kids mental health

Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus (Child Mind Institute)

Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus (Child Mind Institute)

COVID-19 has changed our lives in ways we never would have imagined. Kids, at this unique time, may be feeling extra worried (especially if they already have an anxiety disorder). Fortunately, there are things we can do to help our kids cope - including providing creative outlets to express how they’re feeling in an open way. Check out Kidevolve’s silly and enticing IMAGINARY FRIEND DRAWING EXERCISE (Course 7.3: Joy & Energy) which gives kids a super fun outlet to draw their inner monsters and let their imaginations run wild to a whacky array of musical cues in a game-like setting. Get your coloured pencils, markers and papers ready! You might even think about doing this exercise with your kids and then discussing everyone’s monsters afterwards… when you're finished, you might just have a new friend (who's been waiting for you all this time!).

Check out CBC's 'Small Talk' Series - now in it's fourth season!

Check out CBC's 'Small Talk' Series - now in it's fourth season!

Only three short years ago, CBC launched a series of groundbreaking videos called Small Talk. Their big idea is to talk to real kids about issues like fear, friendship, love, mistakes, sharing. The videos are about 3 minutes long and feature a wide range of natural conversions with all type of kids.

Small Talk is a show about kids, for kids, by kids! Host Dave Keystone sits down with spirited kids to chat one-on-one about a variety of topics that cover both the serious and silly. Shot in the beautiful Canadian countryside, Small Talk is fun, insightful and completely unscripted.

Check them out! They are very real, on target, uncontrived and illuminating.

Parenting Expert Barbara Coloroso - The Kids Are Worth It (The Knowledge Project podcast)

Parenting Expert Barbara Coloroso - The Kids Are Worth It (The Knowledge Project podcast)

Want to hear an exceptional podcast on how to raise great kids?

Barbara Coloroso is an internationally recognized speaker and author in the areas of parenting, teaching, school discipline, nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliatory justice, and grieving. Her bestselling books include kids are worth it! , Parenting through Crisis, and The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. 

Check out this Knowledge Project podcast - one of the best we’ve heard on parenting in some time. Here, Shane Parrish interviews Barbara as she shares her foundational principles of child-rearing, how to get kids to be accountable for their actions, and what we can do as parents to raise confident, happy children.

Some of our favourite Barbara Coloroso quotes:

  • I came up with three basic tenets. One, kids are worth it. I believe they're worth our time, energy and resources to help them become all they can become. Second, I won't treat them in a way I, myself, would not want to be treated. And third, it must leave my dignity and the child's dignity intact.

  • Praise-dependent, reward-dependent children make wonderful henchmen for bullies. They will do the bully's bidding because they want whatever reward that bully is dangling in front of them.

  • If you make a mistake, it's a very simple formula. Simple doesn't make it easy. With a mistake, you own it, you fix it, you learn from it and you move on.

  • Deep caring is not liking somebody. I tell kids, “You do not have to like every kid in this classroom, but you must honor their humanity.” Deep caring is a must to relieve somebody else's suffering, and wishing them well, which by the way, is the antithesis of mean and cruel.

Mindful Games Activity Cards (by Susan Kaiser Greenland & Annaka Harris)

Mindful Games Activity Cards (by Susan Kaiser Greenland & Annaka Harris)

There are, of course, many ways to introduce kids to Mindfulness meditation. We’ve discovered this deck of 55 innovative mindfulness games for kids, brought to you by Susan Kaiser Greenland (author of Mindful Games and The Mindful Child) and Annaka Harris (author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind  and the children's book I Wonder).

Check out 'The Best Men Can Be' Short Film (Gillette)

Check out 'The Best Men Can Be' Short Film (Gillette)

Here’s a ground-breaking video aimed at toxic masculinity… important to share with the boys and men in your lives. What kinds of boys do we want to raise? What messaging needs to change at home, at school? How can we prevent our boys from endlessly adhering to the ‘bro-code’ and empower them to be the kind of compassionate, aware, connected men we need on the planet in the future.

Groundbreaking study examines effects of screen time on kids (60 Minutes - CBS News)

Groundbreaking study examines effects of screen time on kids (60 Minutes - CBS News)

We’ve long suspected that regular iPad use and today’s multidimensional video games might have negative impacts on kids, especially when they’re young. Now we know this to be true and we cannot ignore it. Vastly differentiated from the passive television watching of the not-so-distant past, today’s tech is DESIGNED to get kids addicted, keep them needing more and leaving them feeling isolated and depressed. If there was ever a time to reduce screen time in your household, it’s now. The data is in. As a more healthy alternative, try giving kids new exposures like Kidevolve’s Creative Mind Journeys (our wildly silly, super fun mindfulness audio tracks), or Tinkercast’s Wow in the World podcasts (delivering science though amazing, compelling audio journeys). In both cases, kids can still use tech as the delivery platform… but now, wee imaginations are truly encouraged to expand, problem solve, test and unfurl! Watch the change in positive behaviour (and inner joy) after only a few audio exposures, and ask kids how they feel by contrast. Their answers might surprise you, Thank you 60 Minutes and Anderson Cooper for such excellent, valuable reporting!

How Kermit Taught Us About Self-Compassion and Friendship

How Kermit Taught Us About Self-Compassion and Friendship

The science on self-compassion is clear - it is more important to teach our kids how to self-sooth and cut themselves a break when they fail to meet their own expectations or that of the outside world, than almost anything else. Give your kids a gander at Kermit & Don Music in this classic Sesame Street skit from yesteryear. Is Don Music being waaaaaaay too hard on himself? What kinds of things is he saying about himself that are actually getting in the way of writing the hit song he desires? And what does Kermit do to help him be his own Bestie?