Week 1 – Grow Your Garden

Overview

As the first workshop in the Growing Strong Minds Summer Series, Grow Your Garden introduces students to the idea that emotional well-being grows through healthy habits, supportive relationships, and self-confidence. Through interactive discussions and a hands-on flower pot activity, students reflect on the people, strengths, calming strategies, and goals that help them thrive, creating a personalized "garden" that represents what helps them grow.

What Students Will Learn

How positive habits and healthy choices help them grow
How to identify the people who support and encourage them
How to recognize their own strengths and personal "superpowers"
How to reflect on activities that bring happiness, promote calmness, and inspire future growth

04

Celebrating Our Growing Gardens

At the end of the workshop, students proudly showcased their completed "Grow Your Garden" projects. Each flower represented a different source of personal growth, including people who support them, activities that help them stay calm, things they enjoy, personal strengths, and goals they hope to achieve. Together, the flowers formed a visual reminder that everyone grows through positive habits, supportive relationships, and self-confidence.

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Supporting Every Student's Garden

As students assembled and decorated their flower pots, I moved from table to table providing individualized guidance, asking reflection questions, and encouraging each child to think deeply about the people, experiences, and strengths that help them grow into their best selves.

04

Celebrating Our Growing Gardens

At the end of the workshop, students proudly showcased their completed "Grow Your Garden" projects. Each flower represented a different source of personal growth, including people who support them, activities that help them stay calm, things they enjoy, personal strengths, and goals they hope to achieve. Together, the flowers formed a visual reminder that everyone grows through positive habits, supportive relationships, and self-confidence.

Week 2 - Big Feelings, Smart Choices

Overview

As the second workshop in the Growing Strong Minds Summer Series, Big Feelings, Smart Choices helps students understand that all emotions are normal and that they have the power to choose how they respond. Through interactive games, group discussions, and a hands-on Turtle Tool craft, students explore healthy coping strategies and create a personalized reminder of the tools they can use to pause, calm their minds, and make thoughtful choices when big feelings arise.

What Students Will Learn

How to recognize and name different emotions
How to understand that everyone experiences feelings differently
Healthy coping strategies for managing big feelings
How to pause, breathe, and think before reacting
How to identify and personalize calming tools they can use at home and at school

01

Creating Personalized Turtle Tools

Each student designed a Turtle Tool with a lift-up shell that opened to reveal their own calming strategies. Rather than copying the same list, students reflected on what genuinely helps them when they're frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed. Some drew family members, others wrote breathing reminders, counting strategies, or trusted adults they could turn to. The finished craft became a personalized resource they could keep long after the workshop ended.

02

Turning Reflection Into Something Tangible

As students decorated their turtle shells, I moved from table to table asking questions like, "What helps you feel better when you're upset?" and "Who could you talk to if you're having a hard day?" These one-on-one conversations helped each child think beyond decorating the craft and reflect on coping strategies that felt meaningful to them. By connecting the activity to their own experiences, the Turtle Tool became more than just a project. It became something they could actually use.

03

Building a Personal Coping Toolkit

Before students completed the inside of their turtles, we brainstormed coping strategies together as a class. Rather than giving them all the answers, we built our list from their own ideas, discussing what they already do when they're feeling angry, nervous, or sad. Students then chose the strategies that fit them best, filling the inside of their shells with reminders they could return to whenever big feelings showed up.

04

From Big Feelings to Smart Choices

Our second summer workshop focused on helping students understand that while everyone experiences big feelings, we always have a choice in how we respond. Through group discussions, movement activities like Four Corners, and hands-on reflection, students explored healthy ways to recognize emotions, pause before reacting, and make thoughtful choices. By the end of the workshop, every student had created a personalized Turtle Tool to take home as a reminder of the coping strategies they chose for themselves.

