I bought some peanut M&M's for an object lesson for my kids. I also bought some plain M&M's to use in the lesson. The lesson went well and the kids each participated. (See Object Lesson Below) But, what confused me was the bag of Peanut M&M's. Take a look at this and tell me if you see anything funny...
I opened the bag and had my girls sort them into jars. I watched them and they did not eat any. (Which I was surprised at, but they were excited for the lesson.)
Someone explain to me why there are about 11 Red, one jar of Orange, one jar of Brown, one jar and a little bit of Green, and Yellow and two full jars of Blue! I think we got jipped out of some Red!
Here is the smaller bag of plain all sorted out.
As you can see there is a little more red than the others, but for the most part they are pretty equal. I don't quite understand this, but I'm not going to buy more bags of candy to find out if this is always the case!
OBJECT LESSON:
The lesson was about confidence. Each of the girls choose a color and I gave them a little blurb to go along with it. They were to then share any comments or examples they had about their topic.
ORANGE: Obedience
Confidence comes through making good choices over and over again. If you don’t believe me, think of this scenario: Have you ever passed a police officer when you were speeding or when your kids weren’t buckled? Compare that to passing him going the speed limit or when everyone was all buckled up properly. I bet you had more confidence as you passed him. And it is a lot less stressful isn’t it?
BLUE: Divine Nature
Knowing who you are and where you come from fosters confidence. Understanding your divine origin- that you are a literal child of God- that God is your Father- gives you security, certainty, perspective and purpose. It is empowering to know that God created us, loves us and trusts us.
BROWN: Doing Hard Things
Nothing builds confidence quite like doing something hard and making it through. My divorce and college graduation forever changed my level of confidence. To bring it to the kids level, I asked Elle, “How did you feel after you hiked Angel’s Landing?” When kids are pushed to do what they think they cannot do, they see themselves in a different light; their capacities increase and they learn to trust themselves.
GREEN: Learning New Skills
Every time you master a small skill your confidence grows. It could be just learning to tie your shoes or your multiplication facts, but the more skills you learn for yourself the more confident you are. And learning these skills takes practice- putting in your time; doing the work; you can’t be confident at a piano recital if you haven’t practiced.
RED: Physical Health
When you are stronger and healthier physically, you are stronger and healthier mentally. The spirit and the body are inextricably linked. When one is out of whack, the other suffers. Plus when you are physically healthy, you feel like you have the energy and capability to face whatever comes.
YELLOW: Looking Beyond Yourself
When you look beyond yourself to help and serve others, selfishness and self-absorption melt away. When you focus on others, you are less likely to think of your own weaknesses and your own shortcomings. And when you look for the good in others, you are more likely to see the good in yourself. Be kind and gentle with others and you will learn be kind and gentle with yourself.
This idea came from a cool blog I found called: "Raising Lemons"
The girls had a great time and we talked a lot. One of the better lessons we have ever had! Everyone had something to say and they have enjoyed having the peanut M&M's on the counter since. No one has even tried or asked to eat them. They are sitting there as reminder of a fun time we all had!
Try this at your house and tell me how it went! And thanks "Raising Lemons" for the idea!
I opened the bag and had my girls sort them into jars. I watched them and they did not eat any. (Which I was surprised at, but they were excited for the lesson.)
Someone explain to me why there are about 11 Red, one jar of Orange, one jar of Brown, one jar and a little bit of Green, and Yellow and two full jars of Blue! I think we got jipped out of some Red!
Here is the smaller bag of plain all sorted out.
As you can see there is a little more red than the others, but for the most part they are pretty equal. I don't quite understand this, but I'm not going to buy more bags of candy to find out if this is always the case!
OBJECT LESSON:
The lesson was about confidence. Each of the girls choose a color and I gave them a little blurb to go along with it. They were to then share any comments or examples they had about their topic.
ORANGE: Obedience
Confidence comes through making good choices over and over again. If you don’t believe me, think of this scenario: Have you ever passed a police officer when you were speeding or when your kids weren’t buckled? Compare that to passing him going the speed limit or when everyone was all buckled up properly. I bet you had more confidence as you passed him. And it is a lot less stressful isn’t it?
