Tips and Tools Archives | Creating Together Parkdale

Social Emotional Learning During COVID-19

May 20, 2020 by Melanie

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
https://casel.org/what-is-sel/

Social and emotional skills are taught at school, and children also learn the skills at home. With families home, School Mental Health Ontario recommends parents and caregivers focus on social learning with children, to support children’s mental health and ability to:

Manage stress
Identify emotions
Promote positivity
Nurture relationships
Develop self-awareness

We’d like to share what they had to say in their blog article 12 Easy and Fun Mental Health Practices to Try with your Children at Home – where they offer up a number of great activities for home, to nurture social and emotional learning skills.

Enjoy!

Manage stress

These activities will help children learn some healthy ways to cope with stress, such as deep breathing.

Deep belly breathing

Have your child get comfortable (standing or sitting), and encourage a straight back, relaxed head & shoulders, gently closing their eyes. Have them place their hands flat on their stomach.

Now, ask your child to breathe in deeply through their nose, filling the belly with breath.
Point out how hands move out.
Encourage them to hold their breath.
Slowly breathe out through the mouth to feel the stomach contract and hands move in.
Repeat 5-6 times
Practice deep belly breathing any time your child seems stressed or upset

Snowstorm in a bag

Collect items from around your home (straws, baggies, feathers, tissue paper, etc), and put some of the materials in a clear container / baggie. Close it, and place a straw in the hole.

Have your child take a big breath.
Blow slowly into the straw.
Watch how the materials float around the container. Does it look like a snowstorm or something else?
Repeat
Ask your child how it feels when they do this.

Identify emotions

These activities can help your child learn to identify, understand and express feelings.

Emotion charades

Gather a bowl or container, paper, and pens/pencils. On slips of paper, write or draw different feelings based on the child’s age (happy, sad, angry, worried, etc). Explain the game to your child:

Decide who will go first. Have that person pick a piece of paper from the bowl.
Have them read the feeling to themselves, or, if needed, help your child read the feeling.
Now, they will act out the feeling without words while the other players try to guess what it is.
Once someone gets the right answer, it’s the next person’s turn to pick a piece of paper and act out the feeling

Added suggestions: Talk about the feelings either during the game of afterwards. Ask questions such as: When does this feeling happen? What does it feel like in your body?

What’s my temperature?

Gather paper, crayons or markers. Write or draw different feelings on a piece of paper (happy, sad, angry etc), and ask your child to pick on feeling for the activity.

Have your child draw a big thermometer on a piece of paper.
Mark off different points along the thermometer from 0 at the bottom, to 5 at the top.
Write the feeling your child picked at the top of the paper.
Talk about the different intensities of that feeling with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. For example, if your child chooses anger, 1 might be not at all angry and 5 might be furious.
Describe a situation and ask your child to rate where on the thermometer that situation might make them feel.
This can be used during different times to help your child recognize the feeling and the intensity.
Make a new thermometer using a different feeling.

Stay positive

Optimism helps all of us! These activities focus on seeing the good in situations, and hopefulness about the future.

Gratitude moment

Gather paper and a pencil, and introduce the activity to your child: “We are going to take a few minutes to talk about some of the things in our life we are grateful or thankful for.” Explain what it means to be grateful or thankful.

Share something you’re thankful for as an example.
Everyone takes a turn sharing what they are grateful/thankful for.
Repeat as often as you would like
Consider writing down comments and posting them in the home.

Four finger affirmation

Gather a paper and pencil, and:

Ask your child to choose four words that make them feel calm and confident. It might be a sentence or just four words.
Examples: “I am loved today,” “I believe in me,” “Breathe, listen, smile, love,” “I can handle this.”
Explain that each word they choose will match a finger on their hand.
Have them say the words (affirmation) aloud or in their head and connect each finger with their thumb.
Tell your child they can repeat this as many times as they like, aloud or to themselves.

Nurture relationships

These activities are all about building healthy relationships, like showing kindness and being positive.

Kindness Jar

Gather a large see-through jar and dried beans, pasta, marbles, or jelly beans (or other small items you have in the house), and explain to your child that the jar will be used to capture “acts of kindness” for everyone in the family who is participating. Talk about what an act of kindness is (e.g. sharing a toy with a sibling).

The beans/items are added to the jar for each kind act that someone notices someone else doing.
Share with each other when an “act of kindness” is noticed.
The sharing can happen when the family is together, such as during a meal.

