Hello! I have created a Google Classroom (Code: tmmwtln ) and you can find additional information for social work services.
Stay Well,
Ms. Johnston
Hello! I have created a Google Classroom (Code: tmmwtln ) and you can find additional information for social work services.
Stay Well,
Ms. Johnston
“River Crossing”
This game is very similar to “The floor is lava,” but with a challenging twist!
First, the players should collect items that could be used as stepping stones (pieces of cardboard or fabric, styrofoam plates, etc). The smaller the stepping stones are, the more challenging it will be! Use one less stepping stone than the number of members playing; so, if you have 4 people playing, use 3 items. Everyone then agrees on a starting point and a destination. The players move the stepping stones to create a path, so each player can reach the destination. After each item is placed on the floor, at least one player has to be touching the stepping stone at all times. If a stepping stone is placed on the floor and no one is touching it, the stone must be removed from the game. Each family or group playing can make up their own silly rules for consequences when a player steps off of the stepping stone onto the “lava” floor (player has to be blindfolded, they can only use one hand, etc.).
This game is a great for building teamwork, practicing communication and group problem solving skills, and having some fun indoors!
As young children are learning to communicate their thoughts and feelings, they can become overwhelmed by emotions such as anger, sadness, and disappointment. It can be challenging for children to resolve big emotions, and this challenge may be displayed through their behaviors and physical symptoms. Supporting your child’s emerging coping strategies will increase their ability to use those strategies independently to regulate their emotions.
For example, Jason has a spelling test tomorrow that he is anxious about and he is unable to fall asleep. He is also complaining of a stomachache, and he is becoming increasingly upset. His father suggests practicing a deep breathing exercise together. He asks Jason to lie on his back so he is comfortable and place one hand on his stomach. If Jason breathes deeply enough, he should be able to feel his hand rise and fall with each breath. Next, Jason’s father asks him to breathe in slowly through his nose for 4 seconds. Then breathe slowly out through his mouth for 6 seconds. They repeat this exercise for 2 minutes, and his father asks Jason how he is feeling.
Your child may already know what helps them relax when they are having a bad day, and you can start by making a list of their preferred strategies. If they are struggling to identify strategies, ask what activities make them feel good, calm, or happy. Practicing the strategies while your child is calm is key to them being able to use the strategies when they are upset. When you observe your child becoming upset, you can be their inner voice by identifying their feelings and suggesting a preferred coping strategy. Once they have calmed down, recognize their use of the strategy to regulate their feelings.
These anger management skill cards can add to your child’s growing set of coping strategies!
School-age children are developing the skills to think critically about their actions and make more rational and healthy decisions. Adults can support children’s skill development by encouraging them to connect what they were thinking and feeling when a problem behavior occurred. This teaches children to reflect on how their thoughts and feelings influence their behavior either positively or negatively. It can also demonstrate how their thoughts might be incorrect and cause unwanted negative feelings. These are called thinking errors.
For example, Emma struggles with multiplication. She thinks her peers judge her when she gets a question wrong in class, and she feels embarrassed and ashamed. Emma begins to find ways to avoid math class by going to the bathroom or getting a drink of water. She continues to fall behind due to the time she spends outside of class, and her fear and avoidance intensify until she begins having daily stomach aches that reinforce her desire to leave the classroom.
The following thought, feeling, behavior triangle is a helpful exercise that adults can do with children. Keep in mind that the best time to use this exercise is outside of the event when your child is calm and regulated. Encourage your child to reflect on potential thinking errors by asking them what they could have thought, felt, and did differently and how those differences would have changed the outcome of events. As your child increasingly reflects on their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, they will develop self-regulation skills and will be better able to adapt to their environments.
Our students learn at different speeds and in different ways. Because of that, sometimes its easy for a child to get discouraged when they see their peers developing certain skills faster than they are. Students may feel more inclined to give up on learning a skill when they have learned to believe that our intelligence and talents are predisposed — either we were born to be skilled in certain areas, or we weren’t.
Having a growth mindset means believing that with work, practice, and perseverance you can improve in any skill. Research has shown that when kids believe there is a chance for improvement, they are more likely to grow and develop in skills they find challenging.
Some ways you can help your child develop a growth mindset:
Very young children tend to express their emotions through behaviors such as pushing, hitting, or kicking because they do not have the words to communicate how they are feeling. School-age children are rapidly developing their language skills but often revert back to what they know when a conflict arises – physical aggression. Encouraging your child to verbally express how they are feeling both promotes language development and self-regulation. Children learn that they can use their words to solve problems and that feedback from family and friends is helpful. Below you can find activities to use at home to talk to your child about emotions.
Get a sense of how many feeling words your child knows by asking them to name as many as they can in 30 seconds. Write down what they know and ask them to recall a situation in which they felt each emotion. Add two new feeling words to their vocabulary and explain a situation in which you felt both.
Help your child learn to identify facial expressions and body language by playing charades. Write a variety of feeling words on slips of paper and place them in a bowl. One player draws a slip of paper at a time and acts out the feeling word that is written until the other player(s) guesses the feeling correctly. Then reverse roles and play again. The player with the most successful guesses wins.
Ask your child how they manage their different feelings. For instance, what do they do when they are mad? Or sad? Or nervous? Is it a helpful or harmful response? Provide an example of a time you were mad, or sad, or nervous and how you calmed yourself down.
It can be helpful for children to understand how their bodies react to different emotions. Ask your child to choose a color to represent each of the feelings they know. Maybe they choose blue for sad, red for mad, and yellow for nervous. Whatever they choose, ask them to explain. Then ask them to color where they feel each emotion in their body. You can use this worksheet as a guide.
The start of a new school year can create anxiety for children of all ages. Your child’s anxiety may manifest itself in a number of ways, including delaying her bedtime routine, avoiding goodbyes in the morning, or physical responses like stomachaches. Here are a few suggestions to ease your child’s transition into the school year.
If your child continues to struggle with school-based anxiety, talk to her teacher or the school social worker. We can help develop a plan to better fit your child’s needs.
The summer months are coming up and it is a great opportunity to practice self care. Along with the temperature, tensions can begin to rise which will be costly to your valuable summer experience. Here are some tips to help you practice self care this summer:
These are just a couple ways to look after yourself and improve your self care habits. Try to make some of them happen this summer! You’ll be grateful you did 🙂
Grace Jackson
School Social Work Intern
Created by Ally DeMaagd, Social Work Intern