This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group and EQtainment, but all opinions are my own. #pmedia #Qsracetothetop #ad https://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
This is called Perfect Popcorn for a reason… It is perfect for family game night. It tastes great, is a fun treat, but won’t get the kids sticky, which saves the game from being ruined.
And with the perfect popcorn you need the perfect game. And I am so excited to share it with you! It is called Q’s Race To The Top. It is a board game that comes with a book you read first and action cards. It is about a little monkey that is smart but makes a lot of mistakes, doesn’t like to share, and is sometimes selfish, or thinks about himself and forgets to think of others. Sound familiar? As a parent the story really resonated with me, as I saw many similarities between Q’s behavior and my kiddos. And that is the point, this game is designed to teach kids emotional intelligence, something I am a firm believer everyone should learn.
It teaches emotional quotient (EQ) in a fun, non-threatening way that really works. I only wish I had it sooner.
As a parent it is hard to admit our failures sometimes, and one of the things I have had the hardest time with is my son’s behavior. A couple of years ago my oldest son started having minor problems in school. Behavioral problems. He would overreact, think everything was unfair, and not understand why his teacher, classmates, etc. responded the way they did to him. Once after getting a bad mark on a quiz he pushed his desk over. It was not good. I never expected my kids to be perfect little angels, but after a few too many calls from the teacher or principal, and well…I was at my wits end.
Long story short, it got a little out of hand. He is a really good kid. but his teacher was worried he was ostracizing himself socially and impairing his ability to learn in the classroom. After trying a number of different classroom approaches without success, we ended up seeking professional help. We got him a behavioral therapist. He is a very smart kid by way of traditional intelligence, but his EQ was not on par with his IQ. EQ is an important skill outside of your child’s IQ and academic education. It includes things like self control, motivation, empathy, and social skills.
What it boiled down to for us was my son lacked empathy, and did not have the filter, red flag, logic most people have emotionally. And so things felt like great injustices, and he could only see one side of a situation…his!
This was really hard on all of us, but we did not want him labeled as the “bad” kid or the “problem” kid in the classroom, so for about 8 months he had weekly therapy to develop emotional intelligence. He learned coping skills for his emotions, and proper responses to difficult situations. I had to learn that just like I could not expect him to understand complex math because he had not yet learned it, I couldn’t expect certain responses/behaviors as he had not yet learned the emotional skills to handle certain feelings.
At the time I felt so helpless and clueless as to what to do. I would have loved having a game to help teach EQ, as beyond the therapist there were very few resources to turn to. We still work on this daily in our family with all 4 of our children, so when I saw this game, I had to have it. I knew it would make teaching EQ so much easier, and I was right!
If you think you would benefit from it too, you can check out the Kickstarter Campaign for it by clicking here.
Q’s Race To The Top is developed by EQtainment, a company that helps kids to practice emotional intelligence in a fun, no pressure, way that is both affordable and easy for parents.They have books, videos, and games. This game has a cute book you read about the monkey Q, and then a game board you play by rolling dice, and working your way through cards. The game offers 3 types of cards: Do, You, and Q. There are things the kids have to do, questions about themselves, and questions about Q. And they all help with EQ. It is really fun!
I can’t stress how important learning EQ really is. Studies have shown that having a high emotional quotient boosts career success, relationship satisfaction, leadership skills, health, humor, and happiness. All things I desperately want for my children. How about you?
As my son’s EQ has grown, the behavioral problems have started to subside. But we aren’t where we need to be yet. I wanted to share my story of struggling with a son with lower EQ, so other struggling parents will know there are things they can do, and maybe even help them find some help using this game.
We have loved it. It was fun to get to try this game before it even came out. We played it the first day we got it, and my kids have wanted to play it nearly every day since. The kids especially loved the “Do” section which includes things like standing on one leg. Hopping, etc. And I loved the “Q” section, which felt all too familiar with questions like… “Sometimes Q feels angry and hurt when people tease him for having a tail and big ears. Have you ever been teased? How did that make you feel?”
This great company is doing a Kickstarter campaign to help launch this amazing game. The Kickstarter started August 12th, so I encourage you to go support them, check it out, and get one of these great games for yourself. You won’t regret it. Find the campaign here.
And once you have it, make the Perfect Popcorn and you will be all set for a fun family game night.
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Perfect Popcorn
Ingredients
- 1 cup Popcorn kernels air popped
Caramel
- 1 Cube 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1/3 cup Light corn syrup
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Butter flavoring optional
- 1/2 tsp Coconut extract
- 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1/2 Tbs Molasses
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
Instructions
- Pop the popcorn kernels with an air popper
- In a a heavy saucepan, turn heat to medium-high
- Melt butter in saucepan and stir sugar in
- Add light corn syrup, salt, vanilla, butter and coconut flavoring, cinnamon, and molasses
- Stir continuously until sugar melts completely
- Stir in baking soda
- Pour over the popped corn
- Preheat oven to 250
- Spray a cookie sheet with cooking oil and spread coated popcorn over the sheet in as close to a single layer as possible
- Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes
- Let cool and enjoy
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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Enjoy!
