How to encourage and teach positive thoughts and thinking to children
British Columbia has a wonderful organization called 'Friends for Life' program which has wonderful resources for parents, students and teachers. They have a suggetion called 'Red thoughts, Green Thoughts'. It's all about changing your thinking and turning negative thoughts (red thoughts) into positive affirmations (green thoughts). They explain Red thoughts and Green thoughts as follows:
" Red thoughts STOP us from feeling good, or doing important things. Everyone has red (unhelpful, discouraging, unrealistic) thoughts sometimes, and that's okay. But red thoughts can make us feel sad, worried, and sometimes more upset than we need to feel. Just because these red thoughts pop into our heads doesn't mean we have to believe them. We can actually learn to challenge red thoughts.
Examples of Red Thoughts "I'm not good at anything", "Everyone will laugh or think I'm weird", "Nobody likes me"
Green thoughts make us GO. They are positive, helpful thoughts we can tell ourselves to feel better. These thoughts help us cope and feel more optimistic. However, it is important that green thoughts are also realistic. For example, "I'm the worst on the team" should not just be turned into "I'm the best player". Rather, some more realistic alternatives might be: "I'm getting better the more I practice. I'm good at lots of other things - I don't have to be the best at everything, that's impossible". Green thoughts are not about lying to ourselves, but rather they help us to think about things in a more helpful, balanced way. They may not make us feel good, but they can often help us feel better.
Examples of Green Thoughts "I'm not perfect, but no one is"... "I tried hard and that's what really matters"... "I did well on my last test"... "My teacher and parents care about me, I can go to them for help if I need to" "
They have ample resources and suggestions available. Please find their link here!
Ideas/Lessons for red thoughts/green thoughts
" Red thoughts STOP us from feeling good, or doing important things. Everyone has red (unhelpful, discouraging, unrealistic) thoughts sometimes, and that's okay. But red thoughts can make us feel sad, worried, and sometimes more upset than we need to feel. Just because these red thoughts pop into our heads doesn't mean we have to believe them. We can actually learn to challenge red thoughts.
Examples of Red Thoughts "I'm not good at anything", "Everyone will laugh or think I'm weird", "Nobody likes me"
Green thoughts make us GO. They are positive, helpful thoughts we can tell ourselves to feel better. These thoughts help us cope and feel more optimistic. However, it is important that green thoughts are also realistic. For example, "I'm the worst on the team" should not just be turned into "I'm the best player". Rather, some more realistic alternatives might be: "I'm getting better the more I practice. I'm good at lots of other things - I don't have to be the best at everything, that's impossible". Green thoughts are not about lying to ourselves, but rather they help us to think about things in a more helpful, balanced way. They may not make us feel good, but they can often help us feel better.
Examples of Green Thoughts "I'm not perfect, but no one is"... "I tried hard and that's what really matters"... "I did well on my last test"... "My teacher and parents care about me, I can go to them for help if I need to" "
They have ample resources and suggestions available. Please find their link here!
Ideas/Lessons for red thoughts/green thoughts
Lesson Ideas:
1. Give students example Red Thoughts ( Have students create their own Red thoughts based on their current feelings/experiences) and have them turn that Red thought into a Green one (Keeping in mind that Red thoughts are not wrong, they just need to be re-worded to become a more helpful Green Thought.)
2. Blow up red balloons and every time a red thought is solved and replaced with a green thought, students can pop the balloons around the room.
3. Have a green ball and have students 'throw around' green thoughts and positive affirmations.
4. Give out green thoughts to others! Read 'How Full is Your Bucket?" and teach now to give and receive green thoughts to encourage self esteem and positive thoughts. Use green paper and create a bulletin board with a bucket on it, put up your classes green thoughts and encourage them to add more!
5. One student wears a red hat and expresses an example red thought, another student wears a green hat and approaches them with a positive green thought to replace their red thought. Have students take turns wearing each hat and trade partners to encourage your class to interact with all of their classmates.
6. Have your star of the day stand at the front and give each student a piece of green paper. Have each child write a green thought to the star of the day. Once complete, read them out and make it into a book to send home with the star of the day to share with their family!
7. Use a green duster and brush away red thoughts throughout the day, and listen for students who express green thoughts throughout the day. When they express a green thought they get dusted and complimented (a silly game that kids LOVE)
8. Set up a green thought centre for students to rotate through with green toys and things for them to play with. You could set up a puppet area where they can role play red thoughts/green thoughts!
9. Greet each student with a green thought at the beginning of each day or send one with them at the end of the day.
10. Have class meetings and start with sharing green thoughts with others by sharing compliments. This will help teach problem solving and positive thoughts, encourage your class by encouraging fairness and being able to solve problems together.
11. Use multi-coloured balls as a way of expressing feelings. Read Dr. Seuss "My Many Coloured Days", toss the ball and where the child's thumb lands, the child acts out an emotion that falls under that colour. Students guess which emotion/colour they think it is. The child then tosses the ball.
1. Give students example Red Thoughts ( Have students create their own Red thoughts based on their current feelings/experiences) and have them turn that Red thought into a Green one (Keeping in mind that Red thoughts are not wrong, they just need to be re-worded to become a more helpful Green Thought.)
2. Blow up red balloons and every time a red thought is solved and replaced with a green thought, students can pop the balloons around the room.
3. Have a green ball and have students 'throw around' green thoughts and positive affirmations.
4. Give out green thoughts to others! Read 'How Full is Your Bucket?" and teach now to give and receive green thoughts to encourage self esteem and positive thoughts. Use green paper and create a bulletin board with a bucket on it, put up your classes green thoughts and encourage them to add more!
5. One student wears a red hat and expresses an example red thought, another student wears a green hat and approaches them with a positive green thought to replace their red thought. Have students take turns wearing each hat and trade partners to encourage your class to interact with all of their classmates.
6. Have your star of the day stand at the front and give each student a piece of green paper. Have each child write a green thought to the star of the day. Once complete, read them out and make it into a book to send home with the star of the day to share with their family!
7. Use a green duster and brush away red thoughts throughout the day, and listen for students who express green thoughts throughout the day. When they express a green thought they get dusted and complimented (a silly game that kids LOVE)
8. Set up a green thought centre for students to rotate through with green toys and things for them to play with. You could set up a puppet area where they can role play red thoughts/green thoughts!
9. Greet each student with a green thought at the beginning of each day or send one with them at the end of the day.
10. Have class meetings and start with sharing green thoughts with others by sharing compliments. This will help teach problem solving and positive thoughts, encourage your class by encouraging fairness and being able to solve problems together.
11. Use multi-coloured balls as a way of expressing feelings. Read Dr. Seuss "My Many Coloured Days", toss the ball and where the child's thumb lands, the child acts out an emotion that falls under that colour. Students guess which emotion/colour they think it is. The child then tosses the ball.
Resources ~ Lesson Plan Ideas ~
Anxiety B.C. has produced many handouts and resources to encourage positive thoughts and feelings. They have several wonderful resources to look through but the ones I have chosen to highlight are Healthy Thinking and Realistic Thinking. Their website is a great resources for Educators and Parents alike, and all of the handouts are available for download from their webpage.
http://www.anxietybc.com/
http://www.anxietybc.com/
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BC Children's and Women's hospital has some amazing resources as well. One that stands out for positive thinking for children is called Mighty Moe. Please see the document below, it is available for download from their webpage and they provide many, many helpful classroom lessons and lesson plans.