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Creating Personalized Turtle Tools

Each student designed a Turtle Tool with a lift-up shell that opened to reveal their own calming strategies. Rather than copying the same list, students reflected on what genuinely helps them when they're frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed. Some drew family members, others wrote breathing reminders, counting strategies, or trusted adults they could turn to. The finished craft became a personalized resource they could keep long after the workshop ended.

01

Creating Personalized Turtle Tools

Each student designed a Turtle Tool with a lift-up shell that opened to reveal their own calming strategies. Rather than copying the same list, students reflected on what genuinely helps them when they're frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed. Some drew family members, others wrote breathing reminders, counting strategies, or trusted adults they could turn to. The finished craft became a personalized resource they could keep long after the workshop ended.

02

Turning Reflection Into Something Tangible

As students decorated their turtle shells, I moved from table to table asking questions like, "What helps you feel better when you're upset?" and "Who could you talk to if you're having a hard day?" These one-on-one conversations helped each child think beyond decorating the craft and reflect on coping strategies that felt meaningful to them. By connecting the activity to their own experiences, the Turtle Tool became more than just a project. It became something they could actually use.

03

Building a Personal Coping Toolkit

Before students completed the inside of their turtles, we brainstormed coping strategies together as a class. Rather than giving them all the answers, we built our list from their own ideas, discussing what they already do when they're feeling angry, nervous, or sad. Students then chose the strategies that fit them best, filling the inside of their shells with reminders they could return to whenever big feelings showed up.

04

From Big Feelings to Smart Choices

Our second summer workshop focused on helping students understand that while everyone experiences big feelings, we always have a choice in how we respond. Through group discussions, movement activities like Four Corners, and hands-on reflection, students explored healthy ways to recognize emotions, pause before reacting, and make thoughtful choices. By the end of the workshop, every student had created a personalized Turtle Tool to take home as a reminder of the coping strategies they chose for themselves.

Week 3 - Discover Your Superpowers

Overview

As the third workshop in the Growing Strong Minds Summer Series, Discover Your Superpowers helps students recognize that the qualities that make someone a real superhero are the strengths they demonstrate every day. Through interactive discussions, a "Guess the Superpower" activity, superhero mask creation, and hero missions, students identify their own strengths and practice using kindness, courage, teamwork, and perseverance in real-life situations.

What Students Will Learn

The difference between fictional superpowers and real character strengths
How kindness, courage, teamwork, and perseverance make everyday heroes
How to recognize and celebrate their own unique strengths
How to apply their strengths to help others in everyday situations
How small acts of kindness and bravery can make a big difference

01

Creating Personalized Turtle Tools

Each student designed a Turtle Tool with a lift-up shell that opened to reveal their own calming strategies. Rather than copying the same list, students reflected on what genuinely helps them when they're frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed. Some drew family members, others wrote breathing reminders, counting strategies, or trusted adults they could turn to. The finished craft became a personalized resource they could keep long after the workshop ended.

02

Turning Reflection Into Something Tangible

As students decorated their turtle shells, I moved from table to table asking questions like, "What helps you feel better when you're upset?" and "Who could you talk to if you're having a hard day?" These one-on-one conversations helped each child think beyond decorating the craft and reflect on coping strategies that felt meaningful to them. By connecting the activity to their own experiences, the Turtle Tool became more than just a project. It became something they could actually use.

03

Building a Personal Coping Toolkit

Before students completed the inside of their turtles, we brainstormed coping strategies together as a class. Rather than giving them all the answers, we built our list from their own ideas, discussing what they already do when they're feeling angry, nervous, or sad. Students then chose the strategies that fit them best, filling the inside of their shells with reminders they could return to whenever big feelings showed up.

04

From Big Feelings to Smart Choices

Our second summer workshop focused on helping students understand that while everyone experiences big feelings, we always have a choice in how we respond. Through group discussions, movement activities like Four Corners, and hands-on reflection, students explored healthy ways to recognize emotions, pause before reacting, and make thoughtful choices. By the end of the workshop, every student had created a personalized Turtle Tool to take home as a reminder of the coping strategies they chose for themselves.

