NEWS
Back to School Tips for Kids and Teens
Back to School Tips for Kids and Teens
The school bell is ringing again, and we’re all set to help you kick off an amazing new year! Whether your kiddo is rocking their first backpack or your teen is walking the high school halls, we’ve got some helpful tips to make this year one to remember. Share these with your kids and teens!
5 Tips for Kids:
Be a Curious Cat: Ever wonder why the sky is blue or how rainbows happen? Keep asking those cool questions—learning is all about discovering new things and staying curious.
Stay Ninja Organized: Want to be a school superhero? Keep your stuff in order like a ninja! It’ll make your day smoother and keep you on top of your game. Use folders and a planner to help keep track of all your papers and projects.
Spread Kindness Like Confetti: A high-five, a smile, or a kind word can make someone’s day awesome. Be the reason your classmates have the best day ever! You never know the impact you’re making, and it could make a huge difference.
Take Fun Breaks: Need a little energy boost? Take a quick dance break, jump jacks, or stretch it out. It’ll help you stay focused and ready to learn. By moving your body, you make more space in your brain to focus on the tasks at hand.
Believe You’re Awesome (Because You Are!): You’ve got superpowers—whether it’s in art, math, or being a great friend. Your presence is important and you matter. You got this!
5 Tips for Teens:
Set Some Cool Goals: Whether it’s acing that math test, joining a new club, or making new friends, set goals that get you pumped. They’ll give you something exciting to work toward.
Mental Health = Superpower: Stress happens, so getting grounded is key. Everyone’s self-care looks different - maybe it’s jamming out to music, hitting the gym, or practicing breathing exercises. The important part is to make time for YOU.
Get Involved: Dive into what you love! Clubs, sports, volunteering—whatever gets you excited. It’s a great way to meet people and find your thing.
Balance School & Fun Like a Pro: Schoolwork is important, but so is having a life outside of school. Find that sweet spot where you can crush your studies and still enjoy life’s fun moments.
It’s Okay to Ask for Help: Whether you’re feeling stuck or just need someone to talk to, reaching out is a sign of strength, not weakness. You don’t have to have it all figured out—sometimes the best way to move forward is by leaning on others.
Let’s make this school year an epic one together! Share these tips with your kids and teens, and watch them grow into their best selves. Danny’s Place is here to support you and your kids/teens with our after-school programs, check them out and let us know if you have any questions!
6 tools for self-care
Prioritize yourself!
Self care is not about being selfish. It's about loving ourselves.
We all need to take care of ourselves, but sometimes it can be hard to know how.
Self-care is an important part of life that many people neglect until they are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out by life's stresses.
This blog post will teach you six ways to practice self-care and improve your mental health!
1. Meditating
By practicing meditation, you can gain many benefits including reduced stress and anxiety.
Meditation is a great way to clear your mind of all the little things that bother us throughout our days. It's even been shown to lower blood pressure!
If you don't know how to start with meditation, check out this amazing app called Balance. It's a good way to get introduced to meditation, tackling what you need the most at the moment like sleeping, calming your anxiety or simply feeling grateful. It's free for the whole first year!
2. Getting Enough Sleep
Did you know that most people need seven to nine hours of sleep per night?
Sleeping is a great way to relax and recharge, but many people neglect their sleep.
Try going into your bedroom at the same time every night and shutting off electronics before bedtime. Creating a ritual or routine will give your brain the cue for getting ready for bedtime.
If you're still struggling with insomnia or another sleeping disorder talk to your doctor about treatment options.
Self-care comes in all shapes and sizes. Everyone's needs are different, so make sure you find what works best for you! Remember: self care isn't selfish; it can be a gift from yourself to yourself.
3. Practice a Ritual
The best way to practice self care is by creating rituals for yourself. Rituals are repetitive tasks that you do every day, like taking your vitamins or meditating before bed.
Start by creating one ritual so you know what kind of self-care works best for you! Some people love the idea of having morning tea with their favorite mug, while others prefer an evening ritual like helping with dinner. You'll never know unless you give it a shot and see how it makes you feel.
Making time in your schedule each week will help make sure that these practices become habits and eventually add value to your well being on a daily basis. Make sure they fit into who YOU truly are — be authentic!
