Never Cook the First Day of the Week

One of my hard and fast rules for Foods classes is we never cook the first day of the week. Here's my rationale:

1. As we all know students tend to suffer a massive though usually temporary memory loss over the weekend related to classroom procedures, rules, and generally how to act in school :) Throw in what they've forgotten about the recipe you're working on, and it's utter chaos.
   
2. You have enough to do over the weekend without piling on school grocery shopping. Amiright?
   
3. This buys you one more day to do laundry if you're behind on the towels. Nothing worse than not having enough clean towels.
   
4. After the first few weeks, there's always one day of the week when you won't be asked "Are we cooking today?" (as if there are ever, ever surprise cooking days). On the occasions when students forget what day it is and ask, the other students are usually all to happy to answer the question for you - no, it's the first day of the week!

Anyone else share this rule? Do you have others about when labs are scheduled?

Paper Plate Turkeys!

One of my objectives in Child Development is to get my students to realize that early childhood is not always the blissful, easy experience that they now remember it as - childhood is hard work! To address this, I pepper the semester with various activities to help them develop empathy for their younger selves.

One method is to make them complete "simple" tasks with their non-dominant hands, like coloring. They get so excited when I pull out coloring pages and crayons, until they find out they have to use their "other" hands (by the way, I'm very careful to determine everyone's dominant hand well before any of these activities, so I won't have any cheaters).

From coloring I move on to more difficult tasks, such as creating a paper plate turkey! This involves not only coloring, but also cutting, gluing, and stapling. Fun, but very difficult to do with your opposite hand.

To make the project go smoother, I assemble their supplies beforehand (yep, there are those formula cans and copy paper box lids again!). In the cans (which double as their personal trash cans while working on this project) I place a little baggie of crayons, a glue stick, and safety scissors. Then in gallon-sized Ziploc bags, I place 2 paper plates, a small square of yellow construction paper, a small square of red construction paper, and two googly eyes. Then the cans and the baggies are placed in box lids, making them easy to store until I need them, and easy to pass out when we begin.

For the instructions, I play the video demonstration I created. This frees me up to help frustrated students - and also to catch the cheaters who are using their dominant hands!

When we are finished, I have a volunteer walk the big trash can around so students can empty their mini trash cans. Then someone else collects the now empty baggies, and a third student collects the cans with the scissors, glue stick, and crayons. Having only three students taking care of trash and collecting supplies is WAY LESS chaotic than having twenty-something high schoolers running around returning items.

And of course, there is also written component to the project, in which among other things students need to describe the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional benefits a child would experience from this activity. Feel free to use any and all of these resources!

Gobble Gobble!

Next Year...

While stressful, the end of April is also a wonderful time for teachers as you begin to develop hope and interest in the possibilities of "Next Year..." Over the next few posts I'll go over a few "Thinking about next year" tasks that I found to be indispensable. We'll begin with:

Clean and Organize!

I know that amid all of the grading, flurry of special activities and schedules, prom, and other hurdles along the track toward the finish line, cleaning and organizing is not high on the priority list. It's definitely one of those "in a few weeks I'll have all the time in the world..." for to-do list items. Here's why it's important to jump on it now:

• No matter how good your intentions, by the time the last day comes around you will be completely drained. 
• And completely drained means that your end of the year cleaning is going to consist of cramming items into any cabinet, drawer, etc that gets the job done with the promise that not only "I'll take care of it in early August" but also the perennial classic "I'll definitely remember where I put everything in August." Riiiiiiiiight...
• Just a little bit at a time will make the end of this year - and beginning of next - so much nicer. 
• This is the perfect time to purge! You know you're storing a bunch of stuff that you're never going to use, and the clutter it causes and space it takes up is a big stressor. Sneaky tip: have the tossables all ready to go by locker clean-up day, so when they roll the big trash cans into the hallway you can quickly and easily dispose of them!
• Clearing out all that stuff you don't want will make storing everything else for the summer so much easier.
• Purging and organizing will help you see what you really need for next year. 

Do not forget to enlist help! 

