Sweet Ways to Share Love With Your Kids This Valentine’s Day

Girls and boys. It's me Abby Brown from Iowa PBS, and my friend Ivy. And we are on a secret kindness mission. Are you ready to decode some secret messages?  [Ivy]  Yes.  [Abby]  All right. Let's do it.

Now, Ivy. Normally, I wouldn't say that secrets are something that are fun, right. Because you can really hurt people's feelings, can't they. But today,  we're going to write secret messages  that are all about kindness,   because to show kindness  can take a lot of bravery, can't it.

[Ivy]  Yeah.  [Abby]  Are you brave, though?

[Ivy]  Yeah.  [Abby]  I knew you were. 

Today, we're going to use crayons and watercolor  to write messages of kindness. 

Are You ready?

[Ivy]  Yes.  [Abby]  But the only crayons that we really need today 

are the white ones, okay.  And I’ve got a few already right up here. 

So, go ahead and grab a white crayon. And, of course, if it’s a secret we need it to be camouflaged or the same color.

[Abby]  So what color paper do we need?

[Ivy]  White.  [Abby]  You got it. So go ahead and grab a piece of white paper. 

There you go.  And I’ll take one too. And the tricky part is; since we have a white crayon and a white paper, it's kind of hard to even see what we're writing isn't it?  So, let's do a practice round; and draw like a star or a heart or a peace sign or some sort of symbol. Does that sound good? Okay, so give it a try.  I'm gonna do a heart. Oh you're doing a heart too.You're really good at that. Now, what happens is crayons are made out of wax, and wax and water do not mix. So when we use watercolor on top of the wax crayon, it's going to basically show right through. It's going to resist it. Okay go ahead and grab a brush. And you played with  watercolor before, right?

[Ivy]  Yeah.  [Abby] So we get a little bit of water in our brush first, and then pick a color. And we have quite a few different ones here. I’ll go with blue. Oh yeah, you're good at watercolor.  When your brush is nice and full of color, go ahead and paint kind of on top of where you think that crayon was. And did it reveal for you. Oh yeah, look at that. So can you see your crayon where it came through?  [Ivy]  Yeah. Kind of.

[Abby]  Kind of. Look at mine. So my line is thicker,  and I pressed pretty hard. 

Okay. Think of just  a short message. Like, “You are awesome.”; “You are fun.”.  Like, a short message that would spread kindness. And then, do your best to write it down.  Pressing real hard, Okay. [Ivy] Okay.

[Abby] So you ready? Let's show. You are fun.  And read mine.

[Ivy]  Ivy is sweet.

[Abby]  That’s her. This time you're going to think of someone specific who is very special, who is awesome and wonderful in every way. And you're going to write a secret message to them. Now, I know that you are super brave; and that you tell compliments to people all the time, right?  [Ivy]  Yeah.

[Abby]  I know you do. But, this is a fun way to send a message anonymously. 

Do you know what  anonymously means?  [Ivy]  No.  [Abby]  It means it's a secret. It means they'll never know that it came from you. 

And how special could that make someone feel. Pretty special, right?  [Ivy]  Yeah.  [Abby]  Okay, so think of someone specific. You don't have to tell me who it is. And then write down a message just for that person. And it can be short and sweet, just like your last one. Or, it could be long, too, if you want, too.  For today, you can make it really nice and short. Are you all done  with yours?

[Ivy]  Yeah.  [Abby]  Okay. Let's see them. Ready. Want to read mine?  [Ivy]  You make me happy.

[Abby]  And it’s for you. And can I read yours? Mommy is sweet. And yes, I know your mommy is so sweet. So if we wanted to be extra, super double, top secret spies, what we would do is we would just do the crayon part. We would write that message on it, and then you would give it to somebody. Like you could give it to your mommy without the watercooler on it, and let her do the watercolor part.   And she could reveal that message to herself. How happy with that make her?  [Ivy]  Good.

[Abby]  So happy,  right? Do you think so happy she would even cry?

[Ivy]  I don’t know.  [Abby]  I think so.

