Majik Kids https://majikkids.com/ Powered by Artists. Trusted by Parents. Loved by Kids. Thu, 02 Jul 2026 23:20:43 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 https://majikkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/majik-kids-icon_black-150x150.png Majik Kids https://majikkids.com/ 32 32 Open-Ended Play Ideas for Kids: 6 Simple Ways to Spark Imagination This Summer https://majikkids.com/blog/open-ended-play-ideas-for-kids/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 23:09:30 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=23736 “I’m boooored…” If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard those words a few times already this summer. Our son, Sauryn, has certainly said them plenty of times on the homeschooling journey. And while our first instinct is sometimes to jump in with ideas or solve boredom like it’s some sort of world-ending problem… Boredom is […]

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“I’m boooored…”

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard those words a few times already this summer.

Our son, Sauryn, has certainly said them plenty of times on the homeschooling journey. And while our first instinct is sometimes to jump in with ideas or solve boredom like it’s some sort of world-ending problem…

Boredom is NOT an enemy. 

It is a friend and in fact, boredom is often the beginning of something wonderful.

Some of our favourite family memories started with absolutely nothing planned. A cardboard box became a spaceship. A pile of sticks transformed into a wizard magical wizarding wands. A blanket fort somehow turned into a multi-day “book nook” in the living room. 

One simple idea led to another, and before we knew it, entire afternoons have disappeared into imagination-stations. 

That’s the beauty of open-ended play.

There’s no script. No “right” way to do it.

Just children doing what they naturally do best… creating worlds that didn’t exist five minutes earlier.

And in a world filled with screens competing for our kids’ imagination, attention and focus – we believe protecting that kind of play matters more than ever.

What Is Open-Ended Play?

If you’ve been searching for open-ended play ideas for kids, you’re already on the right track.

Open-ended play is any activity without a predetermined outcome. 

Instead of following instructions or trying to make something look a certain way, children get to decide where the adventure goes.

That might look like:

  • Building castles out of cardboard boxes
  • Pretending to run a magical bakery for dragons
  • Turning sticks into wizard staffs
  • Creating stories with dolls or stuffed animals
  • Making art just because it feels good to create

If you give them enough space, your kids will figure out what to do with their imaginations! 

Researchers often call this child-led play, unstructured play, or loose parts play, and study after study shows it supports creativity, problem solving, emotional regulation, executive functioning, and social development.

In other words…

It isn’t “just playing.”

It’s some of the most important learning children ever do.

Why We Love Open-Ended Play

One thing we’ve noticed with Sauryn is that the less we direct the activity, the bigger his imagination becomes.

Give him a toy that only does one thing, and he’ll probably move on after a little while and come back to that toy almost never. 

Give him a Majik Kids audio story, a pile of LEGO, some cardboard, tape, markers and a few blankets… and we might not see him again until dinner.

The story becomes the spark. The imagination takes over from there.

Honestly, sometimes we wish we could see the world the way kids do.

1. Build a World with Loose Parts

One of our favourite open-ended play activities doesn’t cost a thing.

Loose parts are simply everyday materials children can move, combine, stack and transform into whatever they imagine.

Around our house, that often includes:

  • Cardboard boxes
  • Sticks
  • Pinecones
  • Rocks
  • Shells
  • Fabric scraps
  • Paper towel tubes
  • Wooden blocks
  • Bottle caps
  • Laundry baskets

Some days they’re treasure. Some days they’re dragon eggs.

Some days they’re part of an invention only Sauryn fully understands.

That’s exactly the point.

Research has consistently found that loose parts play encourages creativity, exploration and cognitive development because children decide what the materials become instead of the toy deciding for them.

Instead of saying,

“Let’s build a castle.”

Try asking,

“What do you think these could become today?”

You’ll probably get a better answer than you expected.

2. Turn Story Time into Play Time

This has become one of our favourite family traditions.

We’ll put on one of our Majik Kids audio stories, spread out some craft supplies or building materials, and simply let Sauryn create while he listens.

Because there isn’t a screen showing him exactly what everything looks like, his imagination fills in the rest. 

When the story finishes, the fun usually doesn’t.

That’s when we’ll ask questions like:

“What happened after the story ended?”

“What would you change?”

“Wanna draw that creature?”

One story often turns into an entire afternoon of creative play and philosophical conversations. 

3. Pretend Play Never Gets Old

Some days we’re adventurers. Some days we’re questing.

Some days we’re literally dressed in costumes and pretending dinnertime takes place at a far away inn in another realm. 

Literally, our family does that… doesn’t yours? 

Pretend play gives children a safe space to experiment with ideas, emotions and relationships while strengthening imagination, confidence and communication skills.

Research also links pretend play to stronger executive functioning, emotional intelligence and social development.

Later in life it means, they are more okay making mistakes and acting on their own inspired ideas. Can you see how that can be beneficial? 

The best part?

Kids just think they’re having fun.

4. Let Nature Do the Entertaining

Some of the best screen-free summer activities for kids happen outside.

Nature doesn’t come with instructions.

It simply offers possibilities.

  • Go geocaching (look it up) – it’s like going for a real treasure hunt!
  • Collect interesting rocks or search for bugs.
  • Build tiny fairy houses or gnome doors.
  • Create a fort in the forest or your yard.
  • Invent a treasure hunt.

As co-authors of 25 Majik Kids stories, most of our best story ideas with Sauryn have happened while wandering through the forest with no particular destination in mind.

We just walk and talk and majik happens!

Research continues to show that outdoor, unstructured play supports children’s physical health, creativity, resilience and emotional wellbeing.

Plus, everyone usually comes home happier… and more regulated. 

Funny that, huh!? 

5. Create Art Without an Example

This one can feel surprisingly hard for adults.

We’re used to showing children exactly what they’re supposed to make.

Instead…

Put out paper.

Markers.

Paint.

Clay.

Scissors.

Glue.

Leaves.

Buttons.

Recycled materials.

Then simply ask:

“What would you like to create?”

No sample.

No finished picture.

No expectations.

Sometimes the masterpiece is the process itself.

6. Make Summer a Little More Magical

Summer doesn’t have to be packed with expensive outings, camps or perfectly planned activities.

Some of the richest childhood memories come from simple moments at home.

Here’s a challenge you can try this summer. 

Once or twice or even thrice a week if you’re a keener…

Pick a Majik Kids audio story.

Press play.

Spread out activity supplies (something different each time).

Let your kids build, draw or create while they listen.

When the story ends…

Don’t rush to the next thing.

Ask:

  • What happened next?
  • What would your ending be?
  • Can we build that world?
  • Should we draw your favourite character?

Then head into the Majik Kids app and download the printable story activities to keep the adventure going together. 

We create hours and hours of activities just for you and your kiddos. 

It’s amazing how one story can become an entire afternoon of imagination.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

Our kids are growing up surrounded by screens that tell them what to watch…

Games that tell them what to do…

Algorithms that decide what comes next…

And artificial intelligence that can generate almost anything in seconds.

That makes imagination one of the most valuable skills we can help children develop.

Because imagination can’t be downloaded.

It has to be practiced.

Every imaginary game…

Every cardboard castle…

Every made-up creature…

Every story they invent…

They’re exercising the creative muscles they’ll use for the rest of their lives.

One Last Thought

At Majik Kids, we don’t believe our job is simply to entertain children.

We want to help families create the kind of childhood they’ll look back on years from now with a smile.

One filled with stories.

Wonder.

Creativity.

Adventure.

And the freedom to imagine.

So the next time your child says,

“I’m bored…”

Try resisting the urge to fix it.

Instead…

Press play on a story.

Pull out a cardboard box.

Scatter some random supplies across the table.

Head outside.

And see where their imagination takes them.

You might just discover that boredom was the beginning of the best experiences they have all summer.

Research & References:

The ideas in this article are supported by our family’s personal experience to raising an empowered creator, as well as research showing that open-ended play, pretend play, loose parts play, outdoor exploration, and creative storytelling help support children’s cognitive development, executive functioning, emotional regulation, creativity, and social skills.

Cankaya, O., Martin, M., & Haugen, D. (2025). The relationship between children’s indoor loose parts play and cognitive development: A systematic review. Journal of Intelligence, 13(5), 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13050052

Constien, A., et al. (2026). Pretend play and executive function in early childhood: A meta-analytic review. Developmental Review, 79, 101249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2026.101249

Gibson, J. L., Cornell, M., & Gill, T. (2017). A systematic review of research into the impact of loose parts play on children’s cognitive, social and emotional development. Early Child Development and Care. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2017.1300810

Kupers, E., Lehmann-Wermser, A., McPherson, G., & van Geert, P. (2019). Creativity in education: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 89(1), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318815707

Smits-van der Nat, M., et al. (2024). Pretend play and social development in early childhood: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09884-z

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]]> Why Imagination Is Important for Child Development  https://majikkids.com/blog/why-imagination-is-important-for-child-development/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:25:02 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=22810 Every child is born with one of the greatest superpowers known to humans.  This superpower gives them the ability to create, make up games on the spot, and build entire worlds.  The superpower? IMAGINATION! Imagination plays a foundational role in child development, supporting cognitive growth, emotional regulation, social understanding, and creativity. Far from being “just […]

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Every child is born with one of the greatest superpowers known to humans.  This superpower gives them the ability to create, make up games on the spot, and build entire worlds.  The superpower?