BLUE: Divine Nature
Knowing who you are and where you come from fosters confidence. Understanding your divine origin- that you are a literal child of God- that God is your Father- gives you security, certainty, perspective and purpose. It is empowering to know that God created us, loves us and trusts us.
BROWN: Doing Hard Things
Nothing builds confidence quite like doing something hard and making it through. My divorce and college graduation forever changed my level of confidence. To bring it to the kids level, I asked Elle, “How did you feel after you hiked Angel’s Landing?” When kids are pushed to do what they think they cannot do, they see themselves in a different light; their capacities increase and they learn to trust themselves.
GREEN: Learning New Skills
Every time you master a small skill your confidence grows. It could be just learning to tie your shoes or your multiplication facts, but the more skills you learn for yourself the more confident you are. And learning these skills takes practice- putting in your time; doing the work; you can’t be confident at a piano recital if you haven’t practiced.
RED: Physical Health
When you are stronger and healthier physically, you are stronger and healthier mentally. The spirit and the body are inextricably linked. When one is out of whack, the other suffers. Plus when you are physically healthy, you feel like you have the energy and capability to face whatever comes.
YELLOW: Looking Beyond Yourself
When you look beyond yourself to help and serve others, selfishness and self-absorption melt away. When you focus on others, you are less likely to think of your own weaknesses and your own shortcomings. And when you look for the good in others, you are more likely to see the good in yourself. Be kind and gentle with others and you will learn be kind and gentle with yourself.
This idea came from a cool blog I found called: "Raising Lemons"
The girls had a great time and we talked a lot. One of the better lessons we have ever had! Everyone had something to say and they have enjoyed having the peanut M&M's on the counter since. No one has even tried or asked to eat them. They are sitting there as reminder of a fun time we all had!
Try this at your house and tell me how it went! And thanks "Raising Lemons" for the idea!
Sounds like you had a great lesson!
ReplyDeleteThe company that makes M&Ms is known to have done market research that resulted in the percentage of the various colors that you get in a bag. Basically, some market research study groups found this mix of colors to be the most appealing.
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting Morgan. I wonder then why peanut M&Ms has different amounts of colors yet the plain seem to all have the same. I never thought of the market research... I wonder too if the fear in the (way long ago) past of the red M&M causing cancer could have something to do with it as well. Something to think about....
ReplyDeleteBet you anything that if there had been more "HOT" colors, then they would have contrasted badly with the cooler colors. it takes a lot of cool color to outshine hot bright colors. Hence the blue, so more blue makes it seam evenly colored. With the smaller ones it doesn't matter as much because they mix in better and contain more surface area, and not contrasting nearly as much as the bigger ones. This is just an educated guess, based on knowledge I learned from art classes and really basic psychology tips I've picked up from research here and there.
DeleteBet you anything that if there had been more "HOT" colors, then they would have contrasted badly with the cooler colors. it takes a lot of cool color to outshine hot bright colors. Hence the blue, so more blue makes it seam evenly colored. With the smaller ones it doesn't matter as much because they mix in better and contain more surface area, and not contrasting nearly as much as the bigger ones. This is just an educated guess, based on knowledge I learned from art classes and really basic psychology tips I've picked up from research here and there.
DeleteI'm making an educated guess based on past art class experience and psychology tips I've picked up online, but I think that having more blue will balance out the hotter colors like red or yellows. This is important with the bigger M&Ms because they have less surface area to show color, whereas the smaller ones have an easier time fanning out and looking nicely. It takes a whole lot of cool colors to outshine hotter brighter colors.
DeleteAs for the yellow ones being a little higher, the only hot color with two jars, I'm taking a total guess here by saying maybe the bag was yellow? so the yellow would have an easier time blending in. Although yellow would blend in well with brown as well.
Very clever post, very! never would have thought about attaching colors to object lessons! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad they have red M&Ms again after the dye scare back in the day... and custom colors too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thought process Tanner. The bag was indeed yellow. You may be on to something!
ReplyDelete