Does your child gravitate towards open-ended toys? These are toys which can be used in multiple ways dependent on your child’s imagination - like LEGO® bricks for example. This nurtures their creativity and developing skills. Today I will share five amazing open ended toys. I did cover this subject last year on my podcast but since it’s holiday time, I wanted to share a few more with you. These can be a good addition to your house, therapy room or counseling office. These are all toys that I gravitate towards and the ones I always want by my side during therapy sessions. Take a listen to learn how they can benefit the kids in your life!

Five More Amazing Open-Ended Toys

Calm and Connected is created by Janine Halloran, an experienced counselor and mom. Janine gives quick tips and helpful information about coping skills and play

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

Kids & Family

How do we teach our children social and emotional awareness in a fun and play filled way? Eventually our children will become adults so when they walk out into the world, we want them to step into their lives as aware and in control of their emotions as possible. 

In this episode we discuss:

The resources Yara has put together to support social and emotional learning

The importance of playing and therefore learning how to self regulate 

Crafts which help engage children in social awareness

How kids cope with anger and the tools to help them while learning this emotion

Different discipline options during transitional points 

How to manage your own emotions as a parent 

Communication points in your child's day so you can check in

How Yara relaxes

About The Guest - Yara Habanbou

Yara Habanbou has experience in the field of education, and is deeply passionate about nurturing social-emotional skills in children, helping them grow not only as students but as kind, compassionate, and resilient individuals. She is the creator of seaofknowledge.org, where she shares tons of printables, ideas and activities to nurture kids' social skills as well as their academic skills.

Website www.seaofknowledge.org

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolineM 

Instagram @seaofknowledgeyara

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Resources mentioned in the podcast episode:

Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan

The Power of Play - learning what comes naturally by David Elkind

Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life

Play=Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children’s Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth Edited by Dorothy G. Singer, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek

Calm and Connected Ep 154: Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens
https://www.janinehalloran.com/podcast/calm-and-connected-episode-154



About The Host - Janine Halloran

Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play! 

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:
https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

If you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids


Connect with Janine on Social Media 
Instagram: @copingskillsforkids 
Facebook: facebook.com/copingskillsforkids and facebook.com/encourageplay
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JanineHalloranEncouragePlay

Practicing SEL through Play: An Interview with Yara Habanbou from Sea of Knowledge

Building a strong connection with our children is really important and taking the time to invest in our relationships with them at each stage of childhood and into the teenage years. Today Janine considers the opportunities we create for them to share what they like and what you enjoy also in day to day life. How can we connect with our kids well so that when they face challenges or difficulties they feel like they can come speak with you, the parent? 

In this episode we discuss strategies for connecting well including:
Word Games you can play together like ‘Would You Rather?’
Playing board games together 
Playing video games together 
Cooking and baking together
Arts and crafts
An activity jar 
Geocaching 
Connecting through reading the same books your child reads/shows they watch
Asking for youtube creator recommendations 
Sharing music together



And remember, do not forget about yourself, take a few minutes for you and have a little fun!
—
About The Host - Janine Halloran
Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play!

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:
https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

If you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids

Connect with Janine on Social Media
Instagram: @copingskillsforkids
Facebook: facebook.com/copingskillsforkids and facebook.com/encourageplay
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JanineHalloranEncouragePlay

Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens

Have you noticed social skills missing in your kids? Caroline Maguire, author of Why Will No One Play With Me?, joins me to discuss how to support your child and build them up through play. 

Here’s some of the areas we cover:

The importance of play

How to play with your kids in a role play situation

The power of storytelling to explain social situations 

Debriefing with your kids and working on your bond together

Finding the organic moments to talk to your kids

Supporting them through childhood playdates to teenage hangouts

Figuring out their baseline and strengths 

Using their interests to encourage and build them up

This is a clip from a live webinar. 

If you’d like to hear the whole interview, 

please join the Hub!

About The Guest - Caroline maguire

Caroline Maguire, is the founder of a revolutionary social emotional learning methodology that helps teach social skills to children, teenagers, and young adults. She holds a holds a Masters in Education degree with a concentration in SEL training and is the founder and director of The Fundamentals of ADHD Coaching for Families training curriculum at ADD Coach Academy (ADDCA). She is a former coach for the Hallowell Center in Sudbury, Massachusetts. She is the author of Why Will No One Play With Me?, the winner of the Best Parenting and Family Book 2020 as awarded by American Book Fest and co-collaborator on newly released HowToSel.com – a daily social emotional learning platform anyone can incorporate into daily life.