IMAGINATION!

Imagination plays a foundational role in child development, supporting cognitive growth, emotional regulation, social understanding, and creativity. Far from being “just pretend play,” research in developmental psychology shows that imaginative activity is one of the key ways children build the skills they will later use for learning, problem-solving, navigating social life, and making their dreams come true!  Find out what current peer-reviewed research says about imagination and why it matters in early and ongoing development. First off, to all begin on the same page: What Is Imagination in Child Development? In developmental science, imagination refers to a child’s ability to:
  • mentally represent things that are not physically present
  • engage in pretend or symbolic play
  • create stories, roles, and alternative scenarios
  • think flexibly about “what could be”
It is most visible in early childhood through pretend play, storytelling, drawing, and building activities, but it continues to support learning well beyond the early years.

1. Imagination and Executive Function Development

I am always inspired by how my son and his buddies can spend countless hours in imaginary worlds – exploring, building, and being different characters. They play out endless scenarios and you can see the magic in how their minds process the experience of “reality creation.”  One of the most studied links in child development is the relationship between pretend play and executive function — the cognitive system responsible for self-control, working memory, and flexible thinking. A recent study found a small but statistically significant association between pretend play and executive function in early childhood, suggesting that children who engage more in pretend play tend to show stronger executive functioning skills overall, although the relationship is not purely causal (Constien et al., 2026). Earlier theoretical work also supports the idea that pretend play provides children with repeated opportunities to practice self-regulation, cognitive flexibility, symbolic thinking, and rule-following within imaginary contexts (Carlson & White, 2021).

Imaginative play is one of the natural contexts where children practice core thinking and self-regulation skills.

2. Imagination Supports Creativity Development

We have gone light on screens in our household for our son, Sauryn… not as an anti-tech stance, but as a pro-imagination and creativity perspective. Now, as he turns ten, we are grateful we made the choices we have because he is incredibly activated in his imagination and creative gifts – working on his first graphic novel!  Creativity is not a fixed trait. It develops over time through experience, environment, and interaction. A major systematic review of creativity in education found that children’s creative abilities evolve dynamically and are shaped by opportunities for open-ended exploration and expressive activity (Kupers et al., 2019). In early childhood, imaginative play provides a structured environment for:
  • generating multiple ideas
  • experimenting with roles and narratives
  • solving open-ended problems
  • combining familiar concepts in new ways
Pretend play, in particular, is widely recognized as a key developmental context for creative thinking because it requires children to mentally transform objects, roles, and situations.

Imagination is one of the primary ways creativity develops in early childhood.

3. Imagination and Social-Emotional Development

Witness a child who just spent two hours in imaginative play vs. one who just spent two hours watching shows or movies. The emotional regulation of the two different experiences is night and day.  Imaginative role-play is strongly connected to children’s developing ability to understand others. In fact, pretend play is strongly linked to social competence, including cooperation, communication, and emotional understanding. A 2024 study found a positive association between pretend play and social development outcomes in early childhood, suggesting that children who engage more in pretend play tend to show stronger social skills overall (Smits-van der Nat et al., 2024). During role-play, children naturally practice:
  • perspective-taking
  • emotional expression
  • empathy development
  • social negotiation and turn-taking
This aligns with broader developmental theory on theory of mind, which describes how children learn that others have different thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

Imagination acts as a rehearsal space for real-world social interaction.

4. Imagination and Cognitive Flexibility

At Majik Kids, we stand for raising creators… and something I’ve learned from decades of turning ideas into real things – that provide value to other humans in the world…. Everything starts in the imagination and is created from there.  Imagination is closely tied to cognitive flexibility; the ability to shift thinking, adapt to new situations, and consider multiple possibilities. Pretend play requires children to:
  • switch between roles
  • maintain multiple layers of meaning (real vs imagined)
  • adapt rules within a play context
  • respond to changing narratives
These processes strengthen mental flexibility, which is a core component of learning readiness and problem-solving ability. Research in developmental psychology consistently links symbolic and pretend play with the development of these higher-order cognitive processes (Lillard et al., 2013).

Imaginative play helps children practice flexible, adaptable thinking.

5. Imagination Supports Learning and Exploration

Imagination is more than creativity. It is one of the primary ways children make sense of the world around them. Many forms of modern children’s entertainment provide highly detailed visual experiences where characters, settings, and actions are presented directly to the viewer. While these experiences can be engaging, they require less active mental imagery than activities that invite children to create the experience for themselves. This is one reason audio stories can be especially valuable for developing minds. When children listen to an audio story, they are invited to actively imagine the characters, settings, emotions, and events unfolding in the story. Rather than simply receiving images, they become co-creators of the experience. Imagination is also closely tied to how children explore and understand the physical world. In open-ended play environments, children naturally engage in:
  • Testing ideas
  • Experimenting with materials
  • Building and rebuilding structures
  • Exploring cause-and-effect relationships
  • Creating and solving problems
These behaviours form an important foundation for early STEM learning. Through imaginative exploration, children begin developing intuitive understandings of concepts such as balance, gravity, motion, structure, design, and problem-solving. Imagination also allows children to mentally rehearse possibilities before they happen in real life. Whether navigating social situations, creating stories, building inventions, or solving challenges, children use imagination to test ideas, explore outcomes, and expand their understanding of what is possible.

Imagination supports early scientific thinking, problem-solving, and learning through hands-on exploration and mental simulation.

6. The Role of Adults: Protecting Space for Imagination

Research across developmental psychology consistently shows that children derive significant developmental benefits from unstructured, open-ended play.

This includes:

  • Pretend play
  • Storytelling
  • Building and construction
  • Creative arts
  • Nature-based exploration

The role of adults is not to direct imagination, but to create the conditions in which it can thrive.

This means:

  • Providing time and space for imaginative play
  • Offering simple, open-ended materials
  • Reducing unnecessary over-structuring of activities
  • Supporting curiosity rather than focusing solely on outcomes
  • Allowing children to lead their own exploration

Imagination develops best when children are given the freedom to follow their interests, experiment with ideas, and create their own meaning from play.

Why Imagination Matters Long-Term

Across cognitive, social, and emotional development, imagination and imaginative play have been associated with:

  • Executive function and self-regulation
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Empathy and social understanding
  • Flexible problem-solving
  • Communication skills
  • Learning readiness
  • Adaptability and resilience

 

In an increasingly structured and fast-paced world, imagination remains one of the primary ways children develop the flexibility, curiosity, and confidence needed to navigate life’s challenges.

Conclusion

Imagination is not separate from development. It is one of the mechanisms through which development happens.

When children engage in pretend play, storytelling, audio adventures, creative expression, and open-ended exploration, they are actively building the cognitive, emotional, and social foundations they will rely on throughout life.

Supporting imagination is not simply about encouraging creativity. It is about supporting healthy child development.

At Majik Kids, we believe children need more opportunities to imagine, create, explore, and wonder. That’s why every story, meditation, song, and activity in the Majik Kids App is designed to help nurture the imagination that fuels learning, resilience, and lifelong growth.

Download the Majik Kids App - Witness imagination in action!

References:

Carlson, S. M., & White, R. E. (2021). Pretending with realistic and fantastical stories facilitates executive function in 3-year-old children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 209, 105090. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105090

Constien, A., et al. (2026). Pretend play and executive function in early childhood: A meta-analytic review. Child Development (advance online publication). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2026.101249 

Kupers, E. Lehmann-Wermser, A., McPherson, G., & van Geert, P. (2019). Creativity in education: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 89(1), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654318815707

Lillard, A. S. (2013). Playful learning and pretend play in early childhood. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029321

Smits-van der Nat, M., et al. (2024). Pretend play and social development in early childhood: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09884-z

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]]> Episode 7 – Raising Inspired Young Writers: How to Make Writing Fun Again with Julie Bogart, The Brave Writer https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep7/ Thu, 21 May 2026 17:52:45 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=22571 https://youtu.be/abX7gV990CI I’ll be honest with you. I was not a good student. I couldn’t wait to get out of English class. The books felt boring, the assignments pointless, and whenever I asked why we were doing any of it, I never got a straight answer. So I checked out. For years, I carried the story […]

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I’ll be honest with you. I was not a good student.

I couldn’t wait to get out of English class. The books felt boring, the assignments pointless, and whenever I asked why we were doing any of it, I never got a straight answer. So I checked out.

For years, I carried the story around: writing wasn’t my thing.
Everything changed for me when I became an entrepreneur… and then again when I became a dad. That is when writing became one of the most alive, meaningful, relevant things I could do in my life.

My son, Sauryn and I just celebrated writing our 25th story together. Video recap here.

He’s now working on his own independent graphic novel and writes the Saturday morning cartoon strip for our Majik Kids newsletter every single week (make sure you scroll down far enough to check those out every Saturday).

