I’m loving the story you’re creating and thought, hmm, what else could make this fun. Then in my pre-morning tea creative burst, I thought, a baking challenge. Now, for those of you new to the community, I’m a fan of reality cooking shows, in a former career, I taught Hotel/Restaurant management classes to college students and chef’s apprentices so shows like the Great British Baking Show (Bake-Off, to the rest of the world), fascinate me. Since time in the kitchen with kids is also the #1 reply on our survey, I thought we’d help our adventure trio have some fun in the kitchen. Argh! I’m super wordy today. Ok, your challenge, if you choose to except. Use your skills to bake a batch of cookies for Barnaby and crew. You have until Sunday to share your bake picture. Best bake as voted by the judges, will receive an all-access pass to the culinary sessions from the Unplug & Play summit. Let’s go! Welcome bakers, to your Technical Challenge! For this round, you are flying blind. You have been provided with the exact ingredients you need, but the instructions have been... edited. You will need to rely on your baking instincts. We are looking for an even bake, uniform size, and perfectly golden cookies. On your marks, get set... BAKE! The Ingredients: 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 cup butter, softened 1 ½ cups white sugar 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract The Instructions: 1. Prepare your oven and baking sheets. 2. Combine your dry ingredients. 3. Make the cookie dough. 4. Shape the dough into uniformly sized balls and place them on the sheets. 5. Bake until perfectly golden. 6. Leave to stand for a couple of minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. To complete the challenge: Post a photo of your finished cookies in the comments below, along with a note telling us what oven temperature and bake time you ended up using!

This one's a bit long but I think you'll enjoy learning about some of our newest members. Why not pull up a virtual chair, find a new member and say Hi in the comments. For those just exploring, the Summit Classrooms: Cooking, Experts, Crafts/Hobbies, and Tech close today but you can purchase an All Access pass for $16 to see all the cool stuff you missed during our summit earlier this month. For those looking for activities, if you click the Classroom, you'll find the Curious Kitchen, Build, Play, and Story labs. Take a peek and let us know what you try. More labs posting this week. And now, without further delay - let's welcome our newest community members. We're thrilled to have a wonderful wave of new members joining us—people who get it, who believe in the power of play and real connection with the kids in their lives. @Kylie Larsen is here because she's passionate about helping students build confidence and develop winning strategies, and now she's bringing that same energy to family life. She's working through some health challenges with her family and wants her kids: Ry, Evans, and Kinley to trade screens for meaningful time together. @Krissy B is diving in with four little ones under six and a goal to get more hands-on and active in their everyday lives, a beautiful shift toward intentional parenting. @Morning Smiles is here because she's raising a future doctor and wants to nurture her daughter's ambitions while creating lasting memories together. @Angel Gerry loves the idea of using play to build stronger bonds and create meaningful moments with the children she cares about, that's exactly what we're all about here. @Angela Hawkins works with small children and is organized, caffeinated, and ready to find new ways to connect through play. @Natalie Naslund, a first-time homeschooling mom of five, wants to teach her kids to cook and share the joy of the kitchen together.

Have you ever walked into a room only to find a mess? You ask, who did this or what happened? You’re met with shrugs, or giggles, or maybe the family pet takes the blame. Today’s story lab is all about deciphering the evidence. Here’s what to do. A handful of ordinary objects may look completely unrelated until a storyteller connects them. Reach into the Evidence Bag and invent the story that explains why these clues belong together. Gather Your Gear * Bag, box, or pillowcase * 5–8 unrelated household objects * Detective’s Journal * Pencil, crayons, or markers Choose objects that don’t immediately suggest one obvious connection. Steps 1. Fill the Evidence Bag. One person secretly chooses several unrelated objects and puts them inside. 2. Reveal the evidence. Pull out the objects one at a time. 3. Examine each clue. What is it? How might someone use it? Where might you find it? 4. Make connections. Look for ways two or more objects could belong in the same story. 5. Build your case. Invent a story that explains why every object ended up together. 6. Tell the story. Arrange the evidence in the order it appears in your story, then share what happened. There is no hidden correct answer. You are creating the explanation. What’s in your bag?

This week, story lab is in action. Detailed lessons will be available in the Story Lab classroom later this week but I wanted to get started. Today, I’ll be sharing two variations on this activity. Let’s set the stage with a story! We have five cats. 3 are “upstairs cats,” Flee, Miss California, and Lord Stanley of Cup. Two are “downstairs cats,” rescues my son and his girlfriend adopted, they are slowly getting used to being upstairs. Apparently, they come out after dark as this morning when I came downstairs to get my tea, I was surprised to see yarn wrapped around three different chair legs, the couch, and rocking chair, as well as two cats sitting there looking extremely pleased with themselves. I stood there squinting at the crime scene like they were about to confess something. They did not. Anyway, that's basically the energy behind this week's Story lab, just with a little more intention and a little less yarn to untangle. Gather Your Gear • 4–7 ordinary household objects • A small area to create your mystery scene • Detective's Journal • Pencil, crayons, or markers • Optional: magnifying glass Your Role as the Grown-Up: Set the Scene A few minutes before your detective(s) arrive, set up the mystery yourself. • Start with a simple story in your head. Something spilled, something's missing, someone left in a hurry. You never have to say what it is out loud. • Arrange 4–7 objects to suggest that story without spelling it out. Think in terms of clues, not a diorama. • Leave room for more than one explanation. The best scenes can support two or three different theories, not just the one you had in mind. • Resist the urge to add a label or explanation card. If it needs a caption, it's not a clue yet. • Hold one extra piece of evidence back. That's your “twist” for later, something that can shift the whole investigation once theories are on the table. Once the scene is ready, step back and hand it over. From here, it's their investigation to run. And a reminder as they dig in: there's no right answer. The goal isn't landing on the exact story you had in mind, it's noticing closely, thinking it through, and staying open to revising the theory.

Sorry about that folks. One snuck in. The spammer has been banned.