To help you and your children get the most out of your book, I will be regularly adding more information and activity ideas about each character. The book provides visual, audible and oral learning opportunities, while the creative activites provide a hands on way at consolidating the learning. Try some out and check back for more ideas.
.jpg)
" Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me"...what do you think about this sentence? Words have POWER! It is important to pay attention to what words we speak out to and about ourselves and to and about other people. Do you know that spoken words are 10 x more powerful that thoughts! Have a think about a time that someone said something encouraging to you. How did that make you feel? How about a time when someone said something hurtful to you...does that still hurt? Here are some ideas you can do with each other in your family or classroom.
1. In pairs create an acronym of the other persons name using positive words. This is an example of Micheal:
Marvellous
Intelligent
Caring
Hilarious
Awesome
Excellent
Loyal
You could write this in a card for them or create a decorated artwork for them to hang on their wall.
2.In a group try speaking out this list of words and see how each word makes others feel...UGLY CANDY SLIMEY FAT KITTEN LOSER PRINCESS TRASH FLUFFY DUMB CUDDLE STUPID
Words have an 'energy' associated with them that make you feel a certain way..
3. Choose some positive words or sentences that could encourage others and draw some chalk signs on your driveway or on the footpath for others to see. The rain will eventually wash these off, you don't need permission from the council and it's lots of fun!
4. Write some positive things about your self on post it notes and stick them to your bathroom mirror. For example...I am BRAVE. I am PRETTY. I am CLEVER. Every time you look in the mirror read these out to yourself and after a while you will realise that words have superpowers. They can retrain your brain!
5. Take it in turns to say something that you are grateful for in your life. See who can list the most reasons!
How many thoughts do you think we have each day? Take a guess...
Recent scientific research shows the average person has over 6000 thoughts every single day! How important is it then that we pay attention to what we are thinking about?
As human beings we have a predisposition to negativity. We pay more attention to dark emotions like anger, sadness and disappointment than we do to positive feelings like joy, gratitude and contentment.
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change and evolve depending on our life circumstances. If our thoughts are repetitive, our brain will connect synapses that weren't previously stimulated to associate these thoughts with other behaviors and turn them into habits.
Encouraging ourselves and our children to pay attention to what we are thinking about can create great positive habits that can be hugely beneficial in our lives. Positive thinking patterns can get us through the toughest times in life.
Some activity ideas to explore about guarding your mind....
1. Listen to a favorite piece of music. Notice how your emotions change
.2. Write a list of all the things you are thankful for. This helps shift your focus onto the good things in your life.
3.Breathing can influence emotions. Practice deep breathing from your belly the next time you are upset.
4. Do something kind for someone. Studies show that kindness makes us happier and less stressed.
5. Speak out positive words the next time you are feeling negative. Remember you can retrain your brain...
6.Watch a comedy. Be mindful of what you choose to watch on tv and online.
7. Create a vison board of inspirational images. This engages our thoughts and feelings visually.
8. Spend time helping someone else.
9. Get creative. Start a new project.
10. Stay away from negative people!
11. Do some chalk drawing signs on your driveway or neighborhood footpaths to plant some positive thoughts into other peoples minds.
12. Create a Thoughts For The Day box and offer it to the public to choose and read out!
Eating from the colours of the rainbow is an easy and fun thing to do! Each coloured fruit and vegetables has different phytonutrients that are important for our overall health and wellbeing.
Some activity ideas to explore about Eating from the Rainbow...
1. Look up all the different colours of the rainbow and find out why each colour is important.
2. Create a salad or a soup using as many different colours as you can.
3. Make vegetable people using toothpicks and vegetables...an oldie but a goodie.
4. Set up a group of coloured fruit and vegetables and do some still life drawing. Use coloured drawing pencils, felt tips etc if you have them.
5. Have a look at your vegetable garden and see what you are growing or could grow.