Last year when my sweet and very shy Em started kindergarten, I was so nervous. Would she make friends? Would she join groups? Would she speak up? Little did I know that mid-year I would be talking to my shy little one about being too chatty when it was not time for talking.
OK, so I must be honest, being the parent of a very shy child- when I heard of this issue she was having my heart smiled a bit (my apologies for that confession to our absolutely amazing and favorite kinder teacher!) It's just that I worried and worried and worried and ended up having a chatty girl who needed to learn to hush at times. Who would've thought?? Although, all that means to a mother is something new to worry about, right?
I talked with Emma about this problem and it was indeed true. We continued to talk about why some times it was best to be listening and others times were for talking (and giggling, which is what she does best!) While we talked about this little problem she was having we also worked on making some clay bracelets together. These would be something she could wear at school to be a little reminder of when was the right time to talk.
We used Sculpey and Fimo oven bake clays. They are pretty tough at first and require some strong kneading to get them more pliable.
Once they were easy to work with we rolled long snake shapes using several colors. With a plastic bracelet as our size guide we connected the two ends and laid each on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Into the oven heated at 275 degrees they went for about 15 minutes (until firm and holding shape.)
I painted lips on one to be the special reminder bracelet.
I'm not sure if this bracelet worked well or not, but what it did do is make our conversation about the problem a little more interesting to her and by turning this into an activity it made a lasting impression. She still remembers that talk.
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