Everyone loves teddies!

Bears can be nurturing little friends and, really, you can take them anywhere: home, school, hospital, the dentist, somewhere new, when you go visiting or on holiday...
The teddy in our story therapy® series of resources is a soft, safe and cuddly little companion - ten inches from toe to head. He comes with a smart white t-shirt with a special message printed on to it:

and a set of teddy match-the-emotions mini cards (36: 2 of each) in an organza drawstring bag. Just right for encouraging children to talk about emotions or feelings.

You can find our nurturing little bears here  and several of them will be setting off soon to new homes and adventures via charities and groups who work to support children's emotional well-being.

Five today!

Strawberry Jam Books is five years old today!

Stories and resources that promote friendship, kindness, inclusion and understanding ourselves and others  http://www.hilaryhawkes.co.uk/strawberryjambooks/

Print versions of the stories, The Friendship Adventure Project for primary schools and children's groups and the Story Therapy(R) series are all available on amazon sites.

About Strawberry Jam Books
I started this small project five years ago. I'd been lucky enough to have been published by several publishers but decided to venture into setting up my own not-for-profit project for children. I've always felt very passionate about helping children learn about inclusion, differences and understanding of disabilities. So I put a collection of stories together along with a project handbook (The Friendship Adventure). The games and activities in the handbook link to the stories and, through the characters (who have different issues or difficulties), children learn about themselves and others.  But the stories can also be enjoyed on their own without being part of the project.

Then I developed the Story Therapy(R) series which is proving to be the most popular part of Strawberry Jam Books, and it's this collection of interactive stories, audios/cd that help children deal with emotions and feelings that I'm now developing further.

The right stories at the right time can help children grow emotionally, understand themselves and connect with others. 

A book can be a friend. It can nurture, inspire and heal too!

Stories can be shared with groups of children in story time sessions too. These children enjoyed the relaxation/simple meditation at the end of Just Be with Bizzy Bee too! (pic courtesy Jill Cofsky and class).

Over 50 Strawberry Jam Books selected and about to journey to schools and libraries in parts of the world where children have poor access to books and education.

Strawberry Jam Books is a creative Social Enterprise - any profits from sold books goes back into creating more resources. Some titles have won modest awards, such as Mom's Choice or the Wishing Shelf Awards.

If you're looking for free stories and resources then come and check out our website or find the full versions of the books: paperbacks and some audio and cd - on amazon too.   The Story Therapy pinterest page has nearly 200 title suggestions for children's books that help with issues such as loss, behaviour, emotional health etc And Useful Resources  is a growing list of links to ideas that support children, especially those with special needs. 

Hilary Hawkes
Strawberry Jam Books

Nurturing Early Years

The preschool or early years of children's lives are the most important for their all round growth and development. All children learn and develop at their own pace and there is lots parents or carers or educators can do to nurture and inspire that development.

Children learn through play and discovery and through the times we share with them.

Little Chestnuts: nurturing early years is a new facebook

page. I hope you'll come and check it out! You can find it here

@nurturingearlyyears

If you’re looking for ideas, links and resources for

younger/preschool/foundation age children then check in 

each day. Posts include articles on learning, learning through

play, nurturing stories, educational activities and children’s 

all round emotional health too.

If you're a fellow author or you've created a 

great preschool activity that children can enjoy at home or 

preschool then like the page and post it in the visitor’s post 

section! I'll share all brilliant ideas on Strawberry Jam

Books facebook and twitter pages too.


Hilary Hawkes

Get ready for Christmas with an Advent Story Calender!

It's nearly that time again!

In the exciting build up to Christmas, children everywhere will be prising open little cardboard doors (or drawers on the more sophisticated types) and discovering Christmassy pictures (or sometimes not so Christmassy pictures), or finding yummy treats. 

Yes, I'm talking about Advent calenders.

