Inside Out

June 15, 2020June 11, 2020

Inside Out Disney Day

In a time when emotions are high and running together, it seemed perfect to have an Inside Out day to dive deeper with the dragons.

We started the day by making some delicious Homemade Pizza with absolutely no broccoli. In Inside Out, when Riley moves to San Francisco, she tries to cheer the moment by saying they should get pizza- and all they find is pizza with broccoli on it.

Since the dough has to rise for an hour, the dragons started the movie, then paused to help with toppings, then finished the later half of the film with the results of their hard work.

After the movie, we dove into some crafty fun with emotions. First the dragons explored what one of their Islands of Personality would be. This is a fun activity because it makes the kiddos think of a big piece of what makes them, them. While I was hoping for a Family Island from at least one of them, they zoned in on LEGOs, Harry Potter, and Batman.

Next, the dragons took some time to think of what makes them tick. This was a little harder with my 4YO, but my 8YO really took to it. He made his lists of things that make him happy, sad, angry, fearful, and disgusted.

When we set these up, the colorings of them are supposed to be holding the emotions that they feel the most. My oldest picked Joy and Anger (totally fitting), while my middle picked Joy and Fear- which really surprised me. Again, though, he’s four- and I’m not entirely sure it all fully clicked with him.

Last, but not least, we did our Inside Out Emotions Game. This was a fun way to make them really put a name to the emotions they feel with certain scenarios. While “not getting to do what you want” made one of them sad, another one said it would make him feel angry.

This would be a fun game to turn into a race with older kids, while still taking the time after to discuss why things make them feel a certain way.

Inside Out Emotions Game

Our Inside Out day was really therapeutic. We’ve had a lot going on, and not just including what’s going on in the world, and it gave us designated time to sit down and talk as a family.

June 11, 2020June 11, 2020

Inside Out Emotions Game

For the Inside Out game, I wanted an opportunity to explore emotions in another fun way. It was an easy set up, and there are many ways you can do it with younger and older kids.

Supplies Needed:

Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, and Blue Construction Paper
Inside Out clipart, cut out (printable below)
Scenario Circles (printable below)
Tape

Directions:

Set up your Construction Paper with the matching characters from Inside Out (Yellow= Joy, Red = Anger, Green= Disgust, Purple = Fear, Blue = Sadness). You can put the Construction Paper anywhere, but it’s best to keep them lined up in some sort of fashion for younger kids. I wanted to do this outside, but we happened to have our Inside Out day on a rainy day.
Cut out the Scenario Circles. If you have younger kids, go ahead and put tape on the back of these so they are ready to stick to the construction paper. If you have older kids, you can set tape out to make this an extra step. Lay these upside down near the Construction Paper for younger kids or you can make it a race for older kids. (Only one of my dragons currently knows how to read, so we couldn’t make this a race.)

If you have younger kids, read the scenarios for them (or have someone older do it) and let them decide where the scenario should go. I loved this because it lets them decide how they would feel. After all, some kids might like to splash in puddles and others could find it disgusting!
* If you have older kids, divide the scenarios in to two piles and let them race to put theirs on the papers first. Whoever is finished first, wins!

Take the time to discuss why certain scenarios make them feel these emotions. It’s a fun recap, and gives you another opportunity to ask “why” and dive deeper if wanted.

Don’t forget to make the Pizza and do the Crafts for Inside Out, too!

Click to Print/Download. Clipart from DisneyClips.com

June 8, 2020May 17, 2020

Homemade Pizza (hold the broccoli)

When the characters in Inside Out first move to San Francisco, they grab a slice of pizza that just happens to have broccoli on it. While I have had this before (and honestly don’t mind it), my dragons much prefer a pizza with meat toppings, only.

For our Inside Out day, we made our favorite homemade pizza crust and loaded it with favorite toppings. Make sure you plan ahead- this dough needs to rise for around an hour! We made this, did our crafts, and then watched the movie.

Ingredients:

1.5 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 C warm water
1 heaping TBSP sugar
2 TBSP softened butter
2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp salt
3 C flour (we’ve used wheat, bleached, and unbleached- or a combination there of)
corn meal *optional
Pizza toppings of your choice!

Directions:

Put your yeast, water, and sugar in the bowl first (giving the yeast a little extra time to work some magic).
Add the rest of your ingredients.
Use a dough hook or wooden spoon to mix thoroughly. The dough should be wet, but not sticky. If needed, add a little extra olive oil or water to help with consistency if it’s dry.

Let the dough rise for an hour or until it has grown in size. I have found that this doesn’t completely “double”.
Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 400 and spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with olive oil.
Roll out the dough on your waiting pizza/cookie sheet. If you have it, sprinkle the sheet with corn meal. This gives the bottom of the pizza some texture that’s yummy- but not necessary if you don’t have it!

Add your desired toppings! I always do the rule of: sauce, thin layer of cheese, toppings, more cheese.

Cook your pizza for 18-22 minutes (until the sides look golden/crispy and the cheese is well melted).

Enjoy! What are your favorite pizza toppings? Mine are usually in the vegetable/fruit variety, but my dragons clearly love their MEAT.