Emotional Awareness: Activity Center
Help your kids get to know themselves better with these fun kids games and activities.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
Starting school again can be stressful on a lot of kids. So grab a picnic blanket, throw it over your dinner table, and delve into your favorite summer memories with this simple activity.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
"Flow" occurs when you are fully immersed in an activity. We can help children experience "Flow" by identifying activities that require them to use their strengths, skills, and talents to the max.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
Summer is a great time for a family service project to teach social responsibility. To get started, use the “Be the Change” worksheet to brainstorm and identify an appropriate project.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
We do things to keep learning from fading during the summer, but have you ever thought of doing the opposite - helping your kids keep their “summer learning” from fading during the school year?
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
An activity that helps your children identify and use positive experiences to build emotions like happiness, gratitude, and awe.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience
Savor spring and relish in positive emotions with this family-fun, easy game.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
Help your children focus on the good in the world with this optimistic, family-fun activity.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
To build a strength, you have to practice! Pick a strength with your child, then make a few weekly goals to improve it.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 5 & Up
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
This is a great way to help your kids recognize their strengths, and help them notice strengths in others, too!
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 5 & Up
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Optimism, Empowerment
Make a "Love List" with your kids. Decorate it with words, drawings, and photos that represent all the different ways you and your child love each other.
- Pre-K and Younger
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
Here are some ideas for creating family rituals and traditions. Include your children in so that everyone enjoys them!
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
An End-of-Year family ritual for your family to reflect and build upon Fishful Thinking skills.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 5 & Up
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
Reflect on accomplishments of the past school year and make goals for the next one with this simple poster activity.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 5 & Up
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Optimism, Resilience
You're likely very attentive when your child comes to you with a problem, but what about when they come to you with good news?
Ingredient: Optimism, Resilience, Emotional Awareness
Build this simple, daily breathing activity into your schedule to feel more relaxed, resilient, and rejuvenated.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Optimism, Empowerment, Resilience, Goal Setting
An End-of-Year family ritual for your family to reflect and build upon Fishful Thinking skills.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Optimism
Create an Awe Wall in your home to teach your children to value being awe-struck and that feeling connected to something larger than oneself.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness, Goal Setting/Hope, Resilience, Empowerment
A great, family-fun way to keep your kids busy with things they enjoy that will also enrich their lives.
Ingredient: Optimism, Resilience, Goal-Setting/Hope, Empowerment, Emotional Awareness
Help your children develop empathy through these simple, family-fun role-playing games.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Teach your children to value and savor positive emotions by creating a ritual that spotlights a positive feeling.
Ingredient: Optimism, Resilience, Goal-Setting, Empowerment, Emotional Awareness
Giving children knowledge of their strengths is a great way to empower them. Create a Strength Family Tree together.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 5 & Up
Ingredient: Optimism, Resilience, Empowerment, Emotional Awareness
Encourage your whole family to create and display a list of activities that bring them joy.
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 5 & Up
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Help your child discover as much as they can about the good things happening in their lives by using open-ended questions that encourage long responses.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Optimism, Empowerment
Rather than always focusing on the "ers," like better, stronger, healthier, create a list of items that you and your family already have in abundance.
Ingredient: Optimism, Resilience, Hope, Empowerment, Emotional Awareness
Help your children to take stock of and clean out the "mental clutter."
Ingredient: Empowerment, resilience, emotional awareness, hope/goal
setting, optimism
Learning how to make good decisions and to problem solve is a way to build mastery skills.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Empowerment, Optimism
Leading by example is a great way to help make expressing gratitude a part of your family's daily life.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Optimism, Empowerment, Resilience
Help your child communicate and work through a grudge with a set of simple circles and a positive attitude.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness, Resilience, Empowerment
You can help your child to develop the skill of emotional awareness by showing them that you are interested in how they feel—and by talking about your own feelings as well.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
At least once a week, take a 5-minute "beauty detour" with your child in this family-fun activity.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
Write down feeling words on pieces of paper. Take turns picking a slip of paper and then acting out the word written on it.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
Pick a feeling and work with your child to make a collage that illustrates that feeling.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
Get a piece of poster board and write "For This I Am Grateful" in big letters across the top.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
You can use everyday wooden blocks to help your child learn how to cope with frustration in this family-fun game.
- Pre-K and Younger
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
Find colorful objects around the house, such as Goldfish® Colors crackers, jelly beans, colored blocks or beads.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
Music and dance are great ways to help express feelings in this family-fun game.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Pick a park or street in your neighborhood and go on a 15-minute nature sense walk.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Select various food/snacks, such as Goldfish® crackers, yogurt or fruit. Eat one of the items you selected and notice all the different tastes and textures.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Invite a few other moms and their kids to your house for a "savoring party."
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Create a list of simple items or experiences that make you and your child laugh, smile, or that bring a sense of pleasure.
Ingredient: Emotional Awareness
It doesn't feel good to be frustrated, and sometimes the feeling of frustration is so strong that it makes it hard to continue with the game or task.
- Pre-K and Younger
- Kindergarten - Grade 2
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Work with your child in this family-fun activity to decorate a box that is kept on the table you eat at regularly.
Ingredient: Optimism, Emotional Awareness
Find a photograph that captures a happy experience.
