Table Topics
Mind-stretching brain games and conversation starters. It's the perfect opportunity for sharing stories, building knowledge, strengthening character, and having fun!
Does a lot of scolding take place in your household? Did you know that many experts agree that frequent, harsh scolding can actually increase negative behaviors rather than making them stop?
Dr. Randy Cale from TerrificParenting.com states:
"Where your attention goes, their energy flows." Thus, giving words means giving more energy to the unwanted behavior, and this most often leads to more of the unwanted behavior.
Explore this idea with your children. Ask them what they are thinking when they are being "balled-out" for something they did wrong. Ask them what negative consequences might be more appropriate and be more meaningful in helping them to improve their behavior. IMPORTANT: Keep the conversation non-judgmental with a purely problem-solving attitude. Approach the conversation with the attitude that your child wants to improve his or her quality of life by staying out of trouble. I'd bet you'd be right!
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Play
a Word Game
This is a game of adjectives. Player one names an adjective (juicy for example). Other players must name objects that could be described by that adjective (peach would work well for the above example).
There are some different ways for keeping score in this game if you choose. One way would be to reward the person who chooses adjectives that describe lots and lots of things. Points are awarded for each noun named by other players. The competition could be between the players finding the nouns with a point awarded to each appropriate noun named by a player. Advanced players may enjoy finding unusual adjectives that describe very few nouns.
