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Character

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Character

This month’s topic is Character which is one of the seven topics that we will be looking at.

Every family has its own idea of what constitutes good character. Whatever that may be, children need a fundamental sense of right and wrong to ensure they are prepared to contribute to the world and become stable adults. This is character. It helps children become comfortable with sticking to their own values and demonstrating a caring attitude toward others.

We can support our children and young people to do this by:

• Talk to your children about how their behaviours affect other people in good and bad ways.

• Encourage children to consider right versus wrong when making choices. Help them look beyond immediate satisfaction or selfish desires.

• When you make decisions or take actions, express out loud how you think about others’ needs.

• Work with children to clarify and express their own values.

• Be a role model. Your actions speak louder than your words.

• Regularly pointing out our children’s acts of kindness and the kindness of others reinforces the gratitude we all feel when we see good character in action.

Thanks to https://optionb.org and https://www.shantigeneration.com and https://parentandteen.com

Contribution

Competence Confidence

Control Connection

Coping

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ACTIVITY PACK CONTENTS

• 5 and under Activities Good Character colouring sheets The Storytime Family Crafts

• Ages 6-10 Activities

Responsibility worksheet Good character word search Crafts

• Ages 11-17 Activities

What do we appreciate about people? Character trait cube Crafts

• Parent and Carer Activities

Six-minute meditation Untangle podcasts Family quiz night

• Support Links

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AGES 0-5 ACTIVITIES Worksheets Good Character colouring sheets

Colour in the sheets with the words of different characteristics and think about what they mean.

Online Resource Join Sesame Street to learn about the character trait of respect.

The word on the street this week is respect: treating people the way you want to be treated. Everyone understands the importance of respect, little kids, Superman, a bunch of chickens! Watch this video to hear what other people think about respect, and please, be respectful while watching the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOzrAK4gOSo

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AGES 6-10 ACTVITIES Worksheets Responsibility Worksheet – A worksheet that helps you to think about what is responsibility and what is means to you. Good Character Word search – Find the words that describe good character hidden in the word search.

Online resource Build Your Tree - Learn about your character traits | Self-esteem for kids

Educational video for kids to learn how to get to know themselves. They will identify both their positive and negative traits, learn how others see them and how they see themselves when they look inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDrG89lGYzo

Rocket Kids- What is Character?

Join Vivian from Rocket Kids to explore Character, and learn more about what character traits really are and what they can mean for you.

https://youtu.be/f4TnDma78Oo

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AGES 11-17 ACTIVITIES Worksheets What do we appreciate about people? – Tick the qualities that you appreciate in others and rate how important each trait is.

Character Trait Cube – Use the template for a cube, put the trait in the middle then write an ‘I Will……. statement on each side of the cube. Decorate and make cubes.

Online Resources A few Ted X Talks on what makes us different and lessons on self-confidence. Take some time if you want to listen to some different ted talks that support building character.

We Are All Different - and THAT'S AWESOME! Cole Blakeway | TEDxWestVancouverED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQuM5e0QGLg

What is it that makes you different? What makes you jump out of bed? Cole Blakeway, a messy 10yr old teaches us the value of celebrating differences as he describes his beautiful friendship with Steven, a 44-year-old man who is a close family friend with Autism.

Respecting the differences between people Mariana Chartier | TEDxYouth@BSCR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qtpmi4yzSs Mariana Chartier shares with us her experience in searching for respect and the values she has learnt, even if it is only at 9 years of age. Mariana is a 9-year-old girl that has always been passionate about defending her ideas. Since little, she thought that everyone deserves to be treated the same.

