Dr. Masaru Emoto is a Japanese researcher and a certified alternative medicine doctor. He spent many years studying and researching how human thoughts and intentions could alter physical reality. In his famous rice experiment, he demonstrates the power of negative and positive words, finding that speaking negatively to rice in water over time caused decay, and speaking positively over time allowed it to thrive.

To illustrate the physical effect of negative and positive words and how they can impact our well-being.

1. Fill two airtight jars halfway with cooked rice. Add enough water so that the water just covers the rice.

2. Affix a label on each jar or use a permanent marker. Write “Love” on one jar and “Hate” on the other one.

3. Let the experiment begin! Every day for one month, spend time speaking to each jar of rice individually. To the jar labeled Love, say things like: I love you, you are so beautiful and smart. And to the jar labeled Hate, say things like: I hate you, you are ugly, or you are stupid.

4. When concluding the experiment, ask your children the following questions:

• How did the positive words and the negative words affect the rice?
• How do you think words affect us and others?
• How can using positive words help your relationships with friends and family?
• How can using positive words internally (self-talk)help us do better?