Let It Go! 7/6/2020

Let It Go!

Our routines have changed a lot in the past few months. A lot of us are experiencing
things we have no control over and that can make us feel a lot of different emotions.
If this has been happening to you, you are not alone. Talk about how this makes you
feel with a family member or friend.

What emotions have you been feeling?

It can help if we tell ourselves to “let go” of these feelings after we talk about them. 

What can you let go of?

An environmentally friendly version is to write on a piece of paper all the things you want to let go of and then rip it up and throw it like confetti. (Another alternative option is to write on a piece of toilet paper with a marker, then crumple it up and flush it down the toilet).

What emotions did you feel after you “let go” of the feelings you can’t control or change?

Home Scavenger Hunt Week!

Home Scavenger Hunt

Using the list above, see how many of the items you can locate in your house.
If you are having a difficult time finding any of the items, ask someone for a hint or clue.

If you want to challenge yourself, use a timer to see how fast you can find all the items. 

If you want to have some friendly competition, ask a friend or family member to race you
and see who can find all the items on the list the fastest. Once you have finished, talk about what you did if you were having a difficult time finding an object and how you solved this problem.

Gross Motor Name Game Week!

What's Your Name Game

Using the image above, can you complete all the activities that spell out your name?

You can ask a family member or friend to do this activity with you?

After you have finished, talk with them about which activities were your favorite to-do and which were most difficult for you.

What other names and words did you spell out?

Board Game Week!

Play a Board Game

Choose a board game, card game, Charades, Pictionary, or any other game you enjoy and play it with a family member or friend.

After you play the game, have your friend or family member choose a game they want to play and play it with them.

Great for conversational speech, self-regulation for losing/winning, and planning.

Gratitude Jar Activity

Make a Gratitude Jar

1. Find a jar, bucket, cup, of any kind that you can put pieces of paper into. This is going to be your gratitude jar. Feel free to get creative and decorate it as you wish!
2. Think about different people, things, and events you are grateful for. On small pieces of paper, write or draw a picture of what or who you are grateful for and place it in your jar. 
3. Start by writing 3 different things to put in your gratitude jar.
4. Each day try to draw or write at least one more thing you are grateful for and put it in your jar.
5. Anytime you want, you can pick a piece of paper out of your jar to remember all the things you are grateful for.

When you are creating your gratitude jar, talk to family and friends about the things you are grateful for and why they are so important to you. Ask your family and friends what they are grateful for.

Last Week of School!

We are on the home stretch! 

I hope you have a great summer and I cannot wait to see you in the fall! 

If you are a 4th grader, goodbye and good luck! I hope you enjoy 5th grade! 

SOCIAL WORK week of June 7th - June 13th: Goodbyes and Staying Connected

Goodbyes and Staying Connected

It's that time of the year again when some of us say goodbye for the summer, some of us move on to middle school, and some of us may transfer to other schools.

Goodbyes can make us feel sad, angry, excited and many other feelings.  However you feel about a goodbye, is ok.

While we sometimes think about goodbyes as "forever," but they aren't.  Every relationship you have becomes part of you.  It changes the wiring in your brain.  So one of the tricks to help with goodbyes, is to find ways to stay connected with that relationship.  Here are some ways that may help!

When connecting with people from a distance (e.g. over the summer, or if someone moves to a different school etc.) you can (with parent permission):

• Ask for their email address to write them an email
• Ask for their home address to send them letters or cards
• Ask for their username on a video chat app
• Ask for a parent phone number to talk to them on the phone

For people who you may not be able to see or talk to again, you can stay connected to that relationship by:

• Telling stories and memories about that person
• Looking at pictures of that person
• Writing a letter or make a card to that person and put it in a special place (e.g. a special memory box)
• Having conversations out loud to that person (and maybe even responding to yourself in that person's "voice"--saying what you'd think they would say)

I hope that you all have a great summer, and I hope to connect with all of you again soon!