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    • Skin Care
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  • Healthy Living
    • General Health
    • Fitness
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    • Healthy Recipes
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Kids

7 Interoception Activities for Kids | What is interoception? If you've ever wondered about the 8th sense and how it impacts kids with autism and sensory processing challenges, this post is a great place to start. With sensory activities and occupational therapy resources for teaching kids internal body awareness both in the classroom and at home, the ideas in this post will help you develop a sensory diet for increased self-regulation, problem-solving, flexibility, and social thinking skills!

The 8th Sense Explained: 7 Interoception Activities for Kids

16 Things to Do At Home with Kids | If you're looking for ways to keep kids busy at home, we've got 16 easy ideas to help get your creative juices flowing! Whether you're looking for DIY indoor crafts for rainy days, outdoor activities that burn energy on hot summer days, or games to play as a family, these ideas are easy to setup and perfect for families to enjoy together when social distancing prevents you from organizing playdates and backyard barbeques with family and friends.

Summer Camp Cancelled? 16 Things to Do At Home with Kids

12 Zoom Games for Kids | If you're looking for easy games and activities your kids can play online with their friends, we've got 12 ideas to inspire you! These ideas are perfect for virtual kids birthday parties, playdates, and classroom group Zoom calls. From interactive scavenger hunts, to silly 'would you rather' games, and so much more, these online games for kids are easy to setup, free, and fun!

Zoom Games for Kids: 12 Online Activity Ideas to Keep Kids Connected

16 Sidewalk Chalk Art Activities | If you're looking for simple ways to keep your kids entertained outside, sidewalk chalk is where it's at! From decorating driveways, to creating sidewalk birthday messages, to making mosaic designs on a fence, we've curated cute and easy ideas for toddlers, creative drawings for kids, and cool ideas for teens! Perfect for spring, summer, and fall, these sidewalk chalk art projects are the perfect way to add a little positive energy to your home!

16 Sidewalk Chalk Activities and Obstacle Courses for Kids

11 Nature Activities for Kids | If you'e looking for fun indoor and outdoor nature activities you can enjoy with your little ones year-round, we've got 11 ideas to inspire you! Whether you're going on a nature walk or spending time in the backyard, we've included ideas for spring, summer, fall, and winter. Perfect for teaching STEM and science lessons while also getting some vitamin D and burning energy, these activities compliment classroom lesson plans and make great family activities too!

Nature Activities for Kids: 11 Ways to Have Fun Outside All Year

14 Indoor Activities for Kids that Burn Energy | If you're stuck at home and need fun and easy games and activities to reduce boredom, keep your kids entertained, and help them burn off steam, these ideas are easy to setup, and you probably already have a lot of the materials you need to recreate them on hand. Perfect for toddlers, kids in elementary school, and older kids, these simple and creative ideas develop gross motor, balance, coordination, proprioception, and problem solving skills!

Stuck Inside? 14 Indoor Activities for Kids that Burn Energy

10 Educational Apps for Kids in Elementary School | If you're looking for the best educational websites you can access on your tablet to keep your little ones engaged and learning outside of the classroom, there are tons of great ones available for free (or for a small fee). From math and literacy games, to puzzles and brain teasers, to science, coding, and STEM learning, we've curated the best free learning apps for kids, with paid options for teachers and for parents who want more.

Learning Made Fun: 10 Educational Apps for Kids in Elementary School

19 Backyard Activities for Kids | If you're looking for fun DIY yard games you can enjoy outdoors with your kids year-round, we've got 19 ideas to inspire you! Whether you have toddlers or kids in kindergarten or elementary school, we've got easy (and cheap!) ideas you can enjoy in spring, summer, fall, and winter. From obstacle courses, to water games, to old school birthday party games, to outdoor scavenger hunt ideas, there are so many things to do to burn energy when cabin fever sets in!

19 Backyard Activities for Kids to Help Burn Energy

17 Independent Activities for Kids Who Are Stuck at Home | If you're looking for fun and engaging quiet activities your children can do by themselves on sick days, school holidays, and/or during an extended school closure, we're sharing 17 ideas that require little to no prep! Most of these are indoor activities for kids, but we've included some outdoor options for spring, summer, and fall! If you're trying to figure out how to work from home with kids, these ideas are perfect!

17 Independent Activities for Kids Who Are Stuck at Home

24 Easter Crafts for Kids of All Ages and Stages | Whether you're looking for simple Easter crafts for toddles and preschoolers, or easy fun projects for kids in elementary school that require a little more planning and creativity, this post will inspire you. From handprint chick crafts, to upcycled bunny crafts, to DIY Easter baskets and more, we've even included our favorite Easter traditions for kids to make the holiday extra special this year!