• You know those kids who are always eager to help? Give them something to help with! They'll be delighted!
• The bored kids who have "nothing to do" in study hall, after tests, etc. These kids are almost always super grateful to be given something to pass the time.
• The kids that you have to win over time and again. Ever notice that when you ask a kid to help you with something they seem to start to like you better? That's a real thing, it's called the Ben Franklin effect. Google it. Then start building relationships by asking kids to do things for you. Bonus if you can involve kids you don't currently have in class but know that you will next year. Don't forget the positive reinforcement. (NOT reward, positive reinforcement. They are different. I'm looking at you, PBIS.)
• Steal kids who are in detention, nab kids who are killing time after school before extra-curriculars, borrow kids of co-workers who are waiting for their parents to finish grading something so they can go home. Seriously, they're everywhere, help them be productive!

What Do You Ban From Your Classroom? My 2 1/2 Deal Breakers

All of us have our pet peeves that find their way into our classroom rules and procedures, and it varies from person to person. For example, I once worked with a math teacher who had an explicit "No Singing" rule. Apparently year after year she's had trouble with students spontaneously breaking out into song in the middle of class, and she reached her limit. I'm not sure if I haven't experienced it at the level that she has, or that it doesn't bother me, or that I just don't notice it, but I've never felt the impulse to impose an absolute ban (there have of course been isolated incidents wherein I discouraged it, like the Fergie/Jesus episode or in the wake of the release of Frozen).

However, there are 2 1/2 physical items that I have imposed an absolute ban on.

1: GLITTER
It is the herpes of decoration. It never goes away. You think it's all cleared up and then BAM another outbreak.

2: CANDY CANES
I HATE them. They are delicious and festive, but they always always break when students have them and they always always shatter into a bazillion sticky pieces and the students always always step on or smash them even further and they never never clean them up. They're like glitter that attracts bugs and vermin. Fun story: sometime in mid-April one year a senior walked into my room to deliver something from the office while eating a candy cane. I hollered: "Freeze! Back up to the door! You cannot have that in here!" He looked at me and the rest of the class in complete bewilderment. Several students backed me up and told him "Yeah, she's not kidding, you can't be in here with that." I love it when students vehemently defend your arbitrary rules.

2.5: MICROWAVE POPCORN
Only allowed after school, never before or during (students aren't the problem with this one, it's teachers. They really don't like being turned away. There is a teacher's lounge, people!). The aroma of popcorn smells heavenly the first ten minutes. As it continues to hang in there air, however, it quickly degrades into a weird funk that inspires every. single. student. that walks through the door for the rest of the day to loudly announce "It smells nasty in here!"

Those are my absolute bans. What are yours?

Leftover Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce

It's pretty rare that I've run a lab that requires chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that actually used the entire can; at home it never happens (for me that is, maybe you can't get enough!). Here's how I deal with the leftovers.

Plop each pepper onto a baking sheet lined parchment paper, careful to include a healthy amount of sauce with each but keep them separated. Then throw that puppy into the freezer for an hour or two, won't take long to freeze:

Once frozen, they pull off the paper nice and easy, sauce and all:

You can then toss them into a freezer bag, and they'll be easy to pull out one at a time whenever you need them.

Now that you know the trick, you can apply it to so many more foods than just peppers. This is also how I freeze berries and chopped veggies - freeze them separate and flat, then when they go into the bag they don't freeze into a ginormous clump that's impossible to break up without a hammer or defrosting.

Happy freezing!

Lab Notes

After every cooking lab I have always thought to myself "Next time I need to remember/change/etc." Usually I even jotted reminders down. When next time came around, it was kind of a crapshoot whether I would remember those thoughts or come across those notes, which resulted in many a palm-forehead experience. Then I started keeping the notes with the recipes, but that meant that I only reviewed them as I was beginning to prepare for that lab, and some reminders I needed further in advance. Finally I got around to doing the obvious and keeping all of my lab notes in one place, which turned out to be immensely helpful. For each lab I jotted down what I wanted to remember for next time, such as

• things that worked well that I want to remember to do again
• changes I want to make next time
• steps/procedures to review or emphasize the day of the lab, based on mistakes or misunderstandings that happened in the kitchens
• other helpful reminders/hints to myself

Sidenote: It's funny now to see the recurring themes, such as "do not accidentally turn off oven." When the oven timers would go off students would hit the "Cancel" button thinking they were turning off the timer, when in fact they were turning off the oven. This was a big problem when that timer was just for the first check!