NOTE: This is a great activity that children can share via telephone or video calls with others such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Notice the positive

Gather materials to write on and write with, as well as a container to collect messages. Explain to your child what a positive message means and model some positive messages (e.g. The picture you drew made me smile). Practise noticing and saying positive messages with your child.

Decorate a “positive message” container such as a basket, jar or bin.
Encourage your child to write or draw positive acts or comments they notice.
Fill the container during the week with each person’s comments or drawings of positive messages they notice or hear.
Read the positive messages that were collected when everyone is together.

Know yourself

These activities help children express themselves by feeling capable and comfortable sharing their ideas and feelings.

Show and share

Gather materials to write on (e.g. Post-it Notes, paper) and write with (pens, markers, etc.).

Have your child think about something about themself that they want to share (e.g. favourite song, someone they admire, a special talent, what they are grateful for).
Encourage your child to share their thoughts with others in the family.
Everyone takes a turn.

Note: This is a great activity that children can share through a phone or video call with others, such as friends or family members.

Inspirational graffiti

Note: If you don’t have a sidewalk or driveway but can still head outside, you can use mud, sticks and stones or other materials

Gather sidewalk chalk – different colours if you have them!

Head outside to a sidewalk or driveway or any space you may have.
Ask your child what positive message they would like to share with others.
Encourage them to use words and pictures.
You might consider joining in with them to talk about how these positive messages and images might encourage those who pass by or see them and how that makes them feel!
If you have a phone with a camera, take some pictures to share with others to enjoy after the rain washes the message away.

Plan and problem-solve

We can’t avoid challenges in life. You can help your child learn problem-solving skills and organization skills at an early age. These activities can help!

Organizing pause

Together with your child, pick an area of the home to organize. Gather items to help you, such as bins, labels, or garbage bags.

Pick a time that works for your child. Depending on their age, they may require your assistance and support.
Identify what you will be organizing (e.g. closet, toys, clothes) and talk about why it is important (e.g. it’s easier to find what you need.)
Set a time to take a break
Often these activities offer opportunities for talking about thoughts, feelings etc.
Think about a way to celebrate task completion (e.g. “high five”, “happy dance”, a little treat.)
Ask your child how they feel about accomplishing the task.

Stop, think and go problem solving

Gather paper, markers, magazines, scissors. Make a traffic light model with your child – draw one, build one or find a picture of one. The traffic light will be used to help with problem solving. Explain the three colours:

Red means stop! When they have a problem, they stop.

Take a deep breath
Talk about what the problem is

Yellow means think!

Slow down, maybe take several deep breaths
Think and talk about possible solutions

Green means go!

Try out your solution
Talk about some problems your child might face and how the traffic light might help (e.g. fight with a sibling, I want the toy, I want a snack now, I want to watch tv now).

Put the traffic light you created somewhere visible, like on the fridge. Help your child use the visual and this process each time there is a problem or a conflict.

5 Tips to Support Children Through COVID-19

May 12, 2020 by Melanie

While we all monitor the status of the virus both locally and around the world, there are some great resources emerging to help support families. Today, we’d like to share 5 tips and resources to help you talk to your children about COVID–19, and support them through their experiences.

1. Keeping Informed

A great place to start is keeping yourself informed, so you can discuss the situation it as a family (at the age appropriate), and when misinformation happens, validate their concerns while gently correcting misinformation. Limiting news exposure is also important, to keep the home environment (and you) feeling safe and calm. Keep up to date on how Ontario is responding, HERE.

There are also some child-friendly resources for school-age children:

“Understanding Corona Virus and How Germs Spread” – Brains On Podcast (plus a kid-centered series on news literacy called “Prove It.”)
“Just for kids: A comic exploring the new coronavirus” – Minnesota Public Radio

2. Supporting a Sense of Control

Focusing on the details that are most relevant and/or things that you and your child can control. For example, they can wash their hands, write letters to loved ones, and continue home routines. In fact, maintaining those home routines is more important than ever, especially the bedtime routines.

“My Hero is You, How Kids Can Fight COVID-10” is a new story book that aims to help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19, produced by a collaboration of more than 50 organizations including the WHO, the UN Children’s Fund, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Save the Children. The book explains how children can protect themselves, their families and friends from coronavirus and how to manage difficult emotions when confronted with a new and rapidly changing reality.

