5-Day Gratitude Challenge Day 4 Thursday 4/30: Thank you letter to someone special Directions: Think of someone you know such as a family member, a friend, a coach, or a teacher. Think about why you are thankful for this person. Write a letter to them by filling in the empty spaces on this worksheet or write your own letter using the wording from this letter template.
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5-Day Gratitude Challenge Day 3 Wednesday 4/29: My Gratitude List Activity Directions: Write down what you are grateful for next to each word on the gratitude list in this document.
5-Day Gratitude Challenge Day 2 Tuesday 4/28: Today was a Great Day activity Directions: Please have your child answer the questions in this worksheet about what they are thankful for today. It may be a good idea to complete this activity at the end of the day so they can reflect on their day as a whole. Have your child set a goal for what they will do to make tomorrow a great day as well.
Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things around us that we may often take for granted, like family, friends, clean water, food. It's about focusing on what is good in our lives and being thankful for the things that we do have. Studies have found that people who consciously count their blessings tend to feel happier and less depressed (Wong, Brown, 2017). Practicing gratitude has been shown to have many benefits for both children and adults. Parents can watch this video to learn about the benefits of practicing gratitude and how to talk with your child about gratitude as well. This week, I will be posting gratitude activities each day (Monday through Friday) for students to complete to help them learn how to practice gratitude in their every day lives. Some children may have trouble coming up with what they are grateful for and that is totally normal! Have them think about the things that they love in their lives to get them started. 5-Day Gratitude Challenge Day 1 Monday 4/27: Gratitude Jar Directions: Think about different people, things, hobbies, events, etc. that you are grateful for. Write or draw who and what you are grateful for inside your "Gratitude Jar" in this document. If you are not able to print this page, have your child draw their very own "Gratitude Jar" to write and draw what they are grateful for. Get creative!
This is a fun activity to do at home with your family and does not require you going out and getting any materials! This is a scavenger hunt that will have you searching for things at home that bring up certain emotions, feelings, or memories. For example, you will look for objects that:
This activity can give parents great insight into their child's likes, dislikes, interests, etc., which can be very valuable information in supporting them social emotionally. Click here to access the activity and have fun! If you are a parent/caregiver, chances are you have witnessed a tantrum or two in your day. You may have been witnessing even MORE tantrums since we have had the "stay at home" order in place the last month.
Some children will act up because they have a hard time regulating their own emotions. Maybe they are having a tantrum because they don't want to do school work, because someone isn't sharing a toy with them, or because their sibling just won't leave them alone. There are plenty of situations that can cause a child to have an outburst, but what can we do to prevent these outbursts from occurring? The first step you need to take to help support a child who has frequent outbursts is to have your child start to pay attention to and label how they are feeling. Here is a fun video for your child to watch that explains what different emotions are that we may feel on a regular basis. People need to know what emotion(s) they are feeling in order to properly manage them. Sometimes just articulating the emotion can help ease negative feelings. Acknowledging a negative feeling can make it seem less powerful and helps you begin to think productively about what to do with that feeling (Child Mind Institute, 2020). Parents can help children acknowledge their own feelings by modeling it in their own everyday behavior. For example, if you are upset because you went to the store and you forgot something, you could say, "I'm frustrated! I forgot (item) at the store!". Then, after you acknowledged how you feel, you can model coping and problem-solving skills. You might say, "I'm going to take some deep breaths to calm down- that normally helps me". Then, once you are calm, you can say, "now, how can I solve this problem?" and brainstorm some ideas with your child. Children will pick up on skills that you are modeling for them, but they may still need extra support as they begin to learn how to manage their emotions. If you see that your child is starting to become upset, you can ask them how they are feeling and see if they can label their emotion(s). Acknowledging and validating how your child is feeling (i.e., "yes, that does sound frustrating" or "you do look disappointed) rather than trying to talk them out of their negative feelings gives them the confidence they need to manage their emotions in a healthy way. Feelings Thermometer Kids don’t go from calm to sobbing on the floor in an instant — even if