This is a good one for school and home! Sometimes Words come out quickly when you are frustrated, angry, fearful or just being selfish. I taught the Tigers that once a word is out, you can never take it back. I gave them small plates and little tubes of toothpaste. I instructed them to squeeze the toothpaste onto the plate and asked them to put it back into the tube. Like all tenacious kindergarteners, they tried their best but could not get the paste into the tube. The understood the connection: the toothpaste won’t go back and the words won’t go back. Next I brought out a giant cutout of a heart and we discussed words or unkind actions that hurt your heart. Each time a word was presented I folded the heart. When we were finished, we unfolded the heart and learned that we can say “sorry”, (or better yet, “would you please forgive me”), but the crinkles/folds would always be on the heart. This little lesson brought much sunshine into our class. The five year olds were so smart and determined to be kind to each other. I hope you will always watch your words. Just Be Kind !
