Teaching children secrets and values of life can sometimes be really overwhelming. I am promoting teaching through play, which I’m sure you are familiar with. But now I »discovered« another great easy way – showing them how someone else is doing it. And if this someone is a hero, a champion or someone your child admire, it’s getting even easier.

You know that my daughter is competing in swimming and just recently I bought her a book about Michael Phelps. (I have a good excuse for not buying it before:) She didn’t know enough of English to read it. Now she is willing to give it a try and I’m proud to say she understands most of it. Yet another benefit.). Michael is an exceptional athlete, winning 8 gold medals at last Olympic games.

Apart from it that the book is really an interesting read, Michael describes in every detail his daily training routines, how he prepares for the competitions and how he get to where he is.

He determines goals for every swim meet, for every competition. He writes them down . They are very specific, to one hundreth of a second. Then he visualize them. He says he has such vivid imagination that he can see every wave in the water.

Suddenly my teachings and what I’m trying to show my kids become a reality. They are not a theory anymore or something that I insist on doing every year. Someone she admires is doing it! Now she is telling me: »Mum, he puts his goals on refrigerator.«

Once Anja told me that all she wants is to be normal. More like her school friends, whose mothers don’t make them do vision boards or write down goals or meditate. But now goal setting and visualising become normal. If Michael is doing it and he even talk about it in the book, there must be something real about it. And it must be working:) The results are obvious.

Now she is looking at her wall poster with her goals in completely different way. Even if she doubted about them before, she feels now she can reach them.

Next time you want to teach your kid a lesson or two, find more about who she or he admires and let the role-model do your work. The child will recognise and see your ideas in action and more likely he will take them to the heart. The role-model is something totally diferent than a mother who one day teaches important lessons and another day is angry at you.

Even Napoleon Hill wrote his classic »Think and Grow Rich« by studying the lives of rich and succesful people. Why don’t you use the same strategy to teach your kids?

What do you think? Does your child has a role model you can use to teach him something positive? You are welcome to share your thoughts on the blog.

Are you already counting days until Christmas? All gifts bought and wrapped? If not, don’t worry. There is still time, especially if you were planning taking it slow. But even if you haven’t, take it easy. 

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You know how all letters begin: » Dear Santa, I’ve been good this year and I want….«.

Make it somehow differrent this year. Help the child explain why he thinks he’s been good. Let him describe this passing year in a really positive way.

What did he achieve? What did he learned? What did he accomplished? What did he do to others? Who did he help?

Together find positive events, when he was really happy or excited. When was he most proud of himself? What activities did he enjoy the most with his friends? When did the family have the best time?

You can even encourage some words about gratitude. What moments, people and things is he grateful for, that was in his life this year?

And finally, of course, let him ask for his wish. But again, make it more profound and help your kid describe everything he wants for himself in the coming year. What would he like to be? What would he like to accomplish? Where would he like to go?

This way the letter to Santa will not only express his demands for a certain material thing (toy, electonics, …), but it will give him an insight about all the great things he already have in life and he will certainly see his future in broader perspective.

Before the letter is sent, copy it and put somewhere you all can see it. It will be a great reminder throughout the whole 2011 to be and have what he wished for.

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You know, someone he looks up to. Someone he admires his characteristics, his attitude and his (super) powers. It can be a person, fantasy creature, movie or cartoon character or even an animal.

What is important is that he finds something good and noteworthy in him/it and he wants to possess the same qualities.

Encourage your kid to find his own role model or several of them. Too often we, the parents put down the power of the role models. When we say things like ”Don’t be silly, don’t act like that, you are not a superman.” we are actually putting down all the positive sides of that role model.

Instead you should help your kids to find a positive role model. By emphasising positive qualities and encouraging thinking like a super hero we are giving our kids the power to think outside the box. When the kid personifies his role model, he is adopting the thinking and behaving of that superhero.

If your kid doesn’t have a role model, maybe you can encourage finding one to the specific situations. When facing a problem, ask your kid who might help him. What qualities would he need to find the solution? Who might be best help him with the problem? You can offer several ideas, giving your kid time to think from different angles. Superman might solve the problem differently than Ben10 or Lion the King. And when playing and stepping in their shoes he might find the right solution.

Teach your kid to ask for help imaginary creatures when he faces challenges. He might ask for help someone that he think could help him, like Einstein for mathematical problems. Teach him to approach the problem from different positions by using the power of different models.

Of  course you should monitor that behaviour do not become violent, negative or event destructive, but as long as the kid is pretending to be someone better, stronger and smarter, you should support his play.

You might check out the workbook “50 Law of Attraction Games for Children” to help you with the role playing and finding the qualities your kid admires.

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National Grandparents Day is celebrated this Sunday throughout the USA. But us, living in other countries can give the appreciation to the grandparents as well.

I was happy enough to live with my grandmother quite a lot (especially during my high-school years) and I always got that feeling of love, support and encouragement from her. She always had time, she cooked my favorite dishes, buying me sweets, taking much attention that I don’t get disturbed when I studied, she let me go out in the evenings without asking a lot of annoying questions…

I remember every morning after the breakfast we drank coffee together. She lit her cigarette (she had one a day, with a coffee) and we talked about news in the newspapers. Sometimes the neighbor came to visit and we talked about the happening in the city and often they shared memories from the past.

