Self-Care Intermission

Hi all,

I wanted to quickly thank anyone that has happened to stumble onto (and hopefully enjoy) TheTraumaTeacher thus far and also give a quick update on life on my end. As you likely have read on one of my posts, this site began as a pandemic project for me to share all of my child advocacy knowledge while I am currently not working directly with children and have some extra time on my hands. Unfortunately when a pandemic is raging outside of your front door, there is always the risk of potentially contracting whatever the virus is and getting sick yourself..... which is exactly what happened. With being sick for two weeks and then trying to get back into writing as usual like nothing had ever happened (not a good idea, I do not recommend), I have inevitably fallen behind in my pre-writing and will be taking a step back to write at a more comfortable and unrushed pace. I think we as advocates in some form can all agree that while we are so consistent with preaching patience and self-care to our clients, patients, and loved ones, we often forget to actually practice ourselves when the time comes. So forgive me for a little while as I personally take a step back and allow myself some grace to build my pre-written post collection back up to share with all of you lovelies. I promise that I will be back soon with lots of get informative posts, lessons, and activity tutorials.

Take care of yourselves and see

you all soon ❤

Be well and keep fighting,

~Jess

Tell-Me-Toss Game

        Let me first start off by saying that this is totally not an original idea. I did not come up with this in any way, shape, or form. I will gladly post some of my favorite blogs and sites that have utilized this idea on my Littles and Bigs Group Pinterest boards. If you haven’t yet, please check out The Trauma Teacher on Pinterest where I am always updating ideas for residential and support programs, learning spaces, and more!

Tell Me Toss or Tell Me Dice, depending on what you use or have on hand at the time, is an awesome game to keep in your back pocket should you need to fill a time gap. Every group I have ever played this game with has enjoyed it and the customization options are really limitless. If your group is old enough to stand, toss a ball, roll dice, follow directions, and read or comprehend simple pictures, this activity can absolutely work for you. What makes it fun is the mystery of not knowing what you will land on and what you will have to do. I have made adjustments to this game for nearly every lesson I’ve ever taught and it has fit beautifully into every single one. 

The first time I can remember encountering this activity was at a training as an icebreaker game. It was upon my return that I immediately went to work figuring out how to incorporate it into my group lessons. There isn’t much set up if you keep the right tools on hand so even if you have a full night of activities planned, you can still pull this one out should you finish everything else up early or just need to change gears. You can go online and buy professionally printed dice and balls but I have never had the funding nor saw the purpose when making your own keeps things so much more flexible. If you see that purchasing a printed version is best suited for your program, then more power to you. I have personally used a printed dice foldables (provided in this post!) and a small donated bounce ball for this game. Simply write the questions or actions you want to use on either one in sharpie. For a more durable dice option, you can check your local Dollar Tree education section to see if they have large dry erase play dice. I have been lucky enough to find them a few times. Another option is to use a cube shaped cardboard box. There is really no limit to what can be used to make this game work as long as it is light and not breakable. Regular dice could even be used with a numbered list! (Any fellow nerdy advocates could incorporate their D20 collection)

This can be just as much a social experiment as a fun game for the kids. I highly recommend that you pay close attention to make sure everyone is getting a turn. If you do notice over time that one or two people are consistently being left out of the game, stop everything immediately and address it. This game is just as much about sharing and inclusion as it is about teaching whatever lesson you have revolved it around. This game should never EVER be allowed to be used as means for bullying. Everyone has to get a turn, both in catching the ball or receiving whatever praise or nice comments are requested on a turn.

The game is simple. If you are using a ball, you toss to one person and whatever command their thumb lands on is what they are supposed to do. The command can be complimenting someone else in the circle, telling information about themselves, giving an example of a topic, or any number of other things. Then the player chooses another person to toss to. If you are using a die, it is the same idea but they roll the die on the floor and then hand off to another person after they’re done their command. At the end of the post, you will find a much more detailed instruction card for how to play as well as photos and links to others who have used this activity with their classes or groups. If you like this activity and opt to use it in your own advocacy, I would love to hear about it. Comment down below and tell me how it went with a picture of what you used to play!

    As always, I hope you have a blast with this activity and thank you for all that you do in helping children heal. You are amazing and an inspiration, don’t ever forget it!

Good Luck and Keep Fighting,

♥️Jess

 

Support Group for Kids?!

Yes!

     This may seem like an insane concept. I say that because when I was first starting out, I had a hard time finding specific kid's support group resources. When I say kids, I mean of all ages. I am sure there are support groups out there for teens and maybe even tweens. In the groups I facilitated, I often times had pre-school and kindergarten age children in attendance. I mean actual KIDS. I am honestly still not even sure it is a widespread thing. Most people see children as ignorant and too young to be affected by anything going on around them. Not the case.

    Take a second to think about childhood. In the first two years of a person's life, they learn likely as much if not more than they learn in their entire grade school experience. Fine and gross motor skills, eating before and after teeth, sleeping habits, faces, voices, discovering parts of their body, physical communication, forming vocalized sounds and eventually recognizable words, core balance and strength, walking, cause and effect, I could go on and on... Moreover, most of these things are learned from observing and experiencing the world around them. They are literal sponges taking in everything they see, hear, and feel. Now consider children that experience violence and trauma during this period of their life. Children internalize their experiences and don't yet know how to deal with the thoughts and real, heavy, adult-level emotions they feel towards those experiences. I once attended a training where the person presenting told a story about a family of 5 who were the subject of a 911 domestic violence call. Without telling the entire story, the point they were getting across and that stood out to me the most was the fact that everyone brushed off the infant on scene assuming he was too young to be affected and therefore not in need of support. A few years later following the event he had developed violent tendencies and severely injured another child in his daycare class. It is possible that had this child received early intervention following that 911 response, the later behavior could have been prevented. In my experience kid's support groups work and are a great resource for children to process through their experiences and learn what life, family, and personal relationships are supposed to look like. They are obviously not something that should be used in place of formal child trauma therapy, but they can be a great addition to a child's recovery journey.

    Now, understand I say all of this coming from a childhood trauma perspective and it may take some brainstorming to adapt to other groups going through different life journeys. I could totally see the concepts and ideas I have used being adapted for foster and adoption programs, children's hospitals, juvenile services, behavioral programs, etc. I also want to mention, as I do in every post, that this is simply what has worked for the groups I have facilitated. I am not in any way, shape, or form a licensed therapist or counselor. I am just a nanny-turned-advocate that saw a need and tried to meet it as best as I was able. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any insights, ideas, or additions you have to add to this or any other post on TheTraumaTeacher. I am always searching for like-minds as well as opposing views to consider and tailor my own knowledge. In advocacy, you should never ever stop learning.

I hope this post has inspired you to see the need and benefits of developing support group programming specifically for children. Keep checking back for more posts and details of how I organized, planned, and managed various groups of all different ages as well as lesson planning inspiration and resources. If you learn anything from my experiences or even just enjoy visiting TheTraumaTeacher and feel other people need to know and be aware of the information here, please share the link with friends or through social media. My number one goal for this blog is to further raise awareness about domestic violence, childhood trauma, and mental health support. If I can help even one person on their journey into child advocacy who is just trying to help kids heal, I have done my job. Until next time…

Good Luck & Keep Fighting,

Jess ♥️