Something Bad Happened: A Kid's Guide to Coping With Events in the News (Like Covid-19!)

I HAVE to share this wonderful book with you all!! It is a must have for your children's book collection!

Dawn Huebner, PHD, has written this beautiful book for children to help them understand and cope with their sad and anxious feelings surrounding events in the news! What a perfect time to get your hands on this book!!!

I LOVE how this book is written. It feels like Dawn herself is holding your hand whilst she calmly validates and explains your feelings in a nurturing, none patronizing way. She talks to children as though they are equals, providing them with pure self-awareness.

The book delivers the exact same messages of our songs "BAD BUBBLES" (A song specially designed to help children cope with their bad thoughts and feelings) and "THE WORRY MONSTER" (A song all about anxiety and to help children understanding fight or flight) I'll put the links below so you can sing and dance along with your little ones :)

"BAD BUBBLES" by Sammy & The Sparks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8-ppuKCzg

"THE WORRY MONSTER" by Sammy & The Sparks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRJnQ15Oxvs

The book also teaches techniques we teach in our home schooling lesson plans! We have 5 lesson plans available for download but the 2 we recommend alongside this book are "THE BAD BUBBLES LESSON PLAN" and "THE WORRY MONSTER LESSON PLAN"

To browse our lesson plans and to find out more, click here or visit www.sammyandthesparks.com/lesson-plans

Head here to buy Dawn Huebner's book "Something Bad Happened: A Kid's Guide to Coping With Events in the News: https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/something-bad-happened-a-kids-guide-to-coping-with-events-in-the-news/dawn-huebner/kara-mchale/paperback/9781787750746.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-r71BRDuARIsAB7i_QMQu6M8OcOmo4gKEmSjoqcuI9_c-VgN7Da-TvnkIHBF0x5x-9ur3NsaAm6_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

5 Minute Parent + Child Meditation

Anxiety and depression in children has never been higher. It is more important than ever for us to take mindfulness and self-care seriously.

A triangle meditation is simple to do and highly effective. Meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce stress, control anxiety, stabilize our emotions, encourage self-awareness, lengthen our attention span, help control pain, encourage kindness, improve memory loss with age and improve our sleep. The triangle meditation is perfect to do with your little ones because it is simple and visual. Here is how to do it... Step 1) GET COSY.

Find a cosy, peaceful place for you both to sit. If you are inside, maybe light a candle or play some gentle music, like our meditative song for children "Bad Bubbles": https://open.spotify.com/track/475zgXnBWLgtHWDJ8pub1U Step 2) CLOSE YOUR EYES AND RELAX.

Nothing to add here... I told you it was simple!

Step 3) BREATH IN, HOLD, BREATH OUT.

Breath in for 3 counts, hold your breath for 3 counts, then breath out for 3 counts. As you do this, picture a triangle. Imagine tracing each side of that triangle with each breath. This is a wonderfully easy way to bring ourselves into the now and to make sure our mind is completely clear of everything else. Step 4) FOCUS ON YOUR BREATH.

Keep breathing deeply, enjoying each breath. If you feel like your thoughts are intruding, focus on tracing that triangle. Step 5) OPEN YOUR EYES.

When you are ready, gently open your eyes and gradually return your awareness to your surroundings...

You may like our home schooling lesson plan "BAD BUBBLES" which is all about teaching children the art of mindfulness, self-awareness and meditation. If you would like to find out more, click here!

The "BAD BUBBLES" Lesson Plan is designed to introduce children to the art of meditation and day to day mindfulness and self-awareness. The whole plan focuses on teaching children how to cope with bad thoughts and negative feelings. They will learn how to not define themselves by their bad thoughts, how normal it is to have bad thoughts and how to deal with those thoughts in a healthy and mindful way.   All our home education lesson plans work hand in hand, providing children with powerful self-help techniques to help them stay emotionally and mentally strong.   YOU WILL GET:   - Welcome Pack and Information ​ - Worksheets to help children identify and cope with their bad thoughts and negative feelings. Sheets designed to encourage loving, thoughtful conversations between you. ​ - Daily Affirmations designed to affirm self-awareness around our thinking. ​ - A daily, 5 minute, Guided Meditation to help children cope with their bad thoughts and feelings. ​ - Affirmation word search to introduce new, mindful words to your child's vocabulary. ​ - "BAD BUBBLES" by Sammy & The Sparks (the single) ​ - "BAD BUBBLES" (the backing track) ​ - "BAD BUBBLES" Lyric Sheets ​ - "BAD BUBBLES" official, sing-along, music video in HD.

WE HAVE A BLOG! Let's talk Sammy & The Sparks and yes, you guessed it... CORONAVIRUS!!!

It is the 2nd March 2020.

Our lives have been turned completely upside down due to COVID-19.

My heart goes out to all who are suffering at this trying time.

To everyone who is seriously ill, who's loved ones are seriously ill, to everyone who's businesses are suffering...

I really hope you are hanging in there.

I have talked a lot these past couple of weeks about how Coronavirus has affected Sammy & The Sparks. It definitely wasn't something I was prepared for and It has made me re-think and re-brand the whole of my project. One of my blessings is that my project is all about helping children cope with fear. I feel like I can help more people than ever! Despite not earning any money right now... what a blessing!

I don't know about you but life feels like it has slowed down and I feel much more present in my day to day life. When we are in danger, we are more alert, more aware of our surroundings. There are always positives where there are negatives and what I am about to say is not said to disregard all the current health and financial catastrophes.

On my mind is this. We have been given the gift of vulnerability, the gift of feeling in danger. Let's indulge in our self-awareness! When we are self-aware, we are more sensitive to our needs and the needs of others. We are fully in touch with what we want and don't want in life. Because of this, we have the mental space and the clarity to make the necessary changes.

As hard as it may be to focus on the positives over the negatives, indulge in this time. Use it to your advantage. We may not be able to grow our business's right now, but the inner growth we can achieve is infinite.

Our song "BAD BUBBLES" is written to help children and families cope with bad thoughts and negative feelings. It is a musical meditation to help us understand that we are not our thoughts, we are the spectators of our thoughts.

“Sammy & The Sparks is much needed for our children (for all actually) at this time when the world seems out of control. Many of our children are anxious about the Coronavirus. Those who are able to voice their concerns are asking if they will die, or if the people close to them will die.” - Bev Cullen | Specialist Music Teacher at BC Music

How You Can Help Fund Sammy & The Sparks:

You can help fund us without spending a penny. All you need to do is listen and share our music online. We would be truly grateful. Each Spotify play gives us 0.006p! (Crazy isn't it.) But we really do appreciate every single one of you who streams or buys our music. By helping us spread the word, you are helping us create awareness so we can hopefully bounce back after all this has blown over with tour bookings.

Another way you will soon be able to help is by downloading our at home lesson plans. I'm so excited to finally make these available to you. There will be 5 lesson plans available for you to buy and do with your children as part of your home education. Each plan is designed to create loving discussions with your little ones around mental well being and to teach a different self-help technique that they can use going forward in life. You can visit our website at www.sammyandthesparks.com to find out more.

I really hope these lesson plans bring lots of joy into your homes and create lots of insightful discussion with you and your children.

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