Doing things based on how they make YOU feel is the best way to practice self-care! Sometimes it can be hard, but always remember what life would look like if we didn't try new things and meet our goals: not very satisfying, right?
Life was meant for us all to experience — so take up a hobby you've been interested in since childhood , experiment with cooking recipes you find online , and get out of your comfort zone every once in a while! You'll thank yourself later when these rituals and practices turn into lifelong habits.
By practicing these three things—meditation, getting enough sleep , and finding out what type of self-care works best for you —you can have a happier life!
4. Connect With Others
Oftentimes when we are having a hard time we keep to ourselves. However, it can be very helpful to connect with a peer, a family member, or a professional if you are feeling overwhelmed and isolated. Connection is part of being human. We are social creatures and often times when we feel lonely it can be helpful to reach out to others!
5. Spending time in Nature
Everyone deserves love, comfort, and resilience when going through tough times —practicing self-care can bring us closer towards being our best selves. One very helpful form of self-care is being in nature. Humans are biological beings, and we are inherently connected to the natural world (something called biophilia).
Everyone deserves love, comfort, and resilience when going through tough times —practicing self-care can bring us closer towards being our best selves. One very helpful form of self-care is being in nature. Humans are biological beings, and we are inherently connected to the natural world (something called biophilia).
These days we are often pulled away from nature with all of the demands of daily life. But if you can find a few moments on a regular basis to get outside, you may notice the benefits very quickly. It’s easier said than done when it’s freezing cold or hot and humid, but as often as you’re able to, find small ways to breathe in fresh air outside.
6. Movement for Mood
Regular exercise has so many mental health benefits- it releases endorphins which improve mood, reduces feelings of depression and anxiety, improves sleep quality, makes it easier to cope with daily life challenges/stressors etc.
The list goes on! Getting regular physical activity will make you feel more balanced in every aspect of your life. You don't have to be an athlete or do extreme workouts either - any kind of movement counts as exercise (walking, cleaning, stretching).
Regular exercise has so many mental health benefits- it releases endorphins which improve mood, reduces feelings of depression and anxiety, improves sleep quality, makes it easier to cope with daily life challenges/stressors etc.
In order to exercise, we need to fuel our bodies. If you feel like your relationship with food is complicated, try to understand it with mindfulness. We recommend a book called How To Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh. By using mindfulness, you peel back the layers of unhelpful and unhealthy rules about eating and come back to the roots of simple nourishment.
Learning how to take care of yourself when you are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out by life's stresses can give you a sense of control and prevent the negative effects that come with high levels of stress. Spending just a few minutes each day doing something you enjoy - whether it's reading your favorite book, listening to some music, or watching Netflix - will help reduce stress levels and increase happiness over time! Taking breaks to focus on your SELF is important, even if that means simply sitting still for one minute. Everyone’s self care will look different, so find what works for you and start with a small practice.
We hope this blog post was helpful with finding new ways to practice self-care—we wish you all the best on your journey towards wellness.
Meet the Blogger!
Hi, my name is Cristina and I'm a Digital Marketing Consultant. I moved to Acton in 2012. Ever since, it has been my home. I love blogging, books, dark chocolate and Disney movies (my favorite is Mulan!). My husband and I have two kids who keep us busy and happy. You can always count on me to help you with almost anything - I'm always happy to lend a hand!
Changing College Plans Amid COVID-19
We reached out to College Xpress and asked what resources or advice they had to give to graduating high school seniors who were planning to go to college amidst the coronavirus pandemic. They put together a wonderful article and resource.
The article features some of the following topics:
Defer / admission enrollments
Taking a gap year
Options to stay closer to home
Ideas from experts
Check out the full article here.
Time Capsule Project
A downloadable time capsule for kids and teens to reflect during the coronavirus pandemic.
Started in May 2020 - We are still in the midst of a global pandemic, a time in history we will all remember. While we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, we wanted to offer a space for youth and teens to reflect upon their experiences.
Below are two free downloadable PDF Time Capsule Workbooks. Feel free to print out and fill in the pages in your own time. Complete it individually or as a family. If you don’t have a printer - no problem! Just use the PDF as a guide and create your own with whatever paper or notebook you have handy. Stay well!
Combatting Phone Overuse & Addiction
Phone overuse or addiction contributes to significant physical, mental and emotional health concerns.