(laughter)  Ivy and I completed our  super, double, top secret mission of kindness. 

  What adventures will you go on?

[Ivy]  Have  fun with it.

Hey there, girls and boys. Abby Brown here with Iowa PBS. Come wander and wonder with me.  My good friend Evelyn and I are celebrating Doctor Seuss with this amazing book. . .

[Evelyn]  Yertle the Turtle.

[Abby]  All right, Evelyn, we are going to explore the story Yertle the Turtle today.  And you've read that book before, right?

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  It's a great story, isn't it?

[Evelyn]  Yes.

[Abby]  So, you know that there's a kingdom full of turtles in Yertle the Turtle, correct?

[Evelyn]  Yes.

[Abby]  And I've already made a whole bunch of the citizens 

of the island of Salamasond. Okay, but I need you to help me make the turtle that is Yertle. Does that sound good?

[Evelyn]  Yeah.

[Abby]  Okay, so what we're going to do is use just some paper plates, and some glue, and some paint and make it happen. Cool?

[Evelyn]  Cool.

[Abby]  All right, let's start with a paper plate.  That can be the top shell.  And I'll make one, too. And here's my shell.  And we're going to paint them, right?

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  What color? I've got a few different colors of green here.   And I kept blue and yellow.  Because, what happens when you mix these together?

[Evelyn]  Green.

[Abby]  You get green, right. So what color do you want to use? What do you think?

[Evelyn]  This one.

[Abby]  You could use this. You could mix them.

[Evelyn]  Yeah

[Abby]  Okay. Which one do you want to mix? You want to mix the two greens?

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  Okay. So let's make space right in front of you. And you can use this paintbrush.  And all I'm going to do is dump a little bit on top like that.

You want to put  a little blob of this one on?

[Evelyn]  Sure.

[Abby]  Okay.

Perfect. All right.  And then just go ahead and paint your whole shell.

All right. And now we need a shell for the bottom part of your turtle, Right?

[Evelyn]  Right.

[Abby]  Another the paper plate.

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  Okey-dokey. That one will do. And so will this one.  Now, before you put the top on, we need to add some glue to glue it together. And before we add the glue, we need a couple of other body parts where our turtles don't we?

[Evelyn]  Right. Like the legs.

[Abby]  Yes. Like the legs. And what else?

[Evelyn]  And the Arms.

[Abby]  And the arms. And the. . .

[Evelyn]  Head.

[Abby]  You got it. So, what we’re going to do is add a small bead of glue   all the way around the outside  of your plate. Now find a place for your head and your fins. Yep. Go ahead. You can do your fins first. Oh I didn't give you a head. There you go. And the shape doesn't have to be perfect, does it?

[Evelyn]  Nope.

[Abby]  Just a nice little, fin looking shape. Now take the paper plate that you painted. 

The shell, right. And just stick it right on top.  And if you can squeeze it together. Sort of. Yeah. Right around the edges. And this kind of glue doesn't take very long to dry, does it?

[Evelyn]  No.

[Abby] All right, Evelyn. So you made a turtle, and we're calling this one who?

[Evelyn]  Yertle

[Abby]  The turtle. The king. Right.

[Evelyn]  Of all the turtles

[Abby]  In the empire. Right. So let's for a second, 

imagine that the rest of these turtles, because they're in Yertle the turtle’s pond or empire. Right. But let's pretend the empire for today is our empire.  Like maybe our neighborhood or our school. Could be your family.  Does that sound okay?

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  And now, imagine that each of these other turtles are somebody in our empire or our neighborhood.  Okay?

[Evelyn]  Okay.

[Abby]  What type of people do we have in our neighborhood, and what is the best quality about them?  Can you think of somebody in our neighborhood, and what's something about them that makes them so awesome?

[Evelyn]  How about Kate?

[Abby]  Okay. What's a quality about Kate that is so awesome?

[Evelyn]  Kate is funny, and nice and all sorts of stuff.

