I love to learn and share about human flourishing and today on the podcast, I’m talking toys, creativity and the genius of play with my guest Anna Yudina, the Senior Director of Marketing Initiatives for The Toy Association. Anna is amazingly energetic, smart and generous and I know you’ll enjoy our conversation.

Listen to learn more about …

1. The Toy Association, its history and role in researching and providing for the needs of manufacturers, retailers and consumers of toys and entertainment.

2. How toys help meet the needs of trending demographics, like kidults and tweens/teens.

3. An interaction I had with my 3 year old granddaughter, Audrey that illustrates the role of imagination in healthy development.

4. The Genius of Play, a robust initiative to promote the benefits of play for all people.

I hope you’ll visit The Genius of Play and take advantage of the resources curated there. I know you'll walk away feeling more playful and better prepared to encourage and support playful activities that enhance emotional wellbeing. During our conversation Anna shared about the Emotional Wellness Playbook—but there is so much more, including a YouTube channel and a NEW podcast, Once Upon a Playtime. You can also follow along on Instagram and explore their Pinterest boards.

The stated Genius of Play mission is: to provide families with the information and inspiration they need to make play an important part of their child’s day. Through our website and social media channels, parents can find facts, useful tips and expert advice on how toys and play can help kids build confidence, creativity, critical thinking and other skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Plus, you can get ideas on how to keep playtime fun and fresh!

😉 The bottom line: Play is serious business and we’re not doing enough of it, so Anna is here to help—and be sure to stick around to the end to learn of two amazing resources for help with your holiday toy shopping!

I sat down recently with Jon Ogden, one of the founders at Uplift Kids to talk about the impressive and very helpful resource they’ve created to help parents teach their children values. Our children are growing up with access to global influences—for good and evil—and they are witnessing much division and contentious behavior.

FREE Two Week Trial HERE

A recent Uplift Kids Instagram post read, We’re too often walled off — from nature, from each other, from our inner compass. At Uplift Kids, we believe that one of the best ways to combat disconnection is through fostering connection at home.

I know you’ll enjoy our conversation and that you’ll be eager to learn more Uplift Kids. As I’ve poked around the website, I’m super impressed with the variety and quality of lesson materials. Jon and I talked through one of the many lessons that are available to members of Uplift Kids—one on Emotional Well Being, brimming color and easy-to-use ideas and illustrations. You’ll see here in the show notes, a chart of emotions, illustrated for children to understand and relate to.

It’s clear that much thought and intention goes into these amazing resources.

Click HERE to visit Uplift Kids and learn more!

For example, to help kids better manage a range of emotions, you can teach them the acronym, F-E-E-L, where F: is Find the emotion, E: is for Engage with the emotion (name and locate it in your body) the second E: to help you Express the emotion in a healthy way and finally, L: Love the emotion or consider what it is teaching or how it is blessing you.

I am so grateful for my faith in Jesus Christ—a sure and solid foundation from which I have taught my children and encouraged qualities like kindness, honesty, forgiveness and charity—but many today are walking away from religious faith, which can leave parents and children feeling untethered. Thank goodness the team at Uplift Kids has created something for these families to turn to as a way to strengthen relationships and to navigate challenging times.

You can follow Uplift Kids on Instagram and on Facebook

This week I have the privilege of visiting with my good friend, Shaun Brown who has just authored a children’s book, titled, The Best Ideas Come From God. Shaun writes about real people who have acted on heavenly inspiration to do important and historic things, and her much-needed message to the next generation is God loves you and wants to send his best ideas to help you!

I know you’ll enjoy hearing about Shaun’s creative process and that you’ll take encouragement to do the things you feel called to do!

Children need to know that God will help them in every part of their life. Learning how to listen for guidance from God is so important for safety and peace. Using examples from the lives of Harriet Tubman, George Washington, and others, this book illustrates how God has always helped his children and teaches children how to recognize when God is helping them.

I’m all in on helping Shaun promote this book and its important message!

In Shaun’s own words: Since I was 14, I have known I would one day write books for children.  As a full-time mother, I read a lot of books to children, but never tried to write.  A few ideas came to mind over the years, and I stored them for the future.

Eventually, with my own children grown and starting their families, I found I had time to write.  But where to begin.  I made lists, I prayed, I bought books, and I prayed some more – looking for inspiration.  Finally, into my mind came the title of my first children’s book “The Best Ideas Come from God.”   Once I had the title, I searched for ways to tell a story that would help children realize God does love us and he wants to help us.  I wanted children to know how to recognize when God is sending ideas.   Some of my favorite people in history trusted God to guide them, so I decided telling their stories would be a great way to teach the truths I hoped to share … once I started writing, I found I needed someone to illustrate the book. I learned about the site called Upwork – an online marketplace for illustrators, graphic designers, and other very talented people.  I began reviewing the portfolios of different illustrators and found Sonja, from Serbia.  She was amazing to work with, so fast, and so responsive.  I would send ideas and she would create the image I was envisioning.  It was a treat to work with her and I am so grateful for her talents in helping make the book a reality.

I chose to self-publish with Amazon because the only investment was $10 for the ISBN code on the back of the book—plus my time in the writing, layout, and cover design of course!

Perhaps one day I will pursue a more traditional path to publishing, but for now I enjoy the process of bringing my books to life myself.  There is incredible satisfaction in holding a book in your hands, that you know you created from beginning to end, with God’s help and the help of people he helped you find along the way.

Purchase a copy of The Best Ideas Come From God HERE
Learn more about Shaun and the community newspaper she founded.
Thanks for listening!