What the Kids Are Up To... Branding

If you are following

"What the Kids Are Up To This Summer"

then you've already read...

The Introduction

Session 1- Brainstorming

after which the children were so anxious/excited to get their business started,

they grabbed their bracelets and pleaded to go outside to sell to the neighbors

But instead of the green light

I reminded them that this is a business

and introduced yet another important lesson...

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SESSION 2

The focus:

Business Branding

The lesson:

The importance of branding a business to build success

A look at branding as the way a business is presented to the world,

which includes, but is not limited to...

company logo

slogan

tagline

packaging

marketing materials

The assignment:

Plan out their

-business design
-establish a brand
-create a brand identity

So I asked them to...

Design a Logo

Create a Slogan

Streamline their Packaging

and

Create a dream board 

(as a visual representation of

what they wanted their brand to say)

---------------------------------

 Then a quick look around our home
led us to find items we could...

re-use

repurpose

turn into something else

 And with some tape, a few sheets of paper,
and a 1/4 can of leftover spray paint...

our repurposed chocolate box and paper towel

holders became their new bracelet display case!

 

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Color*full Creations

creating a life full of color

What the kids are up to next...

Production/Testing/Product Placement and Distribution

and a field trip!

What The Kids Are Up To... Brainstorming

It all began...

(click here)

as we sat together creating a list of things to do over the summer

(their list starting off great)

with things like...

Go swimming

Go fishing

Learn to sew

Ride bikes

Get new books at the bookstore

Make pizza

Tour a college campus

Have friends over for a play date

but the conversation quickly shifted...

Go to an amusement park

Go to a water park

Go to Pretend City

Go to the indoor trampoline place

Go to the zoo

Go to the county fair

Go to the children's museum

Go to the movies

Go to Hawaii

and as I began to notice just how

"price heavy" their list was,

I asked...

How do you plan to do all of this?

Who is going to pay for all of this?

When they could not sufficiently answer my questions, I suggested

they earn their own money by becoming business partners!

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SESSION 1

The focus:                                                                                                                      
Brainstorming and Strategic Planning

The lesson:
I presented "An Introduction to Business" and explained the pros and cons
of two business venture categories (selling a product vs. offering a service)


The assignment:
Brainstorm business venture ideas
Bring a list of at least 5 business venture ideas to the next meeting (at the end of the week)

-----------------------------------------

Then when the
Kid's Edition of the ABC Television Show "Shark Tank" aired

(I knew that it was no coincidence)

I decided to use it to help evoke their entrepreneurial spirit
and get their creative juices flowing!

And together we

watched
paused
discussed

the ideas
the pitches
the presentation styles

and when the end of the week finally arrived
we had our first official business planning session!

(which means...)

we ordered pizza
spread a blanket out in the middle of our living room floor

and brought our

pens and notepads
notes
ideas

(yes, very official, I know)

listened as each took turns sharing 5 business ideas

discussed them
finally deciding that

since they already

love making rubber band bracelets
are good at making these bracelets and
have all of the supplies and materials necessary to make them...

it would make the perfect business venture!

Rubber Band Loom Bracelets
also known as "Rainbow Loom" bracelets

The next step:

Create a Business Name

Identify Business Goals and Objectives

Create a Written Business Plan

And after a few days I asked if they had given any thought to

their vision

their mission

their values

and my daughter said she was thinking about

Colossians 3:17

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus

And after a second meeting,

we decided upon...

Colorful Creations

adding color to the world one band at a time

(but found the name Colorful Creations already taken)

so I suggested a play on words...

Color (full) Creations

and we agreed that if we're celebrating color

then we needed to add some, and it became...

Color(full) Creations

then finally...

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Color*full Creations
creating a life full of color

What the kids are up to next...

Branding

"APFLH" Children's Art Studio... Mud Mania

There was no way we were going
to let the season pass without a...

"mud celebration"

Mud Café

featuring...

mud smoothies

mud pies

and

hand decorated

mini mud cakes

 

then when Grammie stopped by
she ordered the "Mud Special"...

and they tried to give her a "to-go"
box to take leftovers home to Papa

(which she declined)

so the kids finished up with...

Mud Creations

Play Dough Stone Mosaics

Mud Painting

"So much mud, so little time"

and an outdoor

mud kitchen

(clean-up station included)

2016

2017

Meditation Monday... Open the Door

 

The children gathered in the gymnasium for "Youth Sunday" service
and he was excited because he was asked to be one of the speakers!

