Welcome to

ELM PLACE

Making things for the young and the young-at-heart.

Join us in the

The world is big and surprising and silly and wondrous. We want to know more about it and share it with you!

Created by Elm Place founder Kara in collaboration with her mom Jean (previously a Montessori preschool teacher for 20 years), each week Kara and her kid T dive into something fascinating about the world around us.

Each episode rotates between a topic inspired by the natural world (tree), built world (house), or people in the world (together). Join us to learn more in the tree house, together!

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Gathering in the Garden

We were invited by our friends for a springtime event in their backyard learning garden, where we sang songs, read stories, and created a pop-up podcast recording studio! It was so much fun to see our friends in person and hear their contributions to our episode on Seasons.

Latest episodes

Come on in, letā€™s branch out! Take a listen to our most recent Tree House Together episodes.

As always, check out the episode notes for picture books recs, art inspiration, and episode summaries.

Parenting


Weā€™re all trying to do as best we can with the limited time that we have.

Informed by years of research and a maniacal love for list-keeping, weā€™re offering up some of our favorite books, podcasts, items, and ideas.

To make your life as a parent a little less stressful and a little more fun.

About Elm Place

Hi! Iā€™m Kara ā€“ mother of two, photographer, and founder of Elm Place.

When I became a mom five years ago, I started noticing all of the things that I wish existed, for myself as a parent and to share with my kids. And so two kids, one pandemic, and lots of soul-searching later, Elm Place was born! We want to create and curate things that appeal to kids and their grown ups.

Elm Place was the name of the street I grew up on and has always been associated with a place of wonder, curiosity, and adventure. Iā€™m hoping to bring those same values to this endeavor ā€“ thanks for joining us!

Follow along with us on Instagram at @elmplace_co

There's no one else like Dolly Parton - she has written her own songs and forged her own path. Join us for the newest @tree_house_together episode to learn all about the amazing, talented, beautiful (inside and out) Dolly Parton.
Clock obsession seems to start early in our family…
Time to listen to our longest episode yet, and T’s first ever episode request!
This picture book gets a lot of love and reads in our household (where we also have a Gaga)! Gaga Mistake Day by the daughter @emmastraub + mother @sbstraub617 writing team, with pictures by @jesslovedraws. It is heartfelt, it is silly, it is beautif
T made us custom family library cards! That’s a QR code on the back. 10/10. No notes.
The joy that comes from a table full of legos, begging to be built with! Thanks @fivelittlemonkeystoys on College Ave in Berkeley!
The fact that this is research makes my inner child (and grown up self) very happy
Celebrated Independent Bookstore Day along with a caped superhero! Get out to your closest bookstore, friends, they need all the support we can give.
T rediscovered the arctic page in her animal sticker book, completely unprompted, the same week we released the Tundra episode. Thanks podcast gods!
Refresh those podcast feeds folks because we have a new episode ready for ya!
T and I spent a LOT of time under this wave at the @montereybayaquarium . . . #elmplacetravels #monterey #montereywithkids
Aquarium adventure
So excited to be leading an interactive story time šŸ“– and some podcast recording šŸŽ¤ at the @thenurturedseedling’s Earth Day Open House & Celebration šŸŒŽ Come join us in Oakland on Sunday April 13!!! šŸŒø
T using rocks to build at the incredible San Francisco's Presidio Tunnel Tops Park