Spread the word

Spread the Word to End the Word

Fact Sheet

WHAT

Spread the Word to End the Word_™ is an ongoing effort by Special Olympics, Best Buddies and our supporters to raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the R-word and encourage people to pledge to stop using the R-word. 

The campaign, created by youth, is intended to engage schools organizations and communities to rally and pledge their support at www.r-word.org and to promote the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

WHEN

The official annual day of awareness is held the first Wednesday of every March. While most activities are centered on or near that annual day in March, people everywhere can help spread the word throughout their communities and schools year-round thru pledge drives, youth rallies and online activation.

WHO

Spread the Word to End the Word was founded by college students Soeren Palumbo (Notre Dame 2011) and Tim Shriver (Yale 2011) in 2009, and continues to be led by passionate young people, Special Olympics athletes and Best Buddies participants across the United States and in many other parts of the world.

WHY

Respectful and inclusive language is essential to the movement for the dignity and humanity of people with intellectual disabilities.  However, much of society does not recognize the hurtful, dehumanizing and exclusive effects of the R-word. 

Language affects attitudes. Attitudes impact actions. Make your pledge to choose respectful people first language today at www.R-word.org.

HOW

Visit www.r-word.org to learn how you can Spread the Word to End the Word.

Laundry sorting trick: Sock keepers

Sometimes there are simple things that make a job quite a bit easier.

This is one of them:

One of the things I strongly dislike about folding and sorting laundry, 

is matching socks and figure out who they belong to.

I would spend quite a bit of time holding up socks to see if they were the same length, 

and once I had paired them all, trying to figure out which child was the owner.

A few months ago I read about something that could help to eliminate this chore:

Give each child their own laundry bag, let them put their worn socks in it.

Then just wash the whole thing, throw it in the dryer like that,

and hand it back to them to be sorted. 

I used cheap laundry bags, and sewed a strip of patterned fabric along the zipper so that my girls would know which one belongs to them.

The result?

After 3 months of doing this

(yep, I am a slow blogger)

I have to say:

it works GREAT!

For them it's easy to put their worn socks in the bag every night,

and after laundry they just match up their socks and put it in their own drawer.

Should have done this YEARS ago!

Now, go make your own sock keepers :)

Shared at: Sugar Bee Crafts.

Easy, healthy & delicious berry smoothie

I came up with this recipe on one of these days where I felt I needed something fast, easy and healthy.

It makes one serving, as pictured, and I really like it..

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup cranberry juice (100% juice)

* 1/2 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

* 1/2 cup strawberries (I used fresh)

* 1/3 cup raspberries (I used frozen)

Put it all in the blender & blend till smooth.

Enjoy!

Shared at Tatertots and Jello and Sugar Bee Crafts.

Loved

Happy Valentine's Day!

Free Chalkboard Valentine Printables

I really like the chalkboard art I've seen everywhere lately.

A few weeks ago I found this great tutorial on making your own chalkboard printables.

I gave it a try, and happened to find my attempts again today.

So I thought I'd share :)

They could be used as a card or home decor.

And the following one is a variation on this printable I created last year.

And as always: for personal use only please...

Shared at Todays Creative Blog.

Valentine Pencil Flags - Easy handmade Valentines (Free printable)

Do you need a fast and easy, but cute Valentine?

You've come to the right place!

The colorful text on these flags wishes you a Happy Valentine's Day,

while on the back there is room for the giver to write their names.

They're fast to make, and your kids can help, or they could even do it.

You can use Valentine pencils, or any other kind of pencil would work.

We picked plain ones for the boys and patterned ones for the girls...

Below you see the sheet you're going to print out.

One page makes 11 flags.

You can print on regular printer paper, 

colored cardstock, or scrapbook paper...

Click HERE to download the PDF document.

Use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut the page in strips, 

as pictured below.

Let your child fill in his or her name at this point, before they are attached to the pencils.

Use a glue stick to put glue on the strip. 

You don't need to put it on the whole strip, but make sure to put it a little further than the center of the strip. 

(So I mean more than half of the strip has glue on it.)

Hmmm, does that make sense?

This will make sure that the flag stays in place.

Cut out a little triangle.

And that is all!

Simple, right?!

My girls are excited to give these to their classmates on Valentine's day!

Enjoy!

Shared at Tatertots and Jello and Todays Creative Blog.