Story ideas come up at breakfast, in the car, before bed, out on dog walks… Our lives are soaked in storytelling, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

So when I got the chance to sit down with Julie Bogart, creator of Brave Writer and author of Help! My Kids Hate Writing, I knew this conversation was going to hit differently.

 

 

Writing Isn’t a School Subject. It’s How We Know Each Other.

Julie pointed to that universal parenting moment: waiting for your baby to say their first word. Mama. Dada. That electric moment when your child reaches across the space between you with language.

“Writing,” she said, “is merely the act of transcribing all of that internal language that we use to express who we are.”

That reframe is everything. Writing isn’t a skill to be tested or a box to check. It’s an extension of the most human thing we do: connect with each other through language.

The tragedy of how most schools approach writing is that it strips all of that away. Kids aren’t asked to express themselves.

They’re asked to solve a puzzle: “Fill in the five-paragraph template. Match what the teacher wants. Get the grade.”

And somewhere in that process, the spark dies.

 

Why AI Makes This More Urgent, Not Less

Julie’s take on artificial intelligence was honest & direct. She called AI “a big rip-off” when it comes to writing, not because the technology isn’t impressive, but because of what it takes away.

“AI can never capture your vocabulary. It can never capture your experience or your point of view.”

She’s right. Kids, with their completely un-jaded, un-clichéd brains, are extraordinarily good at original expression.

Julie told a story about her daughter describing a guitar and landing on the phrase “the color of an unripe cantaloupe.”

Has anyone, ever, described guitar wood that way? No. And no AI ever would.

That living, surprising, specific language inside our kids is irreplaceable. The more we outsource expression to AI, to templates, to fill-in-the-blank worksheets, the more we risk our kids never discovering it.

 

The Real Reason Kids Hate Writing (It’s Not What You Think)

When parents say “my kid hates writing,” they usually mean one of several very different things:

  • bad handwriting,
  • poor spelling,
  • blank-page paralysis,
  • or resistance to essays.

These are not the same problem, and treating them the same way is where things go wrong.

The deeper issue is what Julie calls the transcription gap.

Most five-year-olds are pretty fluent in their spoken language.

But when they’re seven or eight and just learning to write, they’re suddenly expected to funnel all of that fluency through a hand that can barely form letters at the pace thought moves.

So what do kids do? They dumb it down. They shrink the story to fit what they can physically manage.

“This is the beginning of when kids start to hate writing,” Julie said, “because what’s on the page doesn’t actually match the richness that lives inside their imaginations.”

The fix: be the transcriptionist.

Sit with your kid and let them talk the story while you write it down. Think of it like a stroller. Just because your toddler can walk doesn’t mean you never carry them again.

The transcription skills come with time. The voice, the ideas, the imagination need to be protected now.

 

What Handwriting Does to the Brain

A Norwegian neuroscientist named Audrey van der Meer led a study hooking university students up to 256-sensor brain scans while they wrote by hand or typed the same words on a keyboard. When students wrote by hand, multiple regions of the brain lit up together: memory, sensory processing, coordination, and focus. When they typed, that activity largely disappeared.

The reason: handwriting requires every letter to be formed through a unique combination of fine motor movement, spatial awareness, and real-time problem-solving. Typing repeats essentially the same motion regardless of the letter.

And here’s the alarming part: kids learning primarily on tablets are struggling to distinguish letters like b and d because they’ve never physically experienced forming them.

Julie’s suggestion before worrying about handwriting: let your kids play with modeling clay, build with Legos, and use big arm movements on giant sheets of paper on the wall.

Develop the hands first. The writing will come.

 

The Color Walk (Try This Tonight)

I asked Julie for a fun activity for families to try out tonight:

Everyone in the family privately picks a color. Don’t say it out loud. Then you go on a silent walk, and your only job is to notice where your color appears in the world around you.

When you get home, set a timer for five to seven minutes. Everyone writes, or dictates, everything they observed about their color, including its absence.

Julie’s son once picked orange in the middle of an Ohio winter. He came home and wrote an interview with the color orange about how it felt to be left out of an entire season.

That’s not a school assignment. That’s writing. That’s a kid discovering they have something worth saying.

 

The Parent Trap: Fix Your Face

When your child shows you their writing and the spelling is wild and the punctuation is non-existent, practice your reaction in the mirror.

The mechanics of writing: spelling, punctuation, handwriting, can all be taught. And they should be…

But Julie’s Brave Writer program teaches them separately, through copy work and dictation using beautiful existing texts. Not by red-penning your kid’s fragile, risky self-expression.

“We do not use a child’s risky self-expression to explain how bad their punctuation is. That never helps them grow.”

The moment we make a child feel that their best effort wasn’t good enough, we start closing the door on their voice. That door is much harder to reopen than it is to simply leave it wide open.

 

“Everything can teach anything, and anything can teach everything.”

Julie told the story of a homeschooled high schooler who refused to write essays until he asked if he could compare Journey to the Center of the Earth to Donkey Kong. He wanted to watch the original King Kong film too, because he saw the connections.

That’s not a kid avoiding learning. That’s a kid doing exactly what learning is supposed to be: finding meaning in the things that matter to him.

Help your kids write about things that matter to them and they won’t be able to stop writing!

 

Go Find Julie’s Work

Brave Writer at bravewriter.com serves hundreds of thousands of families across 191 countries. Their online classes, including world-building, comic book writing, and the five-paragraph essay, are asynchronous and run by real human teachers who give warm, curious, reader-response feedback. Not red pens. Real responses from people genuinely interested in what your child has to say.

Julie also hosts The Brave Writer Podcast and has two books worth your time: The Brave Learner and Help! My Kids Hate Writing. If your kid’s spark is dimming under the weight of homework and screens and structure, start there.

And if you want to hear the full conversation, watch or listen to this episode of the Majik Family Podcast. We go deep on neuroscience, AI, creativity, and what it actually looks like to raise a kid who creates rather than just consumes.

Because that kid? They’re already in there. We just need to make space for them.

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]]> Episode 6 – What Peter Gray taught me about Raising Free, Capable, Joyful Kids https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep6/ Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:54:28 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=22559 https://youtu.be/T1AQCk_6AWM Our son Sauryn is naturally becoming curious about math right now. He wants to understand science. He creates constantly. Nobody forced any of it. Learning arrived through readiness — and through years of trusting him with the freedom to just be a kid. So when I sat down with Peter Gray for our Majik […]

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Our son Sauryn is naturally becoming curious about math right now. He wants to understand science. He creates constantly. Nobody forced any of it.

Learning arrived through readiness — and through years of trusting him with the freedom to just be a kid.

So when I sat down with Peter Gray for our Majik Family Podcast, I wasn’t just interviewing a researcher.

I was hearing someone put language to something my wife Celeste and I have been intuitively living.

Peter Gray is a research professor of psychology at Boston College and one of the world’s leading voices on childhood, play, and self-directed learning.

He’s spent decades studying how children naturally grow, learn, and become healthy adults. His work challenges almost everything mainstream culture tells us about education and childhood success.

Here’s what stuck with me most from our conversation:


Children Are Born Wired to Become Independent

Peter started with something disarmingly simple: children are born completely dependent on adults, but they arrive with a powerful inner drive to not stay that way.

That drive shows up as curiosity. Playfulness. Risk-taking. The urge to try things “by myself.”

These aren’t problems to manage. They are nature’s design.

Yet modern culture often treats these instincts as inconvenient — we overschedule, overprotect, and over-direct. And then we wonder why so many kids seem anxious, disconnected, or unmotivated.


Play Is Not Frivolous. It’s How Children Practice Being Human.

This was my favourite part of the whole conversation.

Peter made the case that free play is how children build the exact skills adulthood actually demands: negotiation, resilience, emotional regulation, leadership, creativity, empathy, problem-solving, and confidence.

Not through worksheets or structured curriculum — through running wild, building forts, role-playing kingdoms, inventing games, and disappearing into the woods with sticks & friends.

When kids do those things, they’re not wasting time. They are rehearsing life.

I see it in Sauryn constantly. The most important lessons he’s learning right now aren’t coming from sitting still. They’re coming from imagination, creation and play.


Why So Many Kids Are Struggling

Peter didn’t soften this one.

Rates of anxiety and depression in children have risen dramatically over the past few generations. His explanation is both simple and confronting: as freedom has decreased, distress has increased.

Today’s kids have more schedules, more homework, more adult supervision, more performance pressure — and less unsupervised play, less outdoor adventure, less meaningful responsibility, less room to solve real problems on their own.

Many children are living managed lives rather than lived lives. And it’s costing them.


Boredom Is the Doorway, Not the Problem

This one is worth printing on the fridge.

Many parents (myself included, at times) rush to solve boredom the moment it appears. Peter sees boredom differently. He views it as often being the uncomfortable first step before imagination wakes up.

When we don’t rush in to rescue our kids from it, something shifts. “I’m bored” becomes building, creating, exploring, inventing, questioning. Boredom is frequently the bridge to self-direction — if we get out of the way long enough to let it happen.


Not All Screen Time Is the Same

I appreciated that Peter didn’t fall into the easy trap of condemning all technology.

