WEAPONS OF STRESS REDUCTION!

We are back with another update on our Connect: Nukko Lake group! Between sharing our winter break stories, learning about stress, and making our own stress balls, it was a fun session!

For our first time back together after winter break, we started the session off by each chatting about how our breaks were. This took up a good chunk of time, as the kids had so much to share. We always make sure that everyone has a chance to talk in this group as it's super important for them to be heard and feel welcome!

Our topic this week was learning about stress. We talked about how it's okay to feel stressed, and healthy ways of dealing with stress. This included communicating, finding a healthy distraction/hobby, and taking a break when you need to! We also identified different kinds of stress such as family, friends, or school, and each participant talked about which kind of stress affects them the most. 

For our activity, we made stress balls! Each child was given a balloon, empty water bottle, and water expanding beads! They each made their own stress balls by emptying the water bottle of water beads into the balloon and tying it off. This left them with a squishy object to squeeze when feeling stressed or anxious.

That’s all for this week!

January 5th, 2025

- Amy, BigsNBC Mentoring Coordinator