Awareness is the first step in the process to shift one's phone habits from being controlled by the phone to controlling it. In addition there are significant health benefits to spending time away from one's phone in silent contemplation, engaging with friends and bathing in nature.
Physical Side Effects:
Tech Neck comes from spending time hunched over your phone which can put up to 50 pounds of pressure on your spine at some angles in 2014 study. In addition, texting while walking contributed to the 27% increase in pedestrian fatalities from 2007 to 2016.
Strategy: If you catch yourself hunched over your phone, stand up and pull your shoulders back. Ask yourself whether you need to be on your phone at this moment. If you don't, take a break. Notice how many people are texting and walking the next time you are out. When you feel the urge to pull your phone out and text, notice the sensation in your body and take three deep breaths. If you are walking with someone else, start up a conversation, even if they are on their phone.
Sleep Effects:
Disrupted sleep contributes to multiple health problems including stress response, hypertension and decrease in positive mood indicators. 33% of adults and 47% between the ages of 18 and 24 check their phones in the middle of the night.
Strategy: First, buy an alarm clock so you can charge your phone in another room overnight so you won't be tempted to check it if you wake up. In the morning it is better to start your day in an intentional way, in control of the events. Picking up your phone before acknowledging your significant other, taking a moment to recall your dreams, or set your goals, starts your day in a reactive mode where your phone gains control.
Cognitive Effects / Memory:
Digital Dementia is the memory loss that results from one's over reliance on technology for tasks such as remembering phone numbers and directions. You may begin to lose the cognitive ability to do these tasks over time.
Strategy: The next time you need to go someplace new, try memorizing the directions and driving without our GPS. When out with friends, dividing a bill or calculating the tip, do it with pen and paper, not your phone.
Cognitive Effects / Focus
Multitasking is not a time saving skill as it is really rapid task switching where the brain takes seconds to return to the original task. Research shows that moving between computer and phone causes one to take up to three times longer to complete a task.
Strategy: Put your phone out of sight when working on an important task, and if you notice yourself drifting switching to unintended sites, bring your attention back to your work. This process enhances focus and attention, similar to a meditation practice.
Mental Effects:
Nomophobia, no mobile phone phobia, creates a physical reaction to being separated from one's phone where heart rate increases often causing symptoms of anxiety sending one into a state of fight, flight or freeze.
Strategy: Practice spending time away from your phone. Try adding a little more time each time. Just like a meditation practice builds upon itself, so does time separated from one's phone. Start by leaving your phone in the car when you go into the grocery store or turning it off, out of sight, during a meeting.
Emotional Effects:
Overuse of social media can cause one to compare their internal feelings with the external aspirational images of others on Instagram, Facebook and others. Even being aware of this fact does not negate the imprinting of continual scrolling.
Strategy: Consider deleting your social media for a day and noticing any differences you experience. Sometimes it doesn't require you to put down your phone completely, but eliminating some of the apps available on your phone. Another strategy is to put detrimental, distracting or addictive apps in folders that take you time to find which causes you to reconsider opening them.
Phoneliness, phone loneliness is the impact of spending time on social media by yourself, often thinking the connection is the same as a face to face one. Most research shows that those who spend more time with friends on screens are less happy than those who spend more time in face to face relationships.
Strategy: Make sure you balance your in person time with virtual time on phones. When people are busy, they often think taking the effort and time to meet with someone in person takes away from their lives. It is the opposite. The time you need face to face time is when you are more stressed and over programmed.
Multiple Effects:
Forest Bathing and spending time in nature can counter some of the detrimental effects of too much time inside on screens. It reduces cortisol levels and stress, as well as improves short term memory, cognition and mood.
Strategy: Leave your phone behind and take a walk outside. You can start with a 10 minute break where you can gaze at trees, flowers, or a natural scene. When you have more time, you can plan for an extended period of time in the woods, forest or near the ocean.
Author: Susan Reynolds, M.Ed is the co-founder of Mindhood, a company that provides daily challenges of mindfulness, healthy digital habits and ways to put one's phone down to people in community including groups in college, organizations and schools.
Filling the void of phone-free time
Make a plan with a friend to try a new phone-free activity together
Make a plan with a friend to try a new phone-free activity together sometime this week. Go buy watercolors and paint, hike a new trail, grab a coffee, or browse a store you've never been in, anything, but do it phone-free.
