My husband and I regularly discuss with our daughters how to recognize, manage, and express emotions. It is really important to give children the proper vocabulary to express themselves. At times, children may not fully understand what they are feeling, or why they are feeling that way, and this can leave them feeling extremely frustrated. To help strengthen my daughters emotional vocabulary, I created a feelings board for them.
When introducing the feelings board to my daughters, I asked them to describe a time they experienced each emotion on the board. We then discussed different strategies we have used in the past, and strategies we could use in the future when experiencing specific emotions. We wrote each of these strategies down on popsicle sticks, and put them in a mason jar right by the emotions board. This way, they are easily accessible when we need them.
How To Use The Feelings Board:
Each morning my daughters will put a clip with their name on it, on the emotion they are feeling. If I see a shift in behavior, I will guide them over to the board and help them figure out what they are feeling, and we will move their clip to that emotion. We will then discuss why they are experiencing that emotion and if needed, we will pick a strategy from our mason jar. Once we have worked through whatever it was they were experiencing, they will get to move their clip back to the emotion that reflects how they are now feeling.
What You’ll Need:
Cardboard ( we recycled a box)
Markers
Ribbon
Tape
Scissors
Corkboard
How To:
Cut out your feeling faces out of cardboard. Draw different faces to represent whatever feelings you are working on with your child. Curl the ribbon and tape it to the back of the head and pull a piece over to the front to show the hair.
I would like to share that the inspiration for the look of my little characters comes from @mummyandthebears. I was scrolling through Instagram and saw that she made these adorable smiley faced “hairdo heads”, as she calls them, and I knew I had to find a way to recreate them for our feelings board.
I hope you found this helpful. If you give this feelings board a try, comment down below. I would love to hear how it is working for your family.
*Adult supervision is required*
Lately, I have been thinking about how I let things slide during quarantine. The majority of people I spoke to about this said they have given up on keeping their homes clean and no longer restrict their children’s electronics. For me it wasn’t either of those things. It was something else.
I couldn’t let my house get messy because I became a complete germaphobe during this quarantine. Did this happen to any of you? Whenever I get a spare minute I’m scrubbing something. Everything must be clean! I am sure I will calm down about this… one day. For now it is what it is. The cleaner the house, the safer I feel.
I also didn’t give my children unlimited access to their electronics. This isn’t because my children are so well behaved that I don’t need to distract them with television and iPads. Not at all. It is because they have become obsesses with yodeling. Yes… YODELING.
Every time they turn on the television, the sound of someone yodeling ( and the sound of my daughters yodeling) fills the house. It’s cute, I will give them that, but how much yodeling can two little girls listen to? Too much, the answer is TOO MUCH! There is such a thing as too much yodeling, in my opinion, not theirs. It was going on ALL DAY LONG! Thanks but no thanks. Electronics will remain on lockdown.
What I did let slide was my appearance. Day one of quarantine I changed from my nighttime pajamas into my daytime pajamas (yes, there is such a thing as daytime pajamas) and kept that up for a good two weeks. It was wonderful. I was so comfortable and I was eating whatever I wanted because I couldn’t feel my pants getting tighter. My pajamas were very forgiving. I did continue to wear make up though, (which made absolutely no sense since I was in pajamas but there you have it). I figured, at least I was somewhat put together.
Then one day, I showed up in the background of my daughters ZOOM call in my pajamas (and ROBE) and I decided getting dressed in the morning would be a good idea. That said, I did stop wearing makeup. Something had to give. It’s not a quarantine if you’re fully dressed with face full of make up. Am I right?
I was enjoying this new phase of quarantine until my daughter’s teacher asked me to sit down and talk to her on ZOOM. It wasn’t scheduled, it was random. She was giving my daughter a lesson and asked for me to come on screen for a chat. So there I was, no make up (ok, no bra either) and a teacher waiting for me to sit down to speak with her. I couldn’t ask for her to wait for me to put on some make up and and a bra so I did the only thing I could do… I stood by the computer, never showed myself, and had a full on conversation. I didn’t give an explanation. Who knows what she thought. Couldn’t be as bad as what she would have thought if she saw me!
Now, I get dressed (bra and all) and I put on make up… Thanks ZOOM! What did you let slide? Comment down below.
It’s that time of year again. The weather is getting nicer and the children are able to get outside and get their energy out. We’ve been outside most days enjoying the sunshine, but I knew at some point it would rain, as it often does in Spring, and I would need indoor activities to keep my girls entertained.
A sensory path is something I always have in my back pocket. It is quick and easy to make, and gives children hours of entertainment. This morning when I saw it was raining, I quickly searched the house for painters tape and construction paper and got to work. I wanted the sensory path down on the floor before my daughters could look outside, see it was raining, and say, “I’m bored.”
They were so excited when they woke up to find the sensory path. They didn’t even comment on the rain. They just started jumping around down the path. If you’d like to make one too, scroll down.
Materials
Painters tape (optional)
Construction paper
Scotch shipping packing tape
How To
Before putting anything down on your floor check to make sure it won’t damage it!
Make boxes on your floor using painters tape. (This step is optional, you can just tape down the handprints and footprints on the floor without making the boxes)
Cut out handprints and footprints out of construction paper and place them in the boxes. Using heavy duty packing tape, cover each print fully and tape them down to the floor.
Thats it! It is quick and easy to make and gives children something fun to do on a rainy day. It is also a great way for them to work on their motor skills and hand & eye coordination.
