Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 405
Positive Practices
Hello Everyone
Have you noticed that when you watch the news it always seems to be bad?
There is a negative bias on the news; that means that the worst disasters are put in the spotlight.
The news reporters always find the people who are the most upset to interview because they project the most drama.
The worse the news story is; the more sensation is generated.
Maybe, you don’t watch the news because it isn’t of interest to you anyway, but you still hear adults talking about things they have seen on the television or read about in newspapers.
lt all gets a bit depressing, and you could be forgiven for thinking that the world is mostly a scary place because what you see reported is so terrible.
The truth is, that reporters travel far and wide to collect these stories and most of what happens in the world is not that bad.
Not only is this important to remember, but it is also important to realize that you have a choice not to feed yourself on this diet of negativity.
lt might be on the television and lnternet twenty-four hours a day, but you don’t have to watch it for hours at a time.
lt is all too easy to get sucked into it all.
The human brain is not designed to cope with lots of negativity.
Whatever you focus on, keeps being fed into your brain – it is like a tree constantly sucking up water and nutrients through its roots to keep the tree growing bigger and bigger.
Your brain needs to be fed with happy and positive things whenever possible – so that it can be stronger when a time comes when it really has no choice but to deal with something bad that is going on.
When you sit and watch the news or read what other people have said on social media, you are being passive.
That means that you are taking in any information that is being fed to you by someone else.
You have the choice to be active rather than passive.
You have the choice to focus on positive things rather than negative things.
You will be healthier and happier if you make this choice.
Depression can set in if you don’t.
So how can you focus on the positive?
Firstly, you may choose to make friendships with people face to face rather than through social media.
ln face to face relationships, people have to make an effort to be nice, otherwise they won’t have any friends!
lf you get upset because someone said something nasty to you on the lnternet, you can choose to not engage and go and do something more worthwhile instead!
Don’t follow the crowd, don’t just do what everyone else is doing – go and do something that will make you happy.
Decide what will make you happy.
lt will be different for everyone.
There are lots of things you can do to become more positive.
Write a list of positive affirmations. You can do this on a sheet of paper decorated with pictures or you could write them on post it notes and stick them around your mirror.
Spend time with people who are nice to you and support you. lf you don’t have enough friends, join a club to do sport or another activity. lt could open up a whole new world for you.
Celebrate small wins. People are always trying to achieve the next goal, but sometimes you need to give yourself a pat on the back when you have done something well and this will give you some positive fuel which will help you to move forward again.
Learn how to meditate. Lots of successful adults have this practice.
An easy meditation to do is to count your breaths in for 100 and then out for 100. While you think about your breathing, you will not think about anything else for just a little while, and scientists have discovered that this is very healthy for your brain. lt gives it a rest.
When you want to do more advanced meditations, you can find some on You Tube, some people download apps for meditations to their smart phone as well.
lt is like going on a lovely, little journey in your head.
They are called guided meditations because someone is guiding you through the journey.
Each time you go to bed, think about all the things that went right during the day and all the things you can be grateful for. This will force you to focus on all the things that are alright.
Create a playlist of songs that make you feel happy and lift your spirits.
Eat and drink healthy things because they make you feel better – you are what you eat.
Don’t keep complaining about anything and everything all the time. Some mothers enforce a no whine Wednesday or a no moan Monday. lf anyone moans they get fined out of their pocket money. This makes life better for everyone.
But, if you think that you have big troubles, find someone to talk to and tell them in a very specific way what is worrying you, it can lift a big, heavy load off you to do this.
lnstead of moaning and groaning about something, it is better to find a way to tackle the thing you are unhappy about.
Turn chores into games or races. Promise yourself a treat if you complete a task that you don’t really want to do.
Don’t keep putting things that you have to do off.
This is called procrastinating.
You may as well get something done and over with, and then you can go and do what you want to do – like doing your homework before you go off and play or watch television.
Take exercise, preferably in the fresh air. This makes you feel better inside.
Look upwards at the sky and clouds and tree canopies. Only do this when it is safe – not when you are crossing the road, for example.
All of these strategies can help to make you focus on the positive rather than give in to eating a constant diet of negativity!
lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.
Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: lt says in the Rocky Bay Gazette that the deck chair attendant at Sandy Cove collapsed this week.