It's a simple thing, but very helpful. Having the notes for several recipes on the same page also helps because I wind up reviewing them more often, rather than just before using a specific one. And of course, it makes it easier to identify patterns over time.

What do you do to make sure you remember your wishes for "next time"?

A Little Fun with Pop Quizzes

Sometimes you gotta check in to see what the kids are getting and what needs some work, which in fancy lingo is referred to as formative assessment. I do this in a variety of ways, but sometimes a pop quiz is the way to go. However, I don't want the kids to get so freaked out that test anxiety confounds the results and I don't know if they actually don't know what I want them to know, or if they couldn't produce what they know because of nerves and therefore look like they don't know what they know.

Did you have to read that twice?

Point being I try to make things like this as anxiety-free as I can. One thing that's fun to do is give a pop quiz in the form of a card. Below is an example of a vitamin pop quiz I gave. I made little quiz-cards, placed them in envelopes, sealed them with veggie stickers (unnecessary but added to the fun! Thank you Target dollar bins), then popped them into their folders with a "Do Not Open" note written on them.

Was it more work than just handing out a quiz the old-fashioned way? Yes. Was it a little cutesy? Yes. Did the kids like it? Yes. Were they freaked out about taking a quiz? No.

Would I have done this for multiple large classes? Heck no, unless I had student helpers - this would be a great thing for student helpers to do, by the way. But, for just a couple of classes, it was totally worth it, and made learning about vitamins just a touch more fun. 

p.s. Want more vitamin fun? Check out my completely ridiculous yet useful Vitamin Poem!

Special Deal - Over 100 Resources!

As promised, here is the special deal I alluded to earlier in the week!

This deal includes:

• 24 weekly bell work sheets
• 39 skeleton note forms with corresponding PPTs
• ~50 resources for various activities
• 24 recipes, most in lab plan format, many with self-evaluation forms and video demonstrations
• 3 sets of lab task cards
• 35 video links used regularly in class
• an oodle of additional resources not easily categorized
• everything you see in my TPT store (which is not a ton, but a decent amount)
• Please click here to see a much more detailed list of the items here

On TPT this would cost you a small fortune. For the next few weeks all of this can be yours for... $25. 

Nope, not a typo! Why? To fight cancer!
Note: short link in image is outdated; visit bit.ly/CAP4TNT19  for this year's fundraiser! 

I will be running in the Chicago Marathon this fall, and I am running with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training! This is a cause very important to our family, as my husband lost his mother to multiple myeloma when he was still in high school. 

What does this have to do with FACS resources? Here's how to redeem the special offered above:

1. Visit my fundraising page at bit.ly/CAP4TNT19 and make a $25 dollar donation. 
2. Use the word "FACS" somewhere within the message box.
3. Receive the full bundle within 48 hours! 

That's it! The only caveat is that if you select the option to remain anonymous, I won't receive your email address to send you your goodies. You can still keep your name from being visible on the fundraising page by selecting this option:

Benefits for me:

• You will be helping me to reach my fundraising goal!
• 100% of your donation will go to Team in Training!

Benefits for you:

• Lots of great resources!
• You'll receive a receipt that you can use for a charitable tax deduction (it won't count toward the paltry educator expenses limit!)!
• You will be fighting cancer!

Benefits for patients and their families:

• Donations to blood cancer research means more lives saved!

Visit bit.ly/CAP4TNT19 today, and thank you so much for helping in the fight against blood cancer!

Play-Doh, Child Development, and Take-Out Boxes

So over a year ago I posted about using brightly colored take-out boxes (available at your local craft store) for project supplies, and promised to write about how we used the Play-Doh I stored in them in a later post. Well, here's the later post!

To review, the take-out boxes are not only a fun storage container, but being sealed and opaque they are also great for "secret" supplies and surprise projects. One thing that many students struggle with is understanding the differences between physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development (in particular they have a hard time teasing out social and emotional). In fairness, they are all of course interrelated, but I need them to understand each as a stand-alone as well. Because they have such trouble, my challenge is to take these abstract concepts and make them as concrete as possible, so I thought "Why not have them make physical representations of each?"