A child using a screen to animate stories, compose music, design games, research a passion, or build something — that’s categorically different from hours of passive, mindless junkfood entertainment consumption.

The distinction matters.

In our home, we try to teach one core principle: create more than you consume. That one idea alone changes how our son relates to technology.


One Question Worth Asking Your Child

Peter offered a practical exercise we’ve been using for years.

Ask your child: “What’s something you’d love to do more independently that you haven’t done yet?”

Then listen.

The answers often surprise parents — cooking dinner, biking somewhere alone, building something, earning their own money, starting a project they care about.

These are moments of readiness. And when we recognize them and say yes, something in a child’s confidence shifts visibly.

Kids change quickly. Every season brings a new readiness if we stay curious enough to ask.


What This Means for Our Family

My wife Celeste and I have been walking a child-led path with Sauryn for years. We’ve prioritized imagination, nature, storytelling, creativity, and real-world experience over academic pressure and performance metrics.

What I’m watching unfold is beautiful.

Curiosity didn’t have to be forced. It’s always been there. Learning came through readiness, not coercion. And his playful spirit — the thing I’d most hate to see crushed — remains completely intact.

Peter Gray’s work gave me language for something I already believed in my gut: when we trust childhood more, children often rise beautifully.


 

The Takeaway I Keep Coming Back To

Your child doesn’t need every minute optimized.

They need space.

Space to wonder. Space to move. Space to fail, try again, get bored, create, and slowly become who they are.

The world will pressure us to control every variable. But children often grow strongest where freedom lives.

If your child is making a mess, asking wild questions, building strange things, or disappearing into imaginative play — that may not be a distraction from learning.

That may be learning itself.


Explore Peter Gray’s Work

 

The post Episode 6 – What Peter Gray taught me about Raising Free, Capable, Joyful Kids appeared first on Majik Kids.

]]> “Screen Free Sunday” Is My Favorite Parenting Hack https://majikkids.com/blog/screen-free-sunday/ Wed, 25 Mar 2026 05:40:16 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=17944 Today we are sharing an article written by Cynthia Dvorak from ScreenLessPlayMore.com and host of the Screen Less Play More podcast. The reason we’re excited to share this guest post is because my wife and I (and now our son too) have done “Wifi-Free” Sundays for over a decade as a way to take a tech peace […]

The post “Screen Free Sunday” Is My Favorite Parenting Hack appeared first on Majik Kids.

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Today we are sharing an article written by Cynthia Dvorak from ScreenLessPlayMore.com and host of the Screen Less Play More podcast.

The reason we’re excited to share this guest post is because my wife and I (and now our son too) have done “Wifi-Free” Sundays for over a decade as a way to take a tech peace pause every week… and so when Cynthia sent us her article, we thought it was the perfect strategy to share with screen-fatigued families on our email list. We hope you enjoy it!

 

I know you might shudder when thinking about an entire day without the crutch of screens. Especially when you have to take care of your children. But rest assured, there’s a way to unplug that doesn’t include screaming obscenities or hopping the next jet to Vegas.

Start small. Have a plan. Understand why.

My sons were about 3 and 5 when we started this journey. Prior to this, every moment that they weren’t watching a show, they were begging for one. And every time I told them to hand over the iPad, they attempted a Bluey-induced coup.

So I introduced Screen Free Sunday.

My sister thought I had lost my marbles.

For the first two weeks, my sons asked if they could watch a show about ten times per minute. But by week three, they never even asked. Never. They realized that mom was serious.

Once they had time to play and “nothing better to do,” they got so creative. I was amazed by the games they invented, the imaginary worlds they inhabited, and the laughter that ensued.

How to logoff without going loco

I am not by ANY means suggesting that you go white-knuckle, COVID-lockdown-style and wake up with no plans and tell your screen fans to “go play.” That, my friends, is a recipe for a trainwreck crashing into a dumpster fire.

Start small.

If your household is used to grabbing a tablet or a TV any time that boredom strikes, you’ll need to take this in bite-sized pieces. Maybe your first Screen Free Sunday will be from breakfast until lunch. Maybe it will be from sundown to bedtime.

Going screen free is a skill that must be learned and a muscle that must be strengthened. At first, your kids are going to whine “I’m bored,” about once per minute… But boredom is healthy. You’re going to feel that itch for instant Instagram gratification. The more you go without, the better you’ll get at it.

Have a plan. I’m serious.

While you are new at Screen Free Sunday, you might benefit from getting out of the house. That saves you from the usual screen routine (and temptations.) Some families find it helpful to have a standing date every Sunday morning like swimming lessons, or church, or breakfast out with the grandparents. Some prefer to choose an activity the night before and mix it up each week. We tend to do a little of both.

But don’t wake up and ask “what do you guys want to do today?” You’re asking for trouble!

Screen Free Ideas Away From Home

  • ​Play Chi Ball – together!​
  • Go to the park!
  • Ride bikes to a fun destination like a restaurant or library.
  • Hike in nature
  • Play games or make art
  • Check out a museum (many libraries offer free passes)
  • Go swimming at the local pool, ocean, or indoor rec center!
  • For older kids, try an escape room!
  • Get creative at a pottery studio.
  • Visit the zoo!
  • Get your nails done together!
  • Visit an indoor playground!
  • Check out the children’s museum.
  • Visit ScreenLessPlayMore.com for LOTS of screen free activity ideas

You Don’t Have to Leave the House to Go Screen Free

Maybe going outside this week is too cold or too hot…. But if you are going to unplug at home, you still need a plan.

In “The Opt-Out Family” author Erin Loechner suggests that we “imitate the algorithm” in our real lives. When you open up Instagram or TikTok, the video is already rolling – there’s no need to press play. Thus, instead of asking your kids what they want to do, have a game or toy already laid out before they wake up.

Kids are much more likely to get engrossed in play if the board game is already set on the breakfast table than if they walk into the kitchen and you ask, “do you guys want to play a board game?” (The answer I get is always ‘no.’ But if I start playing, they always join me.)

Similarly, if my kids start whining that they’re bored, nothing I suggest ever seems to placate them. However, if I grab a picture book and start reading, they’re immediately engrossed. Or, if I set out a bunch of loose parts (markers, rocks, sticks, cardboard boxes) I can ignore them (i.e. read a book), and they get lost in creation.

Keep these ideas in mind for the moments when you’re ready to pull out your hair (and pull out the iPads.)

I must admit that the secret ingredient to sanity is to go outside. That can be as simple as reading a book on the porch, playing hopscotch on the sidewalk, or looking for ladybugs in the backyard. Like I said, it may be too hot or too cold some days. But I find that if we are dressed appropriately for the weather, the outdoors helps me avoid getting overwhelmed. I think you’ll find that it is usually a messy house that overstimulates you, not your kids.

The gold standard is that you can wake up on a Sunday, and your kids start to play on their own. (Had you told me in 2020 that my kids would do that someday, I would have laughed you out of the Apple Store.) But after almost 5 years of Screen Free Sunday, that is exactly what happens. My boys wake up, and not once do they ask to turn on the TV. They know that I’m going to say no because I have been for 5 years. Consistency is key.

Screen Free Ideas for Indoors

  • Hide and seek
  • Solitaire or other card games
  • Learn to sew together
  • Have the kids make a scavenger hunt for each other
  • Bake something yummy together!
  • Roller skate in the garage or basement
  • Make a fort out of boxes or couch cushions
  • Invite friends over
  • Write a letter to a grandparent or friend
  • Board games
  • Combine board games to make your own game
  • Learn how to juggle
  • Play pretend games like “store,” or “library.”
  • Write a letter to your favorite author

Where do I begin?

I know this can be daunting – especially with really young kids. But you can do this. And the benefit to your family is enormous.

If your kids are unfamiliar with free play, try this trick: Ask yourself this- “What activity does my child always want to do when I’m desperately trying to get them into the bath or into the car?” Does he grab a book from the floor and start reading? Does she start building with scattered Legos? Does he chase the dog in the backyard?

Whatever their default setting is, start there.

If they enjoy building, set a bucket of blocks on the breakfast table. If they love playing with dolls, put a couple of Barbies at the foot of their bed. You get the idea.

As soon as the charm wears off, get on to the next thing. It might be building a fort, it might be playing card games, or it might be tag in the backyard. If you’re doing it, they’ll do it. And once they get engrossed, you can slip off to read a magazine or start dinner.

Screen Free Sunday gets easier

When my boys were very young, I would set up an elaborate activity in the sensory bin, or some obstacle course I had seen on Pinterest. And without fail, the activities I had spent so long curating kept their interest for only ten minutes at best. Uggg.

As it turns out, less constructed play schemes tend to invite longer periods of play. You don’t need to be their cruise ship director. Kids innately know how to play, they just need to be invited.

Open-ended toys are the holy grail. Think building blocks, loose parts, train sets, stuffed animals, art supplies… or best of all- nature! You will be amazed at the games that kids can create in the backyard with a tree branch. Or a neighborhood stream and a boat made of leaves. They will play for hours. Not minutes– hours. Just like we all did before the internet existed…

What’s the Point of A Digital Detox?

