Orange Parents

“I love the Braves.”
“I love hot dogs.”
“I love the 4th of July.”

These sentences (and many like it) have been uttered around the country sometime in the last week, guaranteed. And while we are all guilty of over-using the word “love”, it seems our kids exaggerate it even more. They love jelly. They love Sponge Bob. They love balloons. They seem to love everything! Well… almost everything.

While we all seem enamored by food, cartoons, and inanimate objects, it’s difficult to love others. Not with the kind of love we all have for the swimming pool—with the kind of love God has for us.

That’s why, this month, we are focusing entirely on the concept of love. And when we say love, we mean choosing to give someone your time and friendship no matter what. No matter what. That’s the tough part. So join us this month by talking to your child about what the word “love” really means and what it looks like to share that love with others.

Here are just a few ways you can practice showing love as a family:

Watch the Studio252 team learn an important lesson in love when you view this month’s Cue Box Episode.
Show someone a little love by baking their favorite dessert for them.
Show love by saying something nice to someone each day.
Volunteer your time doing something for someone else.
Invite a friend over to play.

For all these ideas and so much more, visit studio252.tv and download this month’s CueBox today! We are sure you will love it!

Parenting comes with a lot of research. Researching the best pediatricians, the best schools, the best diets. But at the end of the day, after we have exhausted our researching capabilities and resources, there comes a time when we have to just trust.

We have to trust that our pediatrician will know the difference between a skin rash and meningitis. We have to trust that the third grade teacher knows the difference between there, their, and they’re. We have to trust that our favorite restaurant knows the difference between ground beef and pink slime. Otherwise, we would go crazy trying to control the uncontrollable.

So while you, as a parent, are slowly learning to trust, we at Studio252 are spending the month talking to your kids about the importance of trust! So come check out our numerous resources that will help you talk to your child about Trust: putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. Just visit studio252.tv to unlock fun family activities like:

• Watching this month’s Cue Box episode
• Homemade cards for those you trust
• A recipe for a Friday night fish fry to remind you how you can trust Jesus
• A fun blindfold game to practice trusting each other as a family

You can find all these activities and so much more throughout the month at studio252.tv. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed!

It is now believed that 1 in 88 American children has some form of autism spectrum disorder, according to a new report released just last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the report, that’s a 78% increase from just a decade ago. Though the spike seems to be partly due to better and broader diagnoses,  there’s still a lot to learn about why these numbers are growing so quickly.

April is National Autism Awareness month. We hope that you will take this opportunity to understand as much as you can about autism. You can learn more by visiting the CDC website, but here are some preliminary facts to consider:

• There are three different kinds of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):
  Autistic disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Pervasive Development Syndrome.
• Autism is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined.
• It occurs in all races, ethnicities, and social groups.
• Boys with autism outnumber girls 1 to 5.
• There is currently no known cause or cure.
• Early intervention services can improve a child’s development.

“Hope you make the team!”

“Hope you ace the test!”

“Hope you feel better!”

Hope is something we do—or say we do—almost daily. It’s a thought we quickly express and forget about. But what if hope could be more than a passing thought? What if hope could be more than just an emotion? What if hope could, instead, be an attitude we carry with us every second of every day?

This month, at Studio 252, we are talking about the virtue of hope. In fact, we have defined hope as believing that something good can come out of something bad. It’s not just a fleeting wish or a good luck charm. Having hope means always believing something good can come out of a bad situation and carrying that attitude of optimism with you throughout your life.

So take some time this month to learn about what it means to have hope as a family. To help, we have come up with tons of fun activities that show what hope can look like in your lives! Here are just a few to get you started:

• Watch this month’s Cue Box episode to see Sydney return from Africa to learn an important lesson about hope
• Make your own puzzles and talk about how we can have hope, even when we don’t see where a piece might fit
• Make a fresh pitcher of lemonade—turning something sour into something sweet!
• Enjoy the hope each spring brings with a family bike ride, scavenger hunt, or family football game

You can find all these activities and so much more throughout the month at studio252.tv. And hopefully you’ll be surprised by how contagious your new positive outlook will be!

It fueled Martin Luther King Junior. It fed Women’s Suffrage. It fosters protests, marches, and rallies. It has the power to both start and end wars. It is what makes the human race continue to socially evolve.

Conviction. All it takes is one person standing up for what’s right. One person refusing to sit back and watch—giving others the courage to take a stand and eventually, make a change for the better.

