It’s never too soon to introduce kids to the benefits of wellness. In Be Wee With Bea, author Liz O’Neill, a former teacher and mental health worker, shares a story based on her own life about Bea, the “wee” bear who practices various mental and physical activities to deal with situations in which she finds herself. Sharing her wellness practices with her friends—a cat named Scruffles and a dog named Sweet Puppy—Bea stresses the importance of getting along regardless of their differences. The book is ideal for children of all ages.
According to the O’Neill, some of the key takeaways from the book include recognizing the importance of caring for the environment, knowing it’s okay to make mistakes, realizing it’s okay to be different, and more. It features a strong anti-bullying message, and it promotes exercises that help to improve kids’ overall health and wellness. Here, O’Neill shares some activities you can encourage your kids to do to improve their self-esteem:
- Identify something good that happened to you, and write it down each week.
- Notice the good things in another person and think of why you like those things and write them down. Then see how you could work to be like that.
- Meditate by repeating a happy phrase in your head until you feel the happiness.
- Walk, hike, or play outside and notice everything around you. If you are with a friend, you can challenge each other to find something unique that the other didn’t notice.