The week before I had witnessed him quietly

studying
reading
typing

notes for his exhortation


His theme: 

"Standing at the door"

His text:  

Rev 3:20 (NIV)- Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

His message:

He started by explaining that God wanting to "eat with us" is not literal
(He's not standing there with a box of chicken) 

It simply means that God wants to

fellowship
talk
have a relationship

with each of us

but He cannot do that unless we let Him into our hearts

so he asked them...

"Can you open a locked door without a key?"  

and before allowing anyone to answer the question,
he conducted an experiment to find the answer...

His experiment: 

Two volunteers were chosen from the audience 

The first child went into the bathroom and locked the door while
The second child stood outside the door and tried to open it 

Of course it didn't open...

so he instructed the child inside to "unlock the door"
allowing the other child to turn the knob and open the door

which led him to his main point...

Each of us has a lock on the door to our hearts
and it is only us who can unlock it to let God in!  

The lock is on the inside
and in order to have a relationship with God
we must first unlock our hearts because He will NOT force His way in

But our responsibility doesn't end there...

His example:

"During the summer I go outside to play, but sometimes I don't have my key to get back
into the house.  I knock for my sister to let me in, but if she is has on her headphones,
she can't hear me so our Grammie has to come downstairs and ask...

'Can you hear your brother knocking? 
Take off your headphones.  He's at the door'

That's how it is sometimes in the world"

His final thought:

There are so many distractions in this world that sometimes others
do not realize that God is knocking at their door, so we must tell them!

It is our responsibility to...

1.  First unlock the door to our own heart
2.  Then help someone else unlock the door to their heart

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Meditation Monday

Take off your headphones and ask...

What is the condition of my heart? Locked or unlocked?
Is God knocking at the door?
Will I /have I let Him in?
If not, what is distracting me?

What The Kids Are Up To This Summer

The kids were so excited on their

first day of summer break

with...

swimming

movies

bike rides to the park

right up there at the top 

of their

"LIST OF THINGS TO DO THIS SUMMER"

I was especially delighted that they would be returning to the

highly acclaimed

top-rated

privately owned and operated

summer camp that they attended last summer...

"Camp Papa and Grammie"

which includes

FREE supervision

FREE meals and

FREE activities and field trips!

(sorry- camp is full and no longer accepting applications)

When they arrived at their "first day of summer camp"

they were each greeted with a mysterious package

(courtesy of their gracious "summer camp" counselors)

and the looks on their faces 

when they opened their bags was... 

Priceless!

Little did they know...

that these bags did NOT come without price because their lovely mother

(not wanting their brains to shrivel like wilted lettuce over the summer)

had PLANS to make them WORK for those lovely gifts 

(as they also learn how to make those lovely gifts work for them) 

because as

a mother

an entrepreneur

an early childhood educator

she understands the value of "learning through play"

AND 

that when you use what you love to promote learning

the lessons just seem to stick better

So, with that in mind...  



she informed the children they would be 

starting a summer business and shared

the "Ten Weeks to Better Business" plan 

she created for them to follow

introducing weekly business lessons

throughout their entire summer break!

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Introducing...

Color*full Creations
creating a life full of color

What the kids are up to next...

Brainstorming

Branding

Production

Marketing

Product Launch

Record Keeping and Accounting

Customer Service/ Teamwork and Collaboration

Mapping and Expansion

________________________

Ten Weeks to Better Business

Don't Walk Around...Walk Through

We used to take walks together...

down the street
around the corner
and back home through the alley

Here it is today...

Her house was right next to the alley
and at times it seemed that a

child under ten
with a
woman over 70

were no match for the 1980's streets of Eastside Long Beach

but I quickly learned...

that they were really no match for us

Do we have to take the alley? 
Can't we just walk around the block? 

I asked

even though I knew that it didn't make any sense to walk around the block
when we could see the house straight ahead

but there were

dogs
rats
people

lurking in that alley

so I had to ask every time
even as

we continued to walk

along together
alone together

for years...

Until the day she walked ahead
and made it home safely

before me...

leaving me to walk this alley alone

and now as I walk

I understand that in order to get home
I must stay on the path

destined
designated
predestinated

for me

There's no need to waste time trying to walk around...
when He's given me all the power that I need to just walk through

So whether I'm facing

an alley
a valley
an enemy

while feeling like

a child under ten or
a woman over 70

I'll just continue to walk

along together
alone together

with Him


(also shared over at... Chatting At The Sky)