Easter Crafts for Kids: 24 Fun Ideas For All Ages and Stages

13 Autism Awareness Crafts for Kids | April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, and if you're looking for crafts, projects, and activities you can use in your classroom to teach your students about autism, this post is a great place to start. From door signs, to puzzle piece crafts and jigsaw jewelry, to art projects that can be used as bulletin boards throughout the month of April, these ideas will inspire you to find unique ways to celebrate neurodiversity and promote inclusion!

Different, Not Less: 13 Meaningful Autism Awareness Crafts for Kids

49 Story Starters for Kids | If you're looking for creative writing prompts for kids, we're sharing 49 classroom ideas and activities to inspire you! Perfect for kids in elementary and middle school, we've included a mix of different narrative ideas, including journal prompts, personal essay prompts, and fun fiction writing prompts. We've also included tips to get kids excited about writing, and how to keep the momentum going!

How to Get Kids Excited About Creative Writing: 49 Story Starters for Kids

How to Make Hair Scrunchies with Your Kids | If you're looking for simple tutorials to teach you how to make 80s-inspired retro ponytail holders, we're sharing 5 step-by-step videos that are equal parts easy and stylish! Whether you use a sewing machine, sew by hand, or opt for the no sew options, there's a DIY scrunchie here for everyone! #scrunchie #scrunchies #DIYscrunchies

Retro Ponytail Holders: How to Make Hair Scrunchies with Your Kids

8 Social Filter Activities for Kids | If you're looking for social skills activities that help teach children how to filter their thoughts and learn whether they should think it or say it out loud, we're sharing 8 ideas that can be used for elementary school, for middle school, for high school, and for kids with special needs like autism and ADHD. These are great team building exercises and will help develop friendship and conversation skills. #socialskills #socialfilter #socialskillsactivities

Think It Or Say It Out Loud: 8 Social Filter Activities for Kids

22 Snow Day Activities for Kids | If you're looking for fun and easy activities for toddlers, for preschoolers and kindergarteners, or for kids in elementary school that will get them physically moving while also keeping their brains busy when cabin fever strikes, this is a great list of things to do! From indoor activities designed to burn energy, to independent art projects that will allow you a little time to decompress, these are great boredom busters! #snowday #snowdayactivities #boredkids

22 Indoor Snow Day Activities for Kids to Keep Your Children Entertained

27 DIY Googly Eye Crafts for Kids | If you’re looking for simple, easy, and fun ways to get creative with your kids, these awesome googly eye activities will NOT disappoint! We’ve included ideas for all ages - toddlers, kids in preschool and kindergarten, and elementary school aged children. From creepy spiders and googly eyed monsters that are perfect for Halloween, to peacocks, bumblebees, lions, and an adorable hippopotamus, these make great keepsakes! #googlyeyes #kidscrafts

Fun and Awesome: 27 Googly Eye Crafts for Kids They’ll Absolutely Love!

25 Construction Paper Crafts for Kids | If you’re looking for easy art projects for toddlers, kids in preschool and kindergarten, and elementary aged children, these kids activities develop fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, scissor skills, and more. With fall, winter, spring, and summer crafts, as well as holiday inspiration for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter, there are tons of fun step by step DIY projects here for every age and stage! #constructionpapercrafts

Fun At Home: 25 Construction Paper Crafts for Kids We Love

26 Paper Plate Crafts for Kids | If you’re looking for easy art projects for toddlers, kids in preschool and kindergarten, and elementary aged children, these crafts develop fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, scissor skills, and more. With fall, winter, spring, and summer crafts, as well as holiday inspiration for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter, there are tons of art projects here for every age and stage! #paperplatecrafts #upcyclecrafts

Upcycle Projects We Love: 26 Paper Plate Crafts for Kids

24 Screen Free Activities for Kids | If you’re looking for indoor activities for kids to get your children off their electronics, we’ve got ideas for kids in preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school! Perfect for warding off cabin fever on cold winter, rainy spring, or stinking hot summer days, these no screen activities will prove that parenting without screens IS possible. Going screen free for a week may be just the challenge your kids need! #screenfreeactivities #noscreenactivities

Fun Without Electronics: 24 Screen Free Activities For Kids

13 Stress Relief Activities for Kids | If your little one suffers from feelings of overwhelm, stress, and/or anxiety and you’re looking for coping skills you can teach him or her, we’re sharing 13 simple yet effective activities that help calm the mind and body. From mindful breathing and yoga, to coloring, art therapy, and journaling, these ideas work for all ages and stages and offer a great way to spend quality time with your kids to boot! #calmingactivities #calmingactivitiesforkids

