Grow and Thrive
Resources and Ideas From Your School Counselor
May 29, 2020
Good Things Can Come From Boredom
Instead, let your kids be a little bit bored. Boredom presents incredible opportunities for growing brains. According to Teresa Belton, a boredom expert at the University of East Anglia in England, being bored helps kids cultivate important characteristics, such as creativity, curiosity, perseverance, and confidence. Being bored also gives kids valuable practice in making their own decisions, becoming independent thinkers, and finding ways to be interested in what's going on around them. All of these things are important and essential skills that your child will use throughout their life. In addition, being bored allows the brain to recover from the overstimulation that often happens when kids spend time on screen.
So, resist the urge to respond right away with suggestions when your child says they're bored. Instead, first give them time to figure things out on their own. You might respond by saying, "Ok, I hear you. Enjoy your free time and figure out something to do that isn't boring to you." Your kids might complain or whine for a bit, but remember that letting them be a little bored can be one of the best things you can do for them.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if I can help in any way.
Christine Fitch, School Counselor
503-663-7483 (Kelly Creek)
503-661-6226 (Hollydale)
Lunch Doodles With Mo Willems
Most kids know Mo Willems because he is the author and illustrator of three humorous and much-loved books for young readers - Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus, Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, and The Pigeon Needs a Bath. Mo Willems launched a series of lunch time doodle sessions for kids in May, and all 15 of the video episodes can be found on YouTube. Kids can doodle and learn new ways of writing from this award-winning author and illustrator as he sits in his home studio. Make sure your kids have some paper, pencils, pens, or crayons handy when they join Mo in his studio!
Click Here for Episode One of Lunch Doodles With Mo Willems!
Apps That Encourage Well-Being And Are Fun, Too!
Ninja Focus
Positive Penguins
Stop, Breathe & Think Kids
Ninja Focus: This app was designed with the help of child development experts, behavioral pediatricians, yoga instructors, mindfulness experts, parents and school leaders. Ninja Focus promotes positive behaviors and personal growth in a fun game-like setting. There are guided meditations, bedtime stories, yoga flows and poses and music for children ages 3-12. Learning takes place on Bunny Island, a lively interactive digital space where kids can learn to identify and regulate emotions, manage stress, improve focus, and learn about kindness and compassion. The Ninja Focus app for kids is now FREE for 90 days.
Positive Penguins: Positive Penguins is an award winning, top ranked, fun educational app developed for children to help them understand why they feel the way they do and help them challenge their negative thinking. The app aims to help children understand that their feelings come from their own thoughts, not the situations. Often the anxiety and stress we feel comes from not real threats, but stories we make up in our heads. The four positive penguins take kids on a journey to help them understand that feelings arise from their thoughts and if negative thoughts are challenged successfully they may be able to see things in a more realistic and even optimistic way. They can then change the way they feel and behave. The app has a simple 5-minute guided meditation for children to learn to sit, relax and let go of the thoughts as they come into their heads. There is also a game mode for extra fun.
Stop, Breathe and Think: This app incorporates fun video animations, and is designed for kids ages 5-10. It can help kids create a positive daily routine, and help them develop their superpowers of quiet, focus and peaceful sleep, while encouraging mindfulness and emotional literacy. Kids can check into how they are feeling using fun emojis and can try mindful missions and meditations tuned to those emotions. Stickers reward their progress and keep things engaging. The app's activities were developed in collaboration with activity-based mindfulness expert Susan Kaiser Greenland, the creator of the Inner Kids program and author of Mindful Games and The Mindful Child.