Consider the benefits of establishing and maintaining a garden….. time with nature, cultivation of living plants, growing of edible foods, time to reflect, and many others. A garden, large or small, can be created in the earth, in containers, in a greenhouse, on a window ledge, or in your own inventive space. The idea is …
Keep a journal with writings and/or artwork to record and express what you are most thankful for in your life. There are many small things that are easy to take for granted. This is a good way to recognize and therefore appreciate what we have, so that we may share our talents with others. Suggestion …
A family, a classroom, a school or a community gets together to envision the future they desire. Collectively draw, paint, or write out the family, school or community that everyone wants. Who is there? What is there? How do people problem solve? How do people share resources? How do people work with one another? How …
A way of measuring how everyone is feeling about a process. A useful tool to use as a check-in throughout a process. People show fingers to display their “feeling number,” 5 being fully satisfied/supported, 0 being not happy/not supported at all. Address what could be changed or improved if participants show 0-3s, and evaluate the …
Research shows that youth who have knowledge of their family history, events, challenges, and successes have more self-control, higher self-esteem, and handle difficulties better. This is due to youth feeling a strong sense of belonging and being part of something bigger than they are. Contributing to a family narrative involves telling family stories, following traditions, …
Plan meetings as a whole family (try for weekly) where members discuss the upcoming week. Identify where family members might need some help. Family Meetings are a safe space to talk about challenges each family member may be facing. Rotate who facilitates each week, using talking sticks or balls as a way of sharing equally. …
Have youth adopt the perspective of those in history who are poorly represented or not represented in history books. With each news story, piece of literature, film clip, etc. that you share, ask youth to identify content that is emotional. Next ask them to respond empathetically to the central person featured in the literature, news, …
Getting people outside can do wonders for building capacities for problem solving. Through engaging nature, youth become calm, learn to listen carefully, develop their empathic response, become more respectful and more careful about their own actions, and take on leadership positions to protect nature. They feel peace and learn about the practical steps of civic …
Find as many opportunities to acknowledge how hard our youth are working. It takes five words of encouragement for every one word of criticism for our youth to internalize the encouragement. “Thank you for helping,” “You’ve worked so hard,” “I appreciate that you helped your friend,” “Thanks for cleaning up” are examples. Recognition of efforts …
Teach youth that anger can be a healthy emotion, and that it informs us about the importance of an issue. Teach them to remain calm when dealing with anger by breathing deeply and using attentive body language. Teach them how to help an angry person discover the cause of their anger by restating. Use “I” …