Calm and Collected: 13 Stress Relief Activities for Kids

24 Marble Activities for Kids | If you’re looking for boredom busters that also help develop a child’s fine motor and hand-eye coordination skills, these marble activities will not disappoint! With fun and easy DIY marble run and marble maze ideas for kids in preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school, these STEM challenges will keep your little ones entertained for hours using simple materials like cardboard, paper plates, paper towel rolls, and pool noodles. #marblerun #marblemaze

Fun at Home: 24 Marble Activities For Kids To Beat Cabin Fever

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@Merakilane / #merakilane

‘STOP TRYING TO CALM THE STORM. CALM YOURSELF, T ‘STOP TRYING TO CALM THE STORM. CALM YOURSELF, THE STORM WILL PASS.’ —Unknown
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My daughter went back to school virtually today, and while the Type A in me is excited we’re back in some kind of routine, I had forgotten just how chaotic and impractical distance learning is. A province-wide internet outage took down her teacher within 2 hours, shattering any hopes I had of grabbing a little time to myself to get caught up on all of the work stuff I’ve been putting off for the last 3 weeks. I’ve dried tears, prepared snacks, provided new Zoom logins, helped with grade 4 math, and I even made paper plates out of construction paper for a last minute craft.
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Wash, rinse, repeat.
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All is good in our world again, and soon we’ll dive back into those math problems and whatever else is on tap for homework before I retreat to my office to print off tomorrow’s agenda and worksheets. We’ll all play Roblox before dinner to help us unwind after a crazy day, and I’ll stay up later than I want to tonight trying to get caught up because I know tomorrow will bring more unforeseen challenges, and I hate starting my day feeling behind schedule.
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Parenting in a pandemic is extra messy, and if this sh*t storm has taught me anything, it’s that we need to give ourselves a hell of a lot of grace right now. There will be days where we’re super productive and get through everything on our never-ending ‘to do’ lists, but there will be many more days where we feel like we’ve accomplished absolute nothing.
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It’s on these difficult days that we need to remind ourselves that our most important job right now is making sure our kids are healthy and happy, and that they feel safe and loved. When they look back on this time, they won’t remember if the house was clean and the laundry was folded, how often we ordered takeout, or if we gained weight. All they will remember is how we showed up for them - even on the days we were struggling to show up for ourselves.
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If the return to reality has you feeling overwhelmed today, stop trying to calm the storm. Take a deep breath, get present in this moment, remind yourself what’s important, and focus on that instead.
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We’ve got this. 💙
BACK TO REALITY… . Are you ready to get back at BACK TO REALITY…
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Are you ready to get back at it?
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While we’ve certainly been busy organizing, packing, and getting our new home ready and didn’t really relax as much as we’d hoped to over the holidays, I’ve enjoyed operating at a slower pace the last couple of weeks. We’ve stayed up late, slept in a little bit each morning, had too much to eat and drink, and enjoyed a break from routines and schedules. 
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Toronto is currently under lockdown, so my daughter is going back to school virtually tomorrow while my husband and I continue to work from home. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work and I’m excited to get back into a routine. The time away from my computer helped me reset and recharge, and I feel like I’m starting 2021 with more realistic expectations of myself. And that feels good.
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2020 was definitely not my favorite year, but when I look back at the last 12 months, a lot of really great things came from it. It gave me more time with my husband and daughter and brought us much closer than our busy, pre-2020 lives would’ve ever allowed. It helped me reconnect with friends I had lost contact with due to the craziness that is being a working mom. And it helped me form amazing new friendships that I will cherish forever.
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I know 2021 is likely going to be just as challenging - if not more so - as 2020 was, but for the first time since becoming a mom, I finally feel like I have a tribe of people around me. I feel less lonely than I’ve ever felt in my life, which is hilarious since we have been holed up in our house for ~10 months, but it feels pretty amazing.
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I’m not sure where I was going with this post, but suffice it to say I’m ready to caffeine and conquer! ☕️
‘ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. KNOW THAT ‘ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. KNOW THAT IT IS YOU WHO WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, NO ONE ELSE.’ —Les Brown
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I think we can all agree that 2020 was the absolute shits, and I know we’re all looking forward to a chance to start fresh in hopes that the universe will be a little kinder to us in 2021. 
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Of course, our lives aren’t going to magically go back to the way they were at 12:01 am. It’s not easy to be positive right now, but instead of getting stuck in the suck, remember that the only thing you have control over is your attitude.  You can continue to feel sorry for yourself and mourn all the ways your life has changed, or you can straighten your crown and focus on all of the good things happening in your life.
