Happiness is...

Book Review: Happiness Is...
By Marcus Pfister

I have a love-hate relationship with kites, so this book threw me off a little. But you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, right!? So I didn't! I shoved it in the bottom of my double stroller at the library, hoping to fall in love with it when I got home. And I did!

I am a big advocate of talking about feelings and I probably annoy my husband, family and friends to death but I'd rather be mindful of things and feelings than let them go un-noticed. It's especially important for children to feel comfortable speaking up about what makes them happy, sad, frustrated, scared, etc. I am always looking for books to aid in teachable moments. 

Happiness is often a state that we don't discuss. We are usually drawn to talking about negative feelings like being scared, frustrated or sad. I love this book because it depicts two cute animal  characters discussing what happiness is, "Happiness is the most important thing of all", one mouse says to the other. And she's right! It's proven that if a child/person/adult isn't happy, they can't learn new information. Isn't that crazy to think about!? Our brains need to be in a happy and in a safe state in order to learn new information and acquire new skills. 

Back to the book, the two characters take turns listing what makes them happy. From sunbeams to jumping in puddles. Marcus Pfister gives great examples of how happiness can be the simplest of things. So start talking to your Little Busy Bees about what makes them happy and how to keep those feelings around during most of their day.   

Make your list and tell me, what makes you happy?

Buy Happiness is...by clicking here

Friendly Day

Book Review: Friendly Day

By Mij Kelly & Charles Fuge

As a special education teacher and new mom of two, I think everyday should be friendly day. However, I guess that it's the type of person I am, hence the desire to be a teacher and a mom. I want every day to be friendly day. This book reminds us that being friendly makes other want to be around us. The more friends we have, the more happy moments and memories we can create. As a new mom, I want everyone to be nice to my children especially when we venture out into this crazy big world. This is a great book to use in a lesson on being friendly and to remind us that happiness is easy to achieve. The adorable animal illustrations help the young reader/listener visualize what acts of kindness look like.

Make everyday friendly day here!

When You Are HAPPY

Book Review: When You Are HAPPY
By Eileen Spinelli

I'm a big believer in the importance of raising happy children. I think it is necessary to talk to children about happiness and other feelings they have. As I recently became a mother of 2 I try to think of as many appropriate weekly activities to keep all of us entertained, learning and happy. We recently took our first library trip and found this gem. With amazing illustrations and array of vocabulary that I wouldn't necessarily use on a daily basis, its a pleasure to read.  From happiness to feeling grumpy, the mother depicted in the illustrations narrates to her child what she would do depending on how her little Busy Bee felt.

Buy it here!  

Do you even know what a bucket is?

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

A guide to Daily Happiness for Kids

By Carol McCloud & Illustrated by David Messing

What an amazing book and idea about filling people's buckets. I first discovered this book while searching through pinterest and discovered that a teacher basis her entire yearly curriculum on bucket filling. As a SEIT I only get to work in different classrooms a few hours a week, so no full year curriculum planning for me. But as soon as I read the book I wanted to share it with all the professionals that I work with. Carol McCloud thinks of such a creative but simple way to express how we can all be a little nicer and not be "bucket stealers". If everyone believed in the imaginary buckets this earth and the people on it would be much happier. Please if you are a parent, teacher, friend of a friend who has children, buy this book and give it out for this years holidays. I know I will. And if you're a freind of mine, guess what you're getting this year.

Read more about filling buckets and buying bucket books here! 

10 Mindful Minutes

It's so simple...Children learn more when they enjoy experiences {PERIOD}. 

I'm a little confused as to why I haven't heard about this book from anyone else. I was perusing a local book store and stumbled upon this little gift.  Quite the eye opener. Yes, you might think "Oh Jeeze, A book by Goldie Hawn, are you serious BUSY BEE?" 
Well, yes I am serious. Read it and then you'll see why. 

This book has not only given me a new perspective on teaching children in a positive way to encourage them to want to control their behavior through fun activities, while also giving examples of strategies to keep them calm and appreciate the world around them when things can get a little, lets say, busybusybusy. Children often don't look back on recent experiences and think of how they could have handled situations a little better or even to just be thankful. Well, I think that's an important piece about life that we don't teach children. Be thankful and enjoy the time you have now and look to how you can better yourself and the world around you.  

Throughout the book Goldie {And yes, now that I know more about her personal life I feel that we are friends therefore can talk about her on a first name basis} gives personal examples of how these strategies have helped her family learn through happy and positive experiences. Along with Goldie's insights are blurbs from active users of the MindUP program with statistics that shows how enhancement of the learning process works happily for children. 

It's so simple...Children learn more if they are happy. This book gives parents, teachers and caregivers the exact tools and modeled language to use when communicating with children about their brains. It gives you lists of activities to do with children to have them be mindful about their senses and how to control them. 

To read more about Goldie Hawn's Book or Foundation click here