Harold the Giraffe

Harold the giraffe is posting daily Ideas for creating routines and the different things that children (supported by parents/carers) can do to keep happy and healthy – including looking after their emotional health. This is going down really well, particularly with younger children. (https://www.coramlifeeducation.org.uk/harolds-daily-diary)

Positivity Board Game

See attachments at the end of this page for the free printable download. A game similar to Snakes and Ladders.

Stay at Home Care Package

See attachments at the end of this page for ideas to get children moving, give them things to do and entertain!

Blowing bubbles

When children get anxious it may affect their breathing, try getting them to blow some bubbles, this allows them to focus on what they’re doing and will help to control their breathing.

A calm down jar

Put glitter in a jar and when children are feeling angry or anxious  it just gives them something to focus on and time to reflect.

To make your own calm down jar, mix glitter glue with hot water, add a few drops of food colouring and whisk vigorously until the glue ‘melts’ and mixes properly with the water. Next, add additional glitter, whisk vigorously one more time, transfer the mixture into your clear jar and top the bottle up with water so it’s completely full. Allow the water to cool to room temperature before securing the lid with glue ( a glue gun would be good if you have one) to ensure it is properly sealed and won’t leak.

Puzzles

Activities such as jigsaw puzzles, word searches and maze puzzles are good for children to have a focus and a distraction from any negative feelings they may be experiencing.

Colouring

Colouring is a great mindfulness activity for both adults and children, there are a wealth of adult colouring books out there now and can be ordered online. Children often colour anyway but to make it more mindful talk to them about what they’re doing or encourage them to talk to themselves about what they are doing such as "I’m choosing a blue pencil as it makes me feel calm".

Zen Garden

If you have access to any sand you could make a zen garden, raking the sand can be very relaxing for both adults and children. Here’s a picture of my small one:

Gratitude diary

At times like this it’s easy to focus on all the negative things going on in the world, keeping a gratitude diary can be a fantastic way to really think about the positive things happening in your life on a daily basis, I’m sure all of you can think of at least 5 things every day that you are grateful for. My list today would be

• I am grateful for my health
• I am grateful I can go for a walk in nature
• I am grateful I can still talk with my family via video
• I am grateful people have been listening to my mindfulness meditation video on YouTube
• I am grateful for the food I have to eat

Try to do this everyday at a time of your choosing, both adults and children, the end of the day may be good to allow time to reflect. The more we practice gratitude the more positive we become!

Gratitude Jar

Another idea for gratitude is to have a gratitude jar, each day write down a couple of things you’re grateful for on a piece of paper, fold it up and put it inside the jar. If you have a day where you are particularly struggling and feeling low you can take one or two out the jar to remind yourself of the positives in your life.

Senses

Play a senses game to get the children to really focus and be mindful of what is happening to and around them

• Right now I see…
• Right now I hear…
• Right now I am touching…
• Right now I smell…
• Right now I feel…

Your children can listen to this week's PODCAST episode which will help them understand how their brain works.They will learn they have the power to build a positive bridge in their brains (as opposed to the complaining bridge or negative bridge). https://biglifejournal-uk.co.uk/pages/podcast?utm_campaign=Positivity%20Board%20Game%20newsletter%20%28NQnqKw%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Big%20Life%20Journal%20Printables%20UK&_ke=eyJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJmaW9uYW1jazFAdmlyZ2lubWVkaWEuY29tIiwgImtsX2NvbXBhbnlfaWQiOiAiTmJRTVE0In0%3D

There are also a huge number of videos out there, below are just a few to get you started...

Your secret tree house

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOHcGF1Tmc

Breathing exercise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk_qU7l-fcU

Cosmic kids yoga

She has lots of good videos on here and the kids would probably love doing the yoga to a cool stuff like frozen and star wars! https://youtu.be/0ImHIWzP49M

This is a good one for those that struggle to sit with their eyes closed but would say from Y2 upwards: https://youtu.be/V1-0JJJw_IQ