Good Mental Health for Everyone

LIVE - Campaign for your Mental Health

  Mental Health and Suicide Prevention is every month, every day, no matter what is going on in the world. It’s OK not to be OK. And it’s OK to talk to somebody about this. A new documentary titled "Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health” will be available on YouTube after the U.S. broadcast May 28.

   The presentation explores the Duke of Cambridge’s mission to end mental health stigma for men but applies to women and children, too. “You can’t be ashamed of your mental health,” he says in the trailer. “You’ve got to be able to look it in the eye and go. ‘I’m going to deal with it. Here we go!’”

 “It’s about being confident enough to say, ‘Things aren’t great,’” says William, 37. “It’s OK to not be OK.”  We can teach children, “Here we go!”

LIVE - Love yourself; Include others

Here we go!

   Good mental health is for everyone, especially children. We can raise them to know how to deal with whatever “it” is and then, “Here we go!”

  According to Amy Poirier of the Great Lakes Recovery Center Foundation, Sarah Derwin, and people of the West End Suicide Prevent, this message comes home to the United States in the LIVE campaign. LIVE stands for LOVE yourself, INCLUDE others, VALUE life, and ENGAGE in the community. That begins in early childhood.

LIVE!

   According to their literature, to LOVE yourself means to accept who you are because there is only one you. You have a unique set of abilities that only you possess. To LOVE yourself also means to take care of your physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Start these things early with children and continue through their life. Relax. Close your eyes and take three deep belly breaths. Learn something new often. Say, draw, or hand write five things that make you special.

   To INCLUDE others means to understand that we are all different and that is a good thing. Everyone has their own individual talents and by working together we can make our communities a place everyone feels accepted. Call or Zoom someone and share. Draw a picture or write a note to someone.

LIVE - Value life; Engage the community

  To VALUE life means to believe you have a purpose that only you can fill. Part of this purpose is to help both yourself and others. To value life also means to help others find their significance. Tell someone you appreciate them.

 To ENGAGE the community means to come together to make a positive difference in the lives of others. We make a difference by having open conversations to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. To engage also means to connect with others. Look at the stars. You are a part of something bigger. Volunteer in the community

More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest
Photos, Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

Small Action Delivers Big Results

Parents, Grandparents, and other caregivers often ask how they can help their children be successful in school.  According to medical providers there is one easy but very important activity that can be done to insure that young children will come to school with great background, good language development, curiosity, and a love of learning.  The answer at every age is read aloud every day!
  Local libraries have fliers published by the organization Reach Out and Read.  Below, with permission, is good advice taken from their publication titled  “Reading Tips for Your Family”.  What great information for all who want to give children a head start for a lifetime of success.
 Read Aloud Every Day
  It’s fun. It’s a special time with your child.  Reading helps children learn many new words to prepare them to be excellent readers in first grade. Here is the wise eight list: 1) It’s never too early to start.  Babies love to be held and to hear your voice. 2) A few minutes are OK. Very young children may sit still for only a few minutes.  They will listen longer as they grow. 3) Let children turn the pages.  Give a little help if they need it. 4) Ask children questions about the story.  Be sure to give them lots of time to think and answer. 5) Make the story come alive.  Read with fun and excitement in your voice.  6) Talk about the pictures.  Make up stories to go with the pictures. Let the listeners join in. 7) Read anywhere, anytime.  Read at playtime bedtime and nap time.  Read any place you have to wait. 8) Go to the local library to get more books. Let children choose some books to bring home. When children are read to by people they love, children learn to love books!”
Reach Out and Read
  Medical providers stress that direct, positive verbal interaction between caregivers and children is crucial to the development of language and understanding. Reading aloud, along with meaningful conversations, have a very important place in early learning.  As the first teachers, families and other caregivers have the wonderful opportunity and responsibility to help children build for a future of success.
   Reach Out and Read is a national non-profit organization of medical providers and volunteers who promote early literacy and school readiness by integrating books and advice to parents during actual well child visits.  Since it’s founding in Boston in 1989, Reach Out has distributed over 6 million books to children and their families.  They serve more than 4 million families annually, and the number reflects participation in every state in the country. 
Sketch: Mark Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Making a Kid’s Indoor Golf Course

Preschool teachers have many good suggestions for making child care easier for parents and grandparents. They recommend alternating short active and quiet activities between meals, nutritious snacks, naps, and reading. Quiet activities are easy indoors, but active ones can be easy, also, when weather is inclement.  Almost any sport can be adapted for indoor play with recycled materials.
Indoor Mini Golf
  To make an indoor miniature golf course collect small boxes, plastic containers, small rugs, cardboard tubes and pieces, duct tape, paint stir sticks, cups, stuffed animals, and small balls.
  Conversation and planning together are so important while creating the obstacles for a miniature golf course. If children have never been to one, search on You Tube or Google images for miniature golf courses. Make a list of obstacles. Then think of ones you can create with materials around the house. If you make the obstacles in small modules they can be stored in a few bins and taken out again later.
Construction Plan
  Design your course together and make a map of your plan. You’re teaching children that a plan is needed whenever they do a project. Do children want a theme of princesses, teddy bears, Star Wars, or cars? What is the course’s name?
  Real miniature golf courses often have obstacles with an entry and an exit.  Children can choose boxes, decorate, and plan placement while adults cut the openings. An empty oatmeal cylinder makes a good tunnel.
  Courses often have ramps. These can be made with blocks or small boxes and a wide strip of cardboard or wood.  Look among the toys.  Perhaps children can make Lego or large block bridges and ramps. The construction time is another means to create time for family discussion and vocabulary building.
   Talk about gravity and ramp height. While making ramps, add cardboard and duct tape fences along the edges to keep the ball on the ramp. The toy box might also have plastic train parts that can be curved ramps for the ball.  Some ramps might lead to nowhere with a cup at the end.
  Stuffed animals, dolls, and action figures are excellent for guiding the ball’s path and decorating the course.  Each section can be named for a character.
  Courses also have rough areas. Use a rug and make small bumps. Stuff newspapers or small blankets under rugs or sheets to make the curves and hills. The difficulty can easily be adjusted.
  Golf clubs may be a small hockey stick or a paint stick with a rolled newspaper or cardboard attached with duct tape. Balls can be made from newspaper surrounded by tape.
The last step of playtime is cleaning up so toys can be found again.
Photo: Fran Darling; Sketch: Nowicki
More Ideas and Activities....See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org. Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest

Pressed Flower II -- Fun with Kids

Photo: fdarling fotos, Fran Darling

It doesn’t matter what activities adults choose to do with young children. It only matters that adults do them often and have fun and talk together.  Pressed (dried) flower projects are good choices in late summer.

  These glass luminary candles with pressed flowers are beautiful gifts.

Materials Needed:

  You’ll need glass votive candle holders, thin clear tissue or facial tissue, white glue thinned with a little water, small pressed flowers or leaves.

  Coat the outside of the glass with the glue and water mixture and cover with tissue.

Arrange pressed materials on the tissue covered votive and brush on another coat of glue. Cover the entire outside with another tissue and glue to hold the flower or leaf in place.

  Coat with 3 or 4 more layers of glue to seal it making sure you let it dry between coats. You can use a few coats of spray on acrylic sealer or other sealer that dries clear. The glass will have a frosted look. Dry thoroughly. When the candle is lit, the light shines through the pressed materials for a beautiful effect.  Young children can substitute tea lights lit by a battery for safety.

Frames, notes, and Bookmarks

 Framed pressed flowers make very delicate pictures that do not fade. Children can use watercolors to paint wavy lines and swirls on paper. Spatter some water on the paper or run through a dripping water faucet to blend the paint.  They can be used for thank you notes when dried and ironed on low.

Photo: fdarling fotos, Fran Darling

  While the paper is drying, children can choose some small dried flowers, dried ferns and burning bush leaves. Apply a few dots of white glue on the back of the foliage.  Wipe off any excess glue that may seep around it. Then place a heavy book on top and let dry overnight. Insert the picture in a small frame when dry.

  Pressed flower cards and bookmarks are made the same way. Use card stock paper so the paper will not flop around from the weight of the dried material. Place a heavy book on top and dry overnight.

  Search children’s poetry books for a few poetic lines or make up your own.

Use colored markers to make designs around the flowers or add a short quote or note. You can then write your message on the card and send it to someone special, or you keep it for future use to be given for occasion. Pressed flowers can also be used to decorate gift packages, rock paperweights, and magnets. Notes will not go through the mail because they are lumpy. Place inside a gift box.

More Ideas and Activities...

See the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at area bookstores and grandparentsteachtoo.org. For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site: www.grandparentsteachtoo.org.

Also check our audio Podcasts WNMU Radio 90; Youtube video activities; and join us on Pinterest.