[Abby]  Yeah. Funny and nice are two great qualities to have in a kingdom or a neighborhood. Right.  So, will you write funny and nice on the back of one of our turtles?

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  All right.

[Evelyn]  Honest. Includer. Smart. Adventurer.  Funny and nice. Leader.  Stands up for people.

[Abby]  This sounds like a fantastic kingdom. Right.

 One that surely Yertle the turtle would be proud of, wouldn't he?  Now Yertle the turtle. How does Yertle the turtle know who he is the ruler of?  Do you remember from the story

[Evelyn]  He knows who he is the ruler of because he sees them.

[Abby]  Yes. So as far as he can see, he is the ruler. Now, if he's way down here, he might be able to see a couple people. But what was his bright idea? So he could see further and rule farther?

You got it.  He stacked up all of his turtles as high and they'll go.  You can even use this one. And now he's the ruler of all that he can see.  But do you remember this turtle on the bottom name?

[Evelyn]  Mack

[Abby]  Mack. And what is Mack feeling right now?

[Evelyn]  Ache. An ache in his back.

[Abby]  He has an ache in his back. And how do you think his feelings feel?

[Evelyn]  Sad.

[Abby]  Sad and hurt. I would too if I was way at the bottom, wouldn't you?

[Evelyn]  Uh-huh.

[Abby]  So if Yertle the turtle is way up here, and Mack is way down here and his back is hurting and his feelings are hurt. What do you think Yertle the turtle should do?

[Evelyn]  Get off.

[Abby]  He should get off. Right. Let's take them back down. 

And now we have  turtles who are. . .

[Evelyn]  Honest.

[Abby]  Uh-huh. And.

[Evelyn]  Includer.

[Abby]  Yep.

[Evelyn]  Stand up for people. Leader. Funny and nice. Adventurer. And smart.

[Abby]  And now we have turtles who we can embrace all of their wonderful qualities like: funny and nice and. . .

[Evelyn]  Includer.

[Abby]  And honest and. . .

[Evelyn]  Stands up for people.

[Abby]  And an adventurer and. . .

[Evelyn]  Smart.

[Abby]  And a leader. And now Yertle the turtle doesn't just have to rule over everybody.  He gets to be part of this amazing group of other turtles.

Evelyn and I celebrated Doctor Seuss today.  We made a Yertle the turtle, with some paper plates and some paint. We also learned about friendship and. . .

[Evelyn]  Citizenship.

[Abby]  What adventures will you go on?

[Evelyn]  Have fun with it!

Hey there, girls and boys. I'm Abby Brown with Iowa PBS. Come wander and wonder with me. Today, Zoey and I are going on adventures that celebrate our friendship.

Zoey, have you ever gotten a friendship bracelet before?

[Zoey]  Not really. But I sometimes make them.  But I keep forgetting  to give them to my friends.

[Abby]  Oh. They're fun to make, aren't they?

[Zoey]  I usually just make them out of paper then color them.

[Abby]  So you already know some cool ways   to make friendship bracelets.  Do you want to make some with me today too?

Okay, so the first one we're going to make looks like this.

And it's less of a bracelet  and more of a cuff   because you just sort of wrap it around your hand like that.

[Zoey]  Yeah.

[Abby] Shall we try it on you?

[Zoey]  It's easiest to put on. I’ll do it on this one.

[Abby]  Okay. Perfect. Look at that. Should we make one of these? Okay, here we go. I'm going to take this back off while we work.

[Zoey]  Does it matter what color we paint it?

[Abby]  No. You can paint it any color that you want.  So the first step is to take. Do you know what these are?

[Zoey]  Cardboard things. Like for toilet paper or paper towels.

[Abby]  That's exactly what they are. Cardboard toilet paper rolls. Okay, so the first thing is to make a cut right down the middle.

And then the next thing we want to do is cut it in half the other way. So start right in the middle and then make a cut all the way around the outside.

[Abby]  Excellent.

[Zoey]  You might have bigger ones because your wrist is probably bigger.

