Social Emotional Learning
6/4/2021
Suggested activities can be repeated and you can choose what to enjoy at any time during the week.
I hope you enjoy them!
Parent's Corner
Parent's Guide To A Growth Mindset is an easy to access poster articulating the "Growth Mindset" model. I hope you find it useful!
Building Emotional Intelligence Through Play In this blog, you will find some oldies but goodies! And with that, the author discusses ways each game helps children develop SEL skills!
Flexible Thinking: How to Encourage Kids to Go with the Flow by Katie Hurley, MSW offers very practical solutions to helping your child navigate "stuck thinking" and inflexibility.
Tools!
Make the "How Are You Feeling" chart like a "Zones" chart. What color would the rain be? Or the tornado? Discuss with your child how this tool could be helpful at home? How Are You Feeling Chart
Make an "I Message" Using this Worksheet In some Social Groups, we have been practicing making "I messages" again. In the thick of it, I do recommend helping your child with sentence starters (e.g., "I feel....when...because...I want...") In addition, we have been reviewing the Problem Solving Wheel . Both tools are helpful when figuring out how to solve a problem. They provide a visual and makes it easier for your child to access language when they are upset (or when they have "flipped their lid.")
Book Club
The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt provides a fun and funny way for children to practice using their "I messages" (e.g., "I feel...when...because...I want...") Be prepared to giggle!
Here is one of my all time favorite books about a very shy character who becomes brave when the town is faced with a big problem. It is a story about kindness and the importance of caring for others. Miss Twigley's Tree, Dorothea Warren Fox also provides food for thought about the differences between people and learning to accept those differences because one never knows when what seems like a weakness is actually a strength!
What to Do When You Worry Too Much by Dawn Huebner, Ph.D. is a favorite interactive workbook to help students understand their worries and strategies to help overcome them. There are several chapters and we will be doing some of the worksheets during Social Group in most of our classes. I recommend watching one or two chapters at a time to get the most out of this title.
Recreational SEL
June Daily SEL Activities Here is a calendar with daily activities for daily SEL practice! Just for fun!
Calming Strategies Coloring Book Another fun activity and opportunity to create a strategies book! Coloring itself can be a mindfulness strategy too! Plus, there are blank circles where your child can add their favorite strategy not already illustrated!
Mystery Science, Why is the Ocean Salty? As we prepare to spend some time on the ocean, this question may come up! Mystery Science, once again, provides some answers in a fun and engaging way for our littles.
Here are some more ideas to help your children stay busy with screen-less activities!
Paint Chip Sight Word Busy Bag
5 Busy Bags with Pipe Cleaners
7 Busy Bags for Teaching Colors
Busy Bags with Popsicle Sticks
Colors and Fine Motor Busy Bag
Zen Den
Kids Yoga Based On Movies Here Jamie walks us through some simple yoga poses!
Mindfulness
Mindfulness exercises can be done at any time! I generally guide the students in the beginning and sometimes at the end of each lesson. These brain based exercises can help bodies and brains remain calm and focused. This year's series of mindfulness exercises largely came from a collection titled "Little Renegades."
In May, our mindfulness exercise is Pig Belly Breaths or mindful breathing. Place both hands on your belly. Sit still and tall and inhale through your nose. Then exhale through your mouth. What happens to your hands as you breath in and out? See if you can let thoughts rise and fall with the breath. Repeat three times.
Intentional breathing gives us the ability to anchor the mind in the present moment and deal with life's challenges in a focus, calm, assertive way. This helps us understand that our breath can be the doorway into a more positive mindset that allows us to be fully present and accept feelings as they come and go. From Little Renegades, LLC