How to Host a Magical Polar Express Party at Home (Plus Our Complete Planning Bundle!)

Published on October 26, 2026October 26, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

All Aboard! How to Host a Magical Polar Express Party at Home

Simple ideas, sweet traditions, and one complete planning bundle to help you create special memories your family will treasure.

There’s something magical about Christmas through the eyes of a child.

The excitement of wearing pajamas to a party, receiving a golden ticket, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, and settling in for a special movie can turn an ordinary evening into a memory that lasts for years.

Over the years, our family has enjoyed creating our own Polar Express celebrations. We’ve welcomed little passengers aboard, decorated graham-cracker trains, played games, enjoyed delicious treats, and gathered together for a cozy movie night.

And while those celebrations have been filled with special touches, I’ve learned something important along the way.

You don’t have to spend a fortune or plan an elaborate event to create magical memories.

You just need a little creativity, some simple preparations, and the people you love.

That’s why I’ve put together our Pollywog’s Place Polar Express Planning Pack, a complete printable party bundle inspired by our family’s celebrations.

But first, let me share some of our favorite ideas for hosting your own magical evening!

You can see some of our previous posts HERE.

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Amazon eBooks from Pollywog’s Place Blog

Published on October 20, 2026October 21, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

These are ebooks that have been written by myself and/or our family. These purchases will help to support our family.

Here is our Amazon Storefront link.

Kindle Unlimited Free Trial**

We do participate as an Amazon affiliate and you may read our disclosure below:

Book cover for 'Sweet Shyanne: The Little Girl Who Could' by Susie Perez, featuring a young girl smiling among flowers and animals, emphasizing themes of courage, kindness, and faith.

Cover image for 'Kirby's Korner Blog' featuring the title, 'Top 40+ Family Favorite Recipes' with a cherry on whipped cream.

**As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post does contain some affiliate and/or referral links to products and/or services that we use. If you happen to click through a link and make a purchase, we may earn a teensy-weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. This means that we can keep bringing you great recipes, ideas, and tips for FREE! Click HERE for a full disclaimer. –Thank you!

Unlock Your Creative Potential: Introducing Our Canva Mastery Course for Beginners!

Published on October 20, 2026October 20, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Have you ever wanted to create beautiful printables for your home, designing custom worksheets for your homeschool lessons, or even launch your own digital product shop, but felt held back because you aren’t a professional graphic designer?

Trust me, I completely understand that feeling. Complicated design software can feel incredibly overwhelming, and trying to teach yourself through trial and error takes hours out of your busy day.

That is exactly why I created our brand new digital resource: The Canva Mastery Course for Beginners!

Our core mission with this course is simple: Unlock your creative potential with zero design experience.

A woman sitting on a log in a forest, using a laptop to promote a 'Canva Mastery Course for Beginners,' highlighting creative potential without prior design experience.

Table of Contents for a guide on using Canva, featuring chapters on getting started, workspace setup, toolset, font pairing, and creating digital products.

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Creative workspace with tablet, sketchbooks, craft supplies, and headphones

Transform Screen Time into Creative Learning with SparkEd

Published on October 17, 2026October 17, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Hey friends!

What if some of your child’s screen time turned into time to explore, create, and solve cool problems instead of just zoning out?

I’ve recently signed up as a SparkEd affiliate and earn a commission through my link, so you’re helping support Pollywog’s Place if you decide to try it. SparkEd pulls together both academic support and fun enrichment, with topics like invention, storytelling, and global exploration. Because it’s self-paced, families can weave learning into their routines without totally rearranging life. Start with your child’s interests, then pick a course that fits their
readiness and comfort level.

Curious what might grab your kiddo’s attention? Take a peek at SparkEd through this link:

Check out the courses at SparkEd HERE!

Screenshot of SparkEd's Life Skills, Wellness & Real-World Readiness course page featuring three course categories: Survivor Skills, Digital Detectives, and Personal Finance for grades 3-9.

We’ve been shaking things up a bit in our homeschool routines this year. One big goal has been finding lessons and workbooks that let the older kids work more independently (while I drink my coffee before it gets cold for once… lol… while working more one-on-one with our youngest child). I’ll chat more about the other curriculum changes later—some of the workbooks are still on back order, so we haven’t really tried them out yet—but we *have* started using another resource that I’m excited to tell you about right now.

We’re kicking things off with some of the Life Skills courses that have caught my crew’s eye. My boys are itching to tackle the Survivor Skills course, while my older daughter has her sights set on the Personal Finance course. Each course has 12 modules with four sections, which fits really nicely into our current homeschool rhythm without feeling overwhelming.

We’ll keep you posted once we’ve had more time to play with these new resources… and honestly, we’re nerd-level excited about it, so there *will* be updates!

Let me know if you have tried this out or what courses you are interested in!

May God Bless You!

Coming Soon! Little House on The Prairie: The Long Winter Unit Study

Published on October 7, 2026October 15, 2026 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

I’m so excited to announce that this is finally finished! It’s not quite the same format as our previous unit studies, but they will be so educational and entertaining for the whole family. I am giving you a chance to download the PDF right now as I continue to work on adding links to the weekly lesson plans. I am hoping to have them ready by next month…

As the autumn air crisps and we head into the colder months, there is nothing quite like gathering the kids around a cozy fire for storytime. But what if your read-aloud time could double as your entire homeschool curriculum? This week, our family dove deep into the breathtaking, frosty world of the Dakota Territory with The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder**. Reading about how the Ingalls family survived the historic blizzards of 1880 sparked so many questions about history, survival, and science that I knew I had to build something bigger. If you are looking to trade dry textbooks for a rich, immersive living book experience, here is how you can transform this classic frontier tale into a rigorous, hands-on 6-week unit study for your middle schooler.

**As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post does contain some affiliate and/or referral links to products and/or services that we use. If you happen to click through a link and make a purchase, we may earn a teensy-weensy small commission (at NO EXTRA cost to you) if a purchase is made through these links. These links help to support our family, our blog, and our homeschooling mission. This means that we can keep bringing you great recipes, ideas, and tips for FREE! Click HERE for a full disclaimer. –Thank you!