Hi everyone! I’m Mandy Bush and I am the executive assistant for Cardinal Rule Press (Maria’s publishing company). I am a mother of 2 (son and daughter) and I will be blogging on Be the Difference and will be recapping some valuable tips from Empowering Kids With Character – The Show!
On April 26th, Maria closed out the month of April, which was all about friendship, by showing us how to teach our children friendship communication with just a cotton ball and sandpaper (she shared that she got this idea from Preschool Powol Packets). You can watch the full video here.
SUPPLIES:
- Cotton balls
- Sandpaper (or a nail file)
- OPTIONAL: Book– “Should I Share My Ice Cream?” by Mo Willems
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Have your child hold out their hand.
- Ask them to feel the cotton balls and explain how they feel. They can even rub them on their face.
- Explain that cotton balls are like kind words – they’re soft, warm, fuzzy and nice.
- Next, have your child feel the sandpaper and ask them to describe how the sandpaper feels.
- Explain that sandpaper is like unkind or mean words.
You can use these two items to explain to children that in order to have friends, you have to be a friend and it’s all about words, actions and facial expressions (eye rolling, mean tone or unkind faces = sandpaper / smiles, saving a seat = cotton balls). Words are very important, but our nonverbal cues are so important as well when communicating!
Stay tuned for next month – the theme is HONESTY!
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