Lessons on self-confidence from a teenager Reece Doppenberg | TEDxYouth@Langley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ05M1UhPrY

Reece uses his personal experience from his life in early high school to describe his rapid change from being self-conscious and having low self-esteem to becoming a self-confident teenager. He outlines the steps in which he used to make that change and encourages others to learn from his

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PARENTS/CARERS ACTIVITIES

Below are some things that you might enjoy, if you can make some time for yourself. ACTIVITIES Mental Health Foundation- Stress and the Mind A short 6-minute meditation if you need a moment to ground yourself.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/podcasts-and-videos/stress-and-mind-quick-fix-relaxation-exercise

ONLINE RESOURCES This month’s podcast to explore is: Untangle Various podcasts that you may enjoy to take your mind off the moment. https://meditationstudioapp.com/untangle/ Welcome to Untangle! Hosts Patricia Karpas and Ariel Garten interview authors, experts and thought-leaders in areas related to mindfulness, brain health practices, leadership, life and so much more! You’ll hear from psychologists, neuroscientists, nutritionists, storytellers, buddhists, MD’s, Sleep experts etc. It’s a wide collection of interviews with thoughtful, provocative, inspirational and sometimes funny guests who share their true and heartfelt experiences.

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FAMILY ACTIVITY

Quiz Night Hold a fun family quiz night at home. You can find lots of online quizzes on You Tube and we have put some links below as an example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BUU2wTF7ro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVwZoevutEY

If you have enough people in your family, you can split into teams and give yourself a team name or just play as one team together versus the quiz master online.

Get some snacks to enjoy and some little prizes in too if you want to make it even more of a competition.

Happy Quizzing!

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SUPPORT LINKS-PARENTS AND CARERS

• Family Lives: Parenting and family support. https://www.familylives.org.uk/

• Place To Be: Guide to helping parents answer questions from their children and to support family wellbeing https://www.place2be.org.uk

• Young Mind Parents Helpline: Call our free helpline for confidential, expert advice for anyone worried about a child or young person https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-helpline/

• Samaritans: 24-hour emotional support for anyone who needs to talk. https://www.samaritans.org/ jo@samaritans.org. 116 123

• Haringey MIND: Local support and information on Haringey Mind, The Mental Health Charity http://www.mindinharingey.org.uk/

• MIND coronavirus and your wellbeing: various information for you and your family on ways to cope and talk about the virus with children https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/

• Talking about corona virus- https://youngminds.org.uk/starting-a-conversation-with-your-child/activities-and-conversation-starters-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

• Mental Health Organisation: Isolation and abusive relationships https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/abusive-relationships

• 24hr National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247

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• Solace Women’s Aid- Haringey: support for women in abusive or harmful

relationships https://www.solacewomensaid.org/contact-us 0808 802 5565 advice@solacewomensaid.org

• NIA ending violence: Nia has been delivering services for women, girls and children who have experienced sexual and domestic violence since 1975 Helpline: 020 7683 1270 info@niaendingviolence.org.uk

• NIA Useful links: Nia is run for women and children by women, providing services developed in consultation with women who have experienced men’s violence. Useful links for support advice and information https://niaendingviolence.org.uk/get-help/useful-links/

• Women’s Aid: Chat to other women on the Survivors Forum

https://survivorsforum.womensaid.org.uk/

• Drinkline: Advice to those worried about their own, or a loved one's, alcohol use. Contact their free helpline on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am – 8pm, weekends 11am – 4pm).

• Online safety awareness information: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

• Reachout.com: https://parents.au.reachout.com/skills-to-build/wellbeing/coping-skills-resilience-and-teenagers

SUPPORT LINKS- CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

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1. The Mix: If you're under 25 you can talk to The Mix for free on the phone, by email or on their webchat. You can also use their phone counselling service, or get more information on support services you might need. https://www.themix.org.uk/

2. CAMHS Taking Care of Myself: Information from CAMHS around self-care and looking after your mental health. https://camhs.cnwl.nhs.uk/young-people-adolescents/mental-health-tips-coping-strategies/

3. Young Minds: Information and support around mental health https://youngminds.org.uk/

4. Childline: Get help and advice about a wide range of issues, call us on 0800 1111, talk to a counsellor online, send Childline an email or post on the message boards. www.childline.org.uk

5. NACOA: Support, advice and information for children of parents who drink/drank. https://www.nacoa.org.uk/ The Nacoa helpline will be open throughout the closure period: 2-7pm via phone 0800 358 3456 and 12-9pm via email helpline@nacoa.org.uk

See Adfam’s top tips for more information here: https://adfam.org.uk/our-work/news-and-events/news/959