Download the book here

My Hero is You: all language versions

3. Making a Game of Handwashing

Keeping things fun is important, and one great way to keep kids enjoying the handwashing experience and washing as long as they need to, is to bring in some fun handwashing songs: https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/best-hand-washing-songs-for-kids/

In an article by Anxiety Canada, they suggest how you might make a game out of handwashing – not just with a song, but with a sticker reward system:

“I know I am reminding you to wash your hands a lot. Let’s make this into a game. If I hear you singing our “Handwashing Song” that we’ve been practicing each time you wash your hands, we’ll put a sticker on your chart. When you have x number of stickers you can choose a prize. Remember you only earn the sticker if you wash your hands when you need to, no stickers for extra washing when we don’t need to wash. Can you remind me again when are the right times to wash our hands?”
Anxiety Canada

4. Helping Children Grieve

Many children have experienced the loss of a loved one during this pandemic. It is difficult under normal conditions, but this is layered with the reality that visits to loved ones have not been allowed and funerals are not able to occur. Children’s Mental Health Ontario has released a resource to support parents and caregivers in talking with children about grief, available HERE.

5. Spending Time With Each Child

The World Health Organization shared a COVID-19 Parenting Tip Sheet series, recommending one-on-one time with each child. We’ve included it here for you, but you can see all of the posters in various languages HERE.

Keep safe, calm and connected!

THANK YOU to our Country’s True Superheros!

April 28, 2020 by Melanie

April 28th marks a very special day: National Superhero Day. Created in 1995 by Marvel’s employees, most years we celebrate with capes and masks, paying homage to our favourite fictional superheroes. This year however, people across the continent are recognizing the true heroes.

While we all do our best to stay home, so many people are working on the front to ensure we can eat, receive mail and deliveries, and be cared for in the hospitals and long-term care facilities. Amidst a time of such isolation, we have all witnessed an incredible coming together of hearts and minds in a united effort to get through this pandemic. If you’ve taken a stroll through Parkdale, you will have seen placards on lawns, signs in windows thanking our service heroes.

A large thank-you sign dedicated to health care workers decorates the lawn in front of a nursing home on Halton Street in Toronto’s west end, posted in the Globe and Mail on April 16th: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-thank-you-and-stay-safe-readers-tributes-to-front-line-workers-in/

There have been a couple amazing parades and demonstrations for our hospital workers as well:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-salutes-health-care-workers-covid19-1.5537982

https://www.cp24.com/news/heartwarming-transit-workers-honour-health-care-workers-along-hospital-row-1.4919923

And here in Parkdale, we’d like to give a special thanks our neighbours at St. Joseph’s Hospital, PARC, White Eagle Long-Term Care Residence (where we do circle once / month) and West Neighbourhood House.

This last week alone, PARC served over 2300 meals, and continue to offer support to the homeless and under-housed.

If you would like to support PARC in their work, **monetary donations are the most efficient way**. This allows them to purchase the exact supplies they urgently need on short notice.

At West Neighbourhood House, they are offering employment support, a neighbourhood Mutual Aid program where volunteers can offer support and folks in need can ask for help (learn how to become a neighbourhood pod lead or volunteer HERE), and tax help.

And at St. Joseph’s, together with the other hospitals, they continue to make sure patients and families are informed while also offering exceptional front-line health care: Information for Patients and Families.

So if you’re having a moment of doubt, remember you are not alone, and there’s so many services out there for you to give and also receive, thanks to our superheroes on the front lines!

Nature Play During COVID-19

April 16, 2020 by Melanie

With everybody inside so much more these days due to social distancing and self-isolating, we’re all getting a lot less time outside. With a bit of creativity though, we can all get the outdoor dose that we need.

Getting children outside to enjoy time for free play in natural environments increases attentions spans, creative thought, and the desire to learn through exploration (https://www.asla.org/ContentDetail.aspx?id=39558). It also helps their motor, sensory, social and cognitive development – and is great for their general health and well-being (https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/the-benefits-of-outdoor-play).

In fact, “wilderness therapy” has emerged as an alternative treatment for behavioral and psychological problems in adolescents and teens. One study found that “wilderness therapy” was an effective treatment for teens suffering from attention deficit disorder, alcohol and drug addiction, depression, and other behavioral problems. Afterward, patients showed higher levels of confidence, better organizational and leadership skills, and exhibited fewer problematic behaviors (http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/wrc/Pdf/howwildtherworks.PDF).

For more benefits of getting outside, you can check out Balancing Screen Time with Green Time.

For today though, we’d like to give you some resources to get you and your kids outside in ways that respect social distancing and keeps everybody safe. It has become clear that we all need new and creative strategies for connecting to the natural world, even if that may mean being indoors.