She was born before WW2 and she was one of 11 children in the family. They were poor, often didn’t get much to eat, they went to the school barefoot and going to church required quiet organization (especially in the winter when some of the kids waited for others to come home to put on their shoes).

But the stories from her childhood were great. They were funny and sad at the same time and for us they were like fairy-tales of free wild life, when kids and animals were so much more connected. Although she and her siblings got spanked many times, it was like part of the adventure, where rewards was so bigger and worthier than punishments. They played in the woods, discovering life in the nearby river, spending days at the pastures looking after animals. How excited that sounded back then when we grew up between concrete blocks and on the streets.

No wonder that the forget-me-nots are official flowers of the Grandparents Day. 

How do you remember your grandparents? What are you grateful them for? What role they play in your children’s life?

You can listen and learn the words to the official song here.

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When I asked my girls to do some simple stuff around the house, they immediately started complaining: You are giving us so much to do; it’s so difficult; it will take us whole afternoon; we are having school holidays and you are making us work and so on and so on…. You know how that goes?

Annoyed with their complaining I asked: “Those are really simple tasks like taking the trash our, how long do you think it will take you to do them?”

And of course they answered: “It’s so much work! We will do these for the whole afternoon”.

I said: “OK, let’s see.”

Then I prepared a table with tasks and left some space for notes. When they start performing those little tasks, I measured time and as you might imagine they did everything in 15 minutes. But it was fun and because of that it was not so difficult to do.

So, next time you want something from your kids, make it a challenge:

1. Measure how much time something will take them to do
2. Make a competition – who will be first to finish the tasks
3. Let them guess how much time will they need for the task and see how close they got
4. Set a time goal and see if they can perform within the specified time frame

Just like the kids learn through play and the play is their job, it will be so much easier if you make their “job” a play. Let them do something at their own pace and even their own way. As long as it is done what do you care how it is done.

Some kids are open and can make new friends quite easily where ever they go. And some are just nothing like that. They stick to their mothers and won’t move away for an inch. Their mothers usually say: “It is such a shy kid.” But in reality only part of this can be attributed to their nature. It’s also the result of their upbringing and circumstances.

Now at the beginning of new school year or going to the kindergarten for the first time, it can be quite challenging for some kids to be comfortable with new people.

Here are few tips how you can help your child to make new friends:

1. Examine your own thoughts, words and actions!

However strange it may sound, it all starts with you. How do you behave with strangers? What are you saying abut other people? How do you describe other kids? Are they adorable little creatures or those awful dirty screaming punks?

When you relate to others with negative words and even frightening your child, he will certainly feel insecure around new people. If they will be nice to him, he might even feel that he is betraying you if he is to return the kindness.

If you act reserved and going away from other people it’s great probability that your kid will act the same way.

2. Take it slow

Sometimes the kids are naturally shy and need some more time, even if you are very outspoken and open. In this case, keep your positive attitude, as it can help a lot. Approach other kids and communicate with them, making sure your kid see that it’s safe and that it’s ok to talk and play with them.

Encourage interactions with other people but don’t push your kid to make friends. He might need some more time. Allow him enough time and space to get comfortable with others. Maybe you can invite some families over your house for some ice-cream or lemonade. It will be much easier for your kid dealing with strangers in  familiar environment.

3. Keep it safe!

Even though most people are nice and friendly, there are some who are not. Let your kid know about dangers and how to react when faced with them. It is important not to scare or even threaten your kid. Explain differnet, possibly hazardous situations in simple and neutral terms.

How do you help your child when meeting new people and making new friends? Please share your thoughts and comme

There are so many positive effect of laughing, both physical and emotional, that you just can’t ignore!

Laughter relaxes the whole body and relieves physical tension and stress. It boosts the immune system by decreasing stress hormones and increasing immune cells. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. And last but not least protects you from the heart diseases, because it improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow.

When laughing you can’t feel angry or sad. Humor helps you shift perspective. And you are so much more fun to be with.

Read more about the benefits of laughter at http://helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm

So why don’t you make it a laughter day?

• Laugh for no reason!
• Smile to strangers!
• Make fun of things and events! (Just be careful not to offend anyone!)

Watch how your laughing gets contagious and how it spreads all over the world.

You like this game? You might also like “50 Law of Attraction Games for Children”.

Lay still on the ground and get all relaxed. Watch the puffy clouds sailing above your head.

Look for familiar shapes and make up a story about them. Where are they going? What are they seeing from above? What are they talking? Are they happy or angry?

Think about different stages and transformations of the cloud – from being cute little cloud to huge storm cloud that brings wind and rain.

Discuss with the child different stages in human life and how every stage has its own responsibilities and challenges and joy and happiness as well. Tell him about constant changes, and how we too have our ups and downs.

Did you ever heard of Laughter (or Laughing) Yoga?

It is a combination of laughing and yoga breathing and it is based on the assumption that the body cannot differentiate between fake and real laughter, and that their physiological and psychological benefits are thus identical. People get together just to laugh, which is stimulated by eye staring and playfulness.

Ever noticed that the children are naturals for this? They make funny faces, quirky noises and peculiar moves and I’m sure your child would love to laugh along, if you make those.

So, when you have a few minutes, make your child ROFWL (roll on floor with laughter).

Did you like it? Please share your comments below!

You might also like other 49 ideas and activities in the “50 Law of Attraction Games for Children” workbook to help you teaching children while you play.