it seems like that. Emotions build over time, like a wave. Kids can learn to manage those emotions that seem overwhelming by noticing and labeling them earlier, before that wave gets too big (Child Mind Institute, 2020). Many kids benefit from ranking how strong their emotions are on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being calm and 10 being furious. You can model doing this, too. When you are feeling frustrated because you forgot something at the store, you might announce that you’re at a 4. It might feel silly to do this at first, but it teaches kids to pause and notice how they are feeling. For kids who appreciate visual aids, something like a "feelings thermometer” might help. **The information provided in the post was taken from the article: "How Can We Help Kids With Self-Regulation?", Child Mind Institute, 2020** Sister Bear makes a new friend in her neighborhood named Lizzy Bruin and runs into some trouble when they try playing "school" together. Please watch this video then have the following discussion with your child:
**Additional activity** Pretend one person is Sister Bear and the other person is Lizzy. Practice using an "I-Message" and an "Empathetic Response" with their school/teacher conflict from the video. Here is the I-Message/Empathetic Response worksheet from Monday to help you have this conversation. Conflict resolution is a topic that I cover several times throughout the school year with my students. Learning how to peacefully resolve conflict or a disagreement between you and someone else is an essential skill for both children and adults (especially when we are going on week 4 of being shelter in place with the same people).
In order to resolve a conflict peacefully, there are 3 important steps that need to be followed:
First, when conflict does arise, it is important to take a deep breath before reacting in a negative way toward the other person. As I have mentioned, taking deep breaths has been proven to lower stress levels and blood pressure, so this is a great strategy to calm yourself before saying something to the other person that you might regret. Second, it is important to stop and listen to what the other person is telling you so you understand what made the other person angry or upset. It is easy to make assumptions about other people if we don't take the time to understand where their negative feelings or disagreement is coming from. Lastly, compromising is a crucial step in resolving a conflict between you and someone else. Compromising is where both you AND the other person get something that they want from the situation. For example, if you wanted to play one game and your sibling or friend wanted to play another game, you can compromise by playing one game first and the other game after. I also like to use "rock, paper, scissors" as a fair way for students to make a decision peacefully for who goes first in a game, if I give them options of different activities we can do together, etc. Kids LOVE "rock, paper, scissors". I-Statements Using I-Statements gives students a great outline of how to peacefully express how they are feeling and why they are feeling that way to another person. Here is a great I-Statements worksheet you can review with your child that teaches them how to have this conversation with a sibling, other family member, or peer. When you review this worksheet with your child, have your child practice the "I-Statements" bubble and the parent can practice saying the "Empathetic Response" bubble to your child. Then, switch it up and have your child practice the "Empathetic Response" and the parent can practice the "I-Statement". You can make up a conflict scenario or use a conflict that has happened frequently at home in the past. Ubongo Kids Conflict Resolution Video Here is a fun video for your child to watch to give them an even better understanding of what conflict resolution looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqNID0Es5qg Happy spring break to all! I hope you take time this week to relax, spend special time with your families, and get some fresh air playing outside!
Here is a list of 30 things you and your family can do for your emotional health while you are on break Next week (week of 4/13/20), SEL activities posted will be focusing on conflict resolution, which is learning how to peacefully solve a disagreement between you and someone else. Have a fabulous week! Practicing mindfulness is a great strategy to utilize to help yourself feel an overall sense of joyful well-being. Another great mindfulness activity to practice is the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise. 5-4-3-2-1 Technique 5: Name 5 things that you can see 4: Name 4 things that you can touch 3: Name 3 things that you can hear 2: Name 2 things that you can smell 1: Name 1 thing that you can taste Practicing the 5-4-3-2-1 technique is a great method to use to regain control of your mind, especially when we are feeling worried or anxious. It interrupts bad thoughts and helps bring us back to the present by relying on our five senses: sight, touch, sound, smell and taste. Try this at home to ease your mind and make those "bad thoughts" go away.
Take a long deep breath when you end the exercise. |
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