Star Gazing

“If we can’t see the stars, how will we know our place in the universe?”
Trevor Hancock, a professor at the University of Victoria’s School of Public Health and Social Policy

Drops in air pollution have revealed awe-inspiring stars that suburban and urban dwellers would have never seen otherwise. So set a star date for a bright night, bundle up, grab a blanket, and go see what the stars have to offer! Resources: International Dark-Sky Association, and How to Start Stargazing With Your Kids. For the top 10 books on stars, check out bookroo’s list here: https://bookroo.com/books/topics/stars or check out this great list on Stars, Planets and the Night Sky that you can order online from “Start with a Book”.

Get Reading! Bookroo’s top 10 books on stars…

Nature Window

If you can’t get outside, you can still experience moon watching, stargazing (if stars are visible), cloudspotting, bird-watching, and nature in general. Create a world-watching window or a nature window, set up a date, set up all your supplies, and get ready to observe! Things to consider bringing: your nature notebook, field guides (birds, stars, etc), binoculars, a telescope, and a camera – you could maybe even a sound recorder to capture the sounds of the natural world.

Make a Spring Nature Table

A spring nature table is a space in the home used for placing natural items that reflect the season. It is meant to be explored and used as a nature study aid in the home. Nature tables give children the opportunity to play with objects found in nature, helping them notice the little changes that happen when a season shifts, and connect with the natural world. They also create a sensory experience for the child, and can be used for pretend or imaginative play. Check out this lovely table by the Imagination Tree:

Spring Nature Exploration Table by The Imagination Tree

Consider what the season represents for your family’s culture, values, beliefs, celebrations. Then, go around your home with that in mind and you’d be surprised what you can find (rocks, leaves, sticks, acorns, pine cones, seasonal art and crafts, silks and candles in the season, fall books for kids, etc)! Put these together, and voila!

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Make a list of things found in nature around your garden, block, or a local trail. Then go out for a walk or hike with the family and see how many items you can find. The print shops are all closed due to COVID-19 so you’ll need to get creative – make a list on your phone or do some lists by hand. Looking for some ideas? Check these templates out here: https://www.freekidscrafts.com/summer-scavenger-hunt/

Family Bike Ride

According to Cycle Toronto, as long as you are not infected with COVID-19, symptomatic, or otherwise self-isolating. Riding a bicycle is compatible with physical distancing. In fact, the 2 metres (6 feet) is about the distance of a bicycle. According to the City of Toronto, we can only bike in groups if they are people we reside with, and at this point, city parks’ green spaces, including multi-use trails, currently remain open and accessible. Toronto has some really great trails to choose from as well, as per the interactive map here: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/cycling-in-toronto/cycling-google-map/

Need some help planning your route? Check out this great article by Cycle Toronto: https://www.cycleto.ca/how-plan-your-bike-route

Tip: Plan ahead! Many of these experiences are also great as we gear up for Earth Day on April 26th!

Stay healthy and safe!

Social Distancing with Children: Tips for Parents

March 24, 2020 by Melanie

COVID-19 has been challenging for all of us, but parents have a unique challenge working from home with children at home. How do we keep our children active and safe without being able to access the resources in our communities with which we have become accustomed?

To help parents interact in helpful ways with their children during this time of confinement, the World Health Organization created these six one-page tip sheets for parents. They cover:

Use them to your and your kids’ advantage, and try to have fun in the process!

Great online resources

Being away from friends, extended family, and social activities can be hard on teens and kids. To help them stay connected, active, engaged and healthy, here are some creative suggestions:

HighScope has some great suggestions for active learning at home – just as children engage in active learning throughout HighScope’s daily routine, they can do the same at home when parents incorporate learning into different parts of the day.
To help kids stay connected, you might set up FaceTime or Skype visits or playdates.
Child Mind Institute has some great resources, such as Mindfulness techniques to calm anxiety, to self care amidst a time of crisis, and so much more.
Activities – Active For Life – These are activities designed to get kids moving and having fun. Each activity helps children develop fundamental movement skills, essential for physical literacy.
You also can plan family activities. Taking a walk or a hike or riding bikes are great ways to get out and get active without having physical contact.
Scholastic Learn at Home – Day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking and growing.
Alan’s Science at Home Experiments – Experiments you can do at home — entertaining for both children and adults!

We all have an opportunity to have this pandemic bring us closer as families and communities. Try finding ways to enjoy the precious gift of time and connection – and remember we are all in this together.