Feeding Family Spirit: Cards for Connection
by Theresa Carpine5/7/2008 4:57:43 PM
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Deb Dole has always loved questions. “I’ve collected them for years,” the Bellingham mother of two said in a recent interview. While a compilation of questions might seem like an unusual collection to keep, Deb turned her casual hobby into an interpersonal family game and started distributing her product in the Bellingham area.
“We’re always asking our kids and our families questions—what to do today, what to make for dinner,” Deb said. “But it’s also important to ask questions about each other and our relationships too.”
These questions help parents and children understand each other.Her game is called Feeding Family Spirit: Cards for Connection, which she began manufacturing two years ago. “I organized all the questions into categories, taught myself Photoshop to design the cards, developed the packaging, and began passing them out to families,” she explained.
There are four categories per game: You, You and Me, You and the World, and Family. “They’re just simple questions, like ‘What’s important in your life?’ or ‘What’s hard about being a sibling?’, but the answers can lead to interesting conversations,” Deb said. It’s not a game about winning points or keeping score; the goal of this game is to discover something about your child that you might not have known before and to understand how your child sees the world.
With positive feedback from friends and supporters, Deb expanded her venture and is currently working on a marketing plan for the game. The cards are printed at Applied Digital Imaging (but still assembled and packaged in her home), and the game is available for purchase at several Bellingham locations.
Get the game in a box or on a binder ring for easy transport.“Eventually I’d like to find a game-making business that could put the whole product together,” Deb said. In the mean time, she’s getting just trying to get the word out about Feeding Family Spirit. She’s attending an upcoming home schooling conference and also thinks the questions would be a useful tool for child therapists and school counselors.
This is Deb’s first foray into product development and marketing, but certainly not her last. “I have so many more ideas!” she said enthusiastically. She also makes metal jewelry, plays in a Marimba band, teaches music and rhythm, and writes manuscripts for children’s books.
Before actualizing all of these creative endeavors, along with motherhood, Deb taught environmental studies and biology at the community college level. When she and her husband moved to Bellingham nine years ago, both of them were working in Everett and living in Seattle. “We had friends up here and really liked the area, so we moved to Bellingham, but kept commuting to Everett,” she explained. These days, they keep busy with their two daughters, ages 11 and 8 ½, by being outdoors as much as possible. “We love the parks and the access to the outdoors here, that’s what feeds our family.”
Deb Dole also plays in a Marimba band.Being in Bellingham has also helped Deb get her game off the ground. It’s a locally made product and a supportive community network has helped. “I started making the game in a box, but people would say they wanted something that was easy to take in the car, so now we offer the cards on a binder ring as well,” she said, emphasizing how helpful and encouraging the feedback has been. “People really love it. And it’s great to give as a gift.”
One of the great things about this game is that kids (and adults) will never outgrow it. “You can ask the same questions again and again because the answers change as kids get older. Sometimes they change from one day to the next!” she said.
Balancing her many pursuits and raising a family isn’t always easy, Deb admits. “I have to find time here and there to get things done, but I love it. And I love that the arts and the game flow through our family’s life. My girls are excited to help me think of questions and that get me motivated. Making this game feeds me, so I’m just glad others can enjoy it too.”
Feeding Family Spirit can currently be purchased for $16.95 at Fairhaven Toy Garden, Launching Success Learning Center, and on Deb’s website, She-Dances.com.