What are your favorite rainy day activities? Comment down below.
*Adult supervision is required*
This year my daughters turned 8, and even though we are in quarantine, my husband and I found ways to make their birthday special. Today, I wanted to write about our two favorite birthday traditions; the weeklong birthday countdown and the hourly birthday countdown. They are mentally counting down anyway, right? Why not make an event of out it!
THE WEEKLONG BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN
The weeklong birthday countdown really gets my daughters excited about their big day. What I love about our countdown is that it encourages family time. Every day for 7 days, my daughters open up one envelope which reveals a birthday themed activity for us to do. Here’s what’s in our envelopes this year.
7 days until your birthday! Let’s look at your baby pictures.
6 days until your birthday! Let’s make your favorite ice cream cake.
5 days until your birthday! Let’s bake your favorite banana bread.
4 days until your birthday! Let’s fill out a birthday questionnaire.
3 days until your birthday! Write down you favorite memory from this year and put it in the memory box.
2 days until your birthday! Lets make birthday fairy crowns.
1 day until your birthday! Let’s design our thank you cards.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
HOURLY BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN
There is so much to do on the big day, it is easy to forget to slow down and have some fun as a family. Our countdown does double duty. It keeps us organized so we can get everything done, while having fun together. Here is what is in each bag.
7:00 a.m. Birthday scavenger hunt
8:00 a.m. Birthday pancakes
9:00 a.m. Bake the birthday cakes
10:00 a.m. Add flowers to your fairy crowns
11:00 a.m. Fill out birthday questionnaire
12:00 p.m. Birthday lunch
1:00 p.m. Zoom call with family
2:00 p.m. Open birthday gifts
3:00 p.m. Let’s watch videos from when you were a baby
4:00 p.m. Party games
5:00 p.m. Go outside for a big surprise (birthday parade)
6:00 p.m. Dinner and birthday cake
7:00 p.m. Write what your favorite part of your birthday was, and put it in the memory box
My daughters had a great day. I think the highlight was the birthday parade our family and friends put on for them. This is certainly a birthday they will never forget.
That’s all for today. Write what your family birthday traditions are down below.
*Adult supervision required*
Living during such uncertain times can be especially difficult for children. We can’t give them a definite answer on when they will be returning to school, or when they will be able to have a play date. The best we can do is try to create some sort of structure to help ease their anxiety. I certainly do not have all of the answers. There have been plenty of days where nothing has worked to keep the peace, but I would love to share what has worked for my family over these past few weeks of us being quarantined.
FAMILY MEETING
Once we learned that schools were closing, my husband and I held a family meeting. We explained to our daughters that while they would be attending school online, they would still be in communication with their teachers and friends, and would be expected to complete their assignments. We spoke about the changes to their daily routine, and allowed them to participate in creating their own schedule. This gave my daughters a sense of control, and ultimately helped ensure that they stayed on task. One thing that surprised me was how willing they were to accept this new reality. They didn’t question us. They just went along with this new norm.
DAILY SCHEDULE
To help ease our daughters’ anxiety during this time, we worked together with them to create a daily schedule. Once they adjusted to their new schedule, they were able to infer what was coming next which really helped them stay relaxed. Having this small bit of certainty during these confusing times helped immemsely.
We have two types of schedules in our home. We have a magnetic daily schedule, and a more detailed schedule that is type up. The magnetic schedule posted below shows what a typical weekend looks like in our home. When our daughters complete a task, they move the magnet over to the “done” side of the board. This helps keep them on track.
Our daily weekday schedule is very detailed. I write exactly which assignments need to be completed each day. This ensures that all assignments are turned in by the end of the day. Below is a sample without the added details.
- Get dressed & brush teeth and hair
- Breakfast
- Homeschool
- Indoor/outdoor play
- Homeschool
- Lunch
- Homeschool
- Indoor/ outdoor play
- FaceTime with friends
- Family time
- Dinner
- Family walk
- Shower & brush teeth
- Reading
- Bed time
MENU
I don’t know about your children, but my daughters want to eat all day long. Figuring out what to feed them for breakfast, lunch, and snack was becoming a full time job. This encouraged me to create a menu. Each morning my daughters select what they would like to eat off of our menu, and that is what is prepared for them that day. Not constantly having to figure out what to feed them throughout the day has reduced my stress and allows my daughters to feel in control of what they are eating. Planning ahead of time allows me to prepare their snacks in the morning so they can just grab and go throughout the day. For us, dinner has never been an issue. They eat whatever is prepared. I decided not to include that on the menu.
I’M BORED JAR
Do your children constantly approach you because they have no idea how to occupy themselves? Mine do! They are always telling me they are bored. I was running out of ideas on how to entertain them. Finally, we created a list of all the activities they enjoy participating in. We wrote their ideas down on slips of paper and put them in a mason jar. This jar was a lifesaver! There was no longer a need for them to approach me for ideas. Here is a list of what we have in our jar.
- Read a book
- Research a place you would like to visit
- Puzzle
- Painting
- Swingset
- Trampoline
- Call a friend
- Barbies
- Board game
- Practice ventriloquy
- Play with puppy
- Baking
- Pretend play
- Piano
- Clean your bedroom
- Basement
- Play dress up
- Make an obstacle course
- Crossword puzzle
There you have it! I hope you are able to use some of these ideas in your home. I would love to hear what you have been doing to get through this quarantine. I am always looking for ways to make our day run more smoothly.