Why would anyone in their right mind want to put down the drugs, I mean screens, for an entire day? (Or in our case, from waking until 5:00 pm.)

Screens are an experience blocker. If you are on social media, playing a video game, or watching TV, you are not doing other things. You’re not reading, hiking, enjoying family, exercising, or sleeping!

People are on their phones for an average of 4.8 hours each day. Can you imagine if you spent that same time enjoying friends, writing a book, or learning a musical instrument?

Experience blocking is an especially critical issue for children. Play is the work of childhood, and if they’re watching a screen, they’re not getting the benefits of play. Play promotes self-regulation, independence, critical thinking, emotional well-being, physical development, and so much more.

If you remove screens, children have the time and space for free play. Just make sure not to micromanage them. Remember all of those toys gathering dust in the basement? Now is their chance to actually use them.

In addition to giving kids time to play, it gives us adults room to breathe. Take a break from incessant emails or notifications. If your phone is your only means of communicating with family and friends, feel free to take calls or texts as needed. However, I know from personal experience that it is not going to go well if you tell your children to turn off the iPad and then you stare at your phone all day. The benefits of unplugging apply to you as well.

You’re not doing this as punishment. You’re doing this for the benefits. And after a few weeks, I promise you will crave your Sundays!

Cynthia Dvorak writes the blog ScreenLessPlayMore.com and hosts the Screen Less Play More podcast.

Looking for less screens and more imagination, creativity & connection?​

A world of wonder awaits you and your child’s imagination.

Just put out a creative project, press play and watch creativity take flight!

Download the Majik Kids App Today!

The post “Screen Free Sunday” Is My Favorite Parenting Hack appeared first on Majik Kids.

]]> Episode 5 – Raising Empowered Creators in the Age of AI (For Parents & Educators) https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep5/ Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:14:02 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=21344 https://youtu.be/9pj5KDtBxoI?si=xZ7L7C7Fly5r3Su8 In this powerful workshop for parents, educators, homeschoolers, caregivers, and school leaders, Bradley T. Morris, founder of Majik Kids, shares practical ways to help children become empowered creators instead of passive consumers. If you are concerned about kids and screen time, declining attention spans, overstimulation, lack of focus, emotional dysregulation, or the loss of […]

The post Episode 5 – Raising Empowered Creators in the Age of AI (For Parents & Educators) appeared first on Majik Kids.

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In this powerful workshop for parents, educators, homeschoolers, caregivers, and school leaders, Bradley T. Morris, founder of Majik Kids, shares practical ways to help children become empowered creators instead of passive consumers.

If you are concerned about kids and screen time, declining attention spans, overstimulation, lack of focus, emotional dysregulation, or the loss of imagination in childhood, this workshop offers a hopeful and practical path forward.

Drawing from real-life parenting, homeschooling, unschooling, research, and years of work at the intersection of education, entertainment, human transformation, and children’s media, Bradley explores how we can support kids with less screens and more imagination, creativity, movement, emotional regulation, and meaningful connection.

In this workshop, you will learn:

– How excess screen time affects children’s attention, nervous systems, creativity, and emotional regulation

– Why modern media often trains kids to become consumers rather than creators

– How to help kids build stronger focus, imagination, resilience, and critical thinking

– Why connection and co-regulation are foundational for learning and wellbeing

– Simple ways to support children’s self-regulation and emotional balance

– How audio stories, music, meditation, and imaginative play help activate the brain differently than screens

– Why agency, autonomy, and meaningful choice increase motivation and learning retention

– How movement and play improve attention, memory, and social development

– Why contribution and responsibility help children develop confidence, identity, and purpose

If you are looking for tools to help kids thrive with less screen dependency and more creativity, this workshop is for you. Join the next live offering at https://majikkids.com/workshop. 

The post Episode 5 – Raising Empowered Creators in the Age of AI (For Parents & Educators) appeared first on Majik Kids.

]]> Episode 4 – The Power of Positive Discipline with Julietta Skoog: Nurturing Harmony in Your Family https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep4/ Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:40:46 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=20517 Prepare to be enlightened in this captivating episode as Bradley and Julietta Skoog, the extraordinary mind behind BeSproutable.com, delve deep into the world of Positive Discipline. Discover how this transformative approach teaches children self-control, problem-solving skills, and responsible behavior through respectful and empathetic communication. This enlightening conversation will introduce you to novel parenting techniques that […]

The post Episode 4 – The Power of Positive Discipline with Julietta Skoog: Nurturing Harmony in Your Family appeared first on Majik Kids.

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Prepare to be enlightened in this captivating episode as Bradley and Julietta Skoog, the extraordinary mind behind BeSproutable.com, delve deep into the world of Positive Discipline. Discover how this transformative approach teaches children self-control, problem-solving skills, and responsible behavior through respectful and empathetic communication. This enlightening conversation will introduce you to novel parenting techniques that can help you create a harmonious, positive environment for both you and your children, fostering a deeper connection within your family.

Unlock the secrets to nurturing a family bond that radiates positivity and love.

The post Episode 4 – The Power of Positive Discipline with Julietta Skoog: Nurturing Harmony in Your Family appeared first on Majik Kids.

]]> Episode 3 – Building a Village for Your Kids: Creating Connections in an Unconventional World https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep3/ Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:39:18 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=20516 Join us in this episode as we unveil the secret to our unconventional success – building a village for our family and our beloved son, Sauryn. We share the magical steps we’ve taken, from finding mentorship to forming a vibrant men’s group, a captivating Dadventure group, a nurturing mama group, and even sharing our land […]

The post Episode 3 – Building a Village for Your Kids: Creating Connections in an Unconventional World appeared first on Majik Kids.

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Join us in this episode as we unveil the secret to our unconventional success – building a village for our family and our beloved son, Sauryn. We share the magical steps we’ve taken, from finding mentorship to forming a vibrant men’s group, a captivating Dadventure group, a nurturing mama group, and even sharing our land with dear friends. If you’re ready to embark on a quest to find and build your very own village, prepare to be inspired by this candid and heartwarming conversation.

Let’s redefine the meaning of belonging and community in a world where dreams are nurtured together.

The post Episode 3 – Building a Village for Your Kids: Creating Connections in an Unconventional World appeared first on Majik Kids.

]]> Episode 2 – Our Unexpected Journey of Unschooling Sauryn: Nurturing a Young Dreamer https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep2/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 23:37:41 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=20505 In this episode, Celeste and Bradley invite you to join them on an unexpected journey through the world of unschooling. Discover the remarkable tale of how Sauryn, at the tender age of four, yearned to escape the confines of traditional preschool. Uncover the magic that unfolded as we embraced homeschooling, transforming it into a beautiful […]

The post Episode 2 – Our Unexpected Journey of Unschooling Sauryn: Nurturing a Young Dreamer appeared first on Majik Kids.

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In this episode, Celeste and Bradley invite you to join them on an unexpected journey through the world of unschooling. Discover the remarkable tale of how Sauryn, at the tender age of four, yearned to escape the confines of traditional preschool. Uncover the magic that unfolded as we embraced homeschooling, transforming it into a beautiful blessing for our family and for Sauryn. We explore the art of raising a budding young entrepreneur, the importance of building a supportive village around our child, and the unconventional ways we’ve embraced a learning-at-home lifestyle.

Prepare to be inspired by a story that showcases the incredible power of nurturing a child’s dreams and passions. 🌟

Coming soon

The post Episode 2 – Our Unexpected Journey of Unschooling Sauryn: Nurturing a Young Dreamer appeared first on Majik Kids.

]]> Episode 1 -The Majik Kids Origins Story: Unveiling Our Magical Journey https://majikkids.com/podcast/ep1/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 23:27:51 +0000 https://majikkids.com/?p=20478 Welcome to the Majik Parents’ Podcast! Join Bradley, Celeste, and the ever-curious Sauryn as we share the wondrous journey through our unconventional lifestyle choices, the joys and challenges of homeschooling, and the inspiration behind Majik Kids. This Origins Story will bring you into the hearts and minds of our family, our company, philosophies and the […]

The post Episode 1 -The Majik Kids Origins Story: Unveiling Our Magical Journey appeared first on Majik Kids.

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Welcome to the Majik Parents’ Podcast! Join Bradley, Celeste, and the ever-curious Sauryn as we share the wondrous journey through our unconventional lifestyle choices, the joys and challenges of homeschooling, and the inspiration behind Majik Kids. This Origins Story will bring you into the hearts and minds of our family, our company, philosophies and the ways we aspire to raise the Spiritometer on Planet Earth. Join us!

Bradley

Hello out there in Listener Land. Welcome to the Magik Parents Podcast, episode one, the origin story of where it all began. Here we are. Why you looking at me like that?

Celeste

Because you’re cute.

Bradley

Oh, thanks. Uh, my name is Bradley Morris. I’m one of the hosts.

Celeste

My name is Celeste Morris,

Bradley

and we have over here to our side drawing pictures who’s gonna make the occasional cameo appearance when he feels so called and inspired. What is your name over there?

