Is your child’s behaviour difficult to manage when you have just picked them up from school?
Your child has been at school all day interacting with other children. Some of these interactions are positive and healthy but others can be challenging and difficult for your child.
Is it any wonder that when they have just finished school they can be a little bit difficult!? They have been exposed to other children’s emotions all day!
Many children have issues with bullying, friendships, being ostracised and other challenges with social interactions in the classroom and the playground. I know my daughter did when she was at school!
As a parent you may at times feel helpless as to how you can help your child deal with these issues. The best thing you can do is teach them social and emotional intelligence skills. This will help them to cope much better as they interact with the world in general.
We at the Rainbow Planet Connection offer a range of activities and resources that are designed to help you as a parent to teach your children these skills.
Our resources and training programs have been developed by professionals to promote emotional and social well-being in children. They are based on the creative expression of feelings through the use of art, drama, role-play, creative writing and more.
These activities are designed to develop the right-hand creative side of the brain. I feel that this has a low profile in some schools and should be given more emphasis. Rainbow Planet Connection’s programs encourage children to look inwards to see how they are dealing with their own feelings and how they are coping with the world around them.
One of our resources that is especially popular with both parents and teachers is a lovely colourful set of 32 feelings cards. These have many uses in a variety of situations; for example when your child first gets home from school.
Just ask them to pick a card that best explains how they are feeling. This will help you understand how this might be affecting their behaviour. They may for instance pick ‘sad’. If you encourage them to talk about this, they may say that they are not friends with someone in their class anymore.
Then you can ask them to pick another card that expresses how they would like to feel. Perhaps they will pick ‘happy’. Then you can ask ‘What can you do to make yourself feel happier?’
An extension of this exercise is to encourage your child to sit down quietly with paper and crayons and draw a picture of how they feel or how they would like to feel. You would be amazed at how therapeutic this is for your children. A calmer happier child benefits you as a parent and makes your life easier! All our books have art extension activities.
Many children haven’t been taught skills for coping and responding to life and how to manage their own emotions in healthy ways.
Now you as a parent can help them to develop these skills!
Comments from other people who have used Rainbow Planet Connection’s products with children.
Module 5 – Exploring and Expressing Feelings Book plus Colourful Card Set provides a rich resource of ideas that encourages children (and adults) to become more deeply aware of their feelings and the workings of their bodies.
It is equally valuable for the group leader/facilitator working with children as it is for a parent with their own child. This resource is full of lists, instructions and step-by-step planning to accomplish the activities. It also comes with 32 feelings cards and a booklet with ideas for using them.
“I recommend these cards for teachers, counsellors, people who run workshops and most importantly for families to use on a daily basis.”
