also the deep sense of love, resilience, and cultural connection tied to memories of a homeland. Learning about Googoosh during Women's History Month highlights the strength, resilience, and lasting influence of women who have shaped culture despite adversity. Her journey reminds us that a woman’s voice and identity can endure, even through silence, empowering future generations to embrace their creativity, confidence, and courage. To bring this invitation to life, we played a selection of her greatest hits and provided tempera and metallic paints, brushes, and paper. Children were encouraged to let the music guide their creativity, allowing rhythm, tempo, and emotion to shape the flow of their art. Painting while listening to music helps children connect sound with movement, naturally influencing how they create. Faster melodies often inspire bold, energetic strokes, while slower tunes invite softer, more intentional motions. This experience strengthens coordination, fine motor skills, and body awareness, while also supporting emotional expression. The result is a rich, engaging, and joyful creative process where art and music come together beautifully.