New Time-In Toolkit Makes It Safe For Kids To Feel
St. Louis, Missouri (PRWEB) August 18, 2017 -- “Emotions are sacred, valid, honored, encouraged. This is the memo we are sending, ” says Suzanne Tucker, Founder of St. Louis-based positive education company Generation Mindful. To help change the mindset of parents and educators from punitive to positive in the way they help children learn social and emotional skills, she created the Time-In Toolkit, which launched on Kickstarter 3 weeks ago and fully funded in less than 48 hours. The campaign has raised over $24,000 and will run until August 25th.
The kit uses colorful, engaging and educational illustrations and games to help adults teach children how to name, express, and regulate their emotions and behaviors. Posters that read “How Am I Feeling?” invite children to name and express their emotions. Calming cards and coloring pages with statements like “close your eyes” and “hug a stuffed animal” get kids thinking and talking about what helps them calm their bodies and their minds when they feel upset. There’s also a sticker chart that works with Tucker’s flagship PeaceMakers card game (also included in the ToolKit), to track which cards kids have pulled and get them eager to pull more cards. PeaceMakers nurture mindfulness and compassion, connecting children and adults in a wide range of settings. The aim of the cards and the kit is the same: To help adults connect with kids, replacing time-outs, behavioral charts, and other punitive discipline strategies with positive techniques rooted in mindfulness and play. The result is an increase in emotional intelligence and children who can increasingly regulate their emotions.
“Research tells us that time-outs don’t work in the long run because they don’t teach the child how to regulate themselves. The Time-In Toolkit helps parents and educators allow for the wide range of emotions, especially the challenging ones,” says Tucker. “The tools make it safe for kids to feel. They help us teach children instead of punish them when they are acting out or feel upset,”Tucker continues. “Many of us have never been taught to understand or manage our emotions. Fortunately, with practice, tools and support we can all improve our social and emotional skills.”
The Time-In Toolkit is available via Kickstarter for 30-50% off the retail price through August 25th. Stretch goals including four additional mindfulness lesson plans have already been unlocked. Additional stretch goals include the donation of 100 Time-In ToolKits to schools throughout the United States.
The Time-In ToolKit includes a deck of PeaceMakers cards, a 24” x 36”PeaceMakers Chart with 35 inspiring mantras and 35 resealable stickers, a set of My Calming Strategies coloring pages, 12 printable calming cards, a 24” x 36”Feelings Posters, and two instructional manuals titled “Creating A Calming Corner” and “Using Time-Ins”. To learn more, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/genmindful/time-in-toolkit?ref=a2t9nx.
About Generation Mindful: Generation Mindful was founded by in 2016 by physical therapist, mom of four, and parent educator Suzanne Tucker. The idea for the company came when graduates from her positive parenting classes were asking for ideas to help them connect with their kids, especially when they were feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Tucker saw a need to help adults move more practically (and playfully!) into the art of connecting with their kids.Generation Mindful offers tools, toys and programs to connect the generations (playfully!), nurturing the human spirit. The company’s goal is to leave each person they serve feeling more seen, more connected, more supported...more enough. Present to themselves, the ones they love, and the little moments of life.
About Suzanne Tucker: Suzanne Tucker leads regular Infant Massage and Positive Parenting classes in St. Louis, Missouri where she and her husband have a holistic outpatient rehabilitation center. A physical therapist, parent educator and mom of four, Suzanne is also the founder of My Mommy Manual, an online community inspiring parents to “look inside themselves for instructions.”
Suzanne Tucker, GENERATION MINDFUL, LLC, http://www.genmindful.com, +1 3144952009, [email protected]
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