Projective road cards
This year I stayed at an Airbnb owned by a therapist and discovered Roads, a deck of 67 projective cards that therapists use to help clients picture where they are in life and where they want to go. Each card shows an illustrated path or road, and there are many ways to use them. You can pick one for a new direction you’d like to take, or lay out several to map your journey from where you are now to where you hope to be. Either way, the images start speaking for your inner landscape. It’s made for therapy, but I bought a deck for my own solo reflection. While searching for it, I also found Play Therapy Supply, which seems like a great source for introspective tools even if you’re not a play therapist. — CD
Cardboard Construction Toys
In my experience the greatest toys for kids are large sheets of cardboard from recycled oversized boxes. It’s free. With the addition of a few plastic screws you or the kids can make endless forts, fantasy structures and even costumes by cobbling the cardboard together. The screws I use have a hex head that fits a socket driver or screwdriver. You make a hole with an awl and then hand drive the screw in. Easy and safe for kids to do. The screws are easy to extract and re-use in the next project. A set of Kizzikids 160 screws with 2 drivers ($20) will have more pieces than you’ll ever need – but perfect for a school or camp. Or, if you have a 3D printer you can print Cardboard Fasteners yourself. — KK
Quick fix for leaks
I used Iron Grip self-fusing silicone tape to temporarily patch a leaky hose on my car. To activate it, stretch the tape, then wrap it tightly around a leaky pipe, hose, or wire. It’s great to have some around for plumbing leaks when they happen. You can also wrap it around tool handles for a more comfortable grip. I used the Iron Grip brand, but many other brands are available, and I imagine they’re all pretty much the same. — MF
Charity Navigator
Tis the season to remember the power of philanthropy. Small gifts, well aimed, can make significant impacts. When we are evaluating new-to-us charitable orgs, we use Charity Navigator to assess their reputation, how responsible and transparent they are with their finances. If you are trying to compare global health programs in terms of how many lives are saved or improved per dollar, try GiveWell. If you want to improve the world by supporting art, do your own thing, but do it generously. There are few pleasures as lasting as giving. — KK
Natural hazards by address
If you live in California, MyHazards is a good place to find out which natural hazards you're most susceptible to. Type in your address, city, or ZIP code, and it shows whether you're near earthquake, flood, fire, or tsunami risk, along with practical steps to prepare for each one. I looked up my own address because of all the El Niño talk and learned I'm not in a flood zone, but I am in an earthquake liquefaction zone. It's free and run by the state's Office of Emergency Services. — CD
1,700 free university courses
The Open Culture website maintains a directory of about 1,700 free online courses from top universities like Yale, MIT, Harvard, and Oxford. They are organized by category. Courses include literature, history, philosophy, religion, computer science, physics, biology, economics, psychology, engineering, and more. The courses are offered in audio, video, and text, and none of them require signing up or payment. It’s like a free university you can dip into anytime you want, or a good way to try out a subject before enrolling in a class. Open Culture also has free movies, ebooks, and art images. — MF
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