Are you a self-care lover like me?

What’s your greatest reason why you take self-care so seriously? 

For me, it’s to help myself continue moving forward for my ideal life. I want me to get up after a fall and see the beauty in the world again with love and a positive mind. 

I’m a teacher. I’ve been caring and teaching young children of all ages up until elementary school. If I can choose one thing that shows the potential of children, I would say the mindset. 

The mindset in children can be shown in many different situations. Let’s look at this situation. Two children were building somethings with Lego side by side. Another child who was playing near that area suddenly ran into that construction play area and knocked down the Lego creations by mistake. The child apologized and left. One child in the construction area was so angry and sad. He cried, threw all the Lego pieces back into a bucket and left. The other child in the construction area was also sad. He stared at the Lego pieces sadly for a moment and he slowly started building something again. 

Well, there are many other skills than mindset in the situation, but I think the fundamental part of the difference in children’s reactions was the mindset. The second child in the construction area decided to stay there and continue what he was enjoying doing despite of multiple negative factors – destruction, anger, lost time, lost effort, lost motivation, disappointment etc. I think this reaction requires self-efficacy, self-esteem and self-love. He must have this belief, “I’m okay. I can do it again. I’ll try again.” 

I’m not saying that the first child didn’t have a good mindset. There can be many reasons why that child didn’t try again. What I want to say is that a mindset that is made up of self-love and hopefulness about the future can make the person get up after a fall and get back on his/her track. 

This is why I’m passionate about teaching children the positive mindset, the growth mindset. 

A play idea to teach growth mindset that I’m gonna show you today is using this book.

Book “I Will Take a Nap” by Mo Willems

When you read the book, you will say, “What does it have to do with growth mindset? There’s nothing related to growth or mindset.”

Yes, right.

The book is just about an elephant who feels the need to take a nap because he was cranky. He finally has a nap with his friend and the story ends with two happy friends. 😂 

There is a fun little twist in the story and it’s cute to hear their conversation between Gerald and Piggie. 

🤫

Okay, here is the reason why I’m introducing this book today.

It’s a good book to read to have fun with your child but there is also a good lesson that we can use. I want to point out that Gerald, the elephant, paid attention to his body and feeling. He noticed that he was cranky and he tried hard to give his body what it needed. This is self-awareness, mindfulness, self-love and self-care. 

For your child to catch this lesson in the book, s/he might need your extra explanation. So for this book, I encourage you to go the extra mile and add your explanation. 

And I also want to add this lesson. 

“When you are cranky, you can try taking a nap. It’s giving a break to your body and brain. In a similar way, when you feel frustrated, you can try giving your mind a break, like doing something else while forgetting about the frustrating thing for a moment. As our body gets energy back after a nap, our mind can get energy back to handle a hard thing after a break.”

– Teacher Gela

Okay, let’s add a fun thing here.

Turnip Head Sign 

Piggie’s head turns into a turnip head in the story.

I made turnip head pictures. 

You can let your child cut these out and use them as a break sign.

For example, when you are tired of practicing writing letters, you can leave this turnip head sign on it and go to take a break. After a break, you can come back to it and try again.

😃😊

Teach your child an effective way to handle a hard problem.

Happy learning and quality time!

Teacher Gela 👩🏻🎀