Sometimes we just have to put a smile on our face to help children feel happy and confident. Here are some suggestions for each one of us and the families we impact.
Thankful Board
Use a poster, refrigerator, or door to put sticky notes of things to be grateful for.
Hint! Younger children could draw pictures.
Things to Be Happy About
Staple several sheets of paper together to make a book. Invite children to draw pictures, write, or take digital photos of things that make them happy.
Happiness Acrostic
Write the letters of the alphabet vertically on a sheet of paper. Can you think of something that you enjoy for each letter.
Note! I'm actually doing this every day in a book my granddaughter made me.
If You're Happy and You Know It
You all know this song. Several years ago Elizabeth Hofmaster shared how she sings this song each day as her children leave. What a great idea to adapt to our own children or those we love!
If you know your teacher loves you blow her a kiss.
If you know your teacher loves you blow her a kiss.
If you know your teacher loves you and she really likes to hug you...
If you know your teacher loves you blow her a kiss.
Be a Little More Like the Grasshopper
I have one more thought to share today. I found this on a blog from 8 years ago when my grandson was 6. My daughter sent this email and it just seems to be appropriate right now for all of us to sing and dance and be happy!
Tonight KJ and I did his homework together. He had to read a story and answer some questions about it, trying to get to the theme or main idea, which I'm totally in favor of since my college students struggle with this skill. However, the story was the old fable about the grasshopper and the ant, retold. On the back, the worksheet tells parents that the theme of the story is "Be sure to work hard and save up for bad times." Okay. No problem. But in the story the ant works all summer: "She did not have time to sing and play." And what about the grasshopper? "He was happy to be alive and spent every day doing all of the things he wanted to do... He sang his grasshopper songs and played in the summer rain..." What a beautiful thing! Shouldn't we all try to be a bit happier to be alive? Shouldn't we sing and play more often? We work way too hard in this country, mostly to buy more stuff that we don't need anyway. As KJ and I were reading this story together, it struck me that our country is way too much like the ant--the ant on overdrive! We've worked and accumulated so much stuff that we don't have any time to play. And the poor grasshopper--the ant doesn't even share any of her food with him! How mean! Is that the kind of message I want to give KJ, that he shouldn't bother to help people who need help? That it's probably their fault anyway? So after he told me the "theme"--which he could do without blinking--we talked about how sad the story made me because I really like the grasshopper and I think we should all be happy to be alive, and I think we should help people when they need it. He said, "Yea--if the ant went to Disney World she probably wouldn't even go on any rides. She'd just be running around trying to find seeds and stuff and she'd get stepped on because there are way too many people at Disney World." And I thought that was pretty funny! So here's to being a little bit more like grasshoppers!