Page 45 - 101 SEL Activities
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Compromise (all ages) Time: Varies
Purpose: To help your child learn to take responsibility for their actions while also considering the feelings of someone else (empathy).
Instructions: When opportunities arise for compromise, allow your child to be part of the resolution process. When you first introduce this to your child, explain what it means to compromise. Enhance the meaning by introducing examples/situations on how they might compromise. As they catch on, include them in the decision making process when actual situations that require compromise arise.
This also presents a good opportunity to dialogue with your child about the reality that the only person they can control is themselves, and not others. Dialogue about what it feels like when another is unwilling to compromise, how that makes them feel, and how they might respond.
Lastly, whenever you are willing to compromise, point it out to your child as a means of modeling.
Care For a Plant (4+)
Time: 1-2minutes,butongoing
Purpose: To learn responsibility and the effect of our actions on the world.
Instructions: Grow a plant from a seed or pick out a plant with your child. Put your child in charge of watering the plant and making sure it gets sunlight. Check in on the plant with your child and discuss its growth or lack thereof. Help your child understand how their actions impact the plant’s survival and growth.
I am the Boss of Me (4+)
Time: Variable
Purpose: To empower your child by helping them learn to focus on that which they can control and to let go of that which is outside their control.
Instructions: Help your child identify who/what they are in charge of/the boss of. Do this as one activity or as an ongoing venture. For instance, when they tell you that someone is annoying them, help them identify what they can and cannot control to help ease the tension of the situation.
If you do this as an activity, consider drawing this or making a visual in some other way. This helps them better understand how to empower themselves and focus on that which is within their control.
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