Chapter 2

Self

These pages are all about you: trying hard things, big feelings, and how you learn best.

10 activities inside

Before you start: Tell a grown-up about a time something was hard and you kept going.

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Self · Agency 10 min · crayons ★☆☆

I can do it myself

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Read aloud Color every job you can do all by yourself. Then draw one more job you can do.

Color the jobs you can do alone.
Draw one more job.

Color the jobs I can do myself

brush teeth

put on shoes

pack my bag

pour milk

make my bed

put on coat

Draw a new job I can do

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Doing things alone builds a “can-do” feeling, one small job at a time.

Which job are you proudest of?
Which job do you want to learn next?

Extend it: Pick one job your child can’t do alone yet. Practice it together this week.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Agency 15 min · pencil, crayons ★☆☆

My plan

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Read aloud Plan how to make your bed. What do you do first, next and last? Draw each step in a box.

Draw each step in order.

1. First

2. Next

3. Last

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Planning is breaking a job into steps, so children can start on their own.

What if you did the last step first?
Can you follow your plan tomorrow?

Extend it: Make the bed using the plan. Then draw a plan for packing a bag.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Determination 15 min · pencil ★★☆

Keep going!

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Read aloud Help the rabbit reach the carrot in each maze. Hit a dead end? Go back and try another way!

Draw a line from the rabbit to the carrot.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Dead ends are part of mazes and of learning. Trying again is determination.

What did you do when you got stuck?
Was the last maze easier than the first? Why?

Extend it: Draw a simple maze for your child, then let them draw one for you.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Determination 15 min · pencil, blocks or cups ★★☆

Try, try again

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Read aloud Build a tower as tall as you can. Count the blocks and write the number. Then try again. Can you build it taller?

Build a tower and count the blocks.
Write the number and color the box.
Try again, five times!

Try 1: ____ blocks

Try 2: ____ blocks

Try 3: ____ blocks

Try 4: ____ blocks

Try 5: ____ blocks

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Trying again after a fall shows effort pays off. Praise the trying.

What did you change to build it taller?
How did you feel when it fell?

Extend it: Try the same challenge next week and see if the numbers grow.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Learning how to learn 10 min · crayons ★☆☆

How I learn

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Read aloud Think of something you learned, like riding a bike or drawing. How did you learn it? Color every way you used.

Think of something you learned.
Color each way you used.

Color the ways I learned

watch

try it

ask a grown-up

practice

read

with a friend

Draw what you learned

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Knowing how you learn best helps you learn the next thing faster.

Which way helped you the most?
What do you want to learn next?

Extend it: Learn a new card game together. Did you watch, ask, or just try?

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Learning how to learn 10 min · pencil, crayons ★☆☆

Then and now

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Read aloud When you were a baby, you couldn’t walk or talk. Look how much you have learned! Draw a then and a now.

Draw something baby you couldn’t do.
Draw yourself doing it now!

Baby me couldn’t…

Now I can…

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Seeing how far they have come shows children that learning works.

What else can you do now that baby you couldn’t?
What will you learn next year?

Extend it: Look at baby photos together and talk about what your child has learned since.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Resilience 15 min · pencil, crayons ★☆☆

My tower fell down

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Read aloud Oh no, your block tower fell down! Draw what happened, how you feel, and what you will try next.

Draw a picture in each box.

1. Oh no! It fell.

2. How I feel

3. What I try next

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Naming the feeling, then picking a next step, is how resilience grows.

What helps you feel better?
What would you try differently?

Extend it: Next time something tumbles, ask: “How do you feel? What will we try next?”

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Resilience 10 min · pencil ★☆☆

Big feelings

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Read aloud Listen to each little story. How would you feel? Draw your face in the big circle, or circle a face.

Listen to each story.
Draw or circle how you would feel.

Your favorite toy breaks.

Your friend can’t come to play.

You drop your ice cream.

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: All feelings are OK. Naming them is the first step to bouncing back.

What could you do to feel better?
Has that ever happened to you?

Extend it: When your child has a big feeling this week, help them name it, then ask what helps.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Deep attention 15 min · pencil, crayons ★★☆

Count carefully

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Read aloud The garden is busy! Count the birds, bees and butterflies slowly. Color one square for each one.

Count each kind slowly.
Color one square for each one.
Circle the one there is most of.

Which is there the most of?

87654321

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Counting a busy picture means slowing down and keeping track.

How did you keep track?
Did you count any twice? How could you check?

Extend it: Tip: touch or tick each one as you count. Then count red cars on a walk.

I felt: (color one)

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Self · Deep attention 10 min · pencil ★☆☆

Finish the pattern

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Read aloud Each row has a pattern. Say it out loud: sun, moon, sun, moon… Then draw what comes next in the empty box.

Say each pattern out loud.
Draw what comes next.

1

?

2

?

3

?

Grown-up corner

Why it matters: Spotting patterns helps children predict what comes next.

How did you know what comes next?
Can you make up a pattern of your own?

Extend it: Make a pattern with claps and stomps for your child to carry on.

I felt: (color one)

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