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If you dig deep enough, you’ll see that there is so much to be grateful right now.
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And if you can’t think of anything that you feel proud of or that brings you joy, then it’s up to you to create it. Accept responsibility for your life. Stop making excuses and be the change you want to see. 
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Instead of thinking of 2021 as another year of lockdowns and restrictions while we wait for vaccinations to take place and herd immunity to take hold, look at it as an open book. 
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12 new chapters. 365 new chances. 🥂
‘BE PRESENT WHERE YOUR FEET ARE.’ —Unknown . ‘BE PRESENT WHERE YOUR FEET ARE.’ —Unknown
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What do you do when you have downtime?
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I haven’t had time off since last Christmas. We hit the ground running in January as we were planning a 2-week family vacay in March and wanted to do ALL THE THINGS beforehand so we could unplug and enjoy the trip. Our vacation obviously got cancelled, and we’ve been on autopilot ever since. I feel like the pandemic has either made people really busy, or extremely bored. There’s no in-between!
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My team and I have been busy working ahead over the past couple of months as I really wanted to unplug and unwind for a few weeks over the holidays and now that the craziness of Christmas is over, I don’t know what to do with myself!
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I’m caught up on This Is Us, we finally watched The Undoing, I’m almost done Open Book, I’ve done a lot of drawing on my iPad, I’ve had a lot of wine, I’ve eaten a ton of chocolate, we’ve played games, I’ve done my nails…and I’m bored, lol. But unless I find something else to do, I have to face packing up this house (we’re moving, ya’ll!) and I can’t face that just yet.
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👇🏻how do you unwind?
‘WHAT IS CHRISTMAS? IT IS TENDERNESS FOR THE PAS ‘WHAT IS CHRISTMAS? IT IS TENDERNESS FOR THE PAST, COURAGE FOR THE PRESENT, HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.’ —Agnes M. Pahro
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The holidays are going to be extra hard for many this year. Whether you’re living under a lockdown with travel restrictions, voluntarily cancelling plans to keep yourself and the ones you loved safe, or dealing with heart-breaking loss, please know that you are not alone. 
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While we are all navigating the same storm right now, remember that we’re not all in the same boat. If you are lucky enough to be surrounded by excitement and chaos, enjoy the insanity of it all. Embrace the mess and be grateful for all your blessings, and don’t forget to check in with those who are less fortunate than you are. 
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And if there’s an empty chair at your table due to distance, sickness, or loss, remember that it’s okay to not be okay right now. The holidays can be hard at the best of times, and this year is unlike any we’ve ever experienced. Feel the feels, reach out to others, and be kind to yourself.
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Merry Christmas my beautiful friends! 🥂
‘WORRYING IS LIKE PRAYING FOR THE OUTCOME YOU DO ‘WORRYING IS LIKE PRAYING FOR THE OUTCOME YOU DON’T WANT.’ —Denis Morton
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This is your Monday morning reminder that no amount of anxiety can change the future, and no amount of regret can change the past. Worrying about something you have no control over does nothing but interfere with your ability to be fully present in this moment. So, inhale the good shit, exhale the bullshit (also a Denis Morton quote), and have faith in your ability to handle whatever life throws at you. ☺️
Is this thing on? . It’s been a MINUTE since I p Is this thing on?
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It’s been a MINUTE since I posted here, and I’m not even sure I’m the same person anymore, lol, so I figured I’d re-introduce myself.
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My name is Gwen and I’m the founder and managing editor of Meraki Lane - a website dedicated to sharing all of the latest tips and trends to help you be the best version of yourself in the least amount of time. 
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I’m 43, married to the man of my dreams, and the proud mama of a feisty 9-year-old who has an infectious personality and love for life. I grew up in Singapore, live in Toronto, and have an unhealthy obsession for clothes, shoes, peanut butter, makeup, and my Peloton bike.
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I’m also anxious AF. I’ve struggled with high functioning anxiety since I was 9, but you probably wouldn’t even know if you met in IRL. I grew up at a time when mental health challenges were something to be deeply ashamed of and it took a global pandemic for me to finally realize that it’s okay not to be okay.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about this little account of mine and how I want it to evolve. I’m never going to be a beauty influencer, I suck at taking photos of my food, and no one on the internet wants to see videos of me working out. While I love seeing other people do these things, they fall way outside of my skill set and comfort zone.
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What I can offer is a candid look at my life with anxiety - the things that help me cope, the quotes that make me think, the mantras that keep me grounded, the products I love, and the memes that make me laugh and remind me not to take life too seriously.
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My experience with anxiety probably won’t look like yours, but even though I may not be able to relate to your struggles, my hope is that I make you feel a little less alone. 💙
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