Sauryn

Sauryn Majik Morris!

Bradley

Booya. So welcome to our first episode of the Majik Parents Podcast. We are the founding family of Majik Kids, where we produce the most magical audio stories, illustrated books, music, imagination meditations, and learning activities for your magical kids. We’re creating this podcast for parents like you that wanna live more magical, connected, imaginative lives with your kids, as well as for all of you homeschoolers out there that are seeing what’s happening in the education space and realize that there could be a better way of teaching, inspiring and supporting your kids to blossom into the best versions of who they’re here to be on planet Earth.

Sound fun. Yeah. Are you ready? Definitely. Yeah. Alright, so in this episode, it’s kind of like the get to know ya. We’re sipping here, we’re drinking some matcha tea. We’re gonna tell the origin story of: Why Majik Kids? What are we actually trying to do here with Majik Kids? And who are we, Celeste Bradley, and Sauryn, and lifestyle choices that we’ve made to get to where we’re at right now.

So which question do you want to start with?

Celeste

Well, I think, what’s the purpose of this show and who’s it for? Did you cover that fully?

Bradley

Kind of. But if you wanna add on some spots.

Celeste

Well, this show is really about you getting to know us, wondering how we started all of this and what kind of inspiring things that we can share with folks out there.

Bradley

So. I guess just like taken way back, Celeste and I just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary at the moment of recording this Sauryn is six and a half years old. We are homeschoolers, we’re entrepreneurs, we’re artists, we’re creators, we’re village makers. We live on a small rural island called Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, off the west coast of Canada…

Celeste

…which is the traditional territory of the Hul’qumin’num and SENĆOŦEN-speaking Coast Salish people. This is their traditional land, which we are so deeply grateful and honored to be living and thriving on these lands, we do our very best to honor and respect the ancestors and the current ancestors of these lands. And the all the beings at every pulse of every breath of every day. And we’re doing this ultimately, so that the future is bright for everyone and that balance is restored and that the natural balance in this world is restored by how we choose to live, by how we choose to relate to one another and with one another. And the reciprocity and care that we encourage in, in our tending.

Bradley

And so let’s dig into who is Celeste? Who are you? What is your role in our family? Who do you play in the world right now? Who’s Celeste?

Celeste

Teehee! I am mother of Sauryn Majik and my primary devotion and purpose is to mother our child and to be the heartbeat of this home and our family. So, your mother, rest her soul, Lori Morris passed away recently. My mother, Ruth Elaine Handley is still alive. And I’m growing into my matriarch, for our family and I tend the hearth of this home and I do it with a lot of care by choosing intentfully our foods and cooking them by scratch and living a slower lifestyle than what I used to live, I’d say before we got married. The work and the grind of that. 

And so now we live on this beautiful little piece of land on this island. We have neighbors who live close by, incredible neighbors. So we’re doing some village making in our community. I would say that outside of my role in the home, I’m a community builder and a community safe space creator. That’s what I aim for. I created a sort of online forum when Sauryn was a baby. And it was just a group of young moms who were new to being moms. And we just wanted to get together and over time, because we need each other, you know, in a small island there’s a little bit less anonymity than there is in a city, and there’s more opportunity for getting to know who your islanders are. And you need each other because we’re a little bit more remote. And so I recognized the opportunity when I had this little space that I started opening the doors to any mom on the island who wished to join. And it’s been an incredible space now with over 700 mothers, and child bearers and people who parent here who we really care about each other. And so that has been a very intuitive natural thing that’s grown. And so I find myself in this role of tending a community hearth and tending a community space. So that’s been pretty incredible. And what I show up to in this world with, as well as growing my own art. In the last few years, I’ve really rekindled my love of handcrafts and making, I live a handmade life, but I also have now created an art studio where I create from with my leather work, amazing garden tool belts and textile arts that I’m getting into, repairing, repair culture. Just really believe very strongly in the ethos of taking good care of what we have and creating things to last. 

Bradley

And just on the village tending side of things, I mean, village tending, it sounds nice, but in a practical sense, what it actually is is creating meal trains when somebody’s lost a family member. It is work parties when a family is having a baby and we need to get a group of men together to chop their winter supply of wood or to do a house rental for them. It could be just showing up. 

Celeste

There’s a lot of talk about villaging and it’s all a lot of hot air because we can just like imagine what would be ideal. And because most of us are very deeply orphaned in our cultural ability to, or the place that we find ourselves in our crumbling culture, uh, in sense without deep roots intact because we’re living on stolen lands because we’re living here on Turtle Island as many, many settlers and descendants of settlers over many centuries. So here we are, deeply looking for belonging, creating, cultivating what we feel is necessary and true. And I’ve noticed through the tending of the mama space that it’s really hugely about the celebrations and the losses in our life that we need practical, everyday care for people and the people who fall through the cracks and aren’t glorified in our fast-paced culture, the over-culture that is the dominant culture. Not necessarily, it’s not normal, but it’s common that we more value in that culture, that over-culture, you know, the fast-paced, the productivity and the doing. And so people like mothers who are in a space of space of being and creating life and things, you know, are moving at that pace of the small child and mother duo that, these people need help. People need help when they can’t raise, we all know the saying, you can’t raise a child without a village. “It takes a village to raise a child”, but most of us don’t have extended family around here on this island. Most of us don’t have extended support. Most of us have dear friends, but everybody’s drowning in the busyness of life.

And it can be hard. It is. 

Bradley

It’s hard. It’s hard. What we’ve found, especially in the last, I would say, five years of getting outta baby mode with Sauryn in the last five years of really committing, you with the Mama hive, me with Manventures, which I’ll get into of building these networks and these relationships, it’s been beautiful to see the way people will meet us and the way that people are showing up and that they reflect that. And it really takes the commitment to self start to be like, oh, I see that this is lacking in our life, in my life. That’s where it started for me is, is loneliness ultimately, and not having like solid friendships and people that were consistent and committed to a longer term friendship, that went beneath the surface.

And, the hard work is, is so worth it, and so pure and so beautiful. Do you have anything more to share about yourself? You’re the most glorious, incredible cook. You’re amazing cook and baker and Chef. How good is mama’s food?

Sauryn

Oh, those muffins that she makes are delicious. Oh yes. Watch our YouTube channel for follow Majik Kids. Follow Celeste’s baking and making, channel playlist inside of our YouTube channel for Majik Kids, ’cause she’s gonna be doing a muffin recipe soon, right? Yep. Mm. What else do you like that she makes?

Sauryn

Mm. Lots of other things that she makes, she makes a lot of good things. 

Bradley

Mm-hmm. S is a beautiful, she’s the mama queen of this hive that we have here, and we’re so grateful for you and your devotion and service to our family. And all the ways that you show up and make our home a home.

Celeste

Thank you. That’s so sweet. Yeah. You guys are the best. And Bradley, how about you give us a little 4 1 1 on who you are? 

Bradley

Okay. Well I’m the Papa Bear. I’m the husband. I have been an entrepreneur for, I think this is my 19th year, 18th year, something like that. And, I have, I’ve been consciously crafting the dream life that we get to live by taking consistent, inspired action towards the visions that we have and the world that we want to see how that’s looked is I’m a creative director. I’m an executive producer with our main company, Majik Media. I’ve been doing this for a long time. Coaching creators, educators from all over the world. To produce their transformational media. And, one of the ways that we have done that is to use entertainment as a vehicle to teach and transform. I am, I’ve been obsessed with golf since I was 12 years old, since the first time I hit a golf ball. I’m almost 39. And I play pro golf as my hobby and I look, I still aspire to play at the highest level I possibly can. For me that looks like the Canadian tour. So I train, I play every morning. You’re very supportive with me to pursue my passion and my dreams. Mind you, I wake up before the sun and I get home from playing golf in the mornings when you guys are just getting out of bed. So I don’t miss too much of our life minus the morning snuggles. 

I’m a very driven, motivated, inspired, and passionate person, and I love, activating people’s gifts in the world. And that’s what I’m here to do, is to be an activator. And, in order to do that, I try to live my most activated life. And, I’ve had a long journey with entrepreneurship that you can read about on my websites.

And also there’ll be stories that come out in future episodes about lessons learned in both parenting and business and how we apply those lessons to our family and homeschooling our lifestyle and our lifestyle. And that’s enough about me. Sorin, what do you wanna share about yourself with the people that are listening right now? Who’s Sauryn? What does he love? 

Sauryn

Well, I love science, like robotics building and yeah, robotics is sort of my thing. I also really love reading comics, fun, adventurous comics, and I like to get good time with my books. 

Bradley

And what are some of the things you enjoy doing with Mama?

Sauryn

Reading. Mm. And playing and being with everyone here. 

Bradley

And what about with your papa? What do you like to do with me?  

Sauryn

Play, go on adventures because adventure buddies stick together. I like having adventures with Gnomey – our house gnome that lives with us. We’re working on a graphic novel that you’ll meet Gnomey very soon.  Right? Yeah. That’s our current project for Majik Kids –  I like traveling through portals. 

Bradley

Yes. You like going through portals and you’re the creative director at Majik Kids. And what sort of work do you do at Majik Kids? What are, what roles do you play in the family business? Creative director. What does that mean to you?

Sauryn

Well, I do love creating things. Mm-hmm. 

Bradley

I mean, you’ve helped. You and I co-wrote, I think we wrote 12 books together and audio stories. And you do some voice acting. And you came up with the idea, which was one of the most brilliant ideas in my 18 years of entrepreneurship. What idea did you have for Majik Kids? About something? About a button. 

Sauryn

The app? 

Bradley

Yeah. What did you tell us to do? 

Sauryn

Well, I walked in, well, we were having a marketing meeting and I said, Papa, we need a button. 

Bradley

And we said, what do you mean by a button? And then you held up a picture with a rectangle and a circle in it and you’re like, we need a button. So the kids can just push a button and the stories will pop up, and then the stories will start playing. And we’ve been working for months on building with our creative team the most beautiful app interface for kids that is gonna feature our magical audio stories every Saturday morning, beautiful Imagination Meditations to help kids explore and learn about their body, their minds, the world life, their emotions and feelings, all the things. And then also sing-along music so that we can build a really beautiful, incredible library of inspiring singalong music for kids. And it was all your idea. 

Can I ask you a question? What’s it like? When being a kid, when grownups listen to you? How does it feel when grownups listen to you?

Sauryn

Like play with me and things? Well, one thing I don’t like about some people that is really a bit annoying, when I wanna be with them is that they’re on their phone. I just don’t like it. Like when I wanna read a book with mommy or Papa, and they’re on their phone, it’ll take a little bit.

Bradley

Yeah. That sucks. And because of the whole phone situation in the house what are we building this week? A phone box, to lock those phones away because mommy and Papa have been busted before by Sauryn. And we also value the togetherness time, and there’s a time to be on a phone and there’s a time to be together, and we’re gonna choose the together time. So watch that on our YouTube channel about the phone box. 

Celeste

Building a new family culture of togetherness. 

Sauryn

And also you should check out our homeschooling videos, right? 

Bradley

That’s right. What do you like about homeschooling? 

Sauryn

Well, one, I don’t like going to school. 

Bradley

What is it about school that you don’t wanna do?

Sauryn

Well, I just really like being with my parents and family, and I don’t really wanna go away from our house and things for the whole day at school. 

Bradley

Right. You wanna be together. And we wanna be together. We do. We’re honored and grateful that you wanna be hanging with Ma and Pa. And we’ve rearranged our lifestyle to support that and in rearranging our lifestyle to support that we accidentally created a whole Majik Kids publishing company. As a way to support your homeschooling and your education. Not only are you co-writing books, but you’re learning about the creative process. And getting to understand all of these beautiful skills of turning your ideas into a reality. 

Celeste

So Sauryn’s currently giving us lots of hugs right now. Big hugs. Dishing out mad hugs. 

Bradley

And you did try school. You tried school for a little bit…

Sauryn

But turns out. I don’t like it. 

Celeste

Fair enough, fair enough. Every we honor your choice. And some kids do like it, some kids don’t like it. We love that you’re home. We have the privilege of being able to stay home and also just creatively prioritize and redistribute our energy so that we can be home.

Bradley

So let’s pivot into a little bit about Majik Kids, the origin story. Because I call this an accidental publishing company, even though we intentionally created it. I don’t think we fully realized what we were stepping into when we decided to start Majik Kids. So let’s rewind.

Celeste

Are you old enough to remember tapes that actually wound audio? 

Bradley

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am that old. Okay, good. Just a second. So. Let’s just speak to the problem that we see in children’s entertainment, in children’s stories and literature, in the times that we’re living in. Because as you know, when I wasn’t a parent, I wasn’t aware of what I’m now aware of.  And let’s just talk about those problems so we can talk about what sparked our deep passion to take action. 

Celeste

Well, I remember you and I decided to talk about our choices with videos and screens and shows just as parents when Sauryn was little and we didn’t wanna have our kid watching very much shows. It wasn’t like a daily thing for us. We were sort of like, let’s just intentionally make sure that this child has a curated content that’s coming into his consciousness as these formative years are so, so precious. Let’s really be aware of what we’re bringing in. And so we would watch shows when he was little and choose ones that were really simple and really gentle on the consciousness. Not a lot of fighting or interesting language or concepts that were sort of beyond where he was at developmentally when he was like a Preschooler, let’s say. And then we decided, you know, I think that we’re just going to maybe instead of putting on a show to sort of like keep him busy while I do stuff as our lifestyle thing. I don’t think I really love that. So even though it can be easy thing to turn to as a being at home with my kid all the time, I would rather us use technology to bring us closer together as a connection point than a disconnection point or.

Bradley

And when he was three, we had that crazy year of, we built this beautiful retreat studio and then we had to move abruptly. And we moved twice in that year. He got a lot of screen time because it was a very chaotic point. It came out of absolute need. 

Celeste

That story is on my mind too.  Can I elaborate on the story? So basically we, we had this home, we had this business in our home, and we had what we call an unexpected pivot where we needed to move and we were, you know, 10 days away from moving and our dog (Bonkers) was severely injured and he was needing pretty much all around care at home, and you were working long, long days at home from our home studio. Sauryn was in my care, he was three. And then I had Bonkers in my care and we had to pack up our entire house and, and moved, and studio  put most of it in storage and live in a temporary housing for six months.

So we had to have all the forethought of what we would need in the temporary home. And the long-term storage. So, needless to say, Sauryn got a lot of shows because I literally had to take the dog outside to rinse and drain his wound, and help him to go to the washroom and to make sure he was comfortable and hand feed him… And this was like happening a lot throughout the day. And you know, a bouncy little 3-year-old, I just needed to put him on shows. So I did. And then we moved and then once we recognized how addicted he was, and how his moods were so violent and angry the minute the shows were done, even if there was like forethought in like gearing him to say, this is gonna be done soon. Okay, we’re gonna finish. It was chaos. We were like, okay, this isn’t gonna work for our life. 

Bradley

It was like, it was a drug. It is a drug. And it was very, very clear to us. And so at that same time when we’re like, whoa, this is totally not working. That was when we discovered the power of audio stories – some people might think or have the assumption that a three-year-old wouldn’t sit and pay attention to an audio story, but that wasn’t the case for Sauryn.

We introduced him to audio stories and what we found there was this magic, like let’s say Mama Bear here has gotta make some dinner and I’m working, or whatever, and Sauryn needs some support or attention. We would turn on the audio stories and we would give him an activity, something kinesthetic to do. So we learned that if you turn on the audio story, he might not pay attention as much, but if you turn on the audio story with some Play-Doh or Blocks or Lego or Coloring Surprise or craft, and he would just like and still does to this day, he goes into the Zone, his imagination turns on and expands.

He goes into this kinesthetic focused space while listening to the story, and then Sauryn, we would say to you, like after the story, do you remember what the story is about? And you would recall the story and the characters and the lessons because you were actively engaged in activity while listening.

And so for us, what we found was he didn’t have the same withdrawal symptoms that happened with screens when we’d turn the screen off, he didn’t, or when we shut the audio story off, he didn’t have the same explosive emotional behavior, that happens from the screen addiction that takes place.

Celeste

Yeah, I think I had been fostering as well and I just blessed with the type of child who took naturally to having small bursts of independent play since he was really little. I would set out these prompts and just sort of go to the bathroom and when I came back, he would just be playing with some blocks in a bin or something with this audio story. So I’d like the audio stories came in later, but I think I’d always been like, oh, if my child is playing independently, I am not gonna burst that bubble. Yeah, I am gonna, not gonna be like, what are you doing? Or do you wanna play? Or here’s something else it would like. So I’d been fostering that over a number of years. Just to preface that, that we’ve been building that into our lifestyle as well by choice. 

Bradley

So now let’s just talk about the quality of entertainment that’s available, like starting with movies. Why is it that every children’s movie or most children’s movie are about evil characters and bad guys and villains and heroes? I think it’s damaging and it’s not helping kids. With children, we wanna keep the quality of their entertainment and stories to be pure, to fill them up, to inspire them, to keep them curious and engaged. And what we are finding, shows are obvious. I mean, you look at anything with Disney and if you’re really looking at it from a lens of like, this is what’s conditioning your child in the world to prepare them for life and to help them develop into who they’re meant to be, you’ll see that Disney’s not doing the best job at that. And then you look at the audio stories. When we started listening to audio stories, we just found that there was so much out there that wasn’t aligned with our values that we were trying to instill. 

Celeste

Either it was like really hollow content, like just really shallow content that was quite, didn’t have like a strong moral message or something to encourage. It had a lot of fighting or a lot of language that wasn’t something I wanted my child to emulate as a way like between characters and how characters might interact. And it teaches behavior, right? Yeah. It teaches how to respond in social dynamics.

