Hello Or so she says…readers!! My name is Tonii and I blog over at Blue Skies Ahead. I am so thrilled to be here with you today! I couldn’t be more excited to be a new contributor, and I hope you enjoy some ideas I use in my home to (try!;) to strengthen my family and teach my kids to look for the good in every day. Before we get to all that though, here is just a teensy bit about ME 🙂
Today I am excited to share with you a Family Night we had all about Respect! As a mother to 5 growing children, I have been realizing lately how important it is to set clear expectations for my family about treating others with respect. I think a great family night that involves everyone and that includes a fun activity is a wonderful way to teach our children in a safe, loving environment life lessons and build family relationships.
To get started I had to think…what does respect mean to me and what do I want it to mean to my children?
I came up with this printable that will hang in our home throughout the week as a great reminder of some of the ways we can show respect in our lives. I just took each letter of the word RESPECT and came up with key words to use as gentle reminders for all of us 🙂
We went through letter by letter, and discussed ways we can be more respectful in our lives. After that it was time for the FUN! First things first…we needed some theme music. And there is only one obvious choice…blasting a little Aretha Franklin 😉 As we listened to that great classic, I got out all the supplies we needed to make our very own… R-E-S-P-E-C-T Sock it to me Sock Puppets!
To make our puppets we just got a bunch of old white socks and all the random art supplies we could find! Things like googly eyes, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, feathers and stickers.
Once you have all your supplies get your glue gun ready and let your kids imaginations go wild!
Now that you have your Sock it to me Sock Puppets ready to go, its time to let your kids really get involved and understand RESPECT in real-life situations.
My kids loved acting out different scenarios where they showed respect for others property, responded to others in a respectful way, and obeyed mom and dad. I think they got a kick out of acting out what-NOT-to-do scenarios too 😉 This is a great way to apply the lessons you just taught to your children, and show them how they can be used in their day-to-day lives.
I sure hope you liked this family night idea, IF you did make sure to hop on over to Blue Skies Ahead to find a great service project you can do this Halloween with your family, “Welcome to the Neigh-BOO-hood!” Thanks again, and remember…there are always Blue Skies Ahead!
FOR MORE FAMILY HOME EVENING IDEAS, CHECK OUT:
The Magic of Kindness ~ Family Night
Tonii, I LOVE it! I’m still in Mexico but was excited to check out your first post. Such a cute idea and printable. Even cuter family!! Thanks so much! I’m so happy to have you here. 🙂
This really is such a great idea! Respect is a hard concept to teach sometimes, so I appreciate the fun and simple approach you took. I’m excited to see more of your fun posts!
Love your respect printable and family night idea! Our one family rule is “Be Respectful”, now we need to work on teaching our kids what it means. Where can i get your printable in high res for printing? Thanks!
Love it Tonii, so fun seeing you here! 🙂
Do you have the “Respect” Printable in a higher resolution? When I print it, it comes out blurry. Thank you.
I would really love to do this with my boys. I am having trouble with your printable though.
Great FHE activity! Thanks for sharing.
You bet! Thanks for stopping by, Tanya!
I have tried to print the RESPECT printable multiple times and cannot get the link to open. Can you please somehow make the link work for me?
Hi Leeann, I think the author didn’t intend for that to be a printable, just an image. Sorry! However, if you stop by her blog, you can email her and see if she has the file available. Here is her contact page: http://ptskjohnson.blogspot.com/p/contact.html
Thanks so much for the great idea! It’s just what we need;) Loads of aloha to you and yours!
Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing.