BE YOU: Positive Self Talk

BE YOU Week 6: Positive Self Talk

“The more I like me, the less I want to pretend to be other people.”
– Jamie Lee Curtis

The self-talk you do in your own head can help or hurt you. If you are talking negatively to yourself, it will hurt your confidence and your self-love. If you are talking yourself up and speaking positive things, you will in turn help yourself be more confident, and will hopefully love yourself all the more!

The way we think changes how we feel and our behaviors. To be more confident, you have to change the way you think about yourself. Sometimes we say mean things to ourselves when we should be speaking to ourselves the same way we would speak to a friend. Before saying something to yourself, think, “Would I say this out loud to a friend?” If not, erase it and move on. If so, say it and celebrate!

We know ourselves better than anyone else. We know our strengths and our weaknesses, and we know the areas we need to improve upon versus the areas where we are stronger. It’s often easier for us to notice the more “negative” areas in our lives and be more critical with ourselves. Instead of focusing on those negatives, let’s try to solely focus on the positive parts of our lives. Tell yourself you are proud when you accomplish something you have strived to complete. Tell yourself you are a good friend when you help someone in need. Tell yourself you can do it when you are facing something difficult. When you talk to yourself in a positive light, you will likely spread happiness and positivity to others. When you think of yourself with positive thoughts, you will be more confident in your own skin. Nothing looks better than confidence!

This Week’s #GACbeyou Challenge

Journal or share with someone else (can be a parent, sibling, or friend) your answer to this question:

What are some positive things you regularly say to yourself? Write these things down and keep them handy. When you need a reminder of how awesome you are, look back at your list. Looking back at the nice things you have said about yourself will remind you of all of the positive attributes that you have noticed in yourself. Since we sometimes tend to focus on the negatives instead of the positives in ourselves, choosing to notice all of the great qualities about you will help you focus on those positive things.

GACspiration

Want to be inspired? Print out this week’s GACspiration and post it on your bathroom door or mirror (just like at GAC)!

Activity Ideas

Develop a mantra. A mantra is a word or phrase that is repeated to help aid concentration in meditation. Come up with some pep talks for yourself for when you need a boost or a reminder of how awesome you are! Make some mantras for different situations that you may encounter. Write them down or memorize them and say them when needed. You can do it!

Resources

Be You!

The Power of Positive Words

Being Me

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BE YOU: Build Others Up

BE YOU Week 5: Build Others Up

“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.”
– Kid President

One way we can be our best selves is by bringing out the best traits in others. When we’re at our best, we feel confident in ourselves and don’t feel the need to put others down.

Building others up is a great way to boost the feelings of others while doing something nice for yourself. There are many ways to build others up. Think about things that make you feel more confident or happy, and pay it forward by treating or doing a similar thing for someone else. Here are a few ways you can build others up:

This Week’s #GACbeyou Challenge

Journal or share with someone else (can be a parent, sibling, or friend) your answer to this question:

Your challenge this week is to find a way to build another person up and help them be their best self. So think about someone in your life – a family member or friend –  and give them a sincere compliment, tell them something positive you notice about them, and look for ways to make them feel loved and accepted.

Ask your friends about things they’re interested in. Find out what makes them feel good and try to remember what they like or what they’re good at. You will help them feel good about themselves, and in turn, you will feel good about yourself. 

GACspiration

Want to be inspired? Print out this week’s GACspiration and post it on your bathroom door or mirror (just like at GAC)!

Activity Ideas

This week, we challenge you to build yourself and others up! Find different ways to build your friends up. While building others up, you will feel better about yourself. Keep a list of ways for future reference so that when you need a way to help or encourage a friend, you will be able to look back at it for ideas.

Resources

Be You!

In Helping Others, You Help Yourself

Filling Buckets

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Parenting in Place Masterclass Series

Are you stressed about summer and wondering how your family will manage? Are you completely burned out from the demands placed on you as a parent in recent months? Are you craving practical strategies for helping your child (and your family) thrive and prepare for what’s next?

If so, please join us for a special live masterclass series designed to help you this summer: Parenting in Place: Helping Families Thrive in Challenging Times.

This new series comes from a group of parenting experts, therapists, authors, educators, and neuroscientists who’ve come together to share their very best strategies and ideas for how you and your family can thrive this summer. 

Parenting in Place features 9 weekly masterclasses (hosted on Zoom) through June and early August, each focused on a different theme, and each including specific takeaways and strategies. 

Because the event is live, attendees will have the opportunity to ask the hosts questions and communicate with other attendees through chat. 

There is also a bundle of free bonus content (downloadables, templates, webinars) from their speakers, and created a closed moderated Facebook group so together you can keep the conversation going throughout the duration of the event.

Here’s the whole line-up for the live webinars:

Live events will be held on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT, but registrants will have access to replays in case they can’t attend live.  

This event is meant to be accessible as possible and they recognize the difficult position many families find themselves in these days. 

Therefore, they’re offering the entire series— 9-week series of live classes, the bonus bundle, and the closed Facebook community—for only $29. Once the event begins on June 10, the cost will go up to $39.

10% of the proceeds for the Masterclass will be donated to charity to support Covid-19 and social justice-related work.

To register for Parenting in Place, click on this link. It all gets started on June 10!

We look forward to seeing you there!

My School In Motion!

My School In Motion, founded by camp parent Apryl Krakovsky, is a program designed to get school communities moving and learning every day. Their videos are fun exercise routines for kids and adults that incorporate positive messaging about health, wellness, and nutrition.

“My School In Motion, Inc.’s mission is to provide all students, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, with an early positive physical activity experience, while at the same time educating them in the areas of nutrition, fitness and wellness, and empowering them to make smart choices today and in the future. We want to ensure that students have the best start to every school day and set them on a path for a lifetime of health, productivity and happiness.”

We are lucky enough to be able to share some of My School In Motion’s exercise routines to you in your home! Do these routines with your family and enjoy the fun you have with them!

 

Movement Routines:  Good Life, Boom Boom Pow, I Like to Move It, PB & Jelly Time

 

Movement Routines: PB & Jelly Time, Who Let the Dogs Out, Cupid Shuffle

 

Movement Routines: Popcorn, U Can’t Touch This, Jack Attack, Good Life

 

Movement Routines: Set A Goal – One Step at a Time Warm-Up, Waka Waka, I Like to Move It, Cupid Shuffle, Yoga/Focused Breathing Cool Down

 

Movement Routines: Sunburst, Just Say Yes, 5678, Who Let the Dogs Out, Agadoo

 

Movement Routines: Dynamite, 5678, Addams Family, Macarena, Agadoo, Focused Breathing/Balloon

 

Movement Routines: Cardio Routine 1, PB&Jelly Time, Waka Waka, Just Say Yes, Good Morning Sky

 

Whadda In Place

“Look, Mom! We made a fort!”

I hope the wince on my face looked more like a smile as I surveyed the efforts my children, ages 4 and 7, had made to create a fort using every pillow, blanket, and stuffed animal they could find. I am glad the girls had some fun (and even more fun learning how to fold the blankets as we put them all away), but this scene is representative of the chaos that ensues after days on end of being stuck at home and having to juggle our work schedules while supervising playtime.

I can’t imagine how any parent could feel successful in every realm of life right now. Between parenting, e-learning, work commitments, household duties, cooking, shopping, and self-care, everyone is stretched and scrambling to find balance in our “new normal.”

For the past three weeks, we have been working with some of our awesome GAC counselors to put together virtual events to help provide connection and fun for our campers and camp families in an otherwise challenging time. We hope you have been able to attend some of our live events on Zoom or on Facebook or have viewed the recorded events on YouTube.

Our Afternoon Assemblies have been a fun time for campers and counselors to play games, sing songs, hear the Joke-of-the-Day, and reminisce about the fun we have at Morning Assembly each day at camp.

Our Virtual Campfires have served as a great way for campers to connect to similar-age peers in small groups. The group leaders facilitate discussions, play games, and help campers meet and talk with each other. We have been very happy with the campers’ ability to engage with each other, listen patiently, and share openly in their groups.