Why Will No One Play With Me? The Play Better Plan To Help Children of All Ages Makes Friends and Thrive by Caroline Maguire, PCC, M.Ed.

www.carolinemaguireauthor.com 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolineM 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/authorcarolinecm/

Twitter https://twitter.com/AuthorCarolineM 

Pinterest https://www.instagram.com/authorcarolinecm/ 

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorcarolinecm/  

About The Host - Janine Halloran

Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play! 

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:
https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

If you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids


Connect with Janine on Social Media 
Instagram: @copingskillsforkids 
Facebook: facebook.com/copingskillsforkids and facebook.com/encourageplay
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JanineHalloranEncouragePlay

Helping Kids with Social Skills and Friendships: An interview with Caroline Maguire

Has your child hit their teenage years and puberty has started? Have you noticed their emotions are changing? What about their most extreme emotions? Do you find that your teenager can feel really angry at times?

In today’s episode, Janine unpacks some strategies to help you as parents support your teenager and how to develop that connection between yourself as the parent and them. 

Here’s what Janine discusses in today’s episode:
Connection being key and your teen feeling heard 
How to notice emotions in their body
Breathing exercises
Making paper airplanes
Squeezing dough or slime
Cool compress on your neck
Drinking cold water to regulate body temperature
Talking through what you can and can’t control
Channeling energy into positive action
Making a plan for your child


Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

Coping Skills Community Hub

https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

And remember, do not forget about yourself, take a few minutes for you and have a little fun!
—
About The Host - Janine Halloran
Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play!

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:
https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

If you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids

Connect with Janine on Social Media
Instagram: @copingskillsforkids
Facebook: facebook.com/copingskillsforkids and facebook.com/encourageplay
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JanineHalloranEncouragePlay

Coping Skills for Teens Who Are Angry

OCD can manifest itself in different ways with different obsessions and focus that are going on in your life. Children’s author, Marin Canaday describes OCD feeling like a monster devouring your emotions and feelings, where you could get to the point where you feel out of control and you begin to believe the lies the OCD obsessions tell you about yourself. 

Marin joins me today in this episode and we discuss some of the following areas: 

Marin discusses how the idea for her book, My Little Monster came about

Doubting yourself and OCD

Contamination and germs and OCD

Religion and OCD

Harm and OCD 

Hiding symptoms and coping strategies

Getting diagnosed

How Marin likes to rest and relax

About The Guest - Marin Canaday

Marin grew up with OCD from an early age, although she was not sure what it was that she struggled with until her 30's. A lot of her struggle was internal. As a child, she found that studying and sports helped take my mind off of the OCD thought patterns. When she studied or played a sport, she felt like she had a brain break, so she threw herself into both with vigor. Her study habits paid off, and Marin graduated in the top of her classes in both high school and college. She also went on to play collegiate volleyball, earning All American honors in her senior year. 

Her struggle with OCD really became more evident externally when she reached adulthood. Without studying or sports to hide in any longer, she came face to face with her anxiety disorder. She couldn't eat, sleep, or function in day-to-day tasks. Marin’s struggles with her thoughts were all that she could fight all day and night. It was grueling.

Today, with therapy and medication to help, she is much healthier and confident. Marin writes in her free time to inspire others who may be struggling with anxiety as well. She is the the author of two books, My Little Monster and The Very Best Me. Her OCD still whispers to her and at times begins to shout. She finds relief in gardening, crafting, reading, and writing.

Website - www.mylittleocdmonster.com

Facebook - My Little OCD Monster https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090423289366

Resources mentioned: 
Marin has two books, My Little Monster and The Very Best Me.

Dr. Dawn Huebner - https://www.dawnhuebnerphd.com/

Natasha Daniels - https://www.anxioustoddlers.com/

When a Family Member has OCD by John Hershfield, MFT. 

About The Host - Janine Halloran

Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play! 

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:
https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

If you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids


Connect with Janine on Social Media 
Instagram: @copingskillsforkids 
Facebook: facebook.com/copingskillsforkids and facebook.com/encourageplay
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JanineHalloranEncouragePlay

Five More Amazing Open-Ended Toys

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