M.I. Friends
Hi, I’m Poppy. Let’s get to know each other!
Here are some activities you and your family can do together!
Activity Time!
1
Draw me a picture of a time when you or someone you know got nervous.
2
Poppy sometimes struggles with big feelings. Does this ever happen to you? Draw me a picture of a time when you or someone you know got nervous.
3
Sometimes when Poppy wakes up in the morning, she knows big feelings are going to come. She doesn’t know when they will happen, but she knows there is a chance she might experience them.
How could you help Poppy when she starts to deal with her big feelings?
How many carrots are you feeling today?
When Poppy’s worries get big, it feels sometimes like she’s had too many carrots. Sometimes she even feels sick.
When Poppy is struggling with big feelings, and people ask her how she’s feeling, she doesn’t know how to describe it, so she tells them how big the worries are in carrots:
? 1 carrot- Poppy’s worries are still small. She’s ok.
??? 2-3 carrots- Poppy is starting to think about her worries more than anything else. She’s getting worried they are starting to get big.
????? 4- 5 carrots- Poppy’s worries are starting to make it so she’s not feeling well. She has a headache, maybe even a stomachache. Poppy’s worries are getting bigger and she needs some help.
Now, meet the M.I.friends!
This is Emmet
Emmet’s first reaction is to be negative and critical when a new situation makes him nervous. Being negative doesn’t make a bad situation better. Emmet is learning that is negative reaction is his inner critic talking- he needs to practice listening to his inner coach!
“I don’t like it when things change or are different. I especially don’t like surprises, like when we have to go somewhere quickly or there is a change to what we usually do. This makes me angry, nervous, and sometimes my body refuses to do it.”
This is Wendel
Wendel often gets in trouble for getting too excited and a case of the sillies when he gets nervous. Wendel is learning to stop, think and then do when he feels these big feelings growing. He needs to learn to be the boss of his emotions so they don’t make him do something that’s going to get him in trouble.
“Sometimes I get the sillies and I can’t control it. It gets me in trouble and makes me make bad choices. I need to remind my feelings that they aren’t the boss of me.”
This is Gulliver
Gully has a lot of questions when it comes to worries. Everything makes him nervous. Gully’s first reaction is to be scared- he’s learning to ask questions to help him prepare for new situations and help him manage what is making him nervous.
“Sometimes when there are so many things I have to do, I feel like I can’t do anything. I don’t know where to start.”
This is Poppy
Poppy struggles with big feelings. She often lets her worries build up and then they come out like an explosion. Working with her family, she is learning to manage big feelings with strategies and tools to help her keep big feelings from being the boss of her.