Big Virtual Campfire was a big, virtual success, with many campers and counselors submitting acts that showcased a variety of talents. We’re looking forward to our next Big Virtual Campfire next week!

For the next two weeks, we are launching a series of virtual events we’re calling, “Whadda in Place: Bringing a Little Summer into Spring!” Our virtual events have some new and exciting twists, including special events at the beginning of each Virtual Campfire, a virtual camp dance for the whole family, and our next Big Virtual Campfire to conclude the two weeks of fun.

Here’s the schedule of the upcoming virtual events:

This Week:

TODAY, Monday April 6, 4pm PT: Afternoon Assembly on Zoom or Facebook Live.

Tuesday, April 7 @ 4pm PT: Bingo Fun & Virtual Campfire (email us for login details)

Thursday, April 9 @ 4pm PT: Magic with Dan Chan the Magic Man & Virtual Campfire! Bring a quarter, 2 rubber bands, and a deck of cards to join in on the magic! (email us for login details) 

Next Week:

Monday, April 13 @ 4pm PT: Afternoon Assembly on Zoom or Facebook Live.

Tuesday, April 14 @ 4pm PT: Trivia Game & Virtual Campfire (email us for login details)

Thursday, April 16 @ 4pm PT: Jersday Thursday Sports Dance! Dress in your sports gear as we host a virtual dance party–just like a camp dance!  (email us for login details)

Friday, April 17 @ 4pm: Big Campfire  (Send your acts of kindness or theme day activity photos & videos by Wednesday, April 15, for the slideshow!) Watch the fun live on Zoom or Facebook Live, or watch it with your popcorn and Red Vines on YouTube when you want. 

Family Fun Days!

We love having theme days at camp, and we’ve put together some great theme days for you to do at home with your family. We have curated activities, recipes, crafts, and songs that correspond with the themes and hopefully take some of the work out of creating family fun at your house. Take pictures or videos of your family doing these activities and email them to mail@goldarrowcamp.com or post them on social media with #whaddainplace. We will use the photos for a slideshow at our next Big Virtual Campfire to show our GAC families having some fun together!

Each theme day provides several suggestions for family fun, and you can pick and choose the activities, recipes, and crafts that work best for your family. Even if you only pick one or two activities from each theme day, we hope you will find these to be helpful and fun resources.

Click each graphic below for the theme day information and a materials checklist:

 

 

 

 

We would love to hear your feedback about these virtual events and can’t wait to see pictures of your family as you “Whadda in Place!” You can email us your photos or tag us on social media (@goldarrowcamp) and use the hashtag #whaddainplace. We can’t wait to see what you do!

 

National No One Eats Alone Day

 

“No One Eats Alone is a Positive Prevention Initiative that works to prevent bullying before it starts by teaching students to lead the movement to change the culture of middle school!”

National No One Eats Alone Day is February 14, 2020! This popular national program is celebrated in many schools across the country and is a student-led event. It is a day where all kids feel included and accepted by their peers. Would you like to have your school participate? We encourage you to partner with a teacher and click here to sign up where you can request a No One Eats Alone Day backpack. The backpack will help you launch your own NOEAD at your school! If you’re not sure if your school is already registered, see here!

GAC History Book – Perfect Holiday Gift!

Are you looking for the perfect holiday gift for your Gold Arrow Camp friends and family? We have just the gift for you! Sierra Summers is filled with many wonderful pages about your favorite happy place. It shares the rich history of GAC and how it has come to be the place that many people call their home away from home. Click here for more information about the book and to order your copy today!

Sunshine Visits Chandler School This Thursday

This Thursday, November 14, 2019, Sunshine will be spending time with parents and friends of Chandler School in Pasadena, CA. Her talk on “Raising Kids Who Become Thriving Adults” is part of their ParentEd series, which also features two of Sunshine’s favorite parenting educators – Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. & Julie Lythcott-Haims.

If you are in the Pasadena area and want more information, please click here. We hope to see you there!