If you become aware of the negative side effects of too much technology, it will be easier to use tech less, but you need to replace it with something else. Before you take a break from your phone, gaming, or computing and replace it with a new activity, make a list of non-tech things you like to do.
Whatever your new activity, hobby or skill you practice, try and make it fun. If it will be more fun with someone else, do that. How often to you play board games? If there a new one you’ve never tried? Human beings seek novelty, so the newness of this activity feeds the same desire for new information on your technology. You can find this on an endless scroll on Instagram. A new YouTube video that rolls over automatically or shows up in your recommended column can hook you, along with notifications of a new news story. You can outsmart your tech and choose when you use it and when you take a break.
Author: Susan Reynolds, M.Ed is the co-founder of Mindhood, a company that provides daily challenges of mindfulness, healthy digital habits and ways to put one's phone down to people in community including groups in college, organizations and schools.
The Downside of Selfies
Tips for being more mindful of taking and consuming selfies
Notice your intention if you take a selfie today. How many photos do you take before you post? Do you use filters or editing software to change your appearance? If you do, ask yourself why.
Research shows that many people take 10 to 15 selfies before they find one they like. After choosing one there are many filters and options to alter your appearance, whether whitening your teeth, narrowing your chin, or making yourself either taller or thinner. Even if you are aware, these alterations subtly alter your sense of self, potentially reinforcing a belief that you are not “ok” just as you are.
In the comparison culture of judging your inside feelings against an external, often curated selfie, people’s self-esteem, on average, is said to be lower than before social media became part of everyday life. Constantly seeing others’ photos that seem to be the norm of every life, yet are altered to reflect a more perfect self, takes a cumulative toll on you as not only a viewer, but you as the selfie poster as well.
Even if you know the photos you are looking at are altered. Even if you know the photos do not reflect the daily routines of friends and family, the images that are imprinted on your brain through scrolling Instagram, SnapChat or Facebook make an impact. The feelings are often, “I’m not good enough,” or “I don’t measure up.”
The more intentional you are when you post a selfie, the more intentional you will become around your viewing of similar selfies.
Author: Susan Reynolds, M.Ed is the co-founder of Mindhood, a company that provides daily challenges of mindfulness, healthy digital habits and ways to put one's phone down to people in community including groups in college, organizations and schools.
Phone Apps for Digital Wellness & Happiness
A breakdown of our favorite apps to help you use social media more intentionally
When you use your social media more intentionally you are happier. When you fill the void you leave with less technology, with more off screen activities, you feel happier. Here’s some apps to help you improve your digital wellness and use your screen time more intentionally.
Flipd: http://www.flipdapp.co/
Block all apps and notifications for a set time in order to stay focused and off your phone.
Moment: https://inthemoment.io/
Tracks the amount of time spent on your phone and coaches you to help gain more time back
Brick: https://www.gobricknow.com/
Blocks notifications and sends an auto-reply text to anyone who messages you
Apple iOS Software - change your settings for optimal notification settings and monitor your screen time
A Video of Advice on healthy digital wellness
A quick video full of tips from other teens
Reflect:
How many times did you check your phone/notifications while watching this video? Were you able to watch the whole video one time through?
What are some ways you protect yourself on social media?
How do you find balance? Do you find social media more draining or more energizing?
Developing a Regular Mindfulness Practice
Tips for making mindfulness a regular part of your day.
“Okay, I get it. Mindfulness is good for me. But how do I actually do it?”
If this is you, we are here to help! We totally understand that getting into a regular practice of something new is hard - especially when you are super busy. It helps to shift the expectation of having a long, separate practice to having mindfulness be shorter and more frequent. It also helps to attach mindfulness to everyday activities in order to make it part of your routine. Here are a few examples:
Mindful morning habits. Every morning you brush your teeth (hopefully!). Add mindfulness to this by focusing your attention on the act of brushing your teeth.
Mindful walking. Whether walking in hallways or walking around town, bring your attention to your surroundings and to your senses. You can do this any time, anywhere.
Mindful body scan. Wherever you are, you can take a moment to focus on your body. Sometimes it is helpful to start at the feet and move up the body. The goal of this is not to make any feelings or sensations go away, but rather to simply acknowledge them.
Here’s a tip sheet from a great local resource on mindfulness that helps you to build a regular mindfulness practice.
Check it out here!