managing time
Not having the ability to manage time properly is a major stressor in a child’s life. In order to combat some of this stress, it is important to teach children about easy time management skills that they can use not only now but later on in life. For this age group, small management skills like setting start and end times for homework or free time can help set solid skills for life. Visual aspects like timers are helpful in giving children a sense of time and how quickly or slowly they are using their time. In order to keep your child more engaged and excited, exploring different options to stay organized like an app or dry erase board for a calendar may be useful. Another important aspect of time management is prioritizing, teaching kids that some tasks must be done before other ones can be started can help them realize the importance of managing their own time. Creating to-do lists can help with organizing and prioritizing tasks for the day.
STAY ORGANIZED!
FUN ACTIVITY!
What You'll Need:
1. A Jar
2. Large Rocks
3. Small Pebbles
4. Sand
create YOUR OWN
PRIORITY JAR
A jar represents the time you have in one day.
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The big rocks represent all the big tasks that have to be completed like school, homework, or chores. Place the rocks in the jar first.
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The small pebbles represent smaller activities that you want to do like sports and clubs. The pebbles go in the jar next.
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Finally, the sand represents all the free time left in the day to do what you want. This goes in the jar last.
COPING SKILLS
Although it would be nice if we could eliminate all stress and negative impacts of children’s lives, that is not a reality. So, what we can do instead is teach them healthy coping skills so that when they are faced with uncomfortable feelings or stressful situations, they will know how to properly handle their emotions. Without healthy coping skills, adolescents may start showing signs of avoidance coping. This is avoiding the thing that is making them feel uncomfortable all together which, in most cases can just make the original problem worse. There are coping skills that focus on dealing with feelings and there are coping skills that are focused on taking action to change the situation. Emotion focused coping is used when the stress is beyond one's own control. Problem focused coping works when there is an issue that is inside one's control and can be solved with some help.
EMOTION FOCUSED COPING
Label the Feeling
Start by putting the uncomfortable feeling into words. This small step goes a long way in making you feel better about the feeling.
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Examples: Mad, Sad, Angry, Disappointed, Frustrated
Focus on Deep Breathing
Deep breathing can start to relax the mind and body.
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Focus on breathing in like you're smelling a tasty meal and then breathing out like you're cooling off the food to eat.
Get Moving
This can help get out extra energy and boost your mood!
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Ways to move: Running, Biking, Dancing, Skipping
Do Something You Like
This can help serve as a small distraction and a way to calm your brain down when it's thinking too much.
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Examples: Reading a book, Listening to music, Drawing a picture, Playing a game, Going outside
PROBLEM FOCUSED COPING
Ask for Help
Find a trusted adult or friend to ask for help when you need help with a problem. It is always okay to ask for help.
List Pros & Cons
A big decision can lead to a lot of stress. In order to help with this, list all the pros and cons of each option to help decide.
Brainstorm Solutions
Write down all the possible solutions to the problem. If you can't think of any, think of things you could do to make yourself feel better about the problem.
CHALLENGE TIME!
FACT OR MYTH?
All stress is bad and we should never have it.
FACT OR MYTH?
All stress is bad and we should never have it.
MYTH!
Some stress can be good! It can push us to get things done.
Grab some chalk and draw out your
"HAPPY PLACE"
THINKING POSITIVE
Being able to develop a positive mindset early on in life will follow a child through their lifetime. Positivity can mean there is light in situations where hardship occurs, your child will be more resilient to and better at combating problems. With more positive thinking comes more confidence and intellectual health. Helping your child develop a positive mindset doesn’t just mean ignoring all the negative aspects of life, it means acknowledging them and helping your child process them. When the negative feelings have been acknowledged it is then important to come up with solutions or ways to cope. Treat a negative event as a learning or growing experience, this will allow your child to handle them in a more positive mindset.
PRACTICE POSITIVITY!
HIGHS AND LOWS
SHARING
Having everyone share highs and lows at the end of the day allows the good and the bad of every day to be addressed and validated.
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HIGH
Sharing a high is sharing the best part of the day.
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LOW
Sharing a low is sharing a part of the day that wasn't so great.​
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GO
The last "go" is a way to share anything on not previously said. This could be something funny that happened or something inspiring observed.
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