If you're a story fan - a writer or a reader who wants to impart your love for books at every opportunity- then Advent is a great time to get children engaged with stories too.

Why not create an Advent calender that has that in mind? What could be better right now than an idea that gets children involved in stories and prepares them for Christmas all at the same time?

One way is to pick out your child's favourite Christmassy or winter tales - you could include library books to ensure you have plenty ie 24, one for each day of Advent. Wrap each book, or place them all in a decorated box, and let your child choose one a day until December 24th to share and enjoy.

Little Owl discovers it's great being an owl - especially at Christmas time!

Author  Brenda Williams' Brown Bear, Reindeer and Co which is free to enjoy HERE

And Activity Village have lots of free stories and poems.HERE

Or here is how to use the stories for a Story And Advent Activity:

Using coloured card or paper cut out your Christmas tree shape.

Get your child to colour or decorate this and then hang or pin it up.

Encourage your child to choose one book a day.

When you snuggle up and share each story, get your child to draw or create a picture of something from it. They don't need to be van Gogh. All efforts are amazing! And just to prove it, hang or stick each day's masterpiece on the tree. Write the day's number on each picture. You willl have 24 by the end of Advent.

You could make the last day the Nativity story and perhaps decorate your Advent Story Tree with a star at the top.

Happy Advent, happy story sharing!

Stories - and emotional well-being

There is plenty of evidence from the findings of research that tells us that children and young people benefit in many ways from being taught relaxation, calming techniques and how to be "mindful".

Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment. Not trying to suppress thoughts or ignore emotions but to "just be" and accept whatever thoughts and feelings we might be having. It is a form of meditation. 

Learning how to meditate isn't an arduous or boring activity for children. Children are naturally mindful and, given the time and opportunity, can benefit physically, emotionally, cognitively, intellectually and socially from learning how to incorporate moments of calm, or how to respond or deal with stressful moments in a healthy way.

Brain imaging scans of adults have shown changes in brain patterns and responses in people who meditate or practice mindfulness. Improvements in concentration, ability to be resilient, handle stress, learn, focus etc are all linked to these changes.

Two sources that discuss and explain this in more detail are:

http://www.yoga4classrooms.com/yoga-4-classrooms-blog/scientific-evidence-for-yoga-and-mindfulness-in-schools-how-and-why-does-it-work

and 

http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/documents/impact-of-mindfulness---katherine-weare.pdf

So we can conclude that knowing how to stop, be calm and "just be" and developing the ability to step back and respond in better ways to stress or difficult moments is a good and healthy thing for both adults and children.

(c) Karl Newson

Stories of the Story Therapy variety have a contribution to promoting this sense of calmer well-being in children too. The right stories can be healing, nurturing and inspiring. They can help children open up about how they are feeling or, through the characters and storylines, see that they are not alone. They can help children develop empathy and compassion and understanding of others. Other types of story can help develop imaginations, and fun interactive story-lines and role playing enable children to step out of their lives momentarily and experience adventures or different situations as they pretend to be someone/something else or elsewhere absorbing calming and emotionally strengthening lessons or life skills along the way.

A simple story that introduces children to relaxation or meditation is a great way to enable a child to calm down or feel relaxed. Such stories can be shared on a one to one basis with a child or with a group of children too: a kind of story time with added benefit.

Audio stories set to fun and calming music are also great for groups of children. Visualisation or interactive type stories invite children to act out the story - or simply listen and imagine.

Listen here:

Story Therapy series is a collection of stories, books, print/audio/CD that offer stories that nurture, inspire and heal. There is something in the collection suitable for children from preschool age up to twelves (guide only) and they can be used with a child or children at home, with groups or by play therapists, counsellors etc working with children.

Check out the series here

https://uk.pinterest.com/strawberryjambo/story-therapy/

Why stories matter

I really believe a love of books and reading is one of the best gifts parents or carers can give to a child.

