Starting Strong Adult-Child Workshop for ages 3-5 (60 minutes)

Enjoy an introduction to People Safety Skills with your young child. Storytelling, puppets and interactive role plays introduce simple but powerful skills to handle unkind words, check first before touching something unsafe, move away from someone doing unsafe things such as throwing sand or playing too roughly, and get help from you effectively, even when you are busy.

Kidpower Adult-Child Workshops for ages 6-12 (2 hours)

Children and parents learn age-appropriate safety skills and how to practice them together. These skills can be used right away to feel safer and more confident dealing with people at home, on the playground, and out and about in the world. During the workshop families are coached in how to continue practicing and reinforcing the skills on their own.

Teenpower Personal Safety Workshops for ages 13-17 (3 hours)

Teens get the opportunity to learn and practice personal boundary-setting, advocacy, awareness, and deescalation skills. These skills can help develop healthy relationships with people in all areas of their lives. Most often, these workshops are provided through youth groups and high schools. Adult/teen ratio 1:3

June 17, 2015

Share Your Expectations with Caregivers

When bringing my children into new situations I make sure they know how to get help. But how can I be sure they people in charge know what to do? I TELL THEM! I frame it in a way that lets the person in charge know my expectation of them as well.

I introduce myself and my child to the person in charge and say to them, “I wanted to make sure she knew that you are the person to ask for help if she needs to go to the bathroom or doesn’t understand the directions.”( Or whatever else your child might be worried about). Or I might ask, “Are you the person my child should come to if she needs…?” Tone and wording is so important! I don’t want them to feel I don’t trust them, but that we are partners.

This works well for play dates, summer camps and anywhere I leave my child without me. I find this particularly calming for both me and my child!

May 6, 2015

Teach Your Children HOW to Talk to Strangers…

As parents, one of our greatest fears is having a stranger take our child. While we are trying to protect them from danger, when we teach children to “never talk to strangers” we are not making them any safer. What we really need to teach our children is how and when it is safe to talk to strangers.

I was recently sent this video that demonstrates how ineffective it is just to tell our children not to talk to strangers. A man with a puppy asks different parents for permission to approach their children with the puppy to see how they handled it. All of these parents said they have consistently told their children never to talk to strangers. Much to their horror, it took him about 30 seconds to draw their children away from a park.

Helping children practice what to do when a stranger talks to them is much more effective. If your child has practiced “checking first before talking to a stranger” then they are more likely to do so in real life. The beauty of practicing safety skills with your child is that you get to see what they really know!

For more practice skills, download the Kidpower 30-Skill Challenge free online library or purchase a Kidpower comic book.

March 5, 2015

Preschoolers Can Set Boundaries Too!

Bounce houses are a saving grace for parents on cold weather days! Today was one of those days and all the schools were closed. So I, like half the other parents in town, took my children out to a local bounce house. There were A LOT of kids!

My 3 year old became nervous as some of the bigger kids pushed right past him on the structures. At first he came and told me what was happening. (He was practicing his Kidpower Getting Help skill!) I walked over to a slide with him and firmly but kindly told the child behind him to wait her turn. (When she did I thanked her for doing such a great job!)

The next step was to teach him to set the boundary on his own. I told him that if someone was too close to him he can say “Stop! It’s my turn.” He practiced a couple of times and then ran off to play. A few minutes later he came back and whispered, “What are the words when someone is behind me?” We practiced again and high-fived. This happened 2 or 3 more times. Then he came up to me and TOLD me in a strong voice, “Stop! It’s my turn!”, smiled, and ran off again to play. As I watched him continue to play I noticed he no longer looked nervous and tentative. He came across more confident and I even saw him turn around once to another child and use his new skill!

Authentic lessons are so effective and take no time to prepare! Opportunities to teach personal safety skills present themselves all the time. Take advantage of these little moments to give your children language they can use to keep themselves safe and develop their confidence. It makes a difference!

January 15, 2015

Digital Parenting

The recent cold front meant hot chocolate and fires in the fireplace at our house. It also meant lots of screen time! Like most parents, I struggle with how to manage what my children are exposed to and what kinds of sites are most beneficial for them. As they get older, I worry about online safety.

Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) offers tips for navigating the internet safety with your kids. Their blog, Good Digital Parenting has research and information regarding social media, online games and advice on how to manage these issues with your children.

Using technology to learn, create and connect is wonderful. Learning to use technology safely is a must!