Bob: Oh no! ls he alright?
Bill: Yes, apparently. But it took half a dozen people quite a while to figure out how to get him up again!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
This week, Miss Pringle said that her class had done so well in solving a puzzle that she had given them on parts of speech, that she was going to give them another one this week and another one next week as well.
Can you solve the puzzle she gave to her class this week?
Match the parts of speech up with their definitions…
An action verb
A state verb
An auxiliary verb
A modal verb
- A word to describe doing something like: walk, run, swim, work, play, fly
- A verb used to express one of the following: offer, request, ability, suggestion, permission, obligation, certainty (for example: shall, will, may, can, could, should, must, might)
- A verb that describes an action that is not usually used in the continuous form (that means an ‘ing’ word) like: love, hate, believe, understand, know, need – so for example you say ‘I love him’ not ‘I am loving him’
- A verb used to make tenses: be (continuous), do (simple), have (perfect)
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Quick Quiz
What do these phrases mean?
- To green the grey
- lt’s pie in the sky
- To square the circle
- To bring it home to you
- To be prepared
- To spread one’s wings
- To pave the way for
- Hobson’s choice
- To get itchy feet
- The world is your oyster
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE WlNTER ACCSSORlES FOR A CANDY STRlPE DOLL
These accessories are for the doll featured on Blog Post 381.
The patterns for the clothes can be found on Blog Post 387.
Here are patterns for a hat and scarf and some cute, little ankle warmers.
HAT (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and purple sparkly dk yarn cast on 26 stitches
Slip 1 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches until 1 stitch remains, knit 1
Repeat the last row 5 times
Knit 6 rows of stocking stitch
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 2 rows of stocking stitch
Knit 24 rows of stocking stitch (32 rows of stocking stitch altogether)
Don’t cast off
TO MAKE UP
Sew up the side seams using over-sew stitching as follows:-
First, sew the ribbing wrong sides together
Turn the hat inside out
Pull the top tight and sew along the side seams of the stocking stitch with right sides together
Put a small, light bobble on the top if you would like to
SCARF (KNIT ONE)
Using 4mm knitting needles and purple sparkly dk yarn cast on 10 stitches
Knit 10 rows of stocking stitch
Slip 1 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches until 1 remains knit 1
Repeat the last row 99 times (32 rows of rib)
Knit 10 rows of stocking stitch
Cast off
Pull the ends in by threading the yarn ends along the end seams and sew on a bobble or bead
ANKLE WARMERS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and purple sparkly dk yarn cast on 22 stitches
Slip 1 (knit 2, purl 2) repeat the last 4 stitches until 1 stitch remains, knit 1
Repeat last row 41 times
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
Sew up the seams using over-sew stitching as follows:-
Sew top and bottom together
Turn inside out
Sew two side seams
Sew two side seams together
Turn inside out again
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Answers to the News Desk Quiz
An action verb
A word to describe doing something like: walk, run, swim, work, play
A state verb
A verb that describes an action that is not usually used in the continuous form (that means an ‘ing’ word) like: love, hate, believe, understand, know, need – so for example you say ‘I love him’ not ‘I am loving him’
An auxiliary verb (auxiliary means ‘additional’ or ‘help and support’ – like an auxiliary nurse)
A verb used to make tenses: be (continuous), do (simple), have (perfect)
A modal verb
A verb used to express
offer, request, ability, suggestion, permission, obligation, intentions, decisions, promises, certainty;
for example: shall, will, may, can, could, should, must, might
Quick Quiz Answers
- To green the grey – to put plants in a cityscape
- lt’s pie in the sky – it is a plan unlikely to become reality
- To square the circle – to attempt to find an answer to a problem that seems impossible to solve
- To bring it home to you – to make you realize the reality of a situation
- To be prepared – to think ahead to what might happen and prepare yourself for the situation
- To spread one’s wings – to find more independence
- To pave the way for – to make preparations for
- Hobson’s choice – there is only one thing to have, so no choice at all
- To get itchy feet – to want to travel to new places – maybe you want to get a new job for example
- The world is your oyster – there are many possibilities awaiting you
Best blog for children I have seen. This is so well done. I think it is truly wonderful.
Thank you very much for your kind comment! : )