To learn more about this fun and educational game and the company behind it you can watch this video:
Popcorn lover says
Popcorn is one of my best snacks.. I love this recipe , thanks for such great share.
What is my ip says
Thank you for another essential article.
Nile Flores says
I’ve never heard of this game before. They sure come up with some really different things for kids. My son did the Baby Einstein stuff, as well as Leap Frog, and now with his schoolwork, he has extra work books where he can work ahead of his grade. However, we’ve never had any games like this.
Fashion Travels (@tauyanm) says
nice game! haven’t played this one before! but i do love some popcorn!
Yan Birog says
wow this is really very easy! we usually just buy flavored popcorn though! >XD
ascendingbutterfly says
Games are great ways to foster learning in children, I don’t have children but I am a former Special Education Teacher I like learning about new creative learning games. And now I want popcorn. So there’s that! LOL
Erin says
One of the things I miss from living close to my family is game night. We used to play games every Sunday night and have snacks. Popcorn was definitely a favorite.
Ashley Nicholas says
Caramel corn is seriously one of my favorite foods! I’ll have to buy this game for my niece!
Nicole says
You are so right about that… sometimes we do have a hard time admitting our faults as parents. I need to check out the game, it sure will come in handy with my little one. great photos!
klg1982 says
Beautiful photos as usual.:) I will have to try this recipe. my husband and kids would be all over it!
Liz Mays says
This is a nice change of pace from a traditional board game. I really like the card examples you showed.
Rebecca Swenor says
The game sounds amazing and I am so glad your son is improving. It is nice they are coming out with games like this for kids. I will have to try this recipe for the popcorn it looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Pauchee Casimiro says
Looks yummy and fun! Wanna try it out!
Michael says
Rachel….what a extraordinary story. That took a lot of courage to both write and share. Empathy is a trait we must all have in order to change this violent world. Without compassion for others,we truly are lost. You showed excellent parenting skills in realizing what was going and instead of treating it like a phase that so many parents do,you were proactive and got your son the help he needed.
Glad to see your son is doing much better!!
I am just sorry no one else truly read your blog today,they might have leaned something like I did.
Rachael says
Thank you for the comment. I really appreciate it. And I appreciate you taking the time to read what I wrote. Thank you for visiting. Your kind comment really made my day.
Chrissy says
That popcorn looks great and the game looks so fun!
Owen's Mom says
I think that game would be very helpful with my son. …and your popcorn! Yum! I need to try that recipe. Looks delicious.
deannaritz says
I would love to get this game for my little boys to play. I think that they could really get a lot out of it. Plus, we love popcorn in our house too. 😉
Risa says
This looks like a great game to play with kids. I may have to try it with my daughter.
Rena McDaniel-Alzheimers Caregiver says
This looks like a fun night in with the kids. Great idea and the popcorn looks awesome.
Rosey says
We had a great behavioral specialist at a school I worked for…sometimes I had to sit in and there really were so many different issues/challenges for him to face. I have met kids too empathetic, too apathetic, and everything along the middle. 🙂
Kathy Gray says
Looks like you had a lot of fun. I love your colorful pictures.
Laura Crawford says
PINNED!! This recipe looks delish, and now I’m going to be on the hunt for this game. Emotional development is just as important as everything else we concentrate on in our children.
Kath Rivera (Dear Kitty Kittie Kath) says
We had popcorn last night but it was cheese flavor. Nice game for the family!
Aisha Kristine Chong says
Looks really good! It has been awhile since I had popcorns!
Natalie (@nataliemadeit) says
I wanted to get this game, it looks like so much fun would be so much fun for game night with the kids.
Nolie says
This is the perfect game for a fun family evening. I can just imagine the laughter from one of the physical challenge cards.
parentinginnky2013 says
Not sure what I thinkk of this game. May have to check into it a bit more. Thanks for sharing- I;ve never heard of it.
Melanie says
This looks like a fun game!
kungphoo says
Looks like a really fun game.. We love popcorn here.. its such an easy snack!
celebbabylaundry says
Popcorn is one of the best snacks, it’s very healthy also.
Nancy P.@thebittersideofsweet says
My kids would have so much fun with this game! The popcorn looks great too!
nmburk says
My son is autistic, and I understand the concept of having to teach something that just comes naturally to other people! What a wonderful game!
Rachael says
It really is. It is hard as a parent and I am sure for the child when they just aren’t getting something that others get so naturally.
Angela Christopher says
We have been talking about introducing a family game night into our routine! Love the popcorn recipe too
Diana Villa says
Yummy!!!! Me and my family love popcorn. Thanks you so much for the great recipe and post
FamiGami (@famigami) says
This sounds like something for my son. His problem is he’s TOO empathetic. He’ll literally sacrifice himself to do anything for someone else at his detriment. Basically, he lets himself get taken advantage of and can’t recognize that it isn’t a good thing. Thanks for telling us about this game!
Rachael says
It really is a wonderful game! I am so glad I was able to get it.
Michelle F. says
That looks like a fun game. Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks.