Substitute negative thinking with positive thoughts and action:
Try to turn a negative into a positive. You find out who your friends are when you are down. If they desert you when you need them the most, think of this as something positive as you no longer need to waste any more of your time, on those who have revealed themselves as being shallow, selfish people.
If You Give Me 17 Minutes of Your Time, I’ll Give You Back 20 Years of Life Experience by Quotes
“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.”
“People who avoid failure, also avoid success.”
“Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.”
“Learn to be happy by yourself, If you need company to make you happy, then it will make you weak.”
When making friends – Choose quality over quantity.
Updated 02/09/25 work in progress!
Helnæs Lighthouse Jigsaw Puzzle
Some people struggle with physical puzzles, so online puzzles are a good alternative. Jigsaws can be very useful in helping with concentration problems, and can be adapted to suit your particular ability. You could try making your own.
Making a Custom Puzzle Using Cricut Vinyl Cutter, Printer and a Cereal Box by CitySideGig
When people are depressed, they lose their self-esteem and become very introverted and just want to shut themselves away. This is not good for you. Going for a walk or sitting on a seat outside is still better than locking yourself away. Museums are usually free and worth a visit.
If you no longer feel like socialising, but worry about losing your good friends, use the free time you have to learn new skills to keep yourself active and motivated. You can always invite people to your home for coffee or a meal if you can manage it. The more you achieve, no matter how small it may seem, the stronger you will become.
Easy Art TIPS & HACKS That Work Extremely Well ▶ 13
Fun SUMMER Art Ideas When You’re Bored ▶ 3 Videos by Quantastic
Beautiful Leaf Craft Ideas for Kids – Leaf Art | Stunning Leaf Crafts for Kids to Make
You could make a gift for a friend who is supporting you, to let her/him know you appreciate her/him. Hand-made items make better gifts than shop bought items, because of the effort and thought that has been put into making them.
Boost your confidence by helping those who are worse off than you and they will appreciate any help you have given them. A moments kindness can make a huge difference to others, and you will feel better about yourself. When you achieve something, especially for someone else, you are pushing away those feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.
You may also make new friends who are more genuine than the ones you have had before, because you will be moving in different circles and with a different personality type.
If you have access to a computer, you could join Pinterest or something similar and make yourself boards of your favourite things, e.g., photos/pictures of beautiful scenery, or stormy weather, gardening, design, crafts, customising adult or kid’s clothes, DIY tips, inspirational and funny quotes – there is much more to choose from.
WE DO NOT BUY BASKETS ANYMORE | YOU WILL DEFINITELY NOT FIND THIS ORIGINAL BASKET IN A STORE video by Zhaidar DIY
25 bizarre home hacks that work like magic! by Hometalk
EASY Crochet Beginner Pullover Sweater by Crazy Cool Crochet [If you can work out the number of stitches you need, you could adapt this design for knitting]
If you join a local gardening charity, you will learn new skills, and you may be given free plants etc as well as contributing to the happiness of others.
Calendar 2025 by Calendar365.co.uk and you could plan what you are going to do each month in advance e.g. by adding small pictures, of seed packets, day trips etc. Or design and create one for a family member or friend, for next year – to add to their Christmas gifts. If you start early, you could make many presents.
2025 Small Garden Ideas: How to Maximize Your Space with Beautiful Plants by Garden Dreams
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own
6 Vegetables To Grow During The Winter For An Early Harvest video by Charles Dowding
Why do potatoes grow in bags of soil have so many tubers? Here is the answer video by DIY Garden Ideas
Some crops can be grown in bags/containers. Research on YouTube or Pinterest and see what you can do to help with your current food crisis. If you can interest your kids in gardening it will help wear you all out, so you will sleep better. Not only is it great exercise to help tone the body and lose weight, but whatever you grow, it will make you feel proud of your achievements and remember, home grown veg are much tastier too.
Remember to be weight conscious when planting on balconies and it might be wise to use lightweight containers, which you could decorate with stencils or by painting a faux stone finish etc.
March 2025 Once the danger of frost has gone, try growing potatoes and other crops in bags or containers to provide extra food for you and your family. I have used the felt type; grow bag with handles and found them to be good and easier to lift – until they grew too big. I started seed potatoes in a bottom layer of compost, and topped them up when shoots started to appear. I kept them in the house near the back door for several weeks, then slowly introduced them to the outside, bringing them back indoors for overnight warmth. After about 3 weeks, I left them outside in a sheltered position.
Gardening can help anyone with disabilities and anxieties, by providing a relaxing environment adapted to specific needs and preferences.
30+ Astonishing Children Playgrounds Design Ideas In Your Garden – User’s blog
NHS Forest Green Space For Health
10 family garden ideas by Ideal Home
You could spend time researching plants and accessories or take ideas from old magazines, and make a design board too.
Gardening with a disability -RHS information page.
For those who are in a dark place, hang on in there, the way you feel right now is temporary, you just need to change whatever you can in your life and have faith in yourself. A good support network can be better than relying on medication (or alcohol) to avoid side-effects/adverse reactions/addictions, which can add to your problems.
Thinking can seriously damage your health’, so change those negative thoughts for something productive, which will make you feel better. If you cannot concentrate on reading, look at pictures of photos, flowers, scenery etc. If you struggle watching tv, you could watch short videos, cartoons, listen to audio books. There are a lot of funny quotes/jokes/stories online too – which may lift your mood and distract you from what is bothering you.
You could make a playlist of all the songs you loved and search for them and it will help pass the time if you find your days to be very long and you are a little anxious. Avoid any which make you sad, but look for something which may motivate you and help wear you out before bed. Perhaps you could teach yourself a dance routine to a favourite song or music. Couples could add some fresh romance into their lives; by dancing together.
Diet and Vitamins are important to help improve your mood and help your body’s overall wellbeing, so making soup which can be frozen on days when you are able to cook, can save you time and money later. Soups warm the body and are an easy way to get nutritious vegetables into kids who say they do not like them! Try grating the fresh veg! An ordinary vegetable soup can have pasta added or spiced up with a touch of curry powder or blended for a smooth result.
How I Cook 20 Healthy Meals in 1 HOUR – video by Brian Lagerstrom
100+ Potato Recipes by Delicious Magazine
100+ Budget recipes – delicious. magazine (deliciousmagazine.co.uk)
150 Super Cheap Meals for When You Are Flat Broke – Prudent Penny Pincher
Vitamins and Minerals Guide from the NHS.
MEALS FUSSY EATERS WILL LOVE! 9 PICKY EATER KIDS MEAL IDEAS by Emily Norris
Fussy eaters may benefit from helping to prepare and cook [age appropriate] food. Some children enjoy being creative with the food and by presenting choices from particular foods to make a meal, the child may eat more.
A variety of healthier meals for everyday life, for single persons or families:
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/weight/100-calorie-snacks
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/lunch
Great Depression Cooking – The Poorman’s Meal – Higher Resolution
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a40156696/healthy-snacks-for-kids/
Watching art & craft videos can relax you and help with concentration – and there may be a local craft group you can join. Perhaps with the help of friends you could start a group locally and over time, more crafts could be introduced. You could maybe then branch out, and make a self employed business for yourselves; selling craft supplies, finished items and kits with step by step instructions on how to make other items.
How to Decorate Art Deco by Nick Lewis
Video channels with DIY tips, hacks etc also make easy watching, and can also be inspirational too. Always exercise caution as for myself, it is not always possible to try things out in advance. I watch so much and then read comments before deciding to post. Unfortunately, it would take too long to watch all of the videos.
15 Cool Art Ideas & 10 Art Ideas for Beginners|| Painting tutorials || Easy Art Tips & Hacks videos by Farjana Drawing Academy
It is never too late to learn something new. Start collecting ideas for weekly challenges, photos etc. Then attach to your notice board or use your fridge with a magnet. You could even use an A4 size pad as a scrap book to collect ideas, divide into sections, then add links, tips, tutorials, pictures, etc.
https://www.mind.org.uk/media/9432/arts-and-creative-therapies-2021-pdf-version.pdf
Art Therapy Series #1 by Lax Lifestyle
https://www.idealhome.co.uk/diy-and-decorating/free-ideas-home-decorating-9179
If you have a laminator you can create pictures to attach to a wall, fridge etc as temporary decoration.
Plan to do something in advance so you have something to look forward to. Even if you are not up to an activity on the day, if you have prepared something or had ideas in advance, you can do it another time. Sometimes you just have to force yourself into motivating and so maybe a walk or visit to a library, or the museum could be an alternative choice, or research future projects/tasks.
Remember, the point is to feel better about yourself, **so do not attempt something too difficult. We all fail sometimes and have to shrug it off. Never dwell on failures, replace those thoughts with inspirational ones, and look for activities you know you can already achieve, and perhaps add a little extra to make it unique. **Same as methods used to help people overcome anxieties/phobias – systematic desensitization – when you do not rush to the next phase until you have mastered and feel comfortable with the current level.
Systematic Desensitization Steps: 13 Techniques & Worksheets by positivepsychology.com
There are many who know how to crochet or knit. Look for useful ways to use those skills, and even if you can only knit garter stitch, or cannot make items, you can still add something to what you already possess. Collect/buy fancy buttons and add to a t-shirt or change the buttons on a coat/top. If you have a sewing machine, add layers of trimming to a garment or on the bottom of a child’s T-shirt to make it a dress. You could make your sons backpack look unique, work with him of course and let him decide what he likes.
Social Skills for Preschool, Kindergarten and Parents by KiGaPortal ❤❤❤great site.
https://www.kigaportal.com/en/ideas/resources?preview=games-with-letters-winter-words-lowercase
Activities for Preschool, Kindergarten and Parents
Family Time: If you have children, take turns in deciding what to do as a family each weekend. Encourage time spent together as a family, with older children too, as you will be closer and stronger together. You will also be creating happy memories to look back on for when they are adults living their own lives, which will help them realise that bad times pass, and life can be good again. Positive experiences and happy memories will help counteract the trauma they may experience at any point in life.
Help your children to have fun, share laughter – engaged in activities/games, away from their brain-dumbing phones and computers.
How to knit for beginners: The very basics! video by Wildscapes Very basic instructions for knitting for kids by a kid!
Mind Blowing Stop Motion Artists That are at Another Level video by Quantastic
Everything I crocheted recently by the knottychef
I can highly recommend reading the article below, by Dr Bruce Perry,who is an expert on child development and trauma. The six core strengths that children need to be humane… AKA to vaccinate against violence. If every parent/school followed his advice, we would not have so many social problems as we have today. I firmly believe they should start teaching this in primary schools, ( but they won’t! ) incorporating it into all areas of study and recreation time, throughout the years. There would be less violence and crime, and individuals would show more respect for each other.
https://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/cool.htm
KEEP THE COOL IN SCHOOL Promoting Non-Violent Behavior in Children by Dr Bruce Perry
“As you watch children cross the classroom threshold at the start of a new school year, you can’t help but wonder: Will they connect with me? Will they get along with one another? Today, as children enter the “world” of school, you must consider another factor-how can I ensure the safety of all the children in my group?
School shootings and the graphic violence we all see in the media change the way adults and children view the world-from a world bright and full of promise to a dark and potentially dangerous place. Even at the tender age of 2, children may experience a bully’s threat. A toddler may imitate his favorite cartoon character and suddenly tackle a friend on the playground. Exposure to violence can change the way children feel, act, and behave-and not in positive ways.
Children are born with a remarkable range of potential. They are not born violent, nor are they naturally immune to the effects of violence. Yet some children are more resistant than others and a rare few are unaffected. During these early years, you can increase children’s ability to be responsible, caring, and creative. You might say it’s the chance of a lifetime!
A Vaccine Against Violence
Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D, a leading expert on brain development and children in crisis, has identified six core strengths that children need to be humane. A child who can form and maintain healthy emotional relationships, self-regulate, join and contribute to a group, and be aware, tolerant, and respectful of himself and others will be more resourceful, more successful in social situations, and more resilient. Studies show that when a child is violent, one or more of these core strengths did not develop normally. The child without these strengths will be in greater danger of becoming violent and also less able to cope with bullies and other verbal or physical abuse. A child who does not develop these core strengths is a vulnerable child. Significantly, though, children with these core strengths rarely become violent and, in fact, recover more quickly when exposed to violence.
To help children develop these crucial strengths, Scholastic has launched KEEP THE COOL IN SCHOOL, a company-wide campaign against violence and verbal abuse. With this campaign, we hope to offer teachers, parents, and children the tools to identify, develop, and enhance these core strengths. Promoting a child’s emotional health is the most successful approach available to fighting violence. And the payback is unparalleled: With your help, more children will grow up to be kind, thoughtful, and productive.
The following article by Dr. Perry offers an explanation of these six strengths. Over the year, Early Childhood Today will present six additional features, each focusing on one of the core strengths.
The Six Core Strengths
by Bruce D. Perry, MD, Ph.D.
Violence infects our children. This infection is virulent in some and barely noticeable in others. Why do some children re-enact the violence they see on television while others do not? Why do some chronically teased children cope by developing a sense of humor, while others become self-loathing and yet others plot to shoot their taunting peers? Why do some children who make these murderous plans actually act on them?
It’s almost impossible to answer these questions. We rarely know what makes a given child violent. But we do know that children with core strengths rarely become violent. Healthy development is an antidote to the violence they’re exposed to.
These core strengths build upon each other to contribute to a child’s emotional development. Together, they provide a strong foundation for future health, happiness, and productivity. Attachment, self-regulation, affiliation, awareness, tolerance, and respect will each be explored in depth in later issues of Early Childhood Today. Here is an overview of the six core strengths and why each is essential to healthy development.
- ATTACHMENT: Being a Friend
Attachment is the capacity to form and maintain healthy emotional bonds with another person. It is first acquired in infancy, as a child interacts with loving, responsive, and attentive parents and caregivers.
Why it’s important: This core strength is the cornerstone of all the others. An infant’s interactions with a parent or primary caregiver create his or her first relationship. Healthy attachments allow a child to love, to become a good friend, and to have a positive and useful model for future relationships. As a child grows, other consistent and nurturing adults such as teachers, family friends, and relatives will shape his ability to develop attachments. The attached child will be a better friend, student, and classmate-which promotes all forms of learning.
Signs of struggle: A child who has difficulty with this strength has a hard time making friends and trusting adults. She may show little empathy for others and act in what seems to be a remorseless way. Children unable to attach lack the emotional anchors needed to buffer the violence they see. They may isolate themselves, act out, reject a peer’s friendly overtures, or withdraw socially. With few friends, and apparently disconnected from her peers, this child is also at greater risk when exposed to violence.
- SELF-REGULATION: Thinking Before You Act
Developing and maintaining the ability to notice and control primary urges such as hunger and sleep-as well as feelings of frustration, anger, and fear-is a lifelong process. Its roots begin with the external regulation provided by parents or significant caregivers, and its healthy growth depends on a child’s experience and the maturation of the brain.
Why it’s important: Pausing a moment between an impulse and an action is a life tool. Developing this strength helps a child physiologically and emotionally. But it’s a strength that must be learned-we are not born with it. As children grow, our expectations for them must be age appropriate. For instance, it’s unreasonable to expect a 2-year-old to have complete bladder and bowel control before his body has matured. In social situations, the age-appropriate strength to self-regulate may spell a child’s success and build his self-confidence.
Signs of struggle: When a child doesn’t develop the capacity to self-regulate, he will have problems sustaining friendships, learning, and controlling his behavior. He may blurt out a thoughtless and hurtful remark and express hurt or anger with a shove or by damaging another child’s work. Just seeing a violent act may set him off or deeply upset him. Children who struggle with self-regulation are more reactive, immature, and impressionable, and more easily overwhelmed by threats and violence.
- AFFILLIATION: Joining In
The capacity to join others and contribute to a group springs from our ability to form attachments. Affiliation is the glue for healthy human functioning: It allows us to form and maintain relationships with others-and to create something stronger, more adaptive, and more creative than the individual.
Why it’s important: Human beings are social creatures. We are biologically designed to live, play, grow, and work in groups. A family is a child’s first and most important group, glued together by the strong emotional bonds of attachment. But most other groups that children join-such as a preschool class, kids in the neighborhood, friends made while traveling-are based on circumstance or common interests. It’s in these groups that children will have thousands of brief emotional, social, and cognitive experiences that can help shape their development. And it is in these situations that children make stronger connections with peers-their first friendships.
Signs of struggle: A child who is afraid or otherwise unable to affiliate may suffer a self-fulfilling prophecy: She is more likely to be excluded and may feel socially isolated. Healthy development of the core strengths of attachment and self-regulation make affiliation much easier. But a distant, disengaged or impulsive child won’t be easily welcomed into a group. And in fact, she may act in ways that lead others to tease or actively avoid her. The excluded child can take this pain and turn it on herself, becoming sad or self-loathing. Or she can direct the pain outward, becoming aggressive and even violent. Later in life, without intervention, these children are more likely to seek out other marginalized children and affiliate with them. Unfortunately, the glue that holds these groups together can be beliefs and values that are self-destructive or hateful to those who have excluded them.
- AWARENESS: Thinking of Others
Awareness is the ability to recognize the needs, interests, strengths, and values of others. Infants begin life self-absorbed and slowly develop awareness-the ability to see beyond themselves and to sense and categorize the other people in their world. At first this process is simplistic: “I am a boy and she is a girl. Her skin is brown and mine is white.” As children grow, their awareness of differences and similarities becomes more complex.
Why it’s important: The ability to be attuned, to read and respond to the needs of theirs, is an essential element of human communication. An aware child learns about the needs and complexities of others by watching, listening, and forming relationships with a variety of children. He becomes part of a group (which the core strength of affiliation allows him to do) and sees ways in which we are all alike and different. With experience, a child can learn to reject labels used to categorize people, such as skin color or the language they speak. The aware child will also be much less likely to exclude others from a group, to tease, and to act in a violent way.
Signs of struggle: A child who lacks the ability to be aware of others’ needs and values is at risk for developing prejudicial attitudes. Having formed ideas about others without knowing them, she may continue to make categorical, destructive, and stereotypical, judgments: “She speaks English with an accent, so she must be stupid” or “He’s fat, so he must be lazy.” This immature kind of thinking feeds the hateful beliefs underlying many forms of verbal and physical violence.
- TOLERANCE: Accepting Differences
Tolerance is the capacity to understand and accept how others are different from you. This core strength builds upon another-awareness (once aware, what do you do with the differences you observe?).
Why it’s important: It’s natural and human to be afraid of what’s new and different. To become tolerant, a child must first face the fear of differences. This can be a challenge because children tend to affiliate based on similarities-in age, interests, families, or cultures. But they also learn to reach out and be more sensitive to others by watching how the adults in their lives relate to one another. With positive modeling, you can insure and build on children’s tolerance. The tolerant child is more flexible and adaptive in many ways. Most important, when a child learns to accept difference in others, he becomes able to value the things that make each of us special and unique.
Signs of struggle: An intolerant child is likelier to lash out at others, tease, bully, and, if capable, will act out his intolerance in violent ways. Children who struggle with this strength help create an atmosphere of exclusion and intimidation for those people and groups they fear. This atmosphere promotes and facilitates violence.
- RESPECT: Respecting yourself and others
Appreciating your own self-worth and the value of others grows from the foundation of the preceding five strengths. An aware, tolerant child with good affiliation, attachment, and self-regulation strengths gains respect naturally. The development of respect is a lifelong process, yet its roots are in early childhood, as children learn these core strengths and integrate them into their behaviors and their worldview.
Why it’s important: Children will belong to many groups, meet many kinds of people, and will need to be able to listen, negotiate, compromise, and cooperate. Having respect enables a child to accept others and to see the value in diversity. He can see that every group needs many styles and many strengths to succeed and he can value each person in the group for her talents. When children respect-and even celebrate-diversity, they find the world to be a more interesting, complex, and safer place. Just as understanding replaces ignorance, respect replaces fear.
Signs of struggle: A child who can’t respect others is incapable of self-respect. She will be quick to find fault with others, but she can also be her own harshest critic. Too often the trait a child ridicules in others reflects something she hates in herself. The core of all violence is a lack of respect, for oneself and for others. When respect is missing, children will likely become violent-because they value nothing.
These core strengths provide a child with the framework for a life rich in family, friends, and personal growth. Our world changes daily and becomes increasingly diverse-and how much more complex that world will be when our children become parents! Teaching children these core strengths gives them a gift they will use throughout their lifetimes. They will learn to live and prosper together with people of all kinds-each bringing different strengths to create a greater whole.”
This article originally appeared in Early Childhood Today magazine.
SIDEBAR: Dr. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., is an internationally recognized authority on brain development and children in crisis. Dr. Perry leads the ChildTrauma Academy, a pioneering center providing service, research and training in the area of child maltreatment (www.ChildTrauma.org). In addition he is the Medical Director for Provincial Programs in Children’s Mental Health for Alberta, Canada. Dr. Perry served as consultant on many high-profile incidents involving traumatized children, including the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado; the Oklahoma City Bombing; and the Branch Davidian siege. His clinical research and practice focuses on traumatized children-examining the long-term effects of trauma in children, adolescents and adults. Dr. Perry’s work has been instrumental in describing how traumatic events in childhood change the biology of the brain. The author of more than 200 journal articles, book chapters, and scientific proceedings and is the recipient of a variety of professional awards.”
Dr Bruce Perry – Early Brain Development: Reducing the Effects of Trauma
Ask grans and grandads or research traditional games, hopscotch, two balls up a wall (with rhymes) skipping (great exercise), stick in the mud, rounders, chuck stones, family card games, anything new to introduce new experiences to drag children away from phones and computer games. Juggling in the house with rolled up socks is pretty safe. Make up silly rhymes/limericks to make you laugh.
Young kids could learn how to make/draw something and show their friends at school and perhaps make even more friends. They may help reduce opportunities for the bully if there is something more interesting to do, by replacing unkind behaviour with fun. Sometimes, by including the school bully (especially the younger bullies) and asking if they have skills such as drawing, they could share, as by including them, even just having conversations, it can help defuse difficult situations. They too will be better people, for engaging in positive and productive behaviour. Obviously, parents need to teach their children to be wary of overly aggressive warning signs, and avoid this type of personality.
Many activities have learning skills built in, such as improving concentration, eye to hand contact, patience, tolerance, team building, etc, you know, all the things that are destroyed by computers and obsessional use of mobiles. Unfortunately, schools today are actually detrimental to the children’s education and welfare. Too many kids do not even learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. You can think of activities which will include these in a more informal way and they are more likely to remember.
Not all children learn in the same way, sometimes visual aids can substantially help.
Even encouraging them to do chores, for example with young kids you could teach counting and colours, by asking them to bring ten useful green items they need to be washed. Use available items to assist with counting, e.g. pegs while they help with hanging out clothes.Then you could follow up by decorating a clothes peg, and could add a magnet on the back, to hold a photo/card on the fridge. Try to make most things fun, instead of a chore.
Teenagers may like to join in with making crafts with younger siblings. It can help promote better relationships between them.
Whilst engaged in fun activities with young kids use it as a great opportunity for conversations to teach social skills and critical thinking skills, as well as how to protect them from bullies and more. This will help build a great knowledge base, which may help them in many situations, throughout their lives.
Please do not forget to teach your children to be kind and tolerant of others, especially with those who are a bit different. Help them create a better world for everyone and that if they are mean to others, they will be equally mean to them. If they are friendly, they will attract like-minded people who will want to socialise with them.
STORYTIME
Please watch/listen first before showing stories or reading books to children to see if it is suitable for younger ones and it may give you some ideas about what to discuss. Encourage two-way conversation with your children, example after watching the video ‘I LIKE MYSELF’ by Karen Beaumont, ask what they do not like about themselves, to see if there is anything which needs support.
Storyberries kids books to read free online
How to catch a dinosaur,animated story#readaloud #bedtimestories #toddlers #kindergarten #storytime by Fat Cat Books English with Mike
Gingerbread Man & Pinocchio – Fairy Tales For Kids by OkiDokiDo English
How to Create Children’s Story Book (Step-by-step in 2024) by Mariana Montoya
You could encourage the child’s creativity by showing them how to make a story based on one of their, favourite characters. Depending on their skill level it could be more pictures than words. Most kids enjoy drawing and colouring, and writing which can be made fun using different coloured pencils.
https://www.sensoryintegrationeducation.com/pages/free-sensory-resources Free sensory resources, including courses.
Bubbles Therapy with Relaxing Music || Autism ADHD Sensory Therapy
10 Simple Sensory Activities by The Hidden Gem
https://craftythinking.com/auditory-sensory/
https://www.speciallearninghouse.com/activities-for-nonverbal-autistic-child/
How to Write Humorous Limericks That Work – You and Me Tutoring
https://www.rd.com/list/limericks-for-kids – Reader’s Digest
41 Inspirational Poems by Teens by Family Friend Poems
https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/you-will-never-see-me-fall
Sir Smasham Uppe by E.V. Rieu (monologues.co.uk)
Matilda poem – Hilaire Belloc (best-poems.net)
“Matilda told such dreadful lies…”
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear – Poems | Academy of American Poets“The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money…”
Perhaps you could print off this or some other poem and draw illustrations to complement the poem and add to a frame, or laminate it and hang up on wall. Alternatively you might like to encourage your childrens writing/learning/artistic skills and ask them to choose a poem, to be framed with samples of their early skills for a keepsake.
You could sit around a table and write one line of a particular short poem. Pass the paper around the family, and the next person makes up a rhyming second line, then onto the third person etc and read it out at the end. The sillier the better!
23 Funny Poems That Will Perk Up Your Day | Fun Poems for Everyone
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/637611259730710440/
17 Famous Funny Poems: Laugh with Popular Fun Poems (familyfriendpoems.com)
Roald Dahl combines the characters in the Three Little Pigs story with Little Red Riding Hood.
“The animal I really dig,
Above all others is the pig.
Pigs are noble. Pigs are clever,
Pigs are courteous. However,
Now and then, to break this rule,
One meets a pig who is a fool.
What, for example, would you say,
If strolling through the woods one day,
Right there in front of you you saw
A pig who’d built his house of STRAW?
The Wolf who saw it licked his lips,
And said, ‘That pig has had his chips….”
If By Rudyard Kipling, Famous Inspirational Poem (familyfriendpoems.com)
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!” If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
Don’t Quit
by Edgar Albert Guest
you’re trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit – rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst, you must not quit.
