Brene Brown on Empathy

I had one of my professors show me this RSA today. It was very touching and it demonstrates what I hope be better at…empathy. I also think this a skill that is so important for children to learn as they grow. You're never too young or old to improve upon your own ability to empathize with another. (I love Brene Brown's stuff. If you haven't heard of her then you need to google her name. She is amazing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

Chore Sticks

   

   Saturday is the day we usually do chores at our house since we are so busy during the week. Many times we have had disputes about who should do what or if a certain chore is really "fair"! In order to solve these battles we have started to draw chores from our "Jar of Chores". So far using this method has helped keep the chores new and exciting  (as much as chores can be) and eliminate any blame that one child may put on another.

   I have divided my sticks into 3 different colors giving each chore a level of difficulty and associating it with a color. For example a hard chore would be cleaning the toilet (green stick), medium difficulty would be vacuuming (yellow stick), and an easy chore would be dusting (orange stick). My kids draw one of each color on Saturday morning and it usually takes them about an hour to an hour and a half to do all three. My husband and I fill in the gaps of what didn't get cleaned (which works out fine for us). I figure the purpose of chores is to teach my children to take pride in where they live, give them life skills to use later in life, and show them the value of hard work. For little kids you could just give them one of the easy chores or you can adapt chores to fit the age of your child. My oldest son has always loved to fold clothes with me. Instead of asking a 4 year old to wash the laundry (like you would an older child) I would have them fold their own pants and shirts or help fold a load of towels. Believe me it won't be perfect, but it is priceless to see how proud a kid can be when they  have done something all on their own!
      I made my jar with washi tape and a glass jar that I purchased from Michael's. I put washi tape on my popsicles sticks and I covered both sides so the stick color would be easy to identify. Super easy and it took me 10 mins to finish this project. What is nice about decorating a jar for your chore sticks is that it can stay out on the counter or workspace without looking like an eye sore! This is so simple even your kids can help make the jar and sticks!
      Let me know how your chore sticks work for your family!

How Many Recipes Are Out There For Play Dough and What Is The Best One?

      I love choices! For example I love picking out my shoes, pants, food, where I sit, where I drive, how I do my hair,  etc… but sometimes it gets overwhelming… (sigh)! As a mom I am running my kids to all their activities, dropping them off at school, doing housework, making dinner, attending school (myself) while doing all the other stuff that comes with being a mom! Yes, these were all choices (sane…probably not).
      One day, when I ventured to find a good recipe for play dough, I was bombard with so many pictures and statements of "being the best ever play dough" I didn't know which one to make! How could I decide? A lightbulb turned on and I thought, " Why not make them all at once and avoid drawing the process out overtime"?  My logic and reasoning told me there had to be at least one play dough that was good.  Although, I have been burned before when I made the "best" casserole that tasted like feet and the "simple and delicious" crockpot meal that made my whole family gag! Those disasters didn't detour me from trying something new again…ok, maybe a little. Let me say being disappointed in disgusting food is one thing but the cute craft that ends up making me want to rip my hair out is a whole other ball of wax.
       I am on a mission to make things simple and give my kids an awesome childhood. I want to cut the "chatter" of the world and listen more to what my children's needs are. Some of my fondest memories growing up was doing things with my family and I want that for my kids. Since life is demanding, I want to figure out what really is good and pass it on to other families so they don't have to wade through the false "bests".
     *These are merely the opinions of my family and I.


The Official Recipes

Funny enough I found 5 recipes that were all similar to all the other recipes out there. There were slight variations with these five but nothing was so significant that I thought warranted a test run.
(I found these recipes on Pintrest)

     

I would say (as a mom) this is my top pick! It was easy to make and the salt dissolved in the warm water giving it a smooth texture.  This dough resembled the store brand "play-doh" which I thought was awesome!

"A" = Colored Playdough

Materials 

•   1 cup water

•   1 tablespoon vegetable oil

•   1/2 cup salt

•   1 tablespoon cream of tartar

•   Food coloring

•   Saucepan

•   1 cup flour

Directions

1.Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.

2.            Remove from heat and add flour.

3.            Stir, then knead until smooth. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand.

4.            Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.

Dough "B" was one I had made before when I was teaching preschool. I love the smell because it is made with Kool-Aid.  A drawback is the colors aren't as cool as the colors you can get with food coloring and compared to the other dough it just isn't as soft.

"B"=  Kool-Aid Playdough

Materials 

•   1/2 cup salt

•   2 cups water

•   Saucepan

•   Food coloring, tempera powder, or Kool-Aid powder for color

•   2 tablespoons vegetable oil

•   2 cups sifted flour

Directions

1.Combine salt and water in saucepan and boil until salt dissolves.

2.            Remove from heat and tint with food coloring, tempera powder, or Kool-Aid.

3.            Add oil and flour.

4.            Knead until smooth.

5.            This dough will last 2 months or longer.

 

This was a sticky mess. I had to add so much flour to it after I had made it. "C" isn't smooth because the salt doesn't dissolve.

"C" = Salt Playdough

Materials 

•   1 cup salt

•   1 cup water

•   1/2 cup flour plus additional flour

•   Saucepan

Directions

1.Mix salt, water, and flour in saucepan and cook over medium heat.

2.            Remove from heat when mixture is thick and rubbery.

3.            As the mixture cools, knead in enough flour to make the dough workable.

         

I saw this (recently) floating around Facebook and Pintrest. A lot of people said they liked it, and that it resembled moon dough. When I first made it I thought it was like cornstarch and water but more stabilized because of the conditioner. After it sat for 10 mins it started to dry and get messy. I would probably do this for a "science experiment" with my kids, but this doesn't have the lasting power the other play doughs have.


"D" = No Cook, 2 Ingredient Play Dough

1 part conditioner
2 parts corn flour/corn starch 
food coloring

Mix corn starch and conditioner in bowl with spoon. 
When it starts to come together mix with your hands.
Add more starch or conditioner for desired consistency.
Smells really good and it's lots of fun!
(I would not recommend little children who like to eat things play with this!!!)

         

This dough made me nervous! I honestly didn't think it was going to work out because it was just a gloppy gooey gob! I ended up taking it off the heat and kept stirring until it came together. I still added a little bit of flour to counteract the sticky!

Easy Homemade Playdough

Ingredients:

•   1 cup of Plain White Flour

•   1/2 cup of Salt

•   2 tbsp of Baking Soda

•   1 cup of Water

•   1 tbsp of Cooking Oil

•   Optional – Food coloring (or use beet or carrot juice for a natural alternative)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a mix bowl and stir with a fork until smooth.

2. Pour mixture in pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.


3. Stir until smooth and the playdough bunches up into a ball.

4. Remove from the pan and let the play dough cool


5. Knead for a few minutes and use as is or add a few drops of food coloring or vegetable juice.

Store in an airtight container

THE WINNER???

My daughter gives her review of each dough and decides which one is her favorite!