01 / 04

Creating Personalized Turtle Tools

Each student designed a Turtle Tool with a lift-up shell that opened to reveal their own calming strategies. Rather than copying the same list, students reflected on what genuinely helps them when they're frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed. Some drew family members, others wrote breathing reminders, counting strategies, or trusted adults they could turn to. The finished craft became a personalized resource they could keep long after the workshop ended.

01

Creating Personalized Turtle Tools

Each student designed a Turtle Tool with a lift-up shell that opened to reveal their own calming strategies. Rather than copying the same list, students reflected on what genuinely helps them when they're frustrated, worried, or overwhelmed. Some drew family members, others wrote breathing reminders, counting strategies, or trusted adults they could turn to. The finished craft became a personalized resource they could keep long after the workshop ended.

02

Turning Reflection Into Something Tangible

As students decorated their turtle shells, I moved from table to table asking questions like, "What helps you feel better when you're upset?" and "Who could you talk to if you're having a hard day?" These one-on-one conversations helped each child think beyond decorating the craft and reflect on coping strategies that felt meaningful to them. By connecting the activity to their own experiences, the Turtle Tool became more than just a project. It became something they could actually use.

03

Building a Personal Coping Toolkit

Before students completed the inside of their turtles, we brainstormed coping strategies together as a class. Rather than giving them all the answers, we built our list from their own ideas, discussing what they already do when they're feeling angry, nervous, or sad. Students then chose the strategies that fit them best, filling the inside of their shells with reminders they could return to whenever big feelings showed up.

04

From Big Feelings to Smart Choices

Our second summer workshop focused on helping students understand that while everyone experiences big feelings, we always have a choice in how we respond. Through group discussions, movement activities like Four Corners, and hands-on reflection, students explored healthy ways to recognize emotions, pause before reacting, and make thoughtful choices. By the end of the workshop, every student had created a personalized Turtle Tool to take home as a reminder of the coping strategies they chose for themselves.

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Decorating Superhero Masks

Students decorated their superhero masks and chose a superhero name before writing three strengths that make them a real superhero. Instead of superpowers like flying or invisibility, they focused on strengths like kindness, courage, and helping others.

Week 4 - Problem Solver Academy

Overview

As part of the Growing Strong Minds Summer Series, Problem Solver Academy teaches students that every problem has more than one possible solution. Through hands-on challenges, teamwork, and creative thinking, students learned how to stay calm, try different strategies, and see mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve.

What Students Will Learn

How to approach problems with a positive mindset
That there can be more than one solution to a problem
How to think creatively and work as a team
Why making mistakes is part of learning
How to persevere when something doesn't work the first time

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Inventing Solutions

Students proudly shared the inventions they designed to solve everyday problems. From creative cleaning tools to helpful gadgets, each invention showed a unique way to use problem-solving skills to help others.

Week 5 – Mistakes Welcome!

Overview

Mistakes Welcome! helps students learn that mistakes are a normal part of trying something new. Through fun drawing challenges and hands-on activities, students practiced working through frustration, trying different approaches, and finding creative ways to turn mistakes into something new.

Students completed wrong-hand and listening drawing challenges before turning random marks and scribbles into their own artwork.

What Students Will Learn

Why mistakes are a normal part of learning
How to keep going when something does not turn out as planned
How to try a different approach when something is difficult
How mistakes can lead to new ideas and creativity
How to feel more comfortable trying something new

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Turning Mistakes Into Art

Students transformed random lines and shapes into their own drawings, finding creative possibilities in something that initially looked like a mistake.

Week 1 – Grow Your Garden

Week 2 - Big Feelings, Smart Choices

What Students Will Learn

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Week 3 - Discover Your Superpowers

Week 4 - Problem Solver Academy

Week 5 – Mistakes Welcome!