SEND HUNGER PACKING!
Hunger is affecting thousands of area families! That is why Storybook Tea and Boutique is teaming up with other local organizations and businesses to “SEND HUNGER PACKING”. This is a community wide food drive! You may bring donations to Storybook Tea and Boutique, collection box inside.
Needed Items Are:
- Cereals, including oatmeal
- Pasta and Rice Products
- Soup and Prepared Meal Products
- Baking Mixes
- Small and Large Cans of Juice
- Canned Fruits and Vegetables
- Condiments
- Canned Meats
- Baby Food and Formula
- Baby Diapers and Wipes
- Plastic Garbage and Food Storage Bags
- Toiletries (deoderant, shampoo, hand soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and razors)
- Household Cleaning Products (including laundry detergent and dishwashing soap)
EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!!!
Call Wendy or Deanna with any questions.
360-479-3501
It’s Cold Outside!!! Come, play, relax!
Now that the cold has knocked on our door and there are less things to do indoors for children, come and relax with us. We have a beautiful space for children 2 and up and warm tea and hot coffee for our parents.
Check out our Tea Party Playdates
or
Book a Birthday Party! The winter is our busiest season for Parties, so book now and get the day and time you want! Invitations and Goody Bags included. No Stress for Parents!
NEW HOURS AND OFFERS!
Open Toddler/Preschool Playtime and Parent Cafe’
Wednesday 10:30-12:00 and 1:00-2:30
Thursday 10:30-12:00 and 1:00-2:30
Friday 10:30-12:00 and 1:00-2:30
90 minutes $7.00 per visit or purchase a 5 visit pass for $25.00!!!
*Coffee, Tea and Snacks are available to purchase.
Tea Party Playdates!
Wednesday 3:30-5:00
Thursday 3:30-5:00
Friday 3:30-5:00
$15.00 per child. 90 minutes. Dress up, makeover/face paint, snack and beverage included!
$4.00 per adult. Coffee or Tea and Snack included!
*5 visit pass available for $55.00!!!$20 savings!!
*SATURDAY AND SUNDAY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. CALL AHEAD OR SAME DAY TO CHECK AVAILABILITY AND SCHEDULE!*
*OPEN TO SHOPPERS DURING BUSINESS HOURS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED!
Once Upon a Time…The Importance of Pretend Play
By: John Lee
“Imaginative play is a precursor of conceptual thought – in which possibilities are explored upon the inner ’stage’ of a child’s imagination.” – Erik Erikson 
To all the flash card fans and fact drillers out there, the statement I am about to make may shock you: For young children, developing imagination is an important way to gain knowledge.
You read correctly – and I’m not alone in this quest to elevate imaginative play to its rightful place alongside knowing ABCs or numbers or reading before the age of 3.
Many experts agree on the lifetime value of developing imagination. Yale University child development psychologists Dorothy and Jerome Singer say, “A critical feature of adult life is our ability to create stories we tell ourselves about possible futures and ways of attaining our goals. Children need to get an early start in such inner storytelling and mental manipulation of various situations.” 
Through play, children express the world inside them and order the world outside. Children’s minds are amazing when at work, especially those minds that don’t know the “right way to play.” Those children find paths to discovery and understanding, marching to the beat of their own drummers, and along the way they open the door to independence, self-confidence and unlimited potential.
Open-ended play encourages this highly individual experience and is fueled by imagination. Toys that leave room for a child’s input and creative imagination are the ones that they return to over and over again – they are captivating, enduring.
Handmade Children’s Boutique Items
Creative Chaos
Looking to buy a unique gift for a child? Storybook Tea & Boutique now promotes local Moms who create beautiful children’s wear and accesories. All priced affordably!
Creative Chaos: A line of fashionable baby onsies, children’s t-shirts, and gorgeous hair accesories
Luli Girl: A line of couture childrens clothes. Specialities include Halloween tutu t-shirts, vintage pillow case dresses, Christmas PJ’s, and pant/shirt sets. All items are beautifully sewn with delicate detail.
Luligirl
Baby La Plume: This local Mom creates adorable baby beanies for boys and girls, ebellished garden hats, and blooming hair bows, headbands, and accesories.
Baby La Plume Beanie
Relaxing Playtime for Mom and Child
Come and Join us for Toddler/Playtime
Dramatic play with Castles, Doll houses, Puppets, Kitchen, Coloring with Crayons, face paint and more…
Beverages and Snacks Available for purchase
Coffee, Tea, Water, Soda available for purchase
No outside food or beverage please (exceptions made for food allergies)
$6.00 per hour per child (1-5yrs old)
or 5 visit card for $20. per child
Make Reservations, call ahead, or drop in
Tuesdays 11:30-5pm
Wednesdays 11:30-5pm
Thursdays 11:30-5pm
Friday 11:30-5pm
Definitive Arts is Magical!
Definitive Arts is a local business who has made Storybook Tea & Boutique even more magical!
