Summertime "Fill A Bucket"

Have you heard of "Fill A Bucket"? 

The "Fill A Bucket" philosophy explains that children (and adults) carry an invisible bucket in which we keep our feelings.  There are "bucket fillers" and "bucket dippers".

Bucket Fillers do kind things for others -- give a smile, helps out without being asked...basically any act of kindness towards others.

Bucket Dippers are those who say unkind words, bully, and generally do an unkind act. 

When our buckets are full, we are happy and confident.  When the bucket is empty, we are sad and down on ourselves.

Nani and Nudgie's school has been using this concept ever since Nani was in Kindergarten.  I've seen how excited and happy they get when they come home with a "Bucket Filler" note from their teacher or fellow student.  Nudgie would tell me, "I played with a friend who didn't have anyone to play with" or Nani would tell me, "I helped the teacher put books away without being asked."

They loved the positive reinforcement.

And then I thought -- why couldn't I use that same concept here at home.  So I decided to try it over Summer Break -- the time when the kids would fight and bicker the most, when we would all start to get on each other's nerves.  Why not try a little positive reinforcement and see what happens?

So, I picked up some beach buckets at the Dollar Tree and had the girls decorate them.  I had some "jewels" stored away, so I pulled that box out to use as "Bucket Fillers".

The concept is simple.....

Whenever I catch them being nice to each other (playing nice, helping with chores, etc), they get a jewel. If there's fighting, name-calling etc., then they have to go outside, pick up a dirty rock from our pile by the garage and put it in their bucket. At the end of each month of Summer Break, I'll count the contents. If they have more jewels than dirty rocks, then they get a special treat. More dirty rocks than jewels? Then they get a dirty chore -- like cleaning up dog poop, cleaning the garage or Daddy may even take them to work at the Base and they can clean there!

The girls seem excited about it -- but who knows.  After a week or so, the novelty may just wear off, but I'm trying to be hopeful!

Stay tuned!

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Summer Bucket List 2015

I love lists. I love color-coding. I love Summer Vacation. Put them all together and you have our Summer Bucket List!!!

Last year was the first time I used the calendar idea for us.  It worked pretty well and the girls asked for it again.  The only difference is that this year I opted for rainbow-colored post-it notes.  Looks pretty, doesn't it!

 



The calendar is broken down into categories:

"Snuggle Time" Sunday
"On the Move" Monday
"Time to Read" Tuesday
"What's Cooking" Wednesday
"That's Art" Thursday
"Finding Fun" Friday

I don't have a "theme" for Saturday.....because Nani will have gymnastics on Saturday mornings and then we'll make our weekly trip to the Farmer's Market.

For each theme day, I have a list of suggested activities that we can choose from as well.

Now, before I get any comments about being "strict" or "scheduling every second" or "allowing my kids to enjoy their summer break", I have to say that:

1) My kids ASKED if I was going to do this again for them. They love having ideas to pick and choose from and have fun adding ideas to the list;

2) This is a very LOOSE idea for the summer. They are free, every day to do as they choose and we are very flexible about our summer days.

3) The only thing I am strict about is their reading. They will read every day.....whether it's at bedtime or some time during the day, but they will read at least 30-minutes a day.

Do YOU have a Summer Bucket List? If so, share your ideas or blog post in the comments! I would love to see what some of you are doing!

HAPPY SUMMER VACATION!!

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Spring Break - Puffy Sidewalk Paint

This upcoming week is Spring Break for my girls.  I'm really looking forward to having them home with me!  We don't have much planned....no big vacations, no day trips.....but I do have some fun stuff planned for us here at home -- a mani/pedi day, taking them to get their haircut, taking them to see Cinderella. 

It's also Holy Week -- so I'll be having the girls help me out in the kitchen as I do a lot of preparation for Easter -- baking bread, making stuffed cabbage & more.

One fun thing I did yesterday to kick off Spring Break for Nudgie & her little friend was make some puffy sidewalk paint.  You can pretty much Google it and come up with all kinds of ideas/recipes.  Ours is pretty simple.

*  1/3 cup cornstarch
*  1/3 cup baking soda
*  1/3 cup water
*  coloring of your choice (food colors or washable liquid watercolors)
*  spray bottle with vinegar
*  condiment squeeze bottles

I used liquid water colors because they clean up easily with water and don't stain.  If you choose to use food coloring, just be aware that they may leave staining behind, so I'd recommend trying it first on a part of your sidewalk/driveway before going full out!

Mix all in a bowl and pour into squeezable condiment bottles.  (I picked up mine at The Dollar Tree).  Then I filled a plastic squeeze bottle with some vinegar, took everything outside and let them unleash their inner artists!

 

 

 

As they finished their creations, we'd take the vinegar bottle and lightly spray over it.  I'll admit, at first, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more of a reaction.  The vinegar just made everything run together (check out the yellow sun in the photo above)  But trust me.....BE PATIENT!  You won't be disappointed!  Once it dries, it puffs up a little more and dries up with a chalky texture.

 

The bonus?  It all washes away with water so you can make more and create again another day!

I'll definitely be adding this to our Summer Bucket List!

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