Here we are — Part 3. If you've been listening along with Part 1 and Part 2, you already know the rhythm. You pick a topic, you gather a few books, a simple activity or two, and maybe something to eat. You show up, and something small and good happens.

Part 3 is where the Traveling Spark Station gets wonderfully wide. We're talking about the entire world — its creatures, its seasons, its countries, its history, and the people who shaped it. These topics help children understand that they're part of something bigger than themselves: a family with a history, a country with a story, a planet full of remarkable things worth knowing about. Join me and lets have some fun!

Holidays have a magic that no other topic quite matches. Children feel them coming weeks in advance. They carry memories, traditions, food, and family stories all bundled together. They are, in many ways, the punctuation marks of a child's year, the moments against which everything else is measured. I can remember family holidays when I was a child, and my children still talk about theirs. That's what makes them perfect Traveling Spark Station territory.

In this final installment, Part 4, of the series on The Traveling Spark Station, we're going to look at six holidays that have found their way into my Traveling Spark Station over the years. Some are eagerly anticipated. Some are barely on a child's radar. Those turn out to be some of the most fun, because there's nothing quite like introducing a child to a celebration they didn't know existed. Every holiday has a story. Every holiday has something worth knowing. And every single one of them is better when you explore it together, so join me for some real-life examples of the fun.

While working with individual families, this question came up often - should I let my kids use kits or have them work from scratch? I had listened to speakers and read articles that said absolutely no kits. By then, I had stopped living in a black-and-white world. I had learned to take my family, their needs, as well as my own, into consideration when deciding what was good for connection and learning. I had gotten brave enough to say, "I'm the expert in my home." I surely didn't know everything and still don't, but I observed, pondered, and used my good sense. With that in mind, listen to what I'm sharing today about using kits with kids, and then do what's right in your home, with your kids or grands. You will be surprised and enlightened.

Welcome back. If you heard Part 1, you already know that the Traveling Spark Station isn't about content — it's about being present. It's about showing a child that the person standing in front of them finds the world interesting and wants to explore it together.

In Part 2, we're going to explore two areas that might surprise you: math and the arts. I say "surprise you" because math has a reputation for being dry and intimidating, and the arts sometimes get dismissed as less important than "real" subjects. The Traveling Spark Station disagrees with both of those ideas.

Math is everywhere — in the cookies you're counting out, the nails you're hammering, the fractions in a recipe, the shapes on a walk around the block. When you make math real and connect it to something a child already loves, it stops being a subject and starts being a tool. And the arts? Creativity, imagination, and making things with your hands are among the most powerful ways children (and adults) make sense of the world. From crocheting white blood cells to building fairy houses in Yellowstone, you'll see exactly what I mean.

Pack your basket. Let's keep going.

It's spring — that season of newness, freshness, and quiet beginnings. It seemed the perfect time to share a story from Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards' book The Daffodil Principle, because it beautifully illustrates something I've come to believe deeply: that lasting change happens 1% at a time. Not in grand gestures or overnight transformations, but in small, consistent efforts that grow into something magnificent.

Join me as I share portions of a story that illustrate that we make a difference and leave a legacy 1% at a time.

When my daughter, Jodie's, children were young, I lived two blocks away. When I was caring for them in my home, they loved the Spark Station. But I wanted to connect more often, so for several years I would take my Spark Station traveling to their home. I didn't stop there. I took it to Washington and Colorado to connect with my faraway grands. I used it at events with children. I wanted a better connection with all the children in my life. It came to be called the Traveling Spark Station.

This four-part series is for anyone who loves a child but doesn't live with them every day — grandparents, aunts, uncles, family friends, anyone who wants to show up and really connect. The Traveling Spark Station is simply a basket, bag, or box filled with books, supplies, and simple activities built around a single topic. You choose the topic. You pack what you need. And then you go.

Join me as I give you dozens of fun ideas to connect by using The Traveling Spark Station.

When I developed the Spark Station, I thought I was helping parents learn to use a useful tool for connection, learning, and fun. What I spent most of my time doing was helping parents see their children differently — helping them stop seeing their children as burdens, responsibilities, or problems to be solved.

My mission became helping parents adjust their sight and hearts, to see their children with new eyes. When we see differently, we behave differently. When we behave differently, we get new results. Willpower isn't what makes a home a heaven. Seeing our children as people we genuinely like and want to be with does.

The Spark Station is a tool to help you accomplish that. Join me as I share the disaster that taught me the Five Principles of power and how the Spark Station worked in a room with 140 small children. You're going to LOVE this.

Last week, I shared an experiment I did with real families using the Spark Station. I reiterated the five rules that make everything else work and shared real family experiences for three of those rules. Today, we will cover the last two rules. I am also going to address what to do if it isn't working for your family and how to manage the hard days. Join me as I round out all the information so you can begin to find successful family connection with this fun tool.