I divided the class into groups, then sent them back to the kitchens so they would have lots of counter space to work with (and also to get them physically moving around, get those brain juices flowing!). Each kitchen was given a take-out box (in the color that matched their kitchen, of course), which they were delighted to find contained Play-Doh! I explained that even though they were in groups they would each be making their own creations (haha to those who thought they could just watch! Boy, lots of exclamation points in this paragraph!). We quickly reviewed the different areas of development, and then I said "Okay, everyone create something with your Play-Doh related to physical development." And off they went! We did a few rounds each of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional. Check out some of their ideas:

I walked around as they worked, and asked them to explain what it was they produced and how it was related to that area of development. This was an important component because:

1. not all of them were great Play-Doh artists and I'm not always the best mystery solver
2. some of the creations could be applied to multiple categories so I wanted to hear their reasoning for their choice
3. it forced them to not only think about what they were making but how they could explain what they were making to someone else
4. viewing others' creations and listening to others' explanations deepened their understanding of the concepts and helped them apply the concepts to a wider range of objects/ activities/ relationships/ etc

They learned, they started performing much better on other assignments/ assessments related to areas of development, and we all had fun. And, I got to use the awesome color-coded take-out boxes! Slam dunk!

Food for Thought: Bell Ringers

I do like using bell ringers - you know, those little writing prompts or activities at the beginning of class that get kids thinking about what they'll be doing today (while you're taking attendance and juggling 4 million other things); but it took me a while to find a system for them that I really liked.

I started out with the students writing them on notebook paper. This was useless. Either you have to collect a million pieces of paper a day, or they lose them. Even if you say "Keep the same paper all week; put it in your folder" or whatever, it's doubtful that will help. Then of course the paper itself is torn, crumpled, spilled on, chewed on, whatever.

So when I moved to binders, I placed a little packet of bell ringer sheets in with everyone's syllabus, etc:

This worked so much better! Clean, hole-punched paper that stayed in the rings. Beautiful.

Downsides: It wound up taking a good bit of room up in the binders. I was confined to boring lines and three sentence responses. I had to keep track of how many should be recorded every time I graded. I had to keep a list of the prompts handy for weeks after they'd been used. 

Then I moved to folders, and decided I wanted a weekly sheet that they would keep in their folders. I would graded folders every week, and this sheet would be removed from their folders every week. And I didn't always want to be confined to boring lines and three sentence responses. So I came up with these:

Each week had a different little food icon at the top, different shapes throughout the page, and the variation allowed me a variety of prompts. I would give the students blank ones like the one above, add the prompts to the page and project one each day:

Love this system! I used them in every class, not just Foods (though I of course changed out the title of the class). It provides a lot of flexibility, and is fun to boot. Check out these happy guys:

I know, I know: you're now irresistibly drawn to these and are thinking "Man, I've gotta make some awesome bell ringer sheets like that." Awww shucks, thanks! But don't. I'll be putting over a semester's worth of these bad boys up along with a ton of other new stuff as part of a very special bargain by the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Update: Packets of these bell ringer sheets are available in my TPT store if you're interested.

Protect Your Handiwork

Here's another tip from the department of the obvious, yet took me a while to figure out that I actually needed to implement this procedure. I have these beautiful stand mixer covers I made for my kitchens, which were constantly getting mucky because the kids would just toss them wherever. I tried to get them in the habit of placing them on top of the microwave and out of harm's way, but to no avail - and somehow even those that followed through still managed to muck them up. So I started requiring that at the beginning of any lab involving the stand mixers, the covers had to go into a box by the ingredient table as soon as they were taken off of the mixers.

Problem solved. After the first lab with this new procedure, I never had to tell them again, someone would always remind the rest of the class to do it. Including me when I forgot to set a box out. Such a simple thing, but it works!

Milk Cartons, Time, and Space

Piggy-backing on earlier posts about organizing your ingredients table and making egg cartons more manageable, here's a tip for milk: save a couple smaller containers. Having representatives from several kitchens waiting around for the gallon jug not only uses up precious time, it's a spill waiting to happen. I divide the milk up into the smaller sizes so that more people can use them AND spills are much less likely.

Note: make sure the kids know you are reusing older containers, so they don't squawk about the old dates.

Folder Crates

Quick one today - several people have asked where I found the crates that I use for my folders (see here and here for info on the folders).

Originally I purchased them at Amazon, but at the time I was able to get 7 of them for less than $26; now they're over $10 each, eep!