I first met Allen Shelton just soon after I opened the shop. He was walking around town handing out his cards to local businesses. I held onto that card and when I decided that I needed a more “noticeable” sign on my windows, I called him up. I asked him to take the magic and vision of my shop and create something bright, bold, and beautiful…when my banner sign was done I was thrilled! It was perfect. More recently I decided to have a mural painted on the windows of my walk-in display so I could use that space as storage. He quickly responded and I then got to meet Jim Shelton. I was blown away at the ideas and drawings they came prepared with. After about 12 hours of work, the background of the mural was breathtaking. Their artisitic skill and vision has made me as happy as a child on Christmas morning….and there is more work to be added. So keep driving by and see the magic unfold!!!
Looking to bring a little magic to your child’s room or play space? Call up Jim and Allen, they will make you smile from ear to ear! Tell them Wendy sent you 
Definitive Arts
Jim Shelton and Allen Shelton
360-895-9102
Fax 360-895-9102
Fax 360-895-9102
Birthday Party Layaway Program
Storybook Tea has come up with a plan to help parents afford a grand birthday party for their child.
Birthday Party Layaway is designed for parents who have trouble spending $200. at once but can afford to pay small payments leading up to the birthday party.
You can start as early as 4 months ahead of time, dropping in at your convenience and paying what you can to save up for the big party day.
You can also add on gifts and goody bags to the final cost and save for that as well.
There is no fee for participation in the Layaway program.
Please call Wendy Daniels for more information.
The Importance of Pretend Play By Ellen Booth Church
Young children learn by imagining and doing. Have you ever watched your child pick up a stone and pretend it is a zooming car, or hop a Lego across the table as if it were a person or a bunny? Your child is using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. But this pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas.
Preschool and kindergarten classrooms usually have a well-equipped dramatic play area, and this is quite intentional. Research has shown that pretend play provides children with a microcosm for life that encourages them to take the skills they have learned in classroom lessons and apply them to meaningful life activities. It is believed that this process of application helps your child not only develop a skill, but learn how to use it in life.
Pretend Play Builds Social and Emotional Skills When your child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, he learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of “walking in someone else’s shoes,” which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others. Your child also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending!
In the early years, children are just beginning to understand the difference between fantasy and reality. Imaginative play and acting out both familiar characters (such as family members) and fictional ones helps children internalize this important distinction. For example, your child can grasp the difference between her real mommy and the mommy she sometimes pretends to be when playing house. She will then apply that experiential knowledge to other situations. Pretend Play Builds Language Skills Have you ever listened in as your child engages in imaginary play with his toys or friends? You will probably hear some words and phrases you never thought he knew! In fact, we often hear our own words reflected in the play of children. Kids can do a perfect imitation of mom, dad, and the teacher!
Pretend play helps your child understand the power of language. In addition, by pretend playing with others, he learns that words give him the means to reenact a story or organize play. This process helps your child to make the connection between spoken and written language — a skill that will later help him learn to read. Your child also builds vocabulary when she engages in pretend play. You and your child’s teachers can introduce theme-specific words. For example, if your child loves to play with her toy dinosaurs, she will quickly learn the very big words for their names if you point them out. Often children like to pretend to do the things that you do around the house. Consider providing magazines, books, paper, and pencils to her collection of dramatic play props at home. Your child will be using pre-reading and pre-writing skills to mimic real-life situations. For example, she can “read” to her dolls and stuffed toys, “write” letters, make lists, and even pretend to take telephone messages with a toy phone! Pretend Play Builds Thinking Skills Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it’s two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.
Does your child enjoy a bit of roughhousing? Great! Some researchers in early brain development believe that this sort of play helps develop the part of the brain (the frontal lobe) that regulates behavior. So instead of worrying that this type of activity will encourage your child to act out or become too aggressive, be assured that within a monitored situation, rough-house play can actually help your child learn the self-regulation skills needed to know how and when this type of play is appropriate. Pretend play also promotes abstract thinking. The ability to use a prop (such as a block) as a symbol for something else (such as a phone) is a high-level thinking skill. Eventually it will enable your child to recognize that numbers represent quantities of things, and that combinations of letters represent the words she speaks, hears, and reads. Nurture the Imagination.
Not enough pretend play at your house? Consider creating a prop box or corner filled with objects to spark your preschooler’s fantasy world. You might include: * Large plastic crates, cardboard blocks, or a large, empty box for creating a “home” * Old clothes, shoes, backpacks, hats * Old telephones, phone books, magazines * Cooking utensils, dishes, plastic food containers, table napkins, silk flowers * Stuffed animals and dolls of all sizes * Fabric pieces, blankets, or old sheets for making costumes or a fort * Theme-appropriate materials such as postcards, used plane tickets, foreign coins, and photos for a pretend vacation trip * Writing materials for taking phone messages, leaving notes, and making shopping list About the Author Ellen Booth Church is a former professor of early childhood education, an education consultant and author.
