One year. It's wild to say that out loud. When I started Connected Through Play, I had a simple belief: that play real, genuine, joyful play is how we actually connect. Not through perfect moments or polished highlight reels, but through showing up, trying things, laughing at the mess, and doing it all together. This past year, you've proven that belief right a thousand times over. You've shared your wins and your learning curves. You've cheered each other on. You've built something that actually *feels* like community not because we forced it, but because you chose to be here and to be real. We've learned that connection isn't complicated. It's a game night. It's a question asked without hesitation. It's someone saying "me too" when it matters. You've given that to each other, and we're grateful for it. To everyone who's been part of this, whether you've been here since day one or you just found us, thank you. This space exists because of you. Here's to another year of play, growth, and showing up together. Stick around. Bring a friend. Let's see what we build next.

Have you ever watched a reel or tik tok video where cats had to progressively navigate over a series of bars? Or maybe, you've watched families try to navigate through a laser web or a web made of yarn in a doorway to test their agility. I thought, with Halloween approaching, a web based activity could be fun. This is designed to be completed on a table top but you could also use a doorway, or for a real adventure, take it outdoors. Who's up for trying? A small toy is on the wrong side of a web. Getting to it looks easy until someone notices the strands crossing the way back. Who can spot a route? Who can help when the toy gets stuck? This rescue belongs to the whole team. Gather Your Gear Find a small toy and a few pieces of string, ribbon, or strips of paper. Lay the pieces loosely across a tray or between objects on a table, leaving gaps the toy can pass through. Put the toy on the far side. Start with just a few strands. The web can grow later if the players want it to. Steps 1. Meet the stranded toy. Decide how it got there, if you want a story. Then agree where it needs to go: back across the tray, into a waiting hand, or to a spot the team chooses. 2. Look for a way through. Everyone gets a chance to suggest a route or point out a tricky place. Choose a first idea together. 3. Make the rescue. One player moves the toy while others help by watching the strands, guiding the route, or carefully holding a loose strand aside. Swap jobs whenever someone has an idea they want to try. 4. See what happens. If the toy touches the web or a strand shifts, pause. Does the team back up, try another opening, or decide that this particular strand is allowed to move? The players make the call and keep going. 5. Bring it home. Once the toy is out, trade roles and try another route. Someone may want to move a strand, rescue a different object, or become the person who needs rescuing. Let the group choose the next round. Twist: The Web Has Shifted After one rescue, a player changes one thing: move a strand, change the toy’s starting place, or choose a new place it must reach.

Last week, one of you mentioned finally getting your kid to eat vegetables by roasting them with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and I haven't stopped thinking about that small victory. There's something magical about these tiny wins, isn't there? Not the Instagram-perfect moments, but the real ones. The ritual that somehow stuck when you weren't even trying. The conversation that happened while doing dishes. The baking experiment that turned into a giggling mess. The quiet Tuesday evening that felt exactly right. This week, I'd love to hear what landed for you and your family. Maybe it's something you tried for the first time, or something you've been doing forever that finally clicked. Maybe it's a discovery a new favorite snack, a game everyone suddenly wants to play, a book that captivated everyone at bedtime. Or maybe it's just a moment you want to remember: a laugh, a connection, something small that felt big. The unglamorous, real rhythms are where the magic actually lives. Share one thing from your week—what made your family time feel intentional, even if it was messy or imperfect? (Or if this week was just about surviving, that counts too. 💙)

Have you ever heard of a Rube Goldberg machine? No, well, let me tell you a bit about it and then you can see how today's last build activity starts to make sense. Take a look at the video before you attempt today's activity. Come back with your questions and also your marvelous creations. Can you build an incredibly complicated machine to do something ridiculously simple? Ring a bell. Knock over a cup. Drop a ball into a bowl. Deliver a note. Pick the ending first. Then invent the most wonderfully unnecessary way you can think of to make it happen. Gather Your Gear: Hunt for Things That DO Something Look around for things that roll, tip, slide, spin, bounce, knock, ring, open, close or make something else move. A ball might roll down a book. A toy car might bump a block. A spoon might make a fantastic CLANG. Don't worry about collecting the "right" materials. Hunt for things that make somebody say, "Ooh, what could we do with this?" Steps 1. Choose your ridiculously simple ending. What should happen at the very end? Keep it simple enough that everyone will know when the machine has done its job. 2. Work backward. What could make that final thing happen? And what could make that happen? Start connecting ideas. 3. Build the route. Make ramps, line things up, add things that roll or fall, use string, recruit a person as part of the machine or invent something nobody expected. Two actions can be enough. Twenty are fine too. 4. Everybody ready? SET IT OFF! Start the machine and see what happens. Cheer when it works. Laugh when it spectacularly doesn't. 5. Go again if you want. Fix the part that stopped. Add another ridiculous step. Shorten the whole thing. Make it stranger. Or declare the glorious disaster your masterpiece and move on. Twist: The Completely Unnecessary Step Your machine can reach its ending. Excellent. Now add one step it absolutely does not need. Send a toy car on a pointless detour. Knock over a stuffed animal. Make someone wave a towel before releasing the next object. Send a ball through a tube just to bring it back where it started.

My apologies, a scammer snuck in. He has been removed from group.