Kickstarter Update

Hello everyone! Our illustrator has been in the process of bringing Sparky and Kelly to life. Four sketches of each character have been completed and we have been conducting polls of children to determine which sketches of Sparky and Kelly that they like best. We are targeting November 1 as our new date to place Sparky Tales …

What Are We Teaching Our Children?

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I grew up in a time when people passed strangers on the street and in acknowledgement of one another an exchange of gentle nods would transpire or in some instances the words, “How do you do?” were spoken. Motorcyclists would wave hello to other motorcyclists and truck drivers would acknowledge other truck drivers – as …

Accepting Responsibility

Hello Readers! I have goofed!! I deleted most of the comments that have been written in response to our blogs.  I apologize. I am new to all of this and believed that the messages were all spam; however, they were not. But I acted on my belief and deleted your comments and for that I apologize. …

A Book on Feelings

As a counselor I’m always looking for good books on feelings. One of my favorites has been Glad Monster, Sad Monster. The kids equally enjoy this book – particularly that the pages tear out and has a mask depicted on the tear-out page (see photo). This allows the children to actually put the mask up …

What was SHE thinking? What was I thinking?

The grocery store’s parking lot was packed today. Inside the store was just as crowded. My husband and I attributed the crowd to today’s televised football and baseball games. We decided the situation called for extra measures. The firewood, he would get. The sympathy card, I would get. A woman had parked her cart right …

You Are My Superhero

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Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the “You Are My Superhero” exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute. The discoveries found and exhibits seen were interesting. In Mike Benton’s The Comic Book in America: An Illustrated History, he argues that seven superheroes stand out as most historically important: Superman (for being first), Batman (for being …

Baxter, Our Joy Guru

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Two years ago, my mom adopted Baxter – pictured above coming home from the pound http://www.mcohio.org/animalshelter. He was six years old and was being offered as a “senior to senior” special for $20. When Baxter hugged on her legs, as if to say “take me home” mom couldn’t resist – even though he was a …

A Collage of Feelings

In developing social competency skills, Saarni suggests that eight skills are necessary with one of them being aware of one’s own emotions and another being able to “read” other people’s emotions. In teaching children these skills, we have found that making a collage of feelings can be very helpful. Items needed: Scissors, Glue, Poster Board …

Feeling Balloons

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In developing social competency skills, Saarni suggests that eight skills are needed – with the first one being aware of one’s own emotional state. In counseling young children, we have found feeling balloons very useful.  We found the 20″ balloons the best to use because the balloon deflates slowly allowing one to reuse it for multiple …

Food For Thought

A brief market study was conducted for this blog at two local grocery stores; Kroger’s a national chain and Dorothy Lane Market, an upscale, locally-owned grocery. Fifteen unsuspecting shoppers at each location were asked how long it takes them to choose their fruits and vegetables and how long it takes them to choose their emotions. …

Welcome to Discovery Tales!

As I officially begin my blog, I would like to thank Harry Couch, my mentor, for all of his help and connections that have resulted in our first sale of Sparky Tales. And I would like to thank Debbie Sterling, Founder of GoldieBlox, for inspiring and encouraging me to “GO FOR IT!!” which involves me following …