Link love: Big kid version

Because the worlds of motherhood are quite disparate — the early years with all the quiet moments, lost sleep, body issues for mom, versus the school years, when I finally understood all the references to carpools, soccer schedules, and LEGOs — I feel like I need to call out the theme in this round-up of links.

Here are some things that you readers with older kids might enjoy browsing:

*Julian wants a “trading card” birthday party. I was inspired and envious of this Pokemon Birthday Party documented on Craft, Interrupted.

* I had pinned a few Halloween door-decorating ideas (I don’t even know who I am anymore), and Christine noticed and sent me a photo of hers, a cute minion-themed door.

* Yarn bombing is sort of a Thing around here, and when I saw these yarn spider webs on Oh Happy Day, I thought it would be fun to do with the kids on the trees in front of our house.

* A friend told me she’s been enjoying watching The Brady Bunch with her kids, but I forgot to ask her how she was watching it. I’d love to introduce my kids to Cindy, Bobby, and their siblings, but I couldn’t find it on Netflix. Ideas?

* This website shows you how to draw C3-PO and some other things, step by step. My son has no interest or patience for that, but I know Heather’s first grader would like it, so here’s the link.

* I was thinking a playmat with our local streets as the setting might inspire my kids to do more playing with our little cars and people. You can order one based on your neighborhood.

* This Hungry Caterpillar snack is just apple, babybel cheese, and fruit leather. So clever.

* If you like super cute food, check out Samantha Lee on Instagram. Every photo she posts makes me smile. It’s art more than food; really impressive.

* This simple snack artÂ is from Better Homes and Gardens, but do not go to the website because they pop up so many ads you may never see the light of day again. Cheese+ bread = jack o’lantern sandwiches.

* Robot coloring pages from dabblesandbabbles

* Kids Stuff World is just an all-around great mom/lifestyle blog for my stage of parenthood. I’m happy to have discovered it.

* The aforementioned Christine and her writing partner Asha are the co-authors of Minimalist Parenting. This month, they’re donating all their royalties to helping women at risk in Ethiopia. If you were thinking of buying the book, now is a good time.

* Finally, from our archives, I wanted to surface this post about making an advent calendar of activities, in case you want to get started early.

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.