News From Your School Psychologist
MARCH EDITION: SPRING (SCREEN) BREAK
What will we do for a whole week?
Top 10 Screen-Free Ideas to do over break
1. Starbucks Cafe: Another teacher told me about this idea. At a specific time that is convenient for you, everyone gathers around the dining room or kitchen table to read, write, or draw. If it comes with coffee for adults and hot chocolate for kids, it is even more fun. Try putting on some studyhall radio/music. Establish with your family that it is not a time to talk, but a quiet time to unwind and read, write, or draw.
2. Make a Video Book Report: Find something of particular interest for your child. You may need to watch a brief video if you do not have a book. Then see what fun and surprising facts your child remembers. Help them write down 10 facts. You can draw pictures to help aide their memory. Record your child telling the facts. Send to family and friends. My kindergartener did this about bunnies. We watched a 5 minute video, took down some notes, and made a very informative video. Even I learned a lot. We sent it to family and friends. She even shared it with her teacher/class.
3. Listen in to a kid's podcast--The Big Life Kid's Podcast has some great episodes that encourage growth mindset.
4. Family walk--weather dependent. Make a game out of it. Predict or estimate the number of dogs wou willl see on the walk. Or make a story where each person picks a word.
5. Board Games, board games, board games. No screens and one of the best, most natural ways to work on social skills, compromise, flexibility frustration tolereance, executive functioning, and more.
6. Color/draw every day when you can. Coloring and art is highly linked with relaxation and creating calm.
It's Science!
7. Everything Under The Sun kid's podcast Each episode is 10 minutes long (ish) and answers three children’s questions. The Eden Project’s founder, Tim Smit, even makes an appearance on one to talk about why flowers smell.
8. Cardboard box play-Kids love to construct things out of cardboard. Hit up the recycling bin and have then make some sort of fort or stuffed animal train
9. Artist in Residence. Learn about an artist and then do some coloring sheets. My favorite--Romero Britto! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wb5lqYYqQLzzYHHqVAmhAIc0o4crHVoB/view?usp=sharing
10. Picture Albums: Do you have 9000 pictures accumulated on your phone? With the 1 year anniversary of this Pandemic, it may be a good time to print some. If you order a ton of photos (10 cents a piece) of your kids and buy an inexpensive photo album per child. Have them organize their own photo album by putting pictures in. This takes a lot of time and is valuable because parents don’t usually have time to do this and it helps keep all your family memories.
Executive Functioning Practice
Organization!
Monday: Clean out dresser
Tuesday: Clean out closet
Wednesday: Tidy/organize Desk
Thursday: Organze nightstand drawer
Friday: Reward with something fun
I always forget this, but take a "before" picture!
1. Estimate how much time it will take
2. Talk about the Steps (first, we will take everything out, then we will make a pile of clothes that are too small, etc)
3. Once it is looking good, take pictures to remember and show pride.
4. See how much time it really took and evaluate your estimate.
If you are REALLY feeling ambitious, allow your child to reorganize their room. Sometimes having the bed somewhere else and the dresser somewhere else gives kids a feeling of control, independence, and a fresh start in a world where they currently have little control. Of course, this is a lot of work and doesn't work for everyone.
Learn Something New!
According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. ""The act of experiencing something new — or even doing something that's typical for you, but in a different way — can all generate these new brain cells."
Maybe over the next week, make a goal for everyone in the family to learn a new skill. It isn't just for kids. There are huge impacts for adults too. Studies have shown that adults can generate new neural pathways, even by doing a common task in a different way.
So whether you have time for something BIG (like taking up knitting, cooking, or chess)
or something SMALL (eating lunch with your other hand, tying your shoe with your eyes closed, or taking a new route to get to the park)
There is something to learn for everyone.
Interview Time
Research shows that knowing our family history helps us have a better sense of belonging.
It is so important that we take the time to teach our children about our family trees, so they can reap the benefits of knowing where they came from.
Try the reporter activity below for a spring break activity...
Corona Card Game
1. Corona Cards Coping Card Game: This gives scenarios that you can discuss with your kids and answer. 28 Cards to guide and process the recent changes in the world. Leads to some pretty interesting discussions. The game uses many hypothetical situations and people, which helps kids to emote and share feelings more freely.
A Final Word...
But try this experiment-- have your child watch the video below and try the activity of jotting down 3 good things each day. I'd love to hear what happens...
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Email: selbaum@d103.org
Website: https://linktr.ee/selbaum
Location: 2425 Riverwoods Road, Lincolnshire, IL, USA
Phone: 847-945-6665