However, if you go directly to the company that sells them, they are $5 each with free shipping right now, and I personally think they're definitely worth that.

I'll also mention that these particular crates apparently fit perfectly in the Thirty-One utility tote that is so popular amongst teachers these days, a great way to keep files organized in your super-cute bag! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click to view the organizing utility tote that's all the rage right now on the main website, or support a fellow teacher who "deals" bags on the side over at her blog, The Caffeinated Teacher (great teacher blog by the way, even if you're not interested in the bags!).

This pic is from late November - well, must have been November 22nd to be exact, given that I have a picture of President Kennedy displayed. You can see how the folders begin to show their wear toward the end of the semester (and there's always one that gets WAY more love than the others, as you can see from #9 here).

Back to School Shopping Finds & FOLDERS!

So by now you must have all seen something like this:

It is that time, my friends - put on your game faces! I've received many requests to purchase the documents that I use with my folders (see related post); I've been working on it, and now nearly all are available from my TPT store. All items are either $1 or free - not looking to use my profits to retire early, just a little pocket change to help hedge the costs of the folders!

And speaking of folders, be sure to buy your supply FOR THE YEAR NOW! This is the only time of year that the price is reasonable; it will skyrocket in mid- to late-September. 

The ones I used last year were three-pronged, two-pocket paper folders. They are currently available in a variety of colors at WalMart for 15 cents (soon to be 50 cents!). Again, buy for the year, not just the semester (and if you'll recall, I did need to replace all of them at the semester - totally worth the expense, though!).

If you'd like something a little sturdier, Target is selling the same folders with a coating (not the polypropylene ones, just coated) for 15 cents as well:

Think through how you're going to use, store, and distribute them, because a coating will make them a bit slicker.

I personally would not go with the actual polypropylene folders, for a couple of reasons. One, they are MUCH slicker, and since I fan them out for students to retrieve they would constantly get knocked on the floor (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read my folders post). Two, even though they are WAY more durable than the paper ones, my bet is several of them would still need to be replaced at the semester mark, due to losses, dog bites, teenager bites, etc. Buying two folders per student at 15 cents each is still cheaper than one poly folder at 50, let alone two polys at $1. But enough with the math!

While at Target, if you teach anything child- or reading-related, you may want to swing by the dollar section and pick up some of these kid-sized totes with images from the hungry, hungry caterpillar! 

Back at WalMart, I'm happy to share that they have the crates that I so adore in more colors:

I have used these for color-coding class binders (back when I used binders rather than folders): 

After moving to folders I began using them to organize class materials (again, through color-coding).

My final find was this canvas tote with a "Periodic Table of Text Messaging," in the accessories department at WalMart. In my communication unit in Adult Living I do a lot with the advantages and pitfalls of texting as a communication method, and this would make a fantastic prop!

Those are some of my finds - what great things have you been stumbling upon the past few weeks?

Command Hooks & Blog Recommendation

Happy Summer!

Let me start with an apology to those who have emailed or commented over the past 2-3 weeks; this blog was pushed to the back burner as I transitioned out of the school year, so my responses have been delayed. I think I'm just about caught up now, and ready to begin posting some more ideas I used this past year!

Today is simply a commercial for one of my favorite things: Command Hooks! Great for hanging just about anything, and can be removed without damage to the walls. If you've read regularly for a while, you may have noticed how often they pop up in my writing. I love, love, love them! I highly recommend when you find a size and style you like, buy the big box, because you will continually be discovering uses for them. Here are just a few places you can find them in my classroom:

Unfortunately, 3M is not paying me to write this post, but if someone there would like to send me some free Command Hooks, just send me an email...

As for my blog recommendation, check out the new blog over at TX Home Ec Teacher. She's just getting started out in the blogging world and has posted a couple of great project ideas so far. We need more FACS blogs out there, so make sure you take a look and leave a comment!

More Mixing Mayhem!

So if you'll remember all the way back to August, when I arrived to begin arranging my new classroom the stand mixers looked like this:

Ugh, I shudder just looking at it. So, tomorrow is the last day of school - for the kids, anyway - and the mixers currently look like this:

Ta-daaa! Now, was this really hard, getting the kids to keep the mixers clean all year long? No, no it was not, not at all. Not even a little bit. No clean, no cook. The end. They griped, they moaned, they whined... and they cleaned. Fight the good fight, people! Don't let bad things happen to good mixers!