Conviction is such an essential virtue to learn at any age. That’s why we are dedicating the month of March to help you teach your family about the importance of conviction. At studio252, we put our creative powers together to come up with new, fun ways for you to connect as a family while learning important life lessons. This month, we have focused on Conviction and defined it as standing for what is right, even when others don’t. So check out studio252.tv and find endless ways to talk to your children about conviction this month! Here are just a few to get you started:

• Watch as the hilarious Studio252 team learns an unforgettable lesson about what it means to stand for what is right
• Have a family discussion about different ways to show conviction in certain scenarios
• Check out some cool stories about kids that have taken a stand and made a big change

And for more insight on the idea of conviction, watch this video preview by Reggie Joiner:

Preview: Rooted (March 2012) from Orange on Vimeo.

In just a few days you—along with millions of parents across the globe—will be elbow deep in papier-mâché hearts, macaroni covered hearts, handprints in the shape of a heart, red and pink heart-shaped cards, and so much more. But in the midst of all the homemade valentines and sugar rushes, take a moment with your child to recognize the meaning of this special day—one day set aside to let others know just how valuable they are to you.

Sure, we should celebrate those closest to us every day of the year and we hope you do in some small way, but sometimes it’s nice to take a detour from your daily routine to truly honor someone in your life. In fact, we are spending the entire month of February talking about just that: Honor. We simply define honor as letting someone know you see how valuable they really are.

So even after the hubbub and chaos of the 14th dies down, spend some time as a family talking about what it means to show honor to those around you. Who should we honor? What are some ways to show honor? How can showing honor change someone’s attitude? Come together to discuss these ideas and more with fun family activities like these:

• Watch as the Studio252 staff honors an overlooked team member.
• As a family, brainstorm ways to honor different people in your life.
• Spend time making unique postcards to send to all your friends.
• Remember to honor those in charge by taking turns playing a friendly game of Simon Says.

You can find great explanations of these activities and so many more when you visit studio252.tv and download this month’s CueBox. Get access to fun games, videos, and blogs when you sign up!

So you’ve stuffed yourself full of black-eyed peas, cabbage, and fish. You’re bound and determined to solve all the world’s problems this year… or at least lose five pounds. You promise your family and friends to be around more. You have a detailed plan to get out of debt in the next twelve months. You’re making grand plans to volunteer more, get organized, maybe learn a new language.

But what happens when someone brings fresh doughnuts to the office? When you find an incredible deal for that flat screen you’ve had your eye on? When you get hooked on a new reality TV show?

At Studio252 this month, we are going to talk about the very thing that can make your New Year’s resolutions more than just a great idea—self-control. We define self-control as simply choosing to do what you should do not what you want to do. So what’s fun about that?? Well, get your family together for some of these activities and find out just how fun learning about self-control can be!

• Watch as the studio252 team learns a very important lesson about just how important self-control can be!
• Practice self-control by playing a classic game of Simon Says.
• Bake a batch of cookies together—without eating all the dough!
• Let your kids show off their self-control skills by pushing the cart next time you’re at the store!

Practicing self-control can be a lot more fun than it sounds, but the best part of self-control comes when it’s all said and done–when you avoid the break room or TV room all day and you get to see the fruits of those New Year’s resolutions. So for more tips, games, and ideas for you and your family, visit studio252.tv and download this month’s CueBox!

The last Thursday of the month is sneaking closer and closer. Maybe you’re desperately trying to organize last-minute travel plans or pulling out trundles, air mattresses, egg crates, anything to somehow sleep sixteen people in your three bedroom house. Maybe you are putting the finishing touches on your perfect Thanksgiving meal plan or more likely trying to figure out how to make chicken nuggets festive since that’s the only food item your nine-year-old will eat.

So in the midst of all the stressful yet wonderful holiday madness how will you find time to plan your deep and profound answer to the age-old Thanksgiving-dinner-table question: So what are you grateful for this Thanksgiving? Good news! We may not be able to deliver a perfect home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner to your doorstep or remodel your home in time for the holidays but Studio252 is here to help you get in the Thanksgiving spirit by talking about the virtue of Gratitude all month long!

We believe that having a grateful heart starts with letting others know you see how they’ve helped you. That’s how we define gratitude. And when you and your children learn to adopt an attitude of gratitude, you see the world in a new light! You begin to realize that you always have something to be grateful for—whether it’s Thanksgiving Day or a Tuesday in the middle of May.

So find time in the next few weeks to practice showing gratitude with your kids. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started. And if you want a lot more fun ideas, videos, games, and endless hours of entertainment for your and your family, visit studio252.tv to download this month’s CueBox materials!

• Watch as the Studio252 team launches the Operation Christmas Child campaign.
• Bake Cookie Pops with your family to give to someone in your community as a token of appreciation.
• Play a game of charades with the words being people, places, or things you are grateful for.
• Throw an Appreciation Celebration for family and friends to show your gratitude.

Thank you for following what’s happening at studio252.tv. We hope your family is stuffed with gratitude this Thanksgiving season!

For more on ways to talk about Gratitude with your kids, watch this virtue preview video:

Preview: Pit Stop (November 2011) from Orange on Vimeo.