Posts tagged: Identity

Exploring Identity & Community with Moana 2

Moana spends her days exploring the ocean, searching for other islanders. The ancestors have said that her people will…

Exploring Difference with Wicked

When my family took our seats to watch the movie version of Wicked, we were expecting an upbeat musical with big dance…

Practicing Courage

Learning to be courageous takes a lot of work. It’s not the same as just being fearless or comfortable taking risks.…

Productive Struggle

My middle daughter has a form of dyslexia in which her brain doesn’t easily associate how a letter looks with the…

Learning about Relationships with The Wild Robot

Based on an award-winning children’s book by Peter Brown, Dreamwork’s The Wild Robot is a beautifully animated…

Asking Why with Transformers One

‘Why?’ is one of my children’s favorite questions. When they were little, they asked, “Why is the sky blue?”…

Exploring Neurodivergence with Good Different

When my daughter was four, she came home from school and told me that we could no longer show our teeth when we smiled.…

Practicing Hopefulness

Hopefulness is more than just a spiritual virtue and positive emotional state. Psychologists also view it as a…

Practicing Humility

Psychologists suggest that true humility is not about making oneself smaller to please others, but being able to share…

Looking Beneath with Kids

Everyone - young or old - have bad days. Days when it’s hard to get out of bed. Days when we don’t feel like…

Practicing Kindness

Kindness is more than just a feeling. It’s a way of being in the world that requires paying close attention to other…

Exploring Values through Cultural ‘Holidays’

Pop up a digital calendar and you’ll likely see a host of cultural ‘holidays’ created to encourage local,…

Community-Building with Our Pool

Growing up in Oklahoma and Texas, summers were hot. My siblings and I loved nothing more than to head to our local…

Exploring Self Image with What in the World is Wrong with Gisbert?

With the 2024 Summer Games about to kick off in Paris, children and adults are hyper-aware of how athletes look and…

Exploring Personal Connections with Despicable Me 4

My family went on vacation with friends a few years ago. It was fun but also complicated to figure out how to live…

Exploring Community Change with The Artivist

Recently, my children were discussing who might have made their clothes. We have talked about child labor in factories,…

Encouraging Future-Mindedness

“I’m going to be a programmer when I grow up,” said my 10-year-old daughter. She had just checked out several…

Gender Identity & The Dress in the Window

“Paint my fingers and toes, too, mommy!” pleaded my four year old son. “I want to be sparkly like the girls!”…

Exploring Identity with Inside Out 2

The transition from childhood to adolescence brings a host of new emotions to the fore: anxiety, envy, embarrassment,…

Exploring ‘Freedom’ with Kids on Juneteenth

Every June 19th, the U.S. celebrates Juneteenth. It’s a national holiday commemorating the ending of slavery as a…

Practicing Gratitude

Gratitude may seem like a natural attitude, but studies show it is primarily a skill that children learn from others.…

Learning about Self & Others with The Garfield Movie

We often wonder what pets are thinking and feeling, especially when they do something that seems odd or silly. A cat…

Meaningful End-of-Year Recognition

Awards ceremonies are often a major event at the end of a program year. Some children eagerly await them, secure in the…

Helping Kids Feel Important

“You never listen to me!” complained my nine-year-old. She was trying to tell me about the antics of some of the…

Three Components of Hope

My daughter’s third grade teacher had a unique way of addressing her students when they felt discouraged. She would…

Different Kinds of Curiosity

My eldest child likes to figure out how things work. When she was three, she shocked our neighbor by explaining the…

Creating Resource-Rich Spiritual Environments

A child’s environment has a huge effect on their lives and, consequently, on their spirituality. The things and…

Books for Women’s History Month

I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads, ‘Well-behaved women rarely make history’. It’s a reminder to myself…

Spiritual Leadership with Kung Fu Panda 4

The Kung Fu Panda movies are some of my kids' favorites. Together, we have watched Po grow from a noodle maker into a…

When Kids See Life as a Quest

My son jumped excitedly from foot to foot as he waited impatiently for the clock to strike midnight. Our local…

Help Kids Be Relational Thermostats

“He made me feel bad!” wailed my son after telling me how a friend chose a different playmate at recess. “He…

More Gratitude, Please

My mother firmly believed that children should write thank you notes for any gifts we received. If we didn’t get them…

The Science of Gratitude

“Tank you” said my daughter’s two year old friend as I passed out cookies to everyone in our neighborhood…

Fridge Spirituality

My refrigerator is covered in activity schedules, a recycling calendar, family photos, and children’s art. Anyone…

Santa Spirituality

For many families, Christmas is - in whole or in part - a cultural rather than a religious holiday. And at the center…

Imagining a Better World with Wish

“Why do bad things happen?” asks my son. That question is hard enough to answer, but he doesn’t stop there. He…

Exploring Family Relationships with Trolls Band Together

Movies and commercials often highlight traditional families and focus on the joys of being together. But real families…

