Calm and Connected Podcast

An amazing coping skill for overwhelming and extreme feelings.

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! On today’s episode, I share several reasons why I love playdates!

How to encourage children to take deep breaths using shapes.

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! On today’s episode, I talk all about cardboard boxes and creative thinking!

As you may know, I run two websites - Encourage Play and Coping Skills for Kids. Although at first glance it doesn’t seem like these two are connected, they are - by PLAY! Some of the things I talk about during this podcast: Play is an integral part of childhood, and of being human. All of us need to play! Play (doing something for pure enjoyment) is also a natural way for children and adults to relieve stress.  Two ideas for how parents can encourage play at home - careful scheduling and providing open-ended toys like: K’NEX ® Blocks LEGO ® blocks Marble Runs Take a listen!

Calm and Connected Episode 11 focuses on two fun ways to practice listening.

A quick introduction what Progressive Muscle Relaxation is, how it helps, and resources to use with children and teens.

This week, the focus is all about self-care, and how does that look in real life. I share my own struggles when it comes to self-care and taking a break, and how good it feels when I finally do take a moment for myself. I discuss having a few different types of self-care, and variety is the key! Here are some of the ideas I mention: Boxing Gardening Having a nice cup of tea Bath Massage/Nails/Spa/Hair Getting back into things you loved as a child Take a listen!

One of the foundations of working with kids on their coping skills is that they are able to identify what they are feeling. In this episode, I talk about several different ways that kids can work on identifying their own feelings, and recognize feelings in others too! You don’t have to wait until your children are school aged. Preschoolers can talk about feelings too. Start simple with three basic feelings: sad, happy, mad. Here are the 6 ways I discuss how kids can work on identifying their feelings as part of this podcast episode. Reading Books Watching tv shows and pointing out the feelings of the characters Talk about your own feelings Make feelings part of the everyday conversation - ask about how they’re feelings, track feelings Discuss how your body reacts when you feel a certain way Make a Feelings book - a time I felt happy, a time I felt sad, etc… Take a listen!

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! On today’s episode, I share four fun ways for families to connect, get to know one another, and de-stress together! Question of the Day - use the 40 conversation starter questions printable, or make up your own! Roses and Thorns check-in “Would You Rather?” Questions - I’ve made a free printable for you, but it’s also fun to make up your own! Plan A Family Adventure

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! Did you know that by simply playing a game, kids work on: good sportsmanship - how to lose and win graciously listening paying attention taking turns figuring out the rules & following the rules Listen about how that works, and hear about some of my favorite games to play with my own children, and my clients.

On today’s episode, I talk about one of our most popular products, the Coping Cue Cards Discovery Deck. My sister and I went to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, and this was great because we got to see people interacting with the Discovery Deck. People love the deck, but parents kept asking “how do I use this?” so I wanted to explain how to use it in more detail. Take a listen!

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! In this episode, I talk about the difference between healthy and unhealthy coping skills, how the Coping Skills Checklist was created, and a brief overview of the 5 different coping styles:

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! On today’s episode, my focus is all about play. I talk about some of my favorite books and quotes about play. I also talk about Parten’s Social Stages of Play. Plus, I discuss how you can use teachable moments to work on practicing and building a child’s social skills.

Welcome back to the Calm and Connected Podcast! In this episode, I talk about the importance of deep breathing and why it makes such a difference. Plus I share one of my favorite ways to take a deep breath!