And speaking of bad things happening to good mixers, make sure you pack 'em up right for the summer. Depending on your comfort level at your school, this may mean locking your mixers away in a hidden location to ensure their safety. Luckily, I feel pretty confident leaving mine on the countertops, and the covers will keep them from getting all dusty. I did, however, bag the bowls:

You'd hate to return to school to discover a little centipede family had made its home in your mixer bowls! This way they stay dust and critter free all summer, without having to take up extra space in your cabinets.

A Watched Pot

From my treasure trove of obvious yet incredibly helpful/oft overlooked tips:

If your lab requires a large pot of boiling water, start the water for your students 15-20 minutes before class begins. Otherwise, they will spend half of the class period looking at the pot and waiting - that is, of course, assuming that they remember to start the water right away. It's not even necessary to fill the pots yourself; you could have the kids fill and cover them the day before during your lab prep.

Perhaps you are like I once was and you think to yourself "But I want for them to learn time management, how to fit together all the steps," blah, blah, blah. Screw it. Start the water, save yourselves the stress.

And while you're at it, preheat the ovens too. It's not like boiling water and preheating ovens are skills you have to continually review (yes, I know, you've got that one kitchen that still can't remember how to set up dish water, but you've just got to accept that and move on), and this will prevent a lot of stress and aggravation.

Exception: if you have block scheduling, I imagine you have time for the kids to do all this on their own. A couple of times a year I arrange for an "in-school" field trip where I have my Foods class for two consecutive class periods so we can actually cook a meal, eat, and clean all in one session - during these times, I don't start anything for them. But when you've got under 50 minutes for your labs, you've got find ways to save time and heartache.

Generic Brands & Foods Labs

You know the kids who loudly declare "Ugh, nasty!" every time they see a generic-brand-whatever on the ingredient table? Yeah, that's not annoying. I've found my life is easier to just disguise the packaging, rather than attempting a logical conversation about frugality.

Generic Parmesan, before:

Parmesan cheese, after:

No one knew the difference, muahahahaaa.... Along with removing the labels, don't forget to ALWAYS open the packages yourself.

For some items, it's best just to move the food to a completely different container: bowls, canisters, etc. For our fettucine lab this week, not only did I hide the generic pasta by eliminating the boxes, but I saved on both food cost and food waste by not giving each group a full container of pasta. Instead of 5 lb for 5 kitchens I purchased three, then divvied it up between them. There's still plenty for all group members to get a decent helping, and there were minimal leftovers - ideal. Over the course of the years I've become more and more successful at whittling down recipes to "just enough" for groups to eat in class. 

I'm not the only one whose kids tend to freak out over generics, right?

Write and Wipe Pockets

Another colorful addition to the kitchens: transparent pockets for lab plans!

These are "Write and Wipe Pockets" from Learning Resources; they came in a set of five and just happened to be the same colors as my kitchens! They can be written on with dry erase marker (included with the set) and then wiped clean - perfect for keeping track of recipe progress! Additionally, with the use of command hooks (yup, I love 'em!) they keep the papers off of the counters where they typically do not escape unscathed. Also available on Amazon, the set is a very reasonable $12-$14. The pockets themselves only come with the upper left-hand corner hole-punched; I simply added another punch to the upper right and slapped on a couple of reinforcement labels:

Less clutter on the counters, easier for group members to see and keep track of what they've accomplished, and of course adds a little extra class with the color coordination. 

Take-Out Boxes of Fun

Whilst at Hobby Lobby a bit ago, I noticed a display of brightly colored take-out boxes; at that moment, I knew that I had to have them for group projects. I picked up five in colors that correspond to my classroom kitchens.

Notice that I have them set up in a copy paper box lid, one of my new favorite tools this year. Anyway, when I divide the class up into small groups for short activities, I usually do so by assigning them to a kitchen - gets them up and moving, and also gives them a nice big counter to work together on. So once I saw these I realized it would be really fun to stock them with "secret" supplies for their activity. I used them for the first time this week; here's what was in them:

Stay tuned, and I will tell you what they did with the Play-Doh in a future post!