National Coming Out Day

My sister was 18 when she came out. It was a chaotic time in my family of origin, with lots of tears, threats of…

Making Belonging a Priority

Three weeks after my middle child started third grade, she was so anxious and upset that she couldn’t concentrate on…

Exploring Teamwork with Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie

Preparing for a family get-together, I gave each child a different job. My youngest collected cups and my third…

Making Kindness a Goal

My social media feeds have been flooded with ‘first day of school’ photos. Children stand holding signs proclaiming…

Exploring Identity with Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers

Sexism, racism, and classism are hard concepts for children to understand. Kids have a strong bias toward fairness and…

Seeing Differences through Eyes that Speak to the Stars

Children are often curious about differences. They wonder why someone has red hair instead of brown like them, or…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Spirituality

My kids used to grab paper and pens and create their own comics. Their scratchy designs would tell stories about their…

Barbie Spirituality

Outside the movie theater, two young girls are pointing at all the people wearing pink. A group of women observe,…

Movement Meditation: Wonder

Children learn pretty quickly that there are often right answers and wrong answers to the questions adults ask. Those…

Exploring the Goodness of Most People

Stranger danger lessons, active shooter drills - these experiences can teach children that others are to be feared.…

Affirming Gender Diversity

When my children were young, we dressed them in a rainbow of hues. Some people found this frustrating because they…

Exploring Elemental with Kids

A few days ago, one of my children wanted breakfast for dinner, while another preferred Indian. The first argued that…

Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness

Walking through the farmer’s market last weekend, I overheard a conversation between a coffee vendor and a customer.…

Exploring Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The new Spider-Man movie, Across the Spider-Verse, is visually stunning, with different graphics for each universe. The…

Exploring Bad Days with Everything Will Be OK

Some days are just yucky. Things happen that children can’t control and don’t like. They might be little things,…

Exploring Spirituality with The Little Mermaid

Children have long loved Ariel, the star of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, because of her determination to live her…

Exploring Fears with Bright Star

Fears are a part of childhood. Whether it’s worries about monsters under the bed, big dogs, loud noises, or parents…

Cultivating Virtues

As my eldest child ran off the soccer field after another bruising loss, I prepared to console her and her teammates. I…

Generational Spirituality

Spirituality isn’t just a social, emotional, or cultural aspect of life. It’s also biological, passed from…

Character Rocks

I keep a small stone on my desk with the word ‘breathe’ painted on it. It’s a reminder to slow down, find my…

Promoting Children’s Voices through ‘Grand Conversations’

One of my pet peeves with curricula for children’s programs is how teacher-directed most of the activities are. The…

Using Books as Spiritual Mirrors & Windows

As a preschooler, my daughter loved Don and Audrey Wood’s The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big…

Guided Meditation on Friendship

For children, Valentine’s Day is more about friendship than romance. They’re generally eager to exchange valentine…

Babies & Racial Bias

My nine month old daughter cowered in my arms. She clearly didn’t want to interact with the person who had just…

Exploring People Are Wild with Children

“Do they bite?” asked Marcus* when we spotted a family of mule deer during a camping trip. Our group was excited…

Helping Kids Have a ‘Happy’ New Year

“10…9…8…7...6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!” My family celebrated the start of 2023 with sparkling…

Celebrating Kwanzaa with Children

Seven candles stand tall in a kinara, ready for lighting. Their number and colors (red, black, and green) suggest this…

Holiday Lights Scavenger Hunt

I love holiday lights! Strings of colored bulbs wrapped around trees, icicle lights hanging from rooftops and fences, a…

Wakanda Spirituality

How do you create a Black Panther sequel without the Black Panther? Chadwick Boseman’s death made it difficult for my…

Taylor Swift Spirituality

With her latest album sweeping the top 10 slots on Billboard’s Top 100 - a first for any artist - Taylor Swift is…

Encouraging Children to Lead

“Mom, I saw some people asking for money by the off ramp. They didn’t have any coats and it’s pretty cold…

Getting to Know Children Better

When marketers want to learn about people, they collect data about them. They then use that information to improve how…

Nurturing a Flexible Mindset

“But mom, you don’t understand! Practice ran over and now the internet is down and I can’t get to the language…

Starters That Support Well-Being

“Can’t I just be 10 minutes late?” pleaded my daughter. We were driving to her Brownie troop meeting and I could…

Exploring Miss Quinces

Summer can often be a time of celebrations and reunions as family members and friends travel to see one another. In Kat…

Exploring Gods & Grief with Thor: Love and Thunder

My family rarely misses a Marvel movie, and the new Thor: Love and Thunder is no exception. In his typical oblivious…

Reading What Do You Do with a Chance?

