Get em' Talking
In this time of school closures and social distancing, when your children can’t play with their friends, it’s only natural for our kids to sense and feel uneasy. As daily life looks less and less familiar, their world may feel chaotic and unpredictable.
It’s up to us, the parents, to start conversations with our kids, to ask them what they’ve heard about the virus, correct misinformation, and answer their questions.
Rebecca Schrag Hershberg PhD. in an article, “Parenting During Covid-19” in Psychology Today, points out that kids can work things out with dolls and costumes.
Have you ever looked up at the clouds with wonder? Wondering if they have personalities of their own? Rain or shine, happy or sad, the clouds in our play "Among the Clouds" do a good job of expressing their feelings.
Watch “Among the Clouds” and download our "Among the Clouds" costume kit and play along with your children. Come up with your own story. It's a good opportunity for parents to role play with our paper dolls and costumes to talk about your child's feelings. Are they feeling happy like Happy Cloud, or sad like Rain Cloud or even angry like Storm Cloud? Through role-play, little ones can be mad at the virus for canceling their school trip or their baseball games. Which cloud does your child relate to?
Just have fun while helping them to express their feelings.
You could also ask questions.
- What character do you relate to right now and why?
* Validate their feelings, “It stinks they canceled your school trip or you can’t have a sleepover.” - Who was your favorite character and why?
* Emphasize looking on the bright side, your family is doing its part by helping to stop the virus, washing hands and working together like superheroes spreading health and safety around the world. - Do you think Angry Cloud was a good friend when he was angry?
* Talk to your child about calming strategies like exercise, and discuss what friendship and community are all about.
Download the “Among the Clouds” costume kit for your Paper People Play paper dolls here and join us on our Facebook page and watch the replay, "Among the Clouds" live on Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 EST.
Always remember that with every storm a rainbow follows. As we look forward to our skies clearing, let’s use our time to grow and become better!
Paper People Play is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
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