[Abby]  Yeah. And that's what's perfect about a cuff like this 

is it can fit any size because it just wraps right around. Right.  So the next step is to add yarn. Do you want to do pink or maroon?

[Zoey]  I like this color because it's closer to my favorite color.

[Abby]  What's your. . . Oh. This looks more like red. And that is your favorite color.

[Zoey]  It used to be pink and purple.

[Abby]  Oh. Now it's just red. I love it. So let's take a nice long piece.  And it doesn't have to be exact. And I'll use this color too for mine.  On one end of this, I'm going to make a snip and take your string. And put the end on the inside of your cuff and slide it right into that slit, and that holds it. And now we can work easier with it.  So what I like to do is just wrap it around. And you can make crisscrosses or a pattern with your wraps.  You can make it look however you want. You got it. Now, is there just a little bit left? So right there where it lands. See where mine lands. We'll make another slit like that.  And then let me do yours right there.

And then just slide it  back through there. You've got it. Very good.  So what's our last step for these?

[Zoey]  Painting.

[Abby]  Yeah. What color do you want to paint them?

[Zoey]  I'll probably do purple.

[Abby]  Excellent. And just start painting.

Yes. We could put lots of coats on these. We could even add other decorations if we wanted to. Couldn’t we? We could do lots of creative things with our friendship bracelets. But now, we have a bracelet that matches. And that makes you and I friends. Yeah, you got it.

These ones are super simple.  Super, duper simple. Have you ever played with these before?

[Zoey]  Well, I've done them sometime, but not with the ones with crimps inside.

[Abby]  So these are super fun to play with because they have wire inside.   They're called pipe cleaners. And there's lots of different  kinds that you can get. But even if you just had one, watch how simple it is to give a friendship bracelet.  Can I have your hand, please?

[Zoey]  I’ll do this one.

[Abby]  Okay. And watch. So simple.

[Zoey]  These ones are easy, and they're really cozy.  So then you don't have to worry about itching or anything.

[Abby]  You're right. And they're nice and soft, aren't they?   And now you and I are  friends again, right?

Are you ready for one more type of friendship bracelet?

Okay. Here we go. Now, if you have supplies like this at your house, this one takes fine precision and focus. Okay. So the first thing we need to do is pick a color of string.  And this one is going to look like the friendship bracelet I gave you with your name on it. Okay. So which color of string should we use?

[Zoey]  This one.

[Abby]  Okay. And we have to get this piece of string. . .

And always cut it super, extra long because you can always trim it later. All Right. And now . . .

[Zoey]  Put it on and see what size it is. So you can cut it off to get the right size.

[Abby]  You got it. But to start. let's make it extra, super, duper long. Right.   So now we can pick out. . . And there's tons and tons of different types of beads, right. But for today, I have beads that have letters on them.  And since you already have a bracelet with your name on it, I was thinking, could we make a bracelet with my name on it? Yes. Now we have to get this big string. Doesn't look that big, does it? It's pretty tiny. Into this tiny, little hole.

We can do it.  So one of the things that. . .

[Zoey]  The last time I did it, it was easy. If you lick it. 

So then it gets smaller,  and it does that.

[Abby]  First, I'm going to trim it because that helps too.

[Zoey]  Am I going to be able to make one of these bracelets too?

[Abby]  This is the one you're making. So do your trick to it. And then I'll give you my 'A' and you see if you can get that on there. You do it. Success! We have an 'A'. Give her a 'B'.

Just a little. Yep. Doesn't have to be tight. Nice and loose. Can you do one more little knot?

[Zoey]  Like this?

[Abby] Just the exact same. Nope. The exact same type of not just one more time. Perfect. And then guess what we can do to those long strings. Remember how I said we could just snip them? And snip. And now look at us.  And yours says

[Zoey]  Zoey.

[Abby]  And mine says, Abby. And that makes us. . .

[Zoey]  Friends.

[Abby]  Yay!

Zoey and I celebrated our friendship today with friendship bracelets. How does it feel to be  such good friends?

[Zoey]  Awesome.

[Abby]  What adventures will you go on? Have fun with it.