Already huge fans of the Happy Confident Me journals, which we even mentioned in our Growth Mindset Books for Children post a while back, we were SO excited to receive the Happy Confident Me Life Skills Journal and a huge bundle of other goodies to review.
The Happy Confident Me company have the most wonderful range of products for children of all ages to learn about and strengthen their growth mindset. They help teach children to think more mindfully, and to accept failures and mistakes as forward steps to growth. I honestly think this is one of the most important lessons children (and adults) can learn!
So many of us missed out on being taught that our negative emotions are just as important as our positive ones. We need to know that we can feel all of them, and accept them! It’s about learning to acknowledge that every part of our mindset helps us to grow and move forward. We learn through mistakes and ‘failures’.
And that’s where these products come in…
These glorious, bright, child friendly resources are an absolutely perfect way to broach the subject of mindfulness and mindset with children. It’s all presented on a level they can understand, and in a really fun way!
Life Skills Journal
The Life Skills Journal for Teens and Tweens is one of the newer products by the Happy Confident Me company. Written by Dr Linda Papadopoulos and Nadim Saad, and beautifully illustrated by Daniel Bobroff, it is a fun, funky and eye-catching way to introduce or further learning on mindset for children.
The authors wanted to help children to find ways to feel better about themselves through the challenges that life often throws their way (all of our way!), and this journal is definitely full of activities, prompts, affirmations and more to keep them focusing on who they are and what their skills are. Also asking them to think about how they feel, what they want and what they need.
I feel like a lot of us have grown up being taught to ignore our needs, wants and feelings in order to appease others, and I think this journal is going to be a pivotal resource in reminding our children that remembering who they are and what they need is one of the most important steps to growth, development and being able to help others too.
How many years old were we all when we were taught that in order to be able to take care of others, that we must first re-fill our own cup? Probably too old!!
Standing up to our demons…
There are important reminders in here that often the worst bully we come across is our own mind. We are all too capable of beating ourselves up or telling ourselves we aren’t good enough. Children need to know that their inner voice can be as wrong as any other bully, and it also gives great ideas on how to challenge those destructive thoughts we have, and how we can reframe and tell our bully to go away!
Assessing our reactions…
I love that throughout there are parts of the journal where it’s asking you to assess ways that you’ve reacted ‘badly’, or should I say, if you’ve snapped at someone or something. I love that throughout there’s a constant feeling of really acknowledging and assessing each emotion and feeling. This is something that is vital in understanding our emotions and being empathetic to them. Allowing them all to be a part of our lives.
Hands on learning…
If I sat my children down and tried to explain the ins and outs of their feelings and emotions, sure… they would listen. But probably not for long. This journal, and all of the Happy Confident Me journals are SO interactive and full of hands on, bright activities to get them taking part in absorbing all of this important information without even really thinking they’re learning some of the most important skills for life.
Where to buy the Life Skills Journal
You can purchase the fantastic, Life Skills Journal here on the Happy Confident Me website!
Other amazing Products
As well as journals, the Happy Confident Me company make these great packs of cards which further the learning about feelings and emotions even more!
Conversations
Happy Confident Me Conversations cards are just that… Great conversation starters on the topic of mindfulness, acknowledging feelings and experiences and also just enjoying each other as a family. There are various ways you can use the cards, but each way helps to further the message about how important mindfulness and stopping to think really is.
I love that there’s the deeper conversation starters, but then an entire section dedicated to just having a little fun!
Affirmations
Exactly what it says on the tin, the Affirmations deck of cards are full of important reminders to tell ourselves when we are in need of a boost.
Feel It!
The Feel It! cards pack is a pack with 4 different ‘games’ or ways to use that really get everyone thinking about and acknowledging how they feel, and how they would like to feel. These card games really help everyone to not only acknowledge their feelings and emotions, but also to learn what each of those feelings mean.
Other Journals
As well as the Life Skills Journal, the Happy Confident Me company also has both a Daily Journal and the Super Journal (which we have mentioned previously!). Both are equally fantastic resources for children 6+ to start learning how journaling can really help to regulate their emotions and mindset.
The daily journal is designed to introduce children to the practise of daily journaling, and the Super Journal is that and MORE. It does include prompts for daily journaling too, but is also packed with weekly activities and lots of extras to really go that extra mile in learning about and getting to know our own emotions.
The kids’ feedback:
Maya (age 8):
‘I like my journal because you can tell it how you feel, because when you feel sad and you go and have a look through it, you start to feel happy!’
Nola (age 12):
‘I found the life skills journal comforting. I like that you can tell it how you feel. I like that it gets me to think about all of my good qualities and what makes me, me.’
I can’t say enough just how much I think resources like these from the Happy Confident Company are absolutely vital in helping children to develop the most important skills they’ll ever learn. To understand themselves and their emotions. To learn that in order to grow we must go through negative emotions, mistakes and failures. Products like these aren’t just ‘another’ marketing ploy or thing to be forgotten for children, I think they should be required reading for every child.
Honestly, check them out!
If you want to buy, you can use the special code we have been given for our readers and followers, which is: Heaton20 🙂
L xxx
Check out our list of Growth Mindset Books for Children