Experts agree that in homes where there are books - and preferably lots of books! - children become readers faster themselves. A link has also been found between the home with books and storytelling parents and later success in school and even life in general.

See what The Literacy Trust says.

This makes sense to me. Apart from the fact that they give more exposure to the way thoughts and information is put into words, sharing stories with children is also a way of bonding and  fostering emotional health - stories even trigger the release of oxytocin, the feel-good and bonding neuropeptide. 

Research tells us that when we listen to a story it affects and alters neuro-chemical processes in our brains. Stories can affect the way we feel about others, ourselves and the world. They can also help children deal with difficult situations or emotions they may be experiencing by depicting characters finding solutions and good outcomes to similar events or feelings. See this fascinating article:

The science of story

So for children pre-literacy skills, communication and social skills, emotional health and development of empathy can all be enhanced by regular listening to and later reading of books.

Books open up the world and, as Mason Cooley would say: "Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are." 

Filling your child's life with books needn't be an expensive undertaking. There have never been more places to find, borrow, buy or access books. Snuggling up with your little ones with a much-loved story, turning the familiar pages and enjoying a fun and nurturing tale creates such special and memorable moments. 

The children's sections of bookshops large and small are full of brilliant books. Libraries are also fun places and most hold story-time sessions too!

And if your looking for free stories then there are a whole host of online sites where you can access or download them. 

Magic Keys is just one of them:

http://www.magickeys.com/books/

Whether you browse online to buy or read or visit bookshops, remember age guides on books are just that, guides. Children develop at different paces, have different interests and needs so let your child select books with you too. Build your child's home library and discover stories and their magic together!

from http://www.quoteslike.com/

Bluebells and inspiration

www.neighbourhoodmidwives.org.uk

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower our whole life would change" - Buddha

One of the best things, for me, about this time of year is ... bluebells!

I love the way they suddenly appear in the woods along the road from our house. One minute everything is sparse and wintry (although the woods are one of my favourite places all year round) and then, right on cue, more or less, they transform the brown twiggy floor into a gentle, glorious blaze of blue carpet.

Every year I'm compelled to make my way down there to find the best path through the trees that will lead to the perfect spot to pause and admire and breath and take in what to me is a soul-touching, meaningful and, being a writer, inspiring sight.

It's the combination of nature's perfect but natural, detailed and delicate artistry against the gentle woodland silence and sound of birdsong. So I have to sit there, on a log or tree stump, sometimes with son or husband or friend, watching and noticing nature's special bluebell message:

On it's own one single bluebell is tiny and fragile. And each one unique in a way. Beautiful and special, next time you have the chance notice the delicate petals, their little heads hanging demurely in clusters on one slim stem. Small, yes, but never too tiny or too fragile to withstand the unpredicable spring weather. Little miracles of nature. Perfect.

And then together they do something astonishing. The bracken and the nettles, the ivy and the mud are still there, but the woodland floor is transformed into a breathtaking blue covering that creeps from tree to tree and expands into all the spaces in-between.

www.lovethesepics.com

There's an almost magical and ethereal atmosphere sitting amongst this, as though you haven't really experienced the woods until you see this too.

Whatever else you are experiencing/have experienced in life THIS is here too.

The miracle of bluebells are a reminder that life gives us as individuals a mixture of stuff, experiences, ups and downs, brilliant moments, terrible moments and everything in-between. But overall, when we step back and pause for long enough we can see and begin to understand the complete picture or tapestry of our own lives too. All the experiences and moments woven together to make the whole. 

And more than that. Whatever force of life caused the beginnings of the creation of these perfect little flowers caused our beginnings too. While different, we are all part of the same creation. Essentially what nurtures and enables them to live nurtures and enables us to live too. The same nature with its cycles of beginnings, renewals, change and endings...we are all part of the same miracle.

So I'm noticing the bluebells and feeling inspired.

www.wallpapersxl.com
Whatever has gone before I will make something beautiful again.