Creating "Let's Share!"
As a pediatric practitioner, I find building trust with a child is the most important thing. Some kids love the attention and immediately answer my questions and elaborate as much as our time allows. While others struggle since they are more introverted. But the biggest challenge is with the kids that are not in tune with their own emotions, as they are so used to bottling up and hiding them even from themselves. Over the years I have helped children feel comfortable with how they feel and help them communicate better with their parents. Most of the “homework” I gave was actually for the parents to implement with this child. At some point I decided I should produce a game that would be suitable for every home, a gift for every family - the gift of communicating - both internally with our emotions and externally with our family and friends
We have seen families play with "Let's Share!" in different ways and we encourage this creativity. Some kiddos like watching the characters and making up their own situations, and they still get to learn from others by observing them play. Some parents discover that sharing is more challenging than they thought - but lovingly accept this challenge!
What do we do with the "Feelable" (fillable) cards?
The Inspiration Behind
"Let's Share!"
Traditional Listening circles are a great way to create a safe space for sharing as the “rules” are: speak at your turn, no criticizing, listen from the heart, speak from the heart. Some kids are shy or hesitant to participate at the beginning, by allowing them to sit in the “circle” and listen to others, they can observe and absorb and “jump in” when they feel ready.
Monkey see monkey do: often we realize that our kids are mirroring what they see at home. We all wish our children were a better version of us, isn’t that right? What better way to do that than to be a better version of ourselves? Even if you are an introvert yourself, the way to help your kiddo open up is to demonstrate the behavior you wish for them to have. Which means that by helping your child, you are actually using “Let’s Share” to allow your own E-motions monsters to shine!
List of some E-motions
Angry, upset, competitive, excited, happy, stressed, sad, embarrassed, thankful, empathetic, loved, scared, shy, resentful, mellow, adventurous, worried, timid, impatient, guilty, love, lost, mad, nervous, rejected, bitter, jealous, overwhelmed, hurt, failure, vulnerable, needy, indecisive, motivated, taken for granted, proud, unworthy, relaxed, worried, confident, insecure, strong will-power