Taking chances is risky. Some children can’t wait to explore the unknown. Others prefer familiar structures and…

Identity Discussions with Alice Austen Lived Here

Sam and TJ have learned a lot about ‘Dead Straight Cisgender White Men’ in history. So when they have to research a…

Please Don’t Praise the Kids

“You’re so smart!” These three words come easily to mind when children do or say something that demonstrates…

Gay Pride Spirituality

It’s Gay Pride Month, and families of all sorts are celebrating diversity. Colorful rainbow flags attract…

Celebrating Self-Discovery

As the regular school year draws to a close, many extracurricular programs also pause for the summer. Teachers and…

Daily Intentions

Setting small spiritual goals each day is one way that children can take responsibility for their own moral and ethical…

Setting Spiritual Goals

A few years ago, I taught a child who struggled with managing his emotions in group settings. He was unhappy about his…

Helping Children Set Meaningful Goals

Purpose is an important aspect of a healthy spiritual life. Children have hopes and dreams. They want to make a…

Being Gender Inclusive

I started transgressing gender norms with my children when they were babies. I dressed them in colors and styles…

Exploring Ellen Outside the Lines

In their latest book, author A.J. Sass creates a neurodivergent main character (Ellen) who is negotiating changes in…

Celebrating Black History Year-Round

With the calendar shift from February to March, we’ve gone from remembering Black history to lifting up women and…

Spiritual ‘projects’ with Operation Sisterhood

Bo’s summer plans completely change when her mother moves into a Harlem brownstone with her fiance and another…

Using Story Circles to Build Empathy

Sorting through a box of old school papers, I found a story one of my children wrote in 2nd grade. Her teacher had…

Books Celebrating Black Identity

Children’s spiritual well-being depends, in part, on strong self-esteem. They need to see themselves as individuals…

New Year’s Examen

Examen is a reflective practice that originated in the 15th century. It’s purpose is to help children and adults…

Reflecting with Spiderman: No Way Home

When my oldest child was 4, he begged to have his face painted as Spiderman. But when he saw his new face in the…

Gender & Toys

“He has a doll?!” my mother exclaimed, disapproval ringing in her words. She couldn’t believe I would let my…

Expressing Gratitude

An American celebration of Thanksgiving generally involves liberal helpings of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and…

Encouraging Active Empathy

My daughter came home talking about a new girl in her class. Since being the new kid can be challenging, I want my…

Gender and Sexual Diversity Inclusion

My daughter returned from her third grade ‘Meet the Teacher’ with news she’d heard through friends: a boy in her…

Why Children Won’t Ask for Help

“Go ask your teacher for help,” I told my daughter again. For a whole grading period, she had been struggling with…

Ways to Check Understanding

A common way to check whether children have understood something is to give a test. But even in schools, teachers are…

Identity Portraits

Valuing who we are and respecting others’ identities are crucial to spiritual wellbeing. Every child wants to be seen…

Trust and Promises

As I left the gym, I overheard a mother tell her young son, “We need to get home right now and get snacks together…

Telling Personal Stories

Hearing others’ stories and telling one’s own is a powerful way for children to connect spiritually. Personal…

Spiritual Connectedness

One of my favorite preschool parenting moments was watching my children chase fireflies around our backyard on a summer…

Decision Matrix

Learning to make good decisions is an essential spiritual skill. Becoming a self-reflective person requires children to…

Infant Stress & Spirituality

Throughout the pandemic, news reports and magazine articles have encouraged us to think deeply about developing mental…

Spiritual Mirrors, Windows & Doors

“But mom,” my eldest complained, “why do I have to go to church school? They never talk about anything…

Self-Esteem vs. Narcissism

In Wonder Woman 1984, young Diana, Amazon princess of Themyscira, desperately wants to win a competition. She is in the…

Spiritual Reminiscing

Parents talk with young children about the past a lot. We remind them of the last time they saw their cousins. We…

Developing Trust

When it comes to deciding what information about spirituality to trust and what to doubt, children acquire useful…

Talking with Kids about the Derek Chauvin Verdict

My family was doing our regular post-school, pre-dinner thing when the radio paused its scheduled programming to…

Helping Families Navigate Multiple Spiritual Traditions

Many children are growing up in families that have ties to multiple spiritual traditions. In a household where one…

How Labels Undermine Spiritual Identity

“Where are all my helpers? It’s time to clean up our room for storytime.” Many adults use the title 'helper'…

Relationships as Roots

Dr. Eugene Roehlkepartain has noticed that when adults say relationships with kids matter, they really mean parents…

Exploring Life & Death with Soul

Pixar movies are beloved by both children and adults for their creative stories, well-developed characters, and…

Spiritual Story Books

My children love to read. From a young age, they knew that I would rarely deny their request to buy a book that caught…

Talking about Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb

Forming an identity is a complicated task. The arts provide space to create and play with different identities.…

Children’s Invisible Companions

Some children develop imaginary friends to keep them company. Others describe spiritual experiences that feature…

Helping Children Identify as Spiritual People

When parents name a child, they do so with high hopes that the name will somehow influence who that child becomes. If…

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