Bradley

And then the ones that were more holistic and pure, the production quality just was lower, even on the boring side. And as parents, I mean all you parents out there, I’m sure you’ve probably read thousands of books, maybe watched tons of kids’ things. A lot of the stuff out there for kids, it’s either too mature for the kids and it’s made for the parents or it’s not all that fun for a parent to listen to or watch again and again, 

Celeste

And or it’s also designed to be repetitive and addictive and to hook your kids’ consciousness into wanting more of it for profit. We won’t mention Paw Patrol. No. Paw Patrol’s definitely not meant to keep kids addicted to it and sell toys… so those are the problems.

Those were some of the things that we were very, very aware of. 

Celeste

I kept being frustrated because I wanna put on something that’s wholesome and adventurous and actually my kid wants to listen to, but that I also approve of and feels like it’s contributing to the greenhouse that we’re creating for our child, the environment that we’re wanting him to grow within.

Bradley

And so those were some of the things that we noticed. Sauryn and I are play buddies. We play a lot. We love stories. We make up stories all the time. We play in our imaginations all the time. Right buddy? Yeah. And he’s upside down on the couch right now. So this is a part of the podcast is all these little sweet little noises – he is being a kid. 

Sauryn

Fart!

Bradley

That’s your one fart that you get in this episode. So you’ve used it up. You can have one per show. So a part of my background in producing entertainment based transformational media is that I understand what it takes to make a good story and to produce something beautifully that people wanna pay attention to.

I’d never done it for kids. But Sauryn and I were always making up stories. And the ones that he kept asking me to tell, I started to put down on paper. And then one night I have a men’s group that I started almost five years ago on the island here. Basically every Tuesday night, the group of guys we get together and whatever guys show up that night, choose the adventure the following week, and we’ve done, you know, some amazing, amazing adventures, creative nights, beautiful heart sharing art, et cetera.

We’ve done a lot of really cool things and in doing those things as men, we’ve built these deep and lasting bonds of trust and friendship, and so on this one particular night we’re all gathered. There was about 10 to 12 guys and the theme was to write a children’s story in a night. And I wrote the story “The Master’s Apprentice”, which was our first book we released. And when I got finished that night, I was like, I want this to exist. And I understand there’s some things ’cause I’ve had a publishing contract with a book publisher in the past, and what I understand about publishing is one, the publishers are gonna pay maybe 5 to 10% on the high end for your book deal. Two, it could take two to three years to see that book, get it on a bookshelf. And three, book publishing companies don’t really help authors market their books anymore unless they’re some of the top, top authors. So I was like, well, why would I go to a publisher, when I have this media business? 

And so we did a bunch of research. I hired one of our dear friends who helped about 200 self-published authors get their books out into the world. And we built a team on Salt Spring Island and in 2022, we released 19 magical audio stories. What makes them magical is the idea of movies for the ears or audio movies is we worked with over 70 voice actors, with local musicians and Salt Spring Island is home to some fabulous world class musicians, and they scored the music and the sound effects to really bring the stories and the characters to life and the worlds that we wrote about. And we worked with 11 illustrators, 10 of which came from our talented little artistic island here. And we released 18 books. And in the process of making all of this, because what happens is when we say yes to the vision that we have and we take inspired action, we start to realize what is actually is as the spirit of the business comes to life and why we’re actually doing it. One of the why’s for us is obviously creating alternative entertainment sources for kids that are all the fun of story time without the screen time to get kids back into their imaginations where they be belong. And another piece of it is the artists. If you look at what the average artist earns on Spotify, it’s literally pennies. And what we need is a world that honors the artists.

And the question that I’ve had this last year since launching Majik Kids is what would happen if the most talented artists were able to devote their talent, their gifts, and their art into honoring, inspiring, uplifting, and empowering kids. And that’s why we came up with the Fair Trade Publishing model, which basically pays 50% of our revenue back to our artists for book sales, and when the app comes out, this Spring app subscription sales as well. So that the goal is that the artists can generate enough income that they can just stay committed and working on things that inspire kids. And just imagine if that’s the world we lived in, because Amazon doesn’t do that. None of these big companies, Apple, Spotify, et cetera. And this is a really big problem because artists are what help to create the culture. They’re like the glue that keep this culture together in the world. And so our big mission is definitely to reunite and activate families and togetherness and to tell amazing stories that inspire kids without the need to have bad guys in battles all the time.

Celeste

… who are rescuing everything… 

Bradley

And so it’s been beautiful and a part of it, and this was just an afterthought that came as we started to create all these stories, is like, these stories have values. They have amazing messages and lessons to be learned. And so with every book and audio story we’ve created a curriculum that goes with it so that the kids can integrate the lessons and the themes into their lives. And it could be with a parent facilitator, it could be with a childcare facilitator, a babysitter. It could be at your daycare or it could be listening, reading the stories with a classroom, and then doing all of the activities.

And literally each story has hours and hours worth of creative adventures, conversation starters, games, activities, all sorts of stuff to help the kids learn the lessons and apply the themes in their own life so that they remember them, so they become an embodied part of who they are. And that’s been a lot of fun.

Yay. Hooray. Yay. So that’s a little origins story with Majik Kids and where Majik Kids is going from here is our team is hard at work right now building the Majik Kids app. Imagine something like Spotify for Kids. It’s gonna house new audio stories on Saturday mornings to replace your cartoons, sing along music and imagination meditations to help kids with their nervous systems. And then there’ll be the parent portal for educators and parents to grab all of the learning activities, this podcast, other podcasts, resources, 

Celeste

…to help you with your nervous system, like your meditation series that will live in there. 

Bradley 

I built a meditation library that has been enjoyed by millions of people around the world over the last eight years. And so that will also be inside of the app to support all you parents out there and grownups with your nervous systems and to get back into your own inner child 

Celeste

…embodied deep presence parenting. That’s right. We’ll also probably have other inspired content as we discover what is requested and desired by community who chooses to use this, and as we share more of our lifestyle homestead and practical tips in our life.

Bradley

So that’s a wee bit about the Morris Majiks and Majik Kids. This podcast, the episodes that’ll be coming out. Sometimes Celeste might do a solo episode for Mamas. 

Celeste

Yeah, I actually forgot to mention when I was doing my intro that I also share the Sacred Grief work with community and that that’s a pretty big thread of what I offer other than hosting the mama group. And, so that’s possibly gonna be making its way into books, meditations, resources, and, I absolutely love tending the sacred flame of the full spectrum of our life, including our pleasure and our joy, and our grief and our sorrow. And finding a place to tend it, weave it in, and live it and breathe it.

Bradley

So. Sometimes it might be a solo episode with Celeste. Might be, both of us, might be a episode out there for fathers around some of the things I’ve learned, we may bring guests on, if you have requests, if you have questions, if you have things that you’re curious about with homeschooling, you can write it in to us and we can create episodes about those.

We feel like we’ve been consciously building our life to be what it is so that we can live a life of service and creativity so that we can be present with our son. And, we’ve made a lot of mistakes and we’ve stumbled into some solutions for what we see as some of the biggest challenges facing parents facing education, facing people that are here to honor the children.

And we hope we can help. And have some fun along the way. That’s right. So do we have anything else we wanna end on here? 

Celeste

Yeah. I feel called to share a blessing with whoever’s listening that we’re so grateful that you’re here, that you tuned in and that you’re still listening. It means that there’s a deep spark alive in your heart and that we really feel with everything, every fiber of our being, we know how deeply you are needed in this planet and your children and how important every person is, and that the more people that are embodying pure love and sharing whatever gifts you have with the earth at this time. That’s what we’re all here for. We’re here to raise the spiritometer as we like to say. Yes, we’re here to raise the sparkle and the joy and deeply honor all of the pain and the hardships that we are currently growing through as a collective. All of the crumbling of systems, all of the disillusion, everything is necessary and needed to reorganize to a higher order.

And we’re just creating this podcast essentially so we can share more of us and hopefully inspire your greatness because we love you. 

Bradley

Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you so much for tuning in to our first episode of The Magic Parents Podcast. Follow us, subscribe, like, share, do all the things that you’re supposed to do at the end of the show.

And if you haven’t checked out our magical audio stories, go to majikkids.com. Check out the stories. Listen to them with your kids. I would recommend you check out “Fuzz: The incredible story of a dog’s best friend”, “Beyond the Wall: The untold story of Humpty Dumpty” or “The Other Side: The untold story of why the chicken really crossed the road” or Sauryn’s claim to fame “The Inventiest Kid”, which – just quick backstory on the Inventiest kid  – so cool. About a year and a half ago, it was a rainy night and we’re sitting in the living room and I said, Sauryn, let’s work on a story. So, I pulled up my notebook. He’s bouncing around the living room as five year olds do, ’cause he is five at the time. And I just asked him question after question and he came up with the characters, the inventions, the idea that this kid Steven Screwdriver could invent anything he could make up or imagine, all the names, he came up with the whole story and then I just helped to piece it together. And “The Inventiest Kid”‘s a really beautiful story, it’s a fan favorite and I’m sure you’ll love it as well. 

So thanks so much for tuning in! High Five. We did it episode one, the Origin Story of The Majiks. We’ll see you next time, except we’re not, you’re not looking at us. So I guess you’ll hear us